carnzee said: "It's an opera, meaning fully sung through."
You mean unlike CARMEN, PORGY AND BESS and THE MAGIC FLUTE? Not to mention STREET SCENE, CANDIDE and the full-size SWEENEY TODD, which are done almost exclusively in opera houses nowadays. Then there are THREEPENNY OPERA and RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY, and everything by Gilbert and Sullivan, all of which were considered "operas" by their creators.
Yes, I know some of the above have been done with spoken scenes sung as recitative, but the point remains that whether a piece is "fully sung-through" is a poor indicator of whether it is an "opera".
I attended the premiere on Friday night and am a pretty frequent Met attendee. I thought it was a departure from the usual Met productions and I enjoyed that. It was all sung.
What I liked: the costumes and color palette (very 1950s Mad Men esq.), the mystery/suspense, the story, Isabel Leonard, the images used in the set - it was primarily all projected/on screens, sort of like Mean Girls or DEH, except the Met had multiple layers of screen.
What I didn't like: the score - it wasn't particularly memorable or appealing to my ear. I also didn't like the contra tenor - probably not the singer's fault, I just didn't like the role/music/tone for the character.
It's one intermission - so it was about one hour, 30 min intermission, one hour. Not too long. I think it's different and that's worth seeing. It's not something I would highly recommend for everyone and I don't plan to go again, but I enjoyed seeing the Met do something unique that wasn't barren (a la Elektra) or gimmicky (L'Amour de Loin). It did feel a little more musical theatre esq. to me than the typical opera.
If you are considering it I would go, especially if you can get a $25 rush ticket.
Incidentally, there was quite the crowd on Friday. A fun highlight was dining near Tippi Hedren during intermission at the Grand Tier.
No - Met rush tickets are sold online. Be sure to be on the page, logged in and refresh exactly at 12 noon on weekday or whatever time the rushes was for the 2 Saturday shows.
It's pretty easy - suggest you check it out for a performance before the one you are targeting so you can give it a whirl.