Lansing Theaters Attract New Big-Screen Opera Format From California

The San Francisco Opera Company is trying its hardest to make opera accessible for the country’s younger audience by putting it on the big screen. The company recently announced that Lansing’s NCG Theaters will be one of only 120 theaters showing the new art form.

According to excerpts from the article:

The opera company is producing four operas from live performances in a digital format complete with surround sound stereo, with the full splendor and quality of a theatrical movie.

"We (filmed) three live performances of each opera, then edited, re-mixed and color-corrected to produce a crystal-clear digital movie of the operas," said Jessica Koplos, director of electronic media for the opera company. "This has never been done before. "

The series will open with Giovanni Puccini's "La Rondine," on-screen Saturday through Tuesday at NCG.

Koplos said up to 10 cameras were used to record the performances - and no body mikes. "We wanted the full ambiance of the theater," Koplos said. "If your ears are sharp, you'll hear pages turning in the orchestra pit and shoes clicking on the stage."

The operas are sent out to the theaters on an encoded hard drive. The Bigger Picture, the company working with the San Francisco Opera, requires the theaters be outfitted for digital movies. "Michigan is one of the most digitized states in the U.S.," said Michelle Martell, an officer with The Bigger Picture.

The operas will be shown in March and April and were recorded from operas performed earlier this season. Koplos says that the traditional stage direction was not altered in any way to conform to the camera work. "You're going to see the opera just as it was performed in our opera house."

Read the entire article here.