Music: Fledermaus on Tour

The biggest box-office hit of the Metropolitan Opera season (16 sellout performances so far) is the Met’s bubbly production of Fledermaus. Last week General Manager Rudolf Bing announced that Fledermaus will be hitting the road next fall and winter in a coast-to-coast, 30-week tour of some 40 cities. Object: added revenue for the Met both in box-office receipts and increased royalties from promotion of the Met recording of Fledermaus for Columbia Records. Said Bing: “It’s all in line with our new slogan, ‘The Met Helps Itself.’ “