Tri-state opera lovers -- the wait is over.
Kerasotes, the movie company that purchased Star Cinema's Dubuque location, will be adding the critically acclaimed Metropolitan Opera HD series to its roster.
It will offer area residents the best seat in the house for a night of high drama and high notes transmitted from the genre's most widely known stage at New York's Lincoln Center.
Through the magic of 10 video cameras, patrons will be able to see (and hear) a live, high-definition performance transmission of an opera in full. They also can experience a close look at the characters, the costuming, the set, the lighting and a special glimpse behind the curtain, with in-depth interviews during intermission.
The Live Opening Night Gala will be transmitted Sept. 22, under the baton of conductor James Levine and featured soprano Renee Fleming.
"It's one of the biggest spectacles ever to be seen on the big screen," said Michelle Portillo, of National CineMedia, a company that has partnered with the Met to bring the HD series to the silver screen.
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Tickets: $22 adults; $20 seniors; $18 students; $15 children; $18 all seats for encore performances A Night at the Opera Sept. 22: Live Opening Night Gala, featuring Renee Fleming, soprano; "La Traviata" (Act II); "Manon" (Act III); and "Capriccio" (Final Scene) Oct. 11: "Salome" Oct. 22: Salome" encore Nov. 8: "Doctor Atomic" Nov. 19: "Doctor Atomic" encore Nov. 22: "La Damnation de Faust" Dec. 3: "La Damnation de Faust" encore Dec. 20: "Thais" Jan. 7: "Thais" encore Jan. 10: "La Rondine" J an. 21: "La Rondine" encore Jan. 24: "Orfeo ed Euridice" Feb. 4: "Orfeo ed Euridice" encore Feb. 7: "Lucia di Lammermoor" Feb. 18: "Lucia di Lammermoor" encore March 7: "Madama Butterfly" March 18: "Madama Butterfly" encore March 21: "La Sonnambula" April 1: "La Sonnambula" encore May 9: "La Cenerentola" May 20: "Le Cenerentola" encore |
The series, broadcasting to approximately 800 theaters in 30 countries, is in its third season.
This year, due to popular demand, the Met has expanded to present 11 transmissions -- up from eight. The HD productions will be seen in 440 U.S. cinemas, including Kerasotes theaters in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana and Colorado.
The transmissions, like live opera, can last anywhere between two to five hours, depending on the production. But for the diehard opera fan, that's nothing, and Portillo said people are making a day of it.
"I think everyone is a little surprised that this has been as successful as it has become," Portillo said. "But there are opera lovers across the country, and they like their Met fix."
National CineMedia's Dan Diamond said that while the success of the series doesn't surprise him due to the company's gold-standard of in-theater events, the level of interest it has generated in arts communities has.
"Opera fans are passionate, and they aren't just in New York, but across the country," he said. "The Metropolitan Opera is regarded as being the highest standard for opera in the world and our standard is to present the highest standard of innovative theater-going experiences. Together, that makes a recipe for success.
"The great thing about the Metropolitan Opera HD series is that it's a way for core opera fans and even fringe opera fans to have an opportunity to gather as a community and affordably see a performance of an opera as it's occurring on the Lincoln Center stage in their local theater."
"It has generated an even greater interest in opera," Diamond said. "Even fringe fans, who are just on the cusp of becoming full-fledged fanatics, are leaving the movie theater wanting to check out live opera in their communities."
Julie Borchard-Young, the director of worldwide HD distribution at the Metropolitan Opera, said the response to the series has been overwhelming.
Discussions about a Metropolitan Opera HD series began in 2002, after CineMedia partnered with movie theaters to bring them a live David Bowe event. Eventually, murmurs began growing to a rousing crescendo about incorporating Metropolitan Opera productions.
"I think this series is a unique opportunity for opera fans to have an even greater accessibility to experiencing what is considered to be the very best in opera through the Met," Diamond said. "The great thing about this coming to areas like Dubuque is that opera fans exist there. They exist everywhere. They just don't always have such readily available access to this kind of thing. With programs like this, we are very eager to change that."
