There was a time when entire operas traveled by train. San Francisco Opera toured up and down the West Coast, priming attendees and paving the way for local companies to take root. Before the Metropolitan Opera launched its HD broadcasts, the company physically toured its productions to different cities like Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and elsewhere. “When the Met stopped touring, the local companies expanded,” said celebrated baritone Sherrill Milnes, who toured often with the Met, in a 2021 oral history interview with OPERA America. (The Met stopped touring in 1986.) “Once the Met wasn’t a possibility, residents supported the local company, and that was healthy.”