Met Opera offers free tickets to federal employees

NEW YORK – Federal government employees affected by the government shutdown can get some free entertainment in New York.

The Metropolitan Opera says it is offering free tickets to people with government IDs from Saturday through the end of the month. A pair of tickets per performance can be reserved in advance by telephone or in person at the Met box office.

Twelve performances are available: for Bizet’s “Carmen,” Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” Debussy’s “Pelleas et Melisande,” Cilea’s “Adriana Lecouvreur” and a double bill of Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta” and Bartok’s “Bluebeard’s Castle.”