Douglas McLennan: February 2007 Archives

A few weeks ago I went to a moviecast of the Metropolitan Opera's "First Emperor" at the local movie theatre here in Seattle. With performing arts organizations everywhere trying to find new ways of appealing to audiences more familiar with video screens than stages, it struck me that the Met has invented a new medium for bringing its work to the masses. It might be the biggest innovation in opera since the supertitle. You can read the piece here.

It's not just that the Met is broadcasting a performance (that's been happening for years). But the visual language of this movie theatre production was very different from the one experienced on the Met stage in New York. One can imagine that with the possibility of an audience of tens of thousands for a performance, the primary product might ultimately be the moviecast rather than the stage performance.

I'm not, by the way, saying the moviecast is better than the stage performance. Just different. And not second best. Indeed, if the moviecasts prove very popular, they could build a bigger fan base for the live theatre version.
Indeed, the