“The Philly Pops Monday announced more shows at the Met Philadelphia,” writes Peter Dobrin in Monday’s (5/6) Philadelphia Inquirer. “The Pops anticipates performing at the North Broad Street venue about a dozen times over the next two years, said Pops president and CEO Frank Giordano…. The Pops will continue its main series at the Kimmel Center, but in February announced the start of its relationship with the Met and operator Live Nation with a Freddie Mercury tribute this November. Now, the Pops [is] moving two of its Christmas shows with singer Mandy Gonzalez from the Kimmel to the Met…. The amenities at the Met are attractive because they allow the Pops to entertain donors, said Giordano.… The Pops is also planning two screenings of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas … with the Pops playing the score live…. The Met opera house was built by Oscar Hammerstein I, grandfather of Oscar Hammerstein II, the Richard Rodgers collaborator on shows like The Sound of Music and The King and I. The facility … was recently renovated and, in December, re-opened as a concert venue for pop and commercial acts.” The Met Philadelphia has 3,200 seats; the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall can seat 2,500.
Posted May 7, 2019
