VIDEO: Preview THE MET LIVE IN HD 2017-18 Season

Tickets are now on sale for the Met's Emmy® and Peabody Award-winning Live in HD series' 2017-18 season, which begins on October 7 with the company's new production of Bellini's Norma. Now in its 12th season, the series brings New York City's prestigious Metropolitan Opera to movie theater audiences nationwide. Featuring new talent as well as seasoned veterans, The Met: Live in HD 2017-18 season features ten transmissions, including five new productions, two of which are Met premieres. Each event is broadcast live on a Saturday with two Wednesday encore showings.

See a video preview of the season below!

In addition to the opera presentations, audiences will go behind the scenes with the leading artists that make the Met one of the most renowned opera houses in the world. Backstage access includes special interviews with cast and crew and other features exclusive to theLive in HD series.

Tickets for The Met: Live in HD 2017-18 season can be purchased online by visitingwww.FathomEvents.com or at participating theater box offices. Fans throughout the U.S. will be able to enjoy the event in more than 650 select movie theaters through Fathom's Digital Broadcast Network (DBN). For a complete list of theater locations visit the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change).

"The Met: Live in HD allows audiences around the country to experience the magic of the opera and the best-of-the-best in operatic talent from around the world," Fathom Events VP of Programming Kymberli Frueh said. "There is nothing quite like seeing a beautiful opera performed live on stage at the renowned Metropolitan Opera. Our long-standing partnership with the Met continues to draw hundreds of thousands of fans, and we are thrilled to help bring these incredible productions to the big screen."

The Met Live in HD 2017-18 season schedule is as follows (casting subject to change):

NORMA (Bellini) - New production
Saturday, October 7, 2017 - 12:55 p.m. ET/ 11:55 a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
Encore: Wednesday, October 11 - 1:00 and 6:30 p.m. local time

The season opens with a new production of Bellini's Bel Canto tragedy Norma, starringSondra Radvanovsky in the title role, which she has sung to acclaim at the Met in 2013, as well as at the Canadian Opera Company, San Francisco Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Lyric Opera of Chicago-making her one of the world's leading interpreters of the iconic title character. Joyce DiDonato co-stars as Norma's colleague and rival, Adalgisa, opposite Joseph Calleja as Pollione and Matthew Rose as Oroveso. Carlo Rizzi conducts and Sir David McVicar directs the new production.

DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE (Mozart)
Saturday, October 14, 2017 - 12:55 p.m. ET/ 11:55 a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
Encore: Wednesday, October 18 - 1:00 and 6:30 p.m. local time

Met Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducts Tony Award®-winner Julie Taymor'sproduction of Mozart's masterpiece, Die Zauberflöte. Golda Schultz makes her Met debut as Pamina with Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night, Charles Castronovo as the fairy tale prince Tamino, Markus Werba as the bird-catching Papageno, Christian Van Horn as Sprecher, and René Pape as Sarastro. The holiday presentation of The Magic Flute, an abridged staging sung in English for families, was the first Live in HD performance to be transmitted. This is the first time the full-length German opera will be seen in the series.

THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (Thomas Adès) - Met premiere
Saturday, November 18, 2017 - 12:55 p.m. ET/ 11:55 a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
Encore: Wednesday, November 29 - 1:00 and 6:30 p.m. local time

The Exterminating Angel has its Met premiere this season, conducted by the composer,Thomas Adès. The 2016 opera, co-commissioned by the Met and sung in English, is based on the screenplay by Luis Buñuel and Luis Alcoriza for the acclaimed 1962 Buñuel film. Directed by the librettist Tom Cairns, the ensemble cast features Audrey Luna as Leticia Maynar; Amanda Echalaz as Lucia de Nobile; Sally Matthews as Silvia de Ávila andSophie Bevan as Beatriz, both in Met debuts; Alice Coote as Leonora Palma; Christine Rice as Blanca Delgado; Iestyn Davies as Francisco de Ávila; Joseph Kaiser as Edundo de Nobile; Frédéric Antoun in his Met debut as Raúl Yebenes; David Portillo as Edmundo;David Adam Moore in his Met debut as Col. Álvaro Gómez; Rod Gilfry as Alberto Roc;Kevin Burdette as Señor Russell; Christian Van Horn as Julio; and John Tomlinson as Dr. Carlos Conde. The Exterminating Angel is a co-commission and co-production with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Royal Danish Theatre; and Salzburg Festival, where the production premiered in 2016.

