Arena Theater Presents "The Hours" • A MET Premier, December 10 Starring Renée Fleming, Kelli O'Hara, Joyce DiDonato • Live in HD
Arena Theater presents Met Opera Live in HD with Kevin Put’s "The Hours", Saturday, December 10. The opera begins at 10:00am, doors open at 9:15. Tickets are $26 general, $24 senior, $18 youth.
Renée Fleming makes her highly anticipated return to the Met in the world-premiere production of Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Kevin Puts’s "The Hours", adapted from Michael Cunningham’s acclaimed novel. Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and made a household name by the Oscar-winning 2002 film version starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman, the powerful story concerns three women from different eras who each grapple with their inner demons and their roles in society.
The exciting premiere radiates with star power, with Kelli O’Hara and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato joining Fleming as the opera’s trio of heroines. Phelim McDermott—who most recently wowed Met audiences with his staging of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten—directs this compelling drama, with Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin on the podium to conduct Puts’s poignant and powerful score.
The tripartite setting of the opera is an essential aspect of its story. The first locale is Richmond, a quiet suburb of London where Virginia Woolf lived with her husband, Leonard, as she was writing Mrs. Dalloway in 1923. The second setting is Los Angeles in 1949, where Dan and Laura Brown are struggling to conform to a proper mid-century American suburban life. The third setting is Manhattan at the end of the 20th century, where Clarissa Vaughan is preparing to throw a party for the poet Richard who faces the late stages of AIDS.
Playwright, lyricist, and fiction writer Greg Pierce created the libretto for "The Hours," adapting the novel by American author Michael Cunningham (b. 1952), who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his work. The opera has a runtime of 195 minutes with one intermission.
VACCINE REQUIREMENTS: All Met Opera audience members must be fully vaccinated. Please provide proof of vaccination through an original physical vaccination card or photograph of it plus photo ID upon arrival at the box office.
MASKS & SOCIAL DISTANCING: For opera only: Masks are required when not actively eating or drinking. There are no seating restrictions, the theater is fully open.
