Idolator
A board member at the Metropolitan Opera has purchased $500,000 worth of prime seats for the upcoming run of John Adams' new opera Doctor Atomic so they can be sold to the curious but cash-strapped for only $30 a pop. Doctor Atomic is set in New Mexico in the summer of 1945 and it tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the a-bomb through song. This is awesome for many reasons, not the least of which the fact that $30 a ticket for a full-on opera is a way better New York culture deal than, say, $30 for a ticket to any show at the awful-in-every-way Manhattan venue Terminal 5. [Metropolitan Opera via TRGAW / Pic via Opera Today]
12:30 PM on Wed Oct 8 2008
By Maura Johnston
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i kinda like terminal 5 but it's the only nyc venue i've been to.
@sXenester: you are missing out for sure. anyplace has better sound and more ambiance. (and 18+ shows, too, if that's the reason you went there)
@Maura Johnston: THANK YOU. I thought I was the only one. Bad sight lines, bad acoustics, awful location for commuting purposes -- and the Bowery is sending every mid-tier semi-indie-semi-major act I love over there. Ach!
I saw HWM/Thursday/Paint It Black there, as well as Jarvis Cocker. Agreed about sightlines, but sound was great, better than most boston venues, apparently.
So how many seats does $500,000 buy? 500? 10? 1,000?
I hope lots of folks take advantage of the deal and fill up the cheapseats. I also hope that someday I'm rich enough to do something like that because I totally would. John Adams is the definition of WIN -- and I'm sad that I missed this when it was in the Chi.
OMG, Terminal 5 really is quite terrible -- keeps me from lots of shows I'd probably go to if they were at any other venue. For a fine lady, the walk from pubtrans in heels is a bit of a killer -- and yes, I am too cheap to cab it over.
I'm going to see Drive-By Truckers/The Hold Steady at Terminal 5 next month. I've heard it's not the greatest place, but it can't be any worse than my other choice: The Orpheum in Boston. I can't think of a way it could be designed worse.
People are really. WAY too hard on Terminal 5. Sound and organization there has really improved drastically since it opened, and when you consider the other options for mid-large venues in town, its kind of actually the best... I mean cmon.. what else is there, Hammerstein, Roseland, Webster? All notoriously awful venues for rock shows. Sure, we'd all love if our favorite mid level bands would just do a 5 night run at Bowery instead, but thats just impossible. This is coming from someone who swore he'd never go back after the first time.. and ended up enjoying the experience more and more each time I ended up there.
i was at.... ummm... the williamsburg something or other... for Ash on st patrick's day... awesome venue.
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