The Met Philadelphia

The Experience

The Met Philadelphia returns to glory thanks to a massive renovation of the historic Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera House, which barely missed a date with a wrecking ball before a developer swooped in with a plan to return it to its former glory.

The outcome is a live entertainment complex capable of putting on all kinds of shows: concerts, comedy shows, dance performances, circus-type spectaculars and even boxing matches.

The neoclassical facade was impeccably restored, with its original arched arcades and flashing signs beckoning visitors into the gleaming lobby, which impresses with slick terrazzo flooring, dazzling chandeliers and columns with gilded lighting fixtures and accents. History buffs can appreciate some of the building’s original accoutrements, such as the Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera House crest still embedded in the lobby floor.

The showpiece of The Met Philadelphia, however, is the whopping 100,000-square-foot theater, capable of seating 3,500 people. The expansive room retains its classic opera-house feel, with gold-flecked ornamentation adorning the ceiling, walls and columns, and several tiers of seating, including a two-level balcony and prime box seats, flanking each side of the orchestra section.

The theater is enhanced with cutting-edge technologies allowing for exciting light shows, clear sound and smooth sight lines — in other words, ticket-holders can look forward to a good show no matter where they are in the theater.

Food & Drink

Brûlée Catering helms the food and drink offerings at The Met Philadelphia, serving up craft beers, wine, specialty cocktails and light bites before each show and at intermission.

There are a total of 12 bars within The Met Philadelphia, including a full-service watering hole in the lobby.

A former ballroom has also been transformed into a luxe gathering area called the Grande Salle, where guests can mingle at the bar or lounge at tables or on plush chairs and couches.

The History

The Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera House was built in 1908 by theatrical entrepreneur Oscar Hammerstein I, grandfather of the American songwriting genius of the same name. In its heyday, the building stunned as the largest theater of its kind in the world, and was especially renowned for its excellent acoustics.

  — Photo courtesy The Met Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Opera Company and several other similar outfits got the chance to perform there through the 1920s, but the decline of North Philadelphia and Hammerstein’s financial troubles left the venue flip-flopping between owners and the types of shows it offered. Throughout the ’30s and ’40s, it was used as a movie theater and even a sports complex for boxing, wrestling and basketball.

In the 1950s, it became a church and The Philadelphia Orchestra rented it out to record some of its albums there. From there, the opera house continued into a spiral of disrepair. Fires and flooding left it so deteriorated that, in the 1990s, Hollywood producers filmed a scene from Bruce Willis’ post-apocalyptic sci-fi flick 12 Monkeys in the main theater.

Serious talks about renovations began in 2017, and The Met Philadelphia officially reopened its doors in December 2018 with an opening-night concert from Bob Dylan.