Palmer was part of a uniformly strong cast the Met assembled for this revival of the classic John Dexter production, first seen in 1977 and absent from the stage for a decade.

WSJ: Review: Stirring revival of Poulenc opera at Met

That's the question composer Jason Robert Brown explores in "The Last Five Years, " which opened Tuesday in a poignant revival at the Second Stage Theatre, a decade after its first off-Broadway run.

WSJ: Review: 'Last Five Years' gets a poignant revival

Add to that the fact that New Orleans will be front and center on the world stage for much of the next decade, hosting a series of national and international sporting events, including Super Bowl XLVII in 2013, back-to-back NCAA Men's and Women's Final Fours, and the Bowl Championship Series National Championship in 2012, among many others.

CNN: New Orleans is storming back