Metropolitan Opening Lyrics — As Thousands Cheer
Metropolitan Opening Lyrics
And what are we doing here?
Wait and see
We're going to make it clear
We're the new millionaires who will sit in the chairs
That were once occupied by the old millionaires
Where are they
The people who had the cash?
They can't pay
They lost it all in the crash
Their sables and their foxes have all been put in pawn
So we bought up their boxes for the opera must go on
And instead of Mister Belmont, Mister Gould, and Mister Kahn
There's Mister Reuben, a Cuban who runs a delicatessen store
The man which a sandwich made famous
And there is Mister Klein, you've seen the sign on Union Square
The women's wear he sells made him a millionaire
And a first-night patron of the opera
The most expensive box was bought by William Fox
A fella named Nat Lewis who deals in ties and socks
Will occupy the chair a Vanderbilt sat upon
He'll be there to help them all carry on
Those gentlemen who force you to buy their Scotch and rye
Are in the diamond horse-shoe, would you like to know just why?
It seems a large delegation couldn't get a donation from Otto Kahn
And so the racket said we will back it
They came across because the opera must go on
Song Overview
Review and Highlights
Quick summary
- Work: As Thousands Cheer (1933), a Broadway newspaper revue with sketches by Moss Hart and songs by Irving Berlin.
- Function: Act II opener, built as a scene at the Metropolitan Opera where money and status get rewritten in real time.
- What it is: A crisp, character-forward patter piece that sets up the famous Act II pivot into "Supper Time."
- Modern reference: Documented on the 1998 New York revival cast recording and licensed track lists.
As Thousands Cheer (1933) - stage revue - non-diegetic. This number is a society-page snapshot with a Depression-era crack running right down the middle. You walk into the opera expecting velvet certainty, and Berlin immediately points out the new seating chart: old money has been shaken loose, and the replacements are not pretending otherwise. The humor lands because it is practical. Nobody is making a grand speech. They are just explaining who is in the boxes now and why the whole show must keep going.
The best part is the rhythm of social replacement. The lyric tosses names and places like cocktail chatter, but the subtext is cold: prestige survives, patrons do not. There is a bite behind the grin, and it comes out in the way the lines move quickly, as if the characters are racing ahead of embarrassment. According to Concord Theatricals track listings, the cast album also pairs this opener with a follow-up cue ("Metropolitan Opens in Old-Time Splendor"), which fits how the scene plays: introduction, then the bigger tableau.
- Key takeaways:
- Play it like conversation with perfect timing, not like a big belt moment.
- Let the comedy live in diction and pauses, because the lines are built like punchy headlines.
- The scene matters because it sets up the emotional whiplash of the next major Act II number.
Creation History
As Thousands Cheer opened at the Music Box Theatre on September 30, 1933, using newspaper headlines to trigger staged scenes. "Metropolitan Opening" is documented in archival listings as "Opening scene, Act II," and it survives in multiple working materials, including lyric sheets and piano-score drafts. In modern circulation, the 1998 New York revival cast recording preserves it as an audible scene-starter rather than a standalone standard, which is exactly how it behaves in the show.
Song Meaning and Annotations
Plot
Act II opens at the Metropolitan Opera. The scene introduces who is in the house, who is not, and how the crash reshuffled the room. Characters narrate the box culture like a guide to a changing city: the ritual stays, but the names on the placards have changed. The opera must go on, and the joke is that everyone knows it is also a business.
Song Meaning
The song is about prestige under pressure. It turns opera opening night into a scoreboard: who still has money, who lost it, and who found a way to buy the old symbols anyway. The mood is jaunty, but the meaning is blunt. Social status is not a personality trait. It is a seat you can lose, and sometimes a seat you can buy right after someone else drops it.
Annotations
"Metropolitan opening - Alternate title: Opening scene, Act II."
Archival finding aid note
This line is a staging instruction disguised as a catalog entry. It confirms the number is not an optional extra, it is the door you walk through when the second act begins.
"Sequence includes song 'Metropolitan Opening'."
Scene breakdown summary
This is the show’s newspaper trick in miniature: a headline-like frame becomes a playable scene, with the song acting like narration that also supplies the punch lines.
"Supper Time ... followed 'Metropolitan Opening' a sketch about the economic woes of patrons at New York's Metropolitan Opera during the Great Depression."
Historical context summary
That placement is crucial. The show deliberately moves from satirical wealth anxiety into a devastating piece about racial violence. The opener is there to establish the room, then the revue takes the floor out from under you.
