FATHOM EVENTS AND THE METROPOLITAN OPERA RENEW SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP TO BRING LIVE OPERA TO CINEMA AUDIENCES NATIONWIDE

Renewal Will Bring the Two Organizations to a Two-Decade Milestone

DENVER and NEW YORK, Nov. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Fathom Events and the Metropolitan Opera announced an agreement today to renew The Met: Live in HD series, extending a cultural tradition that has delivered scores of performances from the Met's stage at New York's Lincoln Center directly to cinema screens nationwide since 2006.

The partnership between the country's largest performing arts institution and leading event-cinema distributor will be renewed through the 2025–26 season, culminating in the 20th anniversary of the Live in HD program. The program renewal demonstrates how live performances can drive the return of audiences to movie theaters following the worst periods of the Covid pandemic. 

The announcement comes ahead of the Dec. 10Live in HD transmission of The Hours by Kevin Puts, based on the novel by Michael Cunningham and subsequent movie of the same title. The Met is presenting the world premiere staging of the work. It is one of seven new Met productions presented in the 2022-23 season, including the opening Live in HD performance, the Met premiere of Cherubini's Medea. The other new productions are Giordano's Fedora; Wagner's Lohengrin; Mozart's Don Giovanni and Die Zauberflöte; and Terence Blanchard'sChampion. Blanchard's Fire Shut Up in My Bones, transmitted live to movie screens in 2021, was the first opera at the Met by a Black composer. The HD season will also feature performances of Verdi's Falstaff and Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier.

"The Met is a cultural touchstone and one of the most iconic global performing-arts brands," said Ray Nutt, Fathom Events chief executive officer.  "As exceptional and distinctly special is the work that The Met brings to audiences, Peter and his team are just as exceptional.  They have been an enormously valuable partner in our own growth at Fathom Events.   During the term of this new agreement, we will have been partnered for two decades, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Met to bring more high-quality performances to fans around the country."

"The Met's Live in HD series has brought the beauty and power of opera to millions of people who ordinarily would not have access to it," Peter Gelb, the Met's General Manager, said. "We are grateful to have such an excellent partner in Fathom and look forward to continuing our shared mission of making world-class opera available to cinema audiences throughout the United States and beyond."

The partnership that began with fewer than 100 theaters has grown to an average of 725 theaters annually and an estimated audience of more than 580,000 annually - widely broadening the reach of The Met's performances.  The partnership has seen a total revenue of over $205 million which translates to approximately 10 million tickets sold.  Today, Fathom's events with The Met consistently rank among the top-10 in box office on the event date, according to Comscore data, and The Met now accounts for fully half of Fathom Events' live-event box office revenue.

Tickets for the 2022–23 season of The Met: Live in HD series are on sale at participating theater box offices and through Fathom Events.com.

2022–23 Live in HD Season at a Glance:

The Live in HD season began on October 22, 2022, with Medea and continued with La Traviata (November 5), The Hours (December 10), Fedora (January 14), Lohengrin (March 18), Falstaff (April 1), Der Rosenkavalier (April 15), Champion (April 29), Don Giovanni(May 20), and Die Zauberflöte (June 3). All performances will be Saturday matinees transmitted live from the Met stage.

A special encore screening of Mozart's The Magic Flute will also be presented on December 3.

The Met: Live in HD 2022–23 Schedule

Cherubini's Medea—MET PREMIERE

Live in HD date: October 22, 2022

Production: David McVicar
Set Designer: David McVicar
Costume Designer: Doey Lüthi
Lighting Designer: Paule Constable
Projection Designer: S. Katy Tucker
Movement Director: Jo Meredith

Carlo Rizzi (Conductor); Sondra Radvanovsky (Medea), Janai Brugger (Glauce), Ekaterina Gubanova (Neris), Matthew Polenzani (Giasone), Michele Pertusi (Creonte)

Having triumphed at the Met in some of the repertory's fiercest soprano roles, Sondra Radvanovsky stars as the mythic sorceress who will stop at nothing in her quest for vengeance. Joining Radvanovsky in the Met-premiere production of Cherubini's rarely performed masterpiece is tenor Matthew Polenzani as Medea's Argonaut husband, Giasone; soprano Janai Brugger as her rival for his love, Glauce; bass Michele Pertusi as her father, Creonte, the King of Corinth; and mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova as Medea's confidante, Neris.

