He remained at the Met for the next 8 year, notably creating the role of Blenner Hassett in the world premiere of Walter Damrosch's The Man Without a Country on May 12, 1937 and portraying Gherardi in the United States premiere of Richard Hageman's Caponsacchi on February 4, 1937.
While a young actor in New York City, Schnitzer appeared in or helped manage The Brothers Karamazov, Hamlet, An Enemy of the People, Richelieu, Henry V, Richard III, Caponsacchi, Macbeth, and Cyrano de Bergerac.