Operas, concerts and other live events are lighting up the big screen at movie theaters

Christopher Lloyd

September 05, 2008 by Christopher Lloyd | Staff

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It's time to head out for the opera. Got your tickets? Check. Viewing glasses? Check. Tux and tails? Check.

Nachos? Check.

No, people aren't actually sitting at the Metropolitan Opera's famed Lincoln Center theater in New York, slurping on hot cheese and chips slathered with jalapenos, while a tenor belts out an aria. But plenty of people are heading to their local movie theater, where nachos are plentiful, to catch the Met.

They're also watching exclusive real-time concerts by U2, the Rolling Stones and Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana, or special presentations of Cirque du Soleil.

Dubbed "alternative content," it's the latest attempt to use movie theaters for something other than Hollywood films. But unlike previous iterations that never took off -- such as closed-circuit boxing and campaigns urging executives to "Hold your business meeting here!" -- satellites, digital projection and other technological advances are helping to actually fill seats.

Helene Bushnell, complex manager at the.Kerasotes Showplace 16, said she's seen some people show up for Met performances wearing their Sunday best. The third season of Met shows begins Sept. 22, with 10 live performances and 11 encore presentations scheduled.

"A lot of them have been to the actual opera in New York at the Met, and say they prefer to.see the opera this way," Bushnell said. "It's better than being at the Met, because you can see everything so up close."

Some of these events, such as the Met performances, use satellites to beam the image onto screens all across the country in real time. Others, such as Cirque du Soleil's "Delirium," are sent on a hard drive to individual theaters equipped with digital projectors.

Tickets generally are more expensive than those for a regular movie -- starting at around $10 and ranging up to $22 for Met performances -- but that hasn't slowed sales.

Bushnell said a recent Celine Dion concert quickly sold out. In May, "Spirit of the Marathon," a documentary about six Chicago Marathon participants, sold nearly 100,000 tickets nationwide.

Tom Hankins, a 29-year-old Indianapolis resident, remembers attending a Phish concert at a movie theater. He calls the practice "an untapped market" that allows people to experience concerts they otherwise would have had to drive a long way or shell out a lot of money to see.

"It was a surreal experience. There was definitely a bit of the feeling that you were taking part in the event itself, even if via some remote means," Hankins said in an e-mail. "But then I was also quite aware of the non-concert, movie-theater atmosphere. It was neat to think of yourself as somehow being connected with a nation full of movie theaters watching the event live."

Caitlin McCready, 25, Bloomington, saw the "U23D" concert movie recently. "It's a great way to enjoy a favorite band's music in large format in a way that you couldn't sitting in an audience," she said in an e-mail.

However, McCready added that, despite the convenience, there is an "unnatural" feeling (watching a concert in a movie theater) compared to a live concert.

"(I) really went through a lot of thinking and emotions as I watched it. I couldn't really hoot and holler along like I mentally wanted to, and other people just sat there emotionless," she said.

The drive toward alternative content began about six years ago under the umbrella of the Regal Entertainment group, but now involves other theater chains such as Kerasotes, Cinemark and AMC. More than 100 markets across the U.S. now feature concert shows and similar events.

With a boom in advertising and exposure, it's gone from a sideshow to something that people are actively looking for in their communities, according to Dan Diamond, vice president of NCM Fathom, the alternative programming division of National CineMedia, which has hosted more than 70 events over the past three years.

"Really, our mission was to turn the movie theaters back into local community event centers, and to have them be the gathering places for all types of entertainment -- highlighting movies obviously on the weekends, but clearly all kinds of different programs that would be attractive to fans," Diamond said.

The majority of alternative events take place on weeknights or weekend days, when business for regular movies tends to be slower.

In addition to the digital content, there is still a live component to the trend. "I.O.U.S.A.," a documentary about America's national debt that showed in mid-August, was followed up by a live satellite Q&A session with financial experts, including Warren Buffett. Diamond said it was similar to a national town hall meeting.

At Key Cinemas on Indianapolis' Southside, even more traditional events are held. On Saturday, indyindie held a festival of short films by local female filmmakers, followed by live musical performances and even the work of visual artists.

"It is just phenomenal. The acoustics are so good for live music," said Cathy Schneider, who co-founded indyindie with Joyce Walker. "We're a listening audience, not a big partying and dancing audience ..... it's really nice that everybody gets a big comfortable seat."

Still, technological advances are what is driving the growth of alternative programming at movie theaters.

"Before digital projectors were introduced or the technology itself was good enough, exhibitors didn't have the opportunity to show things like this on a big screen," said Craig Sholder, vice president of entertainment solutions at Christie Digital Systems USA, which supplies digital projectors to more than 5,000 screens in the U.S.

"This has opened up a tremendous opportunity for exhibitors to show content that, frankly, people who live in some communities would never have an opportunity to go see live."

Some upcoming alternative content events:

Sept. 22: Metropolitan Opera Opening Night Gala featuring Renee Fleming in scenes from "Capriccio," "La Traviata" and "Manon."

Sept. 24: "Rent" -- filmed live on Broadway.

Oct. 11: The Met performs "Salome" live. To purchase tickets for these events and to find out where they're playing, go to www.thehotticket.net, www.fathomevents.com or www.Fandango.com

Forums: Music, Movies

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Operas, movie theaters, movies, Concerts

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5 comments

Jon Silpayamanant
Jon Silpayamanant, September 6
0 votes

I had seriously thought about just going the HD route to watch the premiere of the Met's upcoming production of Thaïs this coming season. But the wife really wanted to go to New York again, and since my friend (the dancer in the photo here in my profile) is planning on being there (having choreographed a couple of the dancers in the production) for the premiere I really couldn't pass up the chance to visit her again.

But I think this is a really wonderful idea to show current production of Operas, Musicals, and other multi-media shows like the Cirque de Soleil at movie theatres!!

Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Lloyd, September 8
0 votes

In researching this story, I was amazed at the number of people attending these shows.

JulieYoung
JulieYoung, September 8
0 votes

See, this is actually kind of cool in my opinion especially when it is an event you more than likely will not get to see otherwise. I caught the Meat Loaf movie last March and it was great even though we did have to pay a couple of extra bucks for the tickets. It had to be a lot cheaper than seeing Meat live, and besdes that, he doesn't come to Indy very often. Yeah, it's not the real deal but for a poor man's verison, it's not so bad. The bands can also control some of the sound and "live" issues as well and they play one show and people come out two and three times for it...who knew the Hannah Montana event would bring that many people out to the theaters not to mention the amount of people paying through the nose for a ticket. This could be pretty cool when you think about it.

Jon Silpayamanant
Jon Silpayamanant, September 9
0 votes

Wow, I have no idea why I didn't even catch all the typos in my previous post. But yeah, I wasn't even sure what kind of attendance there might be at these kinds of showings, but it's really incredible that they are so well attended!

Jon Silpayamanant
Jon Silpayamanant, September 9
0 votes

Very cool, IMO!

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