Verdi's La Traviata—REVIVAL

Live in HD date: November 5, 2022
Production: Michael Mayer
Set Designer: Christine Jones
Costume Designer: Susan Hilferty
Lighting Designer: Kevin Adams
Choreographer: Lorin Latarro

Daniele Callegari (Conductor); Nadine Sierra (Violetta Valéry), Stephen Costello (Alfredo Germont), Luca Salsi (Giorgio Germont)

Soprano Nadine Sierra stars as the self-sacrificing courtesan Violetta—one of opera's ultimate heroines—in Michael Mayer's vibrant production of Verdi's beloved tragedy. Tenor Stephen Costello is her self-centered lover, Alfredo, alongside baritone Luca Salsi as his disapproving father and Maestro Daniele Callegari on the podium.

Kevin Puts's The Hours—WORLD-PREMIERE PRODUCTION

Live in HD date: December 10, 2022

Librettist: Greg Pierce
Production: Phelim McDermott
Set and Costume Designer: Tom Pye
Lighting Designer: Bruno Poet
Projection Designer: Finn Ross
Choreographer: Annie-B Parson
Dramaturg: Paul Cremo

Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Conductor); Renée Fleming (Clarissa Vaughan), Kelli O'Hara (Laura Brown), Joyce DiDonato (Virginia Woolf), Sean Panikkar (Leonard Woolf), William Burden (Louis), Kyle Ketelsen (Richard), Brandon Cedel (Dan Brown)

The world-premiere staging of Kevin Puts's The Hours, adapted from Michael Cunningham's acclaimed novel, which also served as the inspiration for the Oscar-winning film, arrives in cinemas this December. In her highly anticipated return to the Met, soprano Renée Fleming joins soprano Kelli O'Hara and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato to portray three women from different eras who grapple with their inner demons and their roles in society. Phelim McDermott, who recently created the Met's acclaimed production of Philip Glass'sAkhnaten, directs this compelling drama, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium to conduct Puts's powerful score.

Giordano's Fedora—NEW PRODUCTION

Live in HD date: January 14, 2023

Production: David McVicar, Set Designer: Charles Edwards, Costume Designer: Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Lighting Designer: Adam Silverman

Marco Armiliato (Conductor); Sonya Yoncheva (Fedora), Rosa Feola (Olga), Piotr Beczała (Loris Ipanoff), Artur Ruciński (De Siriex)

Giordano's exhilarating drama Fedora returns to the Met for the first time in 25 years, starring soprano Sonya Yoncheva in the title role of the 19th-century princess who falls in love with her fiancé's murderer, Count Loris, sung by tenor Piotr Beczała. Soprano Rosa Feola is the Countess Olga, Fedora's confidante, and baritone Artur Ruciński is the diplomat De Siriex. Marco Armiliato conducts David McVicar's intricate production, with a fixed set that unfolds to reveal the opera's settings: a palace in St. Petersburg, a fashionable Parisian salon, and a picturesque villa in the Swiss Alps.

Wagner's Lohengrin—NEW PRODUCTION

Live in HD date: March 18, 2023

Production: François Girard, Set and Costume Designer: Tim Yip, Lighting Designer: David Finn, Projection Designer: Peter Flaherty, Choreographer: TBA

Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Conductor); Tamara Wilson (Elsa), Christine Goerke (Ortrud), Piotr Beczała (Lohengrin), Evgeny Nikitin (Telramund), Brian Mulligan (Herald), Günther Groissböck (Heinrich)

Wagner's Lohengrin returns to the Met stage after an absence of 17 years with this atmospheric new staging by François Girard. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts a cast led by tenor Piotr Beczała in the title role of the mysterious swan knight. Soprano Tamara Wilson is the virtuous duchess Elsa, falsely accused of murder, going head-to-head with soprano Christine Goerke as the cunning sorceress Ortrud. Bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin is Ortrud's power-hungry husband, Telramund, and bass Günther Groissböck is King Heinrich.

