Bartlett Sher's staging of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette returns to the Metropolitan Opera for seven shows starting March 7, featuring a stellar cast of performers debuting their roles at the Met. Nadine Sierra, praised for her "crystalline" and "bright" voice by The Wall Street Journal, and tenor Benjamin Bernheim, hailed by The New York Times for his thrilling sound, portray the iconic star-crossed lovers in Gounod's operatic adaptation of Shakespeare's tragic tale for the first time on the Met stage. Sierra, known for her previous role as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata, makes a comeback, while Bernheim, acclaimed for his performance as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto, returns to the Met with his powerful lyric tenor.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Met's Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, conducts the romantic score. The production also stars Samantha Hankey as Stéphano and Will Liverman as Mercutio. Hankey, who impressed as Octavian in Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, and Liverman, known for his role as Malcolm in Anthony Davis's X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, enhance the production with their remarkable talents. Additionally, Frederick Ballentine appears as Tybalt and Alfred Walker as Frère Laurent.

Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, premiered by the Met in 1884, has seen 349 performances at the opera house. Sher's production debuted in 2016 and features creative contributions from set designer Michael Yeargan, costume designer Catherine Zuber, lighting designer Jennifer Tipton, choreographer Chase Brock, and fight director B. H. Barry.

The Met's Fridays Under 40 series continues on March 15 with a pre-performance party for Roméo et Juliette attendees aged 40 and under, offering discounted tickets and themed activities. Additionally, the March 23 matinee performance will be broadcast live to cinemas worldwide as part of the Met's Live in HD series.

Radio broadcasts of Roméo et Juliette will air on Metropolitan Opera Radio via the SiriusXM app on March 7 and 23. The March 23 performance will also be broadcast on The Robert K. Johnson Foundation–Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network, while audio from the March 7 show will be streamed live on the Met's website, metopera.org.