Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Who's afraid of Opera? Die Fledermaus at the Met Opera on New Year Eve. What should I expect?

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Who's afraid of Opera? Die Fledermaus at the Met Opera on New Year Eve. What should I expect?

With 2 nights in NYC at the end of the year I purchased tickets for the the NYE gala at he Met. I'm new tho the opera. What should I expect? Do we have to pack the the tux and the tiara? Does Fledermaus Die?

Crusty, You might try and find a libretto for the opera, since you are new to the "scene", so you get the story line and can really enjoy the production. Subtitles are shown right at your seat, so you know what they are singing. Dress up for the evening, a gala is usually pretty dressy, after all it's New York, The Met, and New Year's Eve. There is a cafe so get a glass of champagne and enjoy the whole ambience of the evening. Have a wonderful holiday.

Die Fledermaus is a fun opera to attend--a good "first opera". We saw a New Year's eve performance two years ago in Paris. There's a section in the middle where it's customary for a character to deliver a pointed, but funny, speech (at least they do in London and Paris, I assume it's the same in NY). A NYE performance is usually pretty dressy. Formal wear won't be out of place.

Fledermaus is a nice, user-friendly opera - almost an operetta, really. I saw it for the first time when I was about 9, and I loved it, so don't be too intimidated by the fact that it's called an opera. There's a lot of spoken comedy (watch for a character called Frosch the Jailer) and they usually try to make it topical. The music is lovely and catchy - lots of tunes, some of which you may well recognize. The comedy is pretty broad - no Saturday-Night-Live satire here - but I'm sure it will be a fun evening.

Boy does that sound fun! Wish I was going!

And, there's usually a surprise celebrity or two making a cameo appearaance on stage.

Be sure to post back after the performance - you'll have a great time!

Definitely Dress!! One year Mayor Guiliani was in one of the parts! It is fun and grand and a wonderful Opera experience! Enjoy!

Just show up in your underwear. Skid marks optional.

Or how about black leather chaps, a Muir cap and a disco harness??

Die Fledermous IS an operetta! Rudolph Bing took a lot of flack for bringing it to the Met in the beginning of his "reign" as General Manager in the early 50s. But, it is loads of fun and festive and there nearly always (as someone else has reported)are surprise celebrity guests at the party scene. Dress will be New Year's Eve party dress that is more formal than the usual. But, the Met is like most opera houses in that the formality of dress roughly corresponds to the price of the tickets. Up in the Family Circle and in Standing Room, you will see people dressed more casually. If you wear what you'd be comfortable wearing in an upscale restaurant on New Year's Eve, you'll be fine. And, New York being New York, black is always ok. Unless you are in the high end center orchestra seats or Parterre boxes, I'd suggest leaving the tiara & tux at home! And no, Fledermous doesn't Die! Have a great time.

Die Fledermaus is a comic operetta with considerable spoken dialog and a very complicated plot. (Why do you think Fledermaus dies?) I hope the presentation is in English and not the original German because the spoken dialog is not standard. I have heard it 3 times in German and all the time I spent memorizing the spoken parts was wasted because none of the 3 productions I attended followed my libretto. Even if it is in English, understanding what is going on can get away from you unless you know in advance what is supposed to happen. Unfortunately, the English translations of the Viennese humour often fall flat. So the translators often substitute Anglicized, even local, stuff, particularly in the jail scene that features the drunken jailer named Frosch. The last time I saw it done in English, the jail scene was so messed up I almost threw up. I think the Met uses a good English translation. One thing about the Met productions, the great party scene is often beefed up with all sorts of of "junk" in the form of various appearances that can be totally extraneous to the opera (such as an appearance by the local mayor)which prolongs the production to an almost unbearable length. The New Year's Eve production at the Met runs 4 hours! So be prepared! Without intermissions, a "straight" performance is a little over 2 hours, so you can see that there will be considerable padding to stretch it out to 4 hours. I hope enjoy it.

Die Flerermous at the Met was wonderful. Very funny! The dialog was in English. They poked fun at current events, such as the NYC mayor, "he won't like you smoking'. Beautiful sets, music and dancing. 4 hours was just a bit long. What a contrast to the magnificent older theaters we had just seen in Prague last week. There we saw La Traviata (State Opera House), The Magic Flute (Estates Theater), and The Nutcracker Nationial Theater). Love the subtitles on the back of the chairs at the Met. Dress varied, while most people were dressed to the hilt there were some men in blue jeans. But what a woderful time we had.

Yes! I'm afraid of Oprah! I thought I was the only one! I don't know -- there's just something frightening about her . . .