Metropolitan Opera Announces Cast ‘Adjustments’ to ‘Fire Shut Up in My Bones’ & ‘Boris Godunov’

By Francisco Salazar
(Credit: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera)

The Metropolitan Opera has made adjustments to its casting of upcoming productions due to its vaccine mandate.

In a New York Times article, the company noted that due to its policy of no children under 12 allowed into the auditorium it has recast two roles for its production of “Boris Godunov” and “Fire Shut up in Bones.”

For “Boris Godunov,” which is scheduled to open on Sept. 28, the Met has replaced part sung by a boy soprano with an adult mezzo-soprano. Meanwhile, for the opening night production of “Fire Shut up in my Bones,” a 13-year-old, Walter Russell III, will play the role of young Charles Bow, who is supposed to be 7.

The company announced a vaccine mandate earlier this year in order to stop the spread of COVID and for a full auditorium to be allowed. That mandate noted that “Children under the age of 12, for whom there is no currently available vaccine, will not be permitted to enter the Met regardless of the vaccination status of their guardians.”

However, it noted that as soon as children under the age of 12 became eligible to receive a vaccine, fully vaccinated children would be welcomed back to the Met.

The company has turned a special patron’s entrance area into a testing center where those in rehearsals must get saliva collection tests twice a week. The company will also keep audience members apart from the performers by blocking off the first two rows of seats in the auditorium through the end of the year.

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