TOSCA (Puccini) - New production
Saturday, January 27, 2018 - 12:55 p.m. ET/ 11:55 a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
Encore: Wednesday, January 31 - 1:00 and 6:30 p.m. local time

James Levine conducts a new staging of Puccini's dramatic tragedy, directed by Sir David McVicar. Sonya Yoncheva and Vittorio Grigolo star as the heroine Tosca and her lover Cavaradossi, with Bryn Terfel as the villainous Scarpia.

L'ELISIR D'AMORE (Donizetti)
Saturday, February 10, 2018 - 12:00 p.m. ET/ 11:00 a.m. CT/ 10:00 a.m. MT/ 9:00 a.m. PT
Encore: Wednesday, February 14 - 1:00 and 6:30 p.m. local time

Donizetti's comic gem L'Elisir d'Amore, staged by Bartlett Sher, stars Pretty Yende as the spirited Adina, with Matthew Polenzani as Nemorino, the simple peasant who falls in love with her. Davide Luciano makes his Met debut as the role of Adina's arrogant fiancé, Belcore and Ildebrando D'Arcangelo sings the role of the magic potion-peddling Doctor Dulcamara. Domingo Hindoyan makes his company debut conducting.

LA BOHÈME (Puccini)
Saturday, February 24, 2018 - 12:30 p.m. ET/ 11:30 a.m. CT/ 10:30 a.m. MT/ 9:30 a.m. PT
Encore: Wednesday, February 28 - 1:00 and 6:30 p.m. local time

An exciting young cast stars in Franco Zeffirelli's classic production of La Bohème, the most-performed opera in Met history. Sonya Yoncheva stars as Mimì opposite Michael Fabiano as the passionate writer Rodolfo. Susanna Phillips reprises the role of the flirtatious Musetta and Lucas Meachem sings the role of her lover, the painter Marcello. The cast also features Alexey Lavrov and Matthew Rose as Rodolfo and Marcello's friends Schaunard and Colline and Paul Plishka as Benoit and Alcindoro in this performance, led by Marco Armiliato.

SEMIRAMIDE (Rossini) - First time in HD
Saturday, March 10, 2018 - 12:55 p.m. ET/ 11:55 a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
Encore: Wednesday, March 14 - 1:00 and 6:30 p.m. local time

Angela Meade makes her Met role debut as the title character in Rossini's Semiramide, which has not been seen at the Met in 25 years. The opera will be conducted by Maurizio Benini and features Elizabeth DeShong as the Commander of the Assyrian army Arsace,Javier Camarena as an Indian king Idreno, Ildar Abdrazakov as the prince Assur, andRyan Speedo Green as the high priest Oroe.

COSÌ FAN TUTTE (Mozart) - New production
Saturday, March 31, 2018 - 12:55 p.m. ET/ 11:55 a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
Encore: Wednesday, April 4 - 1:00 and 6:30 p.m. local time

Phelim McDermott returns to the Met staging Mozart's comedy Così fan tutte, led by David Robertson. Set in the 1950s on Coney Island, the cast features Amanda Majeski as the conflicted Fiordiligi; Serena Malfi as her sister, Dorabella; Tony Award winner Kelli O'Haraas their feisty maid, Despina; Ben Bliss and Adam Plachetka as the sisters' fiancés, Ferrando and Guglielmo; and Christopher Maltman as the cynical Don Alfonso. Così fan tutte is a co-production with the English National Opera.

