Philadelphia’s Old Metropolitan Opera House To Reopen (Though Not For Opera)

The 4,000-seat theater was built in 1908 by Oscar Hammerstein I (grandfather of the Broadway lyricist) on what is now a gentrifying section of North Broad Street; it served as a cinema, ballroom, circus, and church before being abandoned a number of years ago. Now a real estate developer is renovating the Met and has signed Live Nation to operate it as a performance venue.