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]

 
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  1. sXenester  |   Posted on Oct 8th, 2008

    i kinda like terminal 5 but it’s the only nyc venue i’ve been to.

  2. Maura Johnston  |   Posted on Oct 8th, 2008

    @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)

  3. Chris Molanphy  |   Posted on Oct 8th, 2008

    @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!

  4. sXenester  |   Posted on Oct 8th, 2008

    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.

  5. Anonymous  |   Posted on Oct 8th, 2008

    So how many seats does $500,000 buy? 500? 10? 1,000?

  6. panfriedcharlie  |   Posted on Oct 8th, 2008

    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.

  7. the rich girls are weeping  |   Posted on Oct 8th, 2008

    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.

  8. El Zilcho!  |   Posted on Oct 8th, 2008

    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.

  9. Anonymous  |   Posted on Oct 8th, 2008

    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.

  10. sXenester  |   Posted on Oct 8th, 2008

    i was at…. ummm… the williamsburg something or other… for Ash on st patrick’s day… awesome venue.

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