Auditioning for a place on stage is nothing new: only by showing ability, skill and acting talent do performers get past the selection round. But at a famous opera stage in New York, a strange twist has been added to that familiar picture. One of the contestants who turned up to audition for a part was one nobody might have imagined, because it was not a human but a snake.

After taking part in the selection with other snakes, a boa constrictor named Princess finally won her place. The reptile will be seen by audiences in a new staging of Mozart's famous opera Cosi fan tutte.

The production is due to run at the Metropolitan Opera in New York from 23 September to 23 October 2026.

The snake audition was held at the Metropolitan Opera on 28 August. Several snakes were tested one by one before Princess was chosen. An animal's behaviour, size and colour on stage, and how well it copes with the performers, are important, and these were all considered in choosing her.

The new production is built around a 1950s carnival at Coney Island in New York, with colourful sets and various sideshow acts. The snake's role is part of that sideshow.

Joe Ziegfeld, who is in charge of the snake's care, tested the snakes one by one at the audition. He let them climb onto his body and wrap themselves around him, then lifted them above his head to see how they behaved under the bright stage lights. He also checked whether they were comfortable with people and with the work they would have to do on stage.

After the audition, Princess, a fairly large yellow-orange boa constrictor, was chosen. Ziegfeld said they would go ahead with Princess on a trial basis for rehearsals, adding that the trial was not to test her ability but his own. A slightly smaller brown boa constrictor named Nala has been kept as her understudy.

Ziegfeld also has experience of snake shows at the Coney Island carnival, where for several seasons he performed up to eight snake shows a day. At an earlier Metropolitan Opera audition, where live snakes were not allowed, he showed videos of his snake acts and also performed a "human blockhead" act.

In the original story of Cosi fan tutte, written by Mozart in 1790, two Italian soldiers pretend to go off to war to test their sweethearts' fidelity, then return in disguise and try to seduce each other's lovers. The new staging keeps the basic structure but moves the time and setting to a 1950s Coney Island carnival, and Princess will appear as part of its sideshow.

The report was based on AP.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.