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SPOTLIGHT: Opera House’s satellite shows

A world of entertainment in downtown Fredonia

Submitted Photo The next production in the satellite series of events at the 1891 Fredonia Opera House is the family-friendly National Theatre Live production of Peter Pan on Saturday, Aug. 19, at 1 p.m. See preview page B8.

When Christina Hernandez attended her first Bolshoi Ballet Live production at the 1891 Fredonia Opera House, she didn’t expect to become such a big fan.

“I never thought I’d be interested in ballet, but seeing these beautiful performances live and on a big screen is incredible,” says the 29-year-old credit union employee. “I loved Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. They were both beautiful performances to watch. The Sleeping Beauty had gorgeous costumes; and watching it on a big screen allowed you to see the details and appreciate the costumes even more.”

The Bolshoi Ballet Live productions represent one genre of entertainment offered live via satellite or “captured live” via satellite at the Opera House, notes Executive Director Rick Davis. Others include opera productions from NYC’s Metropolitan Opera, theatre productions from London’s National or Globe Theatre and plays and musicals from Broadway. Art & Architecture On Screen, the newest series of satellite events, feature in-depth examinations of art exhibitions and the museums and galleries that contain them from all around the globe.

What they all have in common, says Davis, is that they come to the Opera House by satellite transmission. Sometimes — as in the case of Live at the Met — the events are presented live as they are happening elsewhere. Other times — the London theatre productions and the Bolshoi ballets in Moscow, where there is a significant time difference — the events come by satellite live as they are happening, but are at such an odd hour that the Opera House records the production and presents it later that same day or a few days later. These are “captured live” events.

Unlike Hernandez, not everyone who attends the satellite series is a fan of ballet. Steve Rees, retired professor of theatre and former chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the State University of New York at Fredonia, says that he prefers the opera and theatre productions. “I especially enjoyed the National Theatre’s Frankenstein with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller as well as, most recently, Angels In America: Millennium Approaches. The accessibility of top-notch performances by nationally and internationally acclaimed artists and companies, ESPECIALLY in a live format, is a major attraction for me.”

The Opera House began presenting satellite events in 2012 after a gift from Dr. James and Marcia Merrins made possible the purchase of the necessary satellite and projection equipment. Live at the Met was the first series of events presented that same year. National Theatre productions were added in 2013 and the offerings have grown since then. “Satellite events now constitute fully one-third of our programming,” says Davis. “The quality of the programs can’t be rivaled and from a practical standpoint, because the fee for presenting the programs is a percentage of gross ticket sales, they represent less of a financial risk than putting live performers on the stage.”

At prices ranging from $15 to $20 for adults and always $10 for students, tickets to the satellite events are considered affordable by most of the attendees. “Honest to God, the price point for these productions is embarrassingly low,” says Rees. People “don’t seem to grasp the true jewels of opportunity that the Opera House is offering for a pittance.”

“At those prices, how can you NOT go?” asks Monika Alch, Artistic and School director at the Chautauqua Regional Youth Ballet in Jamestown. Alch also notes the tremendous benefit to students