New York and Centennial, Colo. (July 16, 2009) – The Metropolitan Opera and NCM Fathom will present two special summer encores pre-recorded from the first season of the Peabody Award-winning The Met: Live in HD series including Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Barber of Seville) on Wednesday, July 29th followed by Mozart’s The Magic Flute on Wednesday, August 5th at 7:00 p.m. local time in 275 select movie theaters nationwide.
Tickets for The Met: Live in HD summer encores are now available at www.FathomEvents.com or at participating theater box offices. More information about the summer encores is available at http://www.metoperafamily.org/hdlive.
One of the most beloved operatic comedies of all time, Il Barbiere di Siviglia was an instant audience favorite at its first showing as part of The Met: Live in HD series in March 2007. Returning to select theaters on Wednesday, July 29th, Il Barbiere di Siviglia cast includes Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flrez as Count Almaviva, American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato as Rosina and Swedish baritone Peter Mattei in the title role of the swaggering barber. Il Barbiere di Siviglia is directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher and conducted by Maurizio Benini.
Mozart’s masterpiece The Magic Flute is presented on August 5th in an abridged, English-language version created especially for families. The production takes audiences to a magical world of dancing bears, giant birds, and colorful adventure in Mozart’s ever-popular masterpiece on August 5th. This performance was originally presented in December 2006 as the inaugural transmission of The Met: Live in HD series. Directed by Tony Award winner Julie Taymor (The Lion King) and conducted by Metropolitan Opera Music Director James Levine, the dynamic cast includes Ying Huang as Pamina, Matthew Polenzani as Tamino and Nathan Gunn the bird catcher Papageno.
Originally broadcast to a limited number of movie theaters in the U.S., and internationally in the inaugural 2006-2007 season of The Met: Live in HD series, Il Barbiere di Siviglia and The Magic Flute will each be rebroadcast one night only in 275 select AMC Entertainment Inc., Celebration! Cinema, Cobb Theatres, Goodrich Quality Theaters, Georgia Theater Company, Hollywood Theaters, Kerasotes Showplace Theatres, Malco Theatres, National Amusements and Regal Entertainment Group movie theaters, as well as El Raton Theatre (Raton, NM), Hollywood 14 (Asheville, NC), Palace Cinema 9 (South Burlington, VT) and Penn Cinema (Lititz, PA), through NCM’s exclusive Digital Broadcast Network.
The Met: Live in HD series has featured a total of 24 live operas and one live Gala during its three season-run. The 2008-09 season was the biggest yet with 11 LIVE, high-definition opera transmissions including the Met’s Opening Night Gala starring Rene Fleming, Lucia Di Lammermoor and Madama Butterfly. The first Met: Live in HD opera, The Magic Flute, was seen in 56 theaters in December 2006. Fathom has since expanded its participating theater footprint which now reaches nearly 500 movie theaters in the United States.
The Met: Live in HD series was recently honored with a prestigious Peabody Award for its “vividly designed, smartly annotated productions of Hansel and Gretel, Dr. Atomic, Peter Grimes and other operas,” and the use of “state-of-the-art digital technology to reinvent the presentation of a classic art form.” In addition, the Met won a special Emmy Award in January 2009 for “advancing technology through ongoing, live, global transmission of high-definition programming to movie theaters.”
The Met: Live in HD is expanding the appeal and reach of opera around the world and has been met with both critical and popular acclaim. Using robotic cameras and state-of-the-art technology, The Met: Live in HD captures the onstage action from striking angles and heightens attention to the narrative elements of both performance and production. The series offers behind-the-scenes features, live interviews with cast and crew, insightful short documentaries, and bird’s-eye views of the productions, offering an unprecedented look at what goes into the staging of an opera. The Met: Live in HD is made possible by a generous grant from the Neubauer Family Foundation.
About National CineMedia:
National CineMedia (NCM) LLC operates the largest digital in-theater network in North America through long-term agreements with its founding members, AMC Entertainment Inc., Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK) and Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC), the three largest theater operators in the U.S., and through multi-year agreements with several other theater operators. NCM LLC produces and distributes its FirstLook pre feature program; cinema, lobby, and online advertising products; comprehensive meeting and event services and other entertainment programming content. NCM LLC’s national network includes approximately 16,800 screens of which approximately 15,600 are part of the company’s Digital Content Network (DCN). NCM LLC’s network covers 171 Designated Market Areas(R) (49 of the top 50). During 2008, approximately 660 million patrons attended movies shown in theaters currently included in the network (excluding Consolidated Theatres). National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCMI) owns a 41.5% interest in and is the managing member of NCM LLC. For additional information, visit www.ncm.com.
About the Met:
Under the leadership of General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine, the Met has a series of bold initiatives underway that are designed to broaden its audience and revitalize the company’s repertory. The Met has made a commitment to presenting modern masterpieces alongside the classic repertory, with highly theatrical productions featuring the greatest opera stars in the world. The Emmy and Peabody Award-winning The Met: Live in HD series expanded to feature 11 live transmissions in the 2008-09 season, selling more than 1.7 million tickets worldwide. The productions are seen this season in 868 theaters in 36 countries around the world. For more information about the Metropolitan Opera, please visit www.metopera.org.
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