Kelli O'Hara, Renée Fleming & Joyce DiDonato to Star in World Premiere Staging of THE HOURS at The Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera will present the world-premiere staging of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts's The Hours, November 22-December 15. Adapted from Michael Cunningham's acclaimed novel, this exciting co-commission by the Met marks the highly anticipated return of soprano Renée Fleming, starring alongside actress and singer Kelli O'Hara and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato as the opera's trio of heroines-Clarissa Vaughan, Laura Brown, and Virginia Woolf.

With Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin on the podium for this production by Phelim McDermott, the cast also features mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves as Sally, Clarissa's partner; soprano Kathleen Kim as Barbara and Mrs. Latch; soprano Sylvia D'Eramo as Kitty and Vanessa; countertenor John Holiday as the Man Under the Arch and the Hotel Clerk; bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen as Richard, Clarissa's best friend who is dying from AIDS; tenor William Burden as Louis, Richard's ex-boyfriend; tenor Sean Panikkar as Leonard Woolf, Virginia Woolf's husband; and bass-baritone Brandon Cedel as Dan Brown, Laura Brown's husband.

Inspired by Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, Cunningham's novel was adapted into an Oscar-winning film version starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman. The powerful story takes place in a single day and concerns three women from different eras-Virginia Woolf (DiDonato) in London in 1923, as she struggles to write her masterpiece Mrs. Dalloway; Los Angeles housewife Laura Brown (O'Hara), in 1949, who yearns for an escape from her loving family at the same time as she prepares for her husband's birthday; and, in 1999, editor Clarissa Vaughan (Fleming), a New Yorker haunted by the past as she plans a party to celebrate her closest friend in his final hours.

In addition to McDermott, who received wide acclaim for his staging of Philip Glass's Akhnaten, the creative team includes set and costume director Tom Pye, lighting designer Bruno Poet, projection designer Finn Ross, choreographer Annie-B Parson in her Met debut, and dramaturg Paul Cremo.

Following opening night on November 22, seven additional performances run through December 15. Kensho Watanabe conducts the December 15 performance of The Hours.

The Hours was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The Hours Broadcasts in Cinema, Radio, and Online

The performance of The Hours on Saturday, December 10, will be transmitted live to movie theaters around the globe as part of the Met's Live in HD series.

The November 22 and December 7 and 10 performances of The Hours will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM Channel 355. Audio from the November 22 and December 7 performances will also be streamed live on the Met's website, metopera.org. The December 10 performance will be broadcast over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network, marking the work's network broadcast premiere and the beginning of the 2022-23 season of Saturday Matinee Radio Broadcasts.