Puccini’s Madama Butterfly

Soprano Hui He takes on the heartbreaking title role of the doomed geisha, with tenor Andrea Carè as the American naval officer who abandons her. Paulo Szot will sing the role of Sharpless, and Pier Giorgio Morandi is on the podium for Anthony Minghella’s sweeping production, a perennial audience favorite.

Philip Glass’ Akhnaten

Director Phelim McDermott tackles another one of Philip Glass’s masterpieces, following the now-legendary Met staging of Satyagraha. Star countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo is the title pharaoh, the revolutionary ruler who transformed ancient Egypt, with the striking mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges in her Met debut as his wife, Nefertiti. To match the opera’s hypnotic, ritualistic music, McDermott has created an arresting vision that includes a virtuosic company of acrobats and jugglers. Karen Kamensek conducts in her Met debut.

42nd Street
Book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble
Lyrics by Al Dubin and Johnny Mercer
Music by Harry Warren

A Broadway classic, sing through the life of a humble, naïve young actress named Peggy tries making it big in a Broadway musical. When an aging actress who isn’t fond of Peggy breaks her ankle, the young actress gets her big break. In only thirty-six hours, Peggy learns twenty-five pages, six songs and ten dance numbers and becomes a star. Filmed at London’s Theatre Royale, the production is directed by the original author of the show, Mark Bramble. This eye-watering extravaganza is full of crowd-pleasing tap dances, popular musical theatre standards (“Lullaby of Broadway”, “We’re in the Money (the gold digger’s song), “42nd Street” and more), and show-stopping ensemble production numbers.

Berg’s Wozzeck

After wowing audiences with his astounding production of Lulu in 2015, South African artist William Kentridge now focuses his extraordinary visual imagination on Berg’s other operatic masterpiece, set in an apocalyptic pre–World War I environment. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet Séguin is on the podium for this important event, with baritone Peter Mattei making his highly anticipated role debut as the title character. Soprano Elza van den Heever is Wozzeck’s unfaithful mate, and the commanding cast also includes tenor Christopher Ventris as the Drum-Major, bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as the Doctor, and tenor Gerhard Siegel as the Captain.

Arthur Miller's All My Sons
In 1947 America, despite hard choices and even harder knocks, Joe and Kate Keller are a success story. They have built a home, raised two sons and established a thriving business. But nothing lasts forever. Their contented lives, already shadowed by the loss of their eldest boy to war, are about to shatter. With the return of a figure from the past, long buried truths are forced to the surface, and the price of their American dream is laid bare. Award-winner Sally Field (Steel Magnolias, Brothers & Sisters) and Bill Pullman (The Sinner, Independence Day) star in Arthur Miller’s blistering drama All My Sons.

THIS VERSE BUSINESS
By A.M. Dolan
Directed by Gus Kaikkonen
Featuring Gordon Clapp
February 6–16

The perfect marriage between a treasured American poet and a beloved actor, Emmy-winner (NYPD Blue) and Tony-nominee Gordon Clapp returns for an encore performance as Robert Frost in A.M Dolan’s This Verse Business. Fresh from the Lincoln Center production of The Great Society, Clapp once again breathes life into Frost, poised and waiting for the birth of a new poem. “Why don’t I say some poems to ya I’ve already written...and we’ll see if another one creeps up on me.” Frost’s endless quest to express life through metaphor – and encourage the reader to find their own meaning of life – is beautifully captured through this intimate moment between actor and audience, featuring timeless Frost classics such as Mending Wall, The Road Not Taken and Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.

This Verse Business features Gordon Clapp (Stella and Lou).

Handel’s Agrippina

Handel’s tale of intrigue and impropriety in ancient Rome receives its first Met performances, with star mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato as the controlling, power-hungry Agrippina and Harry Bicket conducting. Sir David McVicar’s production ingeniously reframes the action of this black comedy about the abuse of power to “the present,” where it should loudly resonate. The all-star cast features mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey as Agrippina’s son and future emperor Nerone, soprano Brenda Rae as the seductive Poppea, countertenor Iestyn Davies as the ambitious officer Ottone, and bass Matthew Rose as the weary emperor Claudius.

Wagner’s Der Fliegende Hollander

The great bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel returns to the company for the first time since 2012, in the title role of the cursed sea captain doomed to sail the open ocean for eternity. Valery Gergiev conducts a new production by François Girard, whose visionary 2013 take on Parsifal set the recent Met standard for Wagner stagings. With sweeping sets by John Macfarlane, Girard’s new production turns the Met stage into a rich, layered tableau reminiscent of a vast oil painting. The gifted German soprano Anja Kampe, in her Met debut, is the devoted Senta, whose selfless love is what the Dutchman seeks, with bass Franz-Josef Selig as her father, Daland, and tenor Sergey Skorokhodov as her deserted former lover, Erik.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz's All About Eve

All About Eve tells the story of Margo Channing. Legend. True star of the theatre. The spotlight is hers, always has been. But now there’s Eve. Her biggest fan. Young, beautiful Eve. The golden girl, the girl next door. But you know all about Eve…don’t you…? Starring Gillian Anderson (X-Files, NT Live: A Streetcar Named Desire) and Lily James (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again).

Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda

Soprano Diana Damrau, following her triumph as Violetta in last season’s new production of Verdi’s La Traviata, stars as the martyred Mary, Queen of Scots, in Donizetti’s bel canto showcase. Star mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton is her imperious rival Queen Elizabeth I, and the silken-voiced tenor Stephen Costello is the noble Earl of Leicester. Maurizio Benini conducts Sir David McVicar’s handsome production.