The Right Rev. Clifton Daniel is a superfan of the Metropolitan Opera.

"I love the sound, the music of it," he said. "But more than that, I love the complexity that's behind it."

Since moving here two years ago to become dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, he has attended several performances at Lincoln Center during his spare time. But as he sat in the audience, Dean Daniel, as he is known, nursed a dream: he hoped that one day he could actually appear on stage, a pipe dream for someone who loves Verdi but doesn't have the pipes of Pavarotti.

But remarkably, Dean Daniel's prayers were answered.

"Never in a million years did I ever think I'd be on the stage at the Met. Ever. For any reason," said Dean Daniel. "Except maybe to sweep up after a performance, but even that was a reach."

It all came about after Dean Daniel met famed opera singer Gerald Finley at a dinner and told him of his dream. One thing led to another and soon Dean Daniel got a call from the Met offering him the opportunity to appear on stage.

Earlier this month, Dean Daniel went to the Met, picked up a costume and fulfilled his dream. No rehearsal time was needed.

At the final performance ever of the Met's long-running production of Aida, there he was, stage left, during the famous Triumphal March that opens the Second Act.

He did not sing, but it did not matter. When Dean Daniel stepped down from the stage, the 71-year-old was ecstatic. He had just checked off perhaps the biggest item on his bucket list.

"To stand up there and to look down on the stage, to see all the action, to hear music and all that energy being pushed off that stage into the crowd, it was exhilarating," Dean Daniel said.

A night at the opera that a big opera fan will never forget.