another option during the strike: try an OPERA

if you want something very theatrical, but a little different, try an OPERA. while there's lots of great off-broadway to choose from, there's also some really interesting theater happening at lincoln center.

City Opera's Fall season runs for a few more days. there's a stunning production of vanessa on offer, and a family-friendly cinderella (cendrillon) that the critics have embraced.

the Met, where tickets are harder to find and admittedly pricier, also has a variety of productions on offer to help you get your "fix" during the strike. "norma", while a bit old school is stunning ... taymor's "magic flute" is spectacular, and a brilliant night out for all ages ... and there's even a "traviata" for those who've been around the block a few times.

hopefully, the strike will be over by december, but the Met will keep on delivering throughout the holidays -- a reportedly stunning new production of "iphegenie in tauride" and a spectacular, stage-filling "war and peace".

seriously -- opera, check it out.

---

totally subjective suggestions:

if you like light musicals, try cendrillon @ city opera. if you like more serious musicals ("light in the piazza", even "grey gardens"), vanessa would be a unique but fulfilling place to start.

if money is less of an object, across the plaza, the Met's Norma is great for *anyone* ... taymor is great for the "lighter musical" crowd.

tickets at the Met are harder to come by ... city opera has plent of availability. city opera even has discount codes on some websites.

---

If you're a student, you could get rush tickets at either house on certain days.
Traviata was my first (professional) opera and I loved it.
For beginners, I would also recommend Carmen, Cendrillon, Zauberflote, and Barbiere. If you speak Italian, French, or German, it might be smart to see your first opera in a familiar language. I believe the websites are metopera.org and nycopera.com, but a google search should get you to the websites, which are both wonderful.

Tickets to the Met aren't that hard to come by, really.
If you are jonesin' for some good old rush tickets a la broadway, the Met reserves 200 orchestra seats (regularly priced at 175 bucks a pop) for all Monday-Thursday performances. 50 of these are reserved for senior citizens, but ANYONE can buy the other 150. They are released two hours prior to curtain.
If that's not your thing, I recommend the Family Circle - $15 tickets! Buy them online!
GO TO THE OPERA!
Renee Fleming singing Violetta in La Traviata...
Diana Damrau singing Pamina in Die Zauberflote ("The Magic Flute")
Hella stuff.

---

Updated On: 11/13/07 at 11:05 PM

Mary Zimmerman directed Lucia di Lammermoor.
Bartlett Sher's Il Barbiere di Siviglia is still running.

---

The met has $15 family circle tickets. While not a very close, it is still a complete view of the stage, except perhaps upstage if they raise the level of the stage. I saw Aida last Thurs. in the Family Circle and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Honestly, you can't even see a Bway show for that little money, apart from rush tix, or perhaps a lotto or SRO, but those usually start at $20, but there's no service fee on top of that (the met adds a 5.5 service fee on all online orders- so the $15 seats are actually 20.5)

Also, the family circle can't be that bad since it was SOLD OUT at the performance I attended, and the dress circle was not sold out, the FC truly is the best bang for your buck IMO. Also consider that there is standing room behind the FC, and there were people there too! (IDK if I'd like to stand for 3 1/2 hrs, but w/e floats ur boat I guess!)