Des Moines, IA—Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) and the Des Moines Film are pleased to announce a new partnership bringing The Met: Live in HD series to the historic Varsity Cinema beginning with Puccini’s La Bohème, November 8, 2025. 

The Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live, high-definition cinema transmissions brings the best of the Met’s stage directly to movie theaters across the globe. While Des Moines audiences have previously enjoyed The Met: Live in HD, this marks the first time the acclaimed series will be shown at the Varsity Cinema, expanding local access to world-class opera in a beloved nonprofit art house cinema. 

A New Opera Experience in a Historic Setting 

This season’s lineup features ten spectacular productions from November through May, offering audiences a front-row seat to the Met’s biggest stars, most celebrated conductors, and breathtaking new productions. 

 

The season launches with Puccini’s La Bohème on Saturday, November 8 at noon (CT), the world’s most beloved opera about young artists navigating love, loss and life in Paris in the early 1800s. Other highlights include the world premiere of Bates/Scheer’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Massenet’s Cinderella, Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Frank/Cruz’s El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego. To view the full schedule, click HERE. 

 

Tickets are $25 for adults and $22 for students and seniors. Screenings take place Saturdays at noon at the Varsity. Advance ticket purchase is encouraged. For more information about the screenings please visit Varsity Cinema’s website HERE.  A representative from Des Moines Metro Opera will be present 30 minutes before each screening to share background on the opera, answer questions, and connect with patrons. 

 

A Partnership Rooted in the Arts  This collaboration between Des Moines Metro Opera and Des Moines Film builds on a growing relationship between the two organizations that began in December 2024 with a sold-out screening of Maria, the acclaimed film about opera legend Maria Callas, followed by two screenings of Gordon Getty’s opera made for film Goodbye, Mr. Chips during DMMO’s 2025 Festival Season. Building on that success, both organizations look forward to expanding their partnership in the seasons ahead, offering even more opportunities for audiences to experience opera and opera-inspired films on the big screen. 

About the Varsity Cinema 
The Varsity Cinema, operated by the nonprofit Des Moines Film, provides a home for the Des Moines film community—both film lovers and aspiring filmmakers—to connect face-to-face, highlight diverse voices and challenging topics, and provide a space for deeper engagement. Varsity Cinema also acts as an inclusive space that sparks discussion and meaningful dialogue—where the broader community can experience new, sometimes challenging, ideas on screen. 

About Des Moines Metro Opera 
Lauded by The New York Times in 2025 as “one of the country’s most successful smaller companies,” Des Moines Metro Opera is a professional opera company based in Indianola, Iowa, presenting more than 100 performances annually across the state. Founded in 1973, DMMO is one of the largest performing arts organizations in the region. 

The 2026 Festival Season runs June 26–July 19, featuring Puccini’s Tosca, Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men and Karol Szymanowski’s King Roger. 
Learn more at dmmo.org.  

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