In the world of top-tier opera, talent is pretty much a given. But French soprano Natalie Dessay has something more unusual: box office cred. Or at least that's the hope of Peter Gelb, the general manager of New York's Metropolitan Opera, who lately has been relying on the 42-year-old Dessay to help recast the Met's stodgy image—and pump up its ticket sales. So far, Dessay has done well for him: All 12 performances of her Lucia di Lammermoor sold out in the 2007–2008 season, in part because Gelb plastered dramatic images of the singer all over New York buses and billboards. (The slogan for the $500,000 campaign advertising the Metropolitan's fall 2007 lineup read "You'd be mad to miss it.")

Dessay is back this month in the comic opera La Fille du Régiment—a production that was already standing-room-only back in February. Ticket buyers' enthusiasm for Dessay's performance places La Fille du Régiment well ahead of the Metropolitan's other productions this season; about half of the opera's 113 fall performances sold out, with the house selling at 88 percent capacity on average.

The story of an orphan (Dessay) who is adopted by an army regiment, Fille began its current incarnation at London's Royal Opera House last winter, where director Laurent Pelly's staging received raves. But it was Dessay the critics homed in on, praising the intensity of her acting. That quality has catapulted Dessay—who was born Nathalie but dropped the h in homage to actress Natalie Wood—into the ranks of the Met's highest-paid performers. She now makes $15,000 a performance, just like her co-divas Renée Fleming and Anna Netrebko. (Read more about Fleming, Netrebko, and other opera singers who command thousands.) One difference is that those singers already have endorsement deals with companies such as Rolex and jewelrymaker Chopard. Although Dessay has yet to sign a similar contract, her hopes are up. "Oh yes, I want to do Rolex," she says. "But what I'd really like to do is a commercial with George Clooney!"