Verdi's Falstaff—REVIVAL

Live in HD date: April 1, 2023

Production: Robert Carsen
Set Designer: Paul Steinberg
Costume Designer: Brigitte Reiffenstuel
Lighting Designers: Robert Carsen and Peter Van Praet

Daniele Rustioni (Conductor); Hera Hyesang Park (Nannetta); Ailyn Pérez (Alice Ford); Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Mistress Quickly); Jennifer Johnson Cano (Meg Page); Bogdan Volkov (Fenton); Michael Volle (Falstaff); Christopher Maltman (Ford)

Verdi's Shakespearean comedy features a brilliant ensemble cast in Robert Carsen's celebrated staging. Baritone Michael Volle sings his first Verdi role at the Met as the caddish knight Falstaff, gleefully tormented by a trio of clever women who deliver his comeuppance. Reuniting after their acclaimed performances in the production's 2019 run are soprano Ailyn Pérez as Alice Ford, soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano as Meg Page, and contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux as Mistress Quickly. Soprano Hera Hyesang Park and tenor Bogdan Volkov are the young couple Nannetta and Fenton, and Daniele Rustioni conducts.

Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier—REVIVAL

Live in HD date: April 15, 2023

Production: Robert Carsen
Set Designer: Paul Steinberg
Costume Designer: Brigitte Reiffenstuel
Lighting Designers: Robert Carsen and Peter Van Praet
Choreographer: Philippe Giraudeau

Simone Young (Conductor); Lise Davidsen (Marschallin), Isabel Leonard (Octavian), Erin Morley (Sophie), Katharine Goeldner (Annina), René Barbera (Italian Singer), Thomas Ebenstein (Valzacchi), Markus Brück (Faninal), Günther Groissböck (Baron Ochs)

A stellar trio assembles to take on the lead roles of Strauss's comedy, with soprano Lise Davidsen in her Met role debut as the Marschallin, opposite mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard in her Met role debut as Octavian and soprano Erin Morley as Sophie. Bass Günther Groissböck returns as Baron Ochs, and Markus Brück is Sophie's father, Faninal. Maestro Simone Young takes the podium to oversee Robert Carsen's fin-de-siècle staging.

Terence Blanchard's Champion—MET PREMIERE

Live in HD date: April 29, 2023

Librettist: Michael Cristofer
Production: James Robinson
Set Designer: Allen Moyer
Costume Designer: Paul Tazewell
Lighting Designer: Donald Holder
Projection Designer: Greg Emetaz
Choreographer: Camille A. Brown

Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Conductor); Latonia Moore (Emelda Griffith), Stephanie Blythe (Kathy Hagan), Ryan Speedo Green (Young Emile Griffith), Eric Owens (Emile Griffith)

Six-time Grammy Award–winning composer Terence Blanchard brings his first opera to the Met after his Fire Shut Up in My Bonesmade history in the 2021–22 season. Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green is the young boxer Emile Griffith, who rises from obscurity to become a world champion, and bass-baritone Eric Owens portrays Griffith's older self, haunted by the ghosts of his past. Soprano Latonia Moore is Emelda Griffith, the boxer's estranged mother, and mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe is the bar owner Kathy Hagan. Yannick Nézet-Séguin returns to the podium to conduct Blanchard's second Met premiere. Director James Robinson, whose productions of Fire Shut Up in My Bonesand Porgy and Bess brought down the house, oversees the staging. Camille A. Brown, whose choreography electrified audiences in Fire and Porgy, also returns.

Mozart's Don Giovanni—NEW PRODUCTION

Live in HD date: May 20, 2023

Production: Ivo van Hove
Set and Lighting Designer: Jan Versweyveld
Costume Designer: An D'Huys
Projection Designer: Christopher Ash
Choreographer: Sara Erde

Nathalie Stutzmann (Conductor); Federica Lombardi (Donna Anna), Ana María Martínez (Donna Elvira), Ying Fang (Zerlina), Ben Bliss (Don Ottavio), Peter Mattei (Don Giovanni), Adam Plachetka (Leporello), Alfred Walker (Masetto), Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Commendatore)

Tony Award–winning director Ivo van Hove makes his Met debut with a new staging of Mozart's tragicomedy Don Giovanni. The tale of deceit and damnation is set in an abstract architectural landscape that explores the dark corners of the story and its characters. Nathalie Stutzmann makes her Met debut conducting a star-studded cast led by baritone Peter Mattei as a magnetic Don Giovanni, alongside the Leporello of bass-baritone Adam Plachetka. Sopranos Federica Lombardi, Ana María Martínez, and Ying Fang are Giovanni's conquests—Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, and Zerlina—and tenor Ben Bliss sings Don Ottavio.

