Meet the carnival performer-turned-opera actor in charge of auditioning snakes for a Mozart adaptation. ‘We will be moving forward with Princess’

Pretty much everyone on stage at the Metropolitan Opera in New York must audition — even the snake who will briefly take center stage in an upcoming adaptation of a Mozart classic.

In charge of deciding who gets the s-s-s-s-starring reptilian role is Zoe Ziegfeld, a carnival performer-turned-opera actor cast as the snake handler in the Met’s version of “Così fan tutte,” inspired by Coney Island in the 1950s.

Ziegfeld takes each snake, lets it slither and wrap around, then hoists the animal over their head, rehearsing what they will do under the bright lights at center stage for each performance. Ziegfeld looks each one in the eye, almost face-to-face as they evaluate the snake’s demeanor.

“I need to know that the animal is comfortable with people and with what we are doing,” Ziegfeld said.

Princess slithers into her big role

In the cold-blooded competition, a boa........

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