Opera in D-Cinema: Does it Whet the Appetite?

I thought this was a really interesting piece in yesterday's Boston Globe, focusing on the success of live opera distributed to digital cinemas.

Jeremy Eichler writes:

Two years ago, opera simulcasts in movie theaters did not exist; today they are wildly popular. What only recently seemed like a novel, vaguely exotic cultural activity has for many become a familiar ritual on the local musical calendar.

Yet beyond the excitement it has generated, this new wave of high-tech cultural populism is also transforming the ecology of opera in Boston, where the two main companies offering live performances - Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Boston - must now grapple with what it means to have the Met juggernaut landing right next door.

There is no mistaking its momentum. Back in December 2006, only one local theater - in Framingham - screened the first Met simulcast. Last year, the number of greater Boston theaters carrying the broadcasts was up to seven, with 21,000 tickets sold. (By comparison, the combined attendance for all 18 of the Boston Lyric Opera's mainstage performances last season was about 24,000.)

This season, three new theaters in Boston have decided to begin playing opera. Eichler asks how all this is affecting the city's opera companies... and whether it is creating new fans.

Wednesday linkage: iTunes movie rentals, more opera on digital screens, 'Honeydripper' Q&A

- An Apple analyst suggests that the company may start renting movies on iTunes in 2008, and perhaps even delivering them directly to an AppleTV.

- Following the lead of the Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera is going to start transmitting pre-recorded operas to about 200 digital cinemas, starting in March. The plan is to do six a year. (The Met, by contrast, does live broadcasts to cinemas.)

- Jane Green of the blog Film Publicity Help has a Q&A with Maggie Renzi and John Sayles, who talk about the marketing and distribution of their latest film, 'Honeydripper.'

Quick links: Digital opera a hit ... Seinfeld and Variety at Cannes

- Digitally-projected simulcasts of operas from the Met have been a hit, according to today's NY Times. Daniel Wakin writes:

This season the Met simulcast six operas live to movie theaters across the United States, Canada and a handful of other countries and added repeats (“Encores,” in its marketing language). For the first live show, “The Magic Flute” on Dec. 30, about 21,000 people watched in front of 98 screens. For the last, “Il Trittico” on April 28, 48,000 people watched in front of 248 screens.

In all, the Met sold 324,000 tickets worldwide at $18 each in the United States and more overseas, taking 50 percent of the proceeds and earning at least $3 million, as well as additional income from the sale of rights. Each simulcast cost $850,000 to $1 million to make. The Met had to use about $1 million in endowment money to make up the costs, but Mr. Gelb said that next year expanded showings and the sales of rights and DVDs should mean that the program will at least pay for itself, with a surplus likely.

- From Cannes, a fun LA Times piece about Jerry Seinfeld promoting DreamWorks Animation's 'Bee Movie,' out this November.

- And also from Cannes, some pre-game video analysis from Variety editor-in-chief Peter Bart and editor Tim Gray. Nice for those of us who can't be there. (Disclosure: I regularly write for Variety.)