The Metropolitan Opera in New York City, known for its world-class performances, is preparing for a unique adaptation of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Così fan tutte. This version is set in a 1950s Coney Island carnival and features a snake handler named Zoe Ziegfeld, who has performed the role multiple times. Ziegfeld, a former carnival performer turned opera actor, is responsible for selecting the snake that will take center stage. The process involves auditions for the animals, much like those for human performers. During the auditions, Ziegfeld evaluates the snakes by allowing them to move around her, wrapping around her body, and rehearsing the movements they will perform under the bright stage lights. She looks each snake in the eye, nearly face-to-face, to gauge their comfort level with people and the performance. “I need to know that the animal is comfortable with people and with what we are doing,” Ziegfeld said. A boa constrictor named Princess, described as a large, sun-glow yellow-peach colored snake, won the audition. She was chosen for her visual impact and size on stage. Ziegfeld noted that the trial period is more about testing her ability to handle the snake rather than the snake’s performance. A slightly smaller brown boa constrictor named Nala, from a second audition, will serve as Princess’s understudy. Ziegfeld has experience with snakes from her time working at Coney Island, where she performed up to eight snake-charming shows a day. When she first auditioned for the Met several years ago, live snakes weren’t allowed in the audition space. Instead, she showed a video of her act and demonstrated her carnival skills with a performance called the Human Blockhead, where she inserted a nail into her own nasal cavity. The snakes for the audition were provided by Nancy Novograd and her company, All Tame Animals. Novograd got her start in the industry when her horse appeared in a production of Carmen at the Met. Now, her company supplies the opera house with a wide range of animals, from elephants to insects. Novograd emphasized that animals, like human performers, must have the right personality, size, and color to fit the role. “They have to get along with the talent,” she said. “So in this case, they have to be the right color, size, and Zoe has to like them.”