HARLINGEN - Local fans are cheering “Bravo” to a new program that is bringing New York’s Metropiltan Opera to their local Cinemark theaters.
“I think this is the greatest thing to happen in Harlingen in years,” said opera fan Amy Koppel. “It’s just the total experience. You’re seeing it on this huge screen so you’re able to see every gesture, every nuance in the face. It’s marvelous.”
“The Metropolitan Opera: Live in High Definition” series is beamed live from New York City and projected on screens of more than 330 theaters across the country including ones in Harlingen, McAllen and Brownsville.
Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” is the opera set for noon local time on Saturday. It is expected to run 3 hours and 41 minutes and includes 2 intermissions.
Harlingen resident Roger Lindahl said the picture and sound quality of the broadcasts is incredible. He said the whole experience was better than seeing an opera in person.
“Going to the opera is fun, but unless you have a seat on the front row you usually don’t get to see the people really perform,” Findahl said. “You hear the voice and it’s beautiful but you don’t realize that they’re also great actors.”
“Manon Lescaut” is the fourth in a season of eight operas this year.
The breakthrough work for Puccini in 1893, “Manon Lescaut” is set 100 years before in France.
“Manon Lescaut” is the story of Manon who starts the opera as a coquetteish teenager who marries a treasury official to escape poverty.
By the end, Manon has been abandoned, convicted of theft and exiled to Louisiana in the tattered remains of a once glittering gown. Puccini apparently knew little about Louisiana because he set the finale in a desert outside New Orleans.
Geography aside, in a Jan. 31 review of the production being broadcast Saturday, the New York Times heaped praise on “Manon Lescaut’s” star soprano Karita Mattila.
At 40, Mattila was able to sing and act the role of a teenager and mature woman with equal power.
The Met series is being provided by National CineMedia’s Fathom entertainment division.
NCM Fathom’s mission is to turn the community’s local movie theater into an arts and entertainment destination, with something for everyone, said Dan Diamond, vice president of NCM Fathom.
Previous events have included Anime film festivals, special one-night anniversary and DVD premiere events like the “20th Anniversary of Dirty Dancing,” Drum Corps International competitions, and concerts by artists such as Garth Brooks and David Bowie.
Last year’s Met opera series reached a total of 113 locations (151 screens) and an audience of approximately 200,000 people. This year the number of theaters was more than tripled.
“It’s been wildly successful,” Diamond said.
Diamond said these events are a great way for people across the country to see something they otherwise might never get to see, due to distance, ticket availability or costs.
“Movie theaters are a great community gathering place,” Diamond said. “There’s not a bad seat in the house.”
“You may not be an opera fan but I think that if anyone went to just one of these they would be impressed by what they see,” Koppel said.
Other productions this season include: “Peter Grimes” on March 15; “Tristan and Isolde” on March 22; and La Boheme” on April 15. “La Fille du Régiment” closes out the season on April 26.
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Saturday’s opera:
Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” will be shown at noon Saturday at: Cinemark 16, 401 S. Exp. 83, Harlingen; Cinemark Hollywood USA, 100 W. Nolana Loop, McAllen; and Cinemark Sunrise Mall, 2370 N. Expwy 83 (in the Sunrise Mall), Brownsville. Tickets cost $22 for adults, $20 for seniors and $15 for children. 956-428-3224.
