The interior was redesigned in 1903, and in 1906, the signature gold damask stage curtains were installed, completing the look that the “Old” Metropolitan Opera House maintained until its closing.

In the early 1900s, the opera house underwent another series of transformations. The theater was gutted by fire in August 1892, but was rebuilt over the next two years along its original lines.

“You were sitting in this wonderful sea of faces – it was like being in a drawing room.” 3 “I miss that house and not that I’m a great fan of opera but – that house, when you sit on the stage the balconies went straight up and they were only about 15-20 rows back – they were very short,” said Bronson Binger. 2 However, others found the “Old” Metropolitan Opera House’s intimate interior appealing. Cady, it was nicknamed “The Yellow Brick Brewery” for its industrial looking exterior. 1 Occupying the entire western side of the block between West 39 th Street and West 40 th Street, the “Old” Metropolitan Opera House opened on October 22, 1883. In all, 70 shareholders provided the $1.7 million required to buy the land and build the opera house at West 39 th Street and Broadway.

In 1880, dissatisfied with the location and seating capacity of the 1854 Academy of Music opera house near Union Square, a group of wealthy businessmen opted to build their own.

Metropolitan opera house nyc