LUISA MILLER (Verdi) - First time in HD
Saturday, April 14, 2018 - 12:30 p.m. ET/ 11:30 a.m. CT/ 10:30 a.m. MT/ 9:30 a.m. PT
Encore: Wednesday, April 18 - 1:00 and 6:30 p.m. local time

James Levine conducts a revival of Luisa Miller, which has not been seen at the Met since 2006. The opera stars Sonya Yoncheva as a peasant girl Luisa opposite Piotr Beczala as Rodolfo in Verdi's tragedy about a young woman who sacrifices her own happiness in an attempt to save her father's life. The cast also features Plácido Domingo as Luisa's father Miller, with Olesya Petrova as Federica, and Alexander Vinogradov in his Met debut andDmitry Belosselskiy as Walter and Wurm respectively, the ruthless men determined to tear Luisa and Rodolfo apart.

CENDRILLON (Massenet) - Met premiere
Saturday, April 28, 2018 - 12:55 p.m. ET / 11:55 a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
Encore: Wednesday, May 2 - 1:00 and 6:30 p.m. local time

Massenet's enchanting opera Cendrillon, based on Cinderella, premieres at the Met conducted by Bertrand de Billy and directed by Laurent Pelly, whose Met credits include staging Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment and Massenet's Manon. Joyce DiDonato adds another role to her Met repertory as the title character, a role she has sung to acclaim at the Grand Teatre del Liceu, Santa Fe Opera, and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. The cast also stars Alice Coote as Prince Charmant, Stephanie Blythe as the evil stepmother Madame de la Haltière, Kathleen Kim as the Fée, and Laurent Naouri as Pandolfe. Cendrillon is produced in association with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London; Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona; Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie, Brussels; and Opéra de Lille. This production was first performed at The Santa Fe Opera.

For artwork/photos related to The Met: Live in HD 2017-18 season, visit the Fathom Events press site.

About Fathom Events

Fathom Events is recognized as the leading domestic distributor of event cinema with participating affiliate theaters in all 100 of the top Designated Market Areas®, and ranks as one of the largest overall distributors of content to movie theaters. Owned by AMC Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: AMC), Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK) and Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) (known collectively as AC JV, LLC), Fathom Events offers a variety of one-of-a-kind entertainment events such as live, high-definition performances of the Metropolitan Opera, dance and theatre productions like the Bolshoi Ballet and National Theatre Live, sporting events like "Canelo Álvarez vs. Julio César Chávez, Jr.," concerts with artists like Michael Bublé, Rush and Mötley Crüe, the yearlong TCM Big Screen Classics film series, inspirational events such as To Joey With Love and Facing Darkness, and anime titles such as Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Fathom Events takes audiences behind the scenes and offers unique extras including audience Q&As, backstage footage and interviews with cast and crew, creating the ultimate VIP experience. Fathom Events' live digital broadcast network ("DBN") is the largest cinema broadcast network in North America, bringing live and pre-recorded events to 897 locations and 1,387 screens in 181 DMAs. For more information, visitwww.fathomevents.com.

About The Met: Live in HD

The Met: Live in HD series, which now reaches more than 2,000 theaters in over 70 countries, makes the Met the world's leading provider of alternative cinema content and the only arts institution with an ongoing global series of this scale. When the series launched in 2006, the Met was the first arts company to experiment with alternative cinema content. Since then, the program has grown every season, with more than 23 million tickets sold to date.

The Met: Live in HD series has increased accessibility to Met performances for audiences around the world. With a global average ticket price of $23, the series has made world-class performances accessible to millions of opera lovers each season.

Tickets for the 10 transmissions in the 2017-18 Live in HD season will go on sale on July 19, 2017 in the U.S., with Met Members offered priority before tickets are made available to the general public. International dates and details on ordering tickets for the 2017-18 Live in HD series varies from country to country and will be announced separately by individual distributors.

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor, The Neubauer Family Foundation. Digital sponsorship of The Met: Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The HD broadcasts are supported by Toll Brothers.