Mozart's Die Zauberflöte—NEW PRODUCTION

Live in HD date: June 3, 2023

Production and Choreography: Simon McBurney
Set Designer: Michael Levine
Costume Designer: Nicky Gillibrand
Lighting Designer: Jean Kalman
Projection Designer: Finn Ross
Sound Designer: Gareth Fry

Nathalie Stutzmann (Conductor); Erin Morley (Pamina), Kathryn Lewek (Queen of the Night), Lawrence Brownlee (Tamino), Thomas Oliemans (Papageno), Alan Held (Speaker), Stephen Milling (Sarastro), Brenton Ryan (Monostatos)

Nathalie Stutzmann conducts her second Mozart work this season with a new production of Die Zauberflöte. In his Met-debut staging, Simon McBurney incorporates projections, sound effects, and acrobatics to match the spectacle and drama of Mozart's fable. The brilliant cast includes soprano Erin Morley as Pamina, tenor Lawrence Brownlee as Tamino, baritone Thomas Oliemans in his Met debut as Papageno, soprano Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night, and bass Stephen Milling as Sarastro.

Mozart's The Magic Flute—SPECIAL ENCORE PRESENTATION

Originally transmitted live on December 30, 2006

Live in HD Encore Date: December 3, 2022 

Production: Julie Taymor
Set Designer: George Tsypin
Costume Designer: Julie Taymor
Lighting Designer: Donald Holder
Puppet Designers: Julie Taymor and Michael Curry
Choreographer: Mark Dendy
English Adaptation: J.D. McClatchy

James Levine (Conductor); Ying Huang (Pamina), Erika Miklósa (Queen of the Night), Matthew Polenzani (Tamino), Greg Fedderly (Monostatos), Nathan Gunn (Papageno), David Pittsinger (Speaker), René Pape (Sarastro)

The Met made history in December 2006 when it presented its first Live in HD transmission to cinemas worldwide—the abridged English-language version of Mozart's The Magic Flute. Julie Taymor's whimsical production features a winning ensemble, including tenor Matthew Polenzani, baritone Nathan Gunn, and bass René Pape. The opera returns to select movie theaters in a special encore presentation during the holiday season.

About Fathom Events

Fathom is a recognized leader in the entertainment industry as one of the top distributors of content to movie theaters in North America. Owned by AMC Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: AMC); Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK); and Regal, a subsidiary of the Cineworld Group (LSE: CINE.L), Fathom operates the largest cinema distribution network, delivering a wide variety of programming and experiences to cinema audiences in all of the top U.S. markets and to more than 45 countries. For more information, visit www.FathomEvents.com.

About The Met: Live in HD

The Met: Live in HD series has made the Met the world's leading provider of alternative cinema content and the only arts institution with an ongoing global series of this scale. When the series began in December 2006, the Met was the first arts company to experiment with alternative cinema content. Since then, the program has expanded, with more than 29.7 million tickets sold to date and robust attendance in the United States, Germany, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom.

The Met: Live in HD series has increased accessibility to Met performances for audiences around the world. With a global average ticket price of $23, the series has made world-class performances accessible to millions of opera lovers each season.

Met artists serve as hosts for the Live in HD series, providing background on the operas, introducing exciting behind-the-scenes features, and conducting live interviews with stars, crew, and production teams.

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor, the Neubauer Family Foundation. Digital support of The Met: Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Met: Live in HD series is supported by Rolex. The HD broadcasts are also supported by Toll Brothers, America's luxury homebuilder®.

Within months of their initial live transmissions, the Live in HD programs are shown on PBS in the United States. The PBS series Great Performances at the Met is produced in association with PBS and WNET, with support from Toll Brothers, America's luxury homebuilder®.

For more information about The Met: Live in HD, visit metopera.org/hd.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fathom-events-and-the-metropolitan-opera-renew-successful-partnership-to-bring-live-opera-to-cinema-audiences-nationwide-301689448.html

SOURCE Fathom Events