Style, rhythm, and cultural touchpoints
Musically, it sits in comic patter territory: brisk pulse, speech-led stresses, and enough melodic shape to keep it from sounding like plain dialogue. The cultural touchpoint is the Metropolitan Opera as a public marker of money and taste. By placing the Act II opener there, the revue makes a point about what society chooses to protect in a crisis: institutions and appearances, even when people are being replaced seat by seat.
Technical Information (Quick Facts)
- Song: Metropolitan Opening
- Artist: As Thousands Cheer cast (notably documented on the 1998 New York revival cast recording)
- Featured: Company and featured scene roles (varies by production)
- Composer: Irving Berlin
- Producer: Bruce Kimmel (1998 cast recording production credit in release metadata)
- Release Date: September 30, 1933 (show opening date context); January 1, 1998 (cast album metadata date on major platforms)
- Genre: Musical theatre, comic patter
- Instruments: Theatre orchestra (arrangements vary)
- Label: Concord Theatricals (distribution metadata for the 1998 cast album)
- Mood: Satirical, brisk, society-page sparkle with bite
- Length: About 2:03 (1998 cast album track listing)
- Track #: Listed as a mid-album track on the 1998 cast recording (track order varies slightly by listing)
- Language: English
- Album (if any): As Thousands Cheer (1998 Off-Broadway Cast Recording)
- Music style: Act opener scene number designed for quick exposition and ensemble timing
- Poetic meter: Accentual, speech-led phrasing with patter cadences
Frequently Asked Questions
- Where does "Metropolitan Opening" sit in the show?
- It is documented as the opening scene of Act II, setting the location and tone before the next major sequence.
- Is it a standalone standard like "Heat Wave" or "Easter Parade"?
- No. It functions more as scene machinery: a witty setup number that frames a sketch rather than aiming to become a pop hit.
- What is the scene about?
- The number satirizes opening night at the Metropolitan Opera, focusing on how wealth and status shifted during the Great Depression.
- Why does the opera setting matter?
- The Met reads instantly as a symbol of public prestige. The song uses that symbol to show how quickly the people behind the prestige can change.
- Is there a reliable recording?
- Yes. The 1998 New York revival cast recording and major streaming listings include the track.
- Does it connect to "Supper Time" in any way?
- Yes, in sequence. Historical notes describe "Supper Time" as following this opera sketch, creating a deliberate contrast between satirical society life and a tragic headline.
- What performance style works best?
- Clean diction, quick reaction timing, and a tone that feels like polished chatter with a sharp edge underneath.
- Is the full lyric widely published online?
- Partial lyric transcriptions circulate, but the most dependable context comes from archival listings and licensed show materials.
Additional Info
The archival breadcrumb is unusually explicit: the Library of Congress finding aid lists "Metropolitan opening" with the alternate title "Opening scene, Act II," plus manuscript piano score pages, sketches, and lyric sheets. That kind of paper trail suggests a number that was rehearsed and shaped for stage clarity, not tossed off at the last minute. It also fits the show’s larger method: make the audience laugh, then turn the page to something that hurts.
For a modern listener, the easiest entry is the 1998 revival album track. Streaming listings also hint at how the Act II section was packaged for recording, pairing the opener with a follow-on cue that keeps the scene moving. As stated in Concord Theatricals show materials, the revue is still licensed as a compact satirical piece, which is why these functional scene numbers matter. They are the gears that make the headline machine run.
Key Contributors
| Entity | Type | Relationship (S - V - O) |
|---|---|---|
| Irving Berlin | Person | Berlin wrote the music and lyrics for the Act II opener. |
| Moss Hart | Person | Hart wrote the sketches that frame the newspaper-style scenes. |
| As Thousands Cheer | Work | The revue contains "Metropolitan Opening" as the opening scene of Act II. |
| Library of Congress | Organization | The library catalogs multiple draft materials for the number in the Irving Berlin Collection. |
| Concord Theatricals | Organization | Concord publishes licensing materials and track listings for the show and cast album. |
| Music Box Theatre | Venue | The venue hosted the Broadway opening of the revue in 1933. |
| Metropolitan Opera | Venue | The opera house is the in-scene setting for the Act II opener. |
| Bruce Kimmel | Person | Kimmel is credited as producer for the 1998 cast recording release metadata. |
Sources
Sources: Library of Congress Irving Berlin Collection finding aid, Concord Theatricals As Thousands Cheer show page, Spotify track listing for "Metropolitan Opening," YouTube auto-generated track upload, Wikipedia entry for Supper Time, Bruxellons As Thousands Cheer scene breakdown, Discogs 1998 cast recording release listing, Apple Music As Thousands Cheer (1998 Off-Broadway Cast Recording) listing.