Editing Metropolitan Opera House (section)

== Design ==

William McElfatrick, a prolific theater architect who designed over 400 venues across North America, created the Metropolitan Opera House as one of the largest and most elaborate theaters in the country. The auditorium, with approximately 4,000 seats arranged in orchestra, balcony, and gallery levels, approaches the scale of European opera houses while exceeding most American venues of any era. The interior features elaborate gilded ornament, a massive chandelier, and decorative painting that creates an environment of theatrical splendor appropriate to the performances it was designed to host.<ref name="glazer">{{cite book |last=Glazer |first=Irvin |title=Philadelphia Theatres: A Pictorial Architectural History |year=1994 |publisher=Dover Publications |location=New York}}</ref>

The exterior presents an ornate facade to North Broad Street, though the building's architectural impact derives primarily from its interior volume and decoration. The structure's steel frame and load-bearing masonry enabled the vast interior spaces that distinguish the Metropolitan from smaller contemporary theaters. The stage house, with its fly tower and backstage facilities, could accommodate the elaborate productions that opera required. The building's construction represented significant investment in North Philadelphia's cultural infrastructure during the area's prosperous decades.<ref name="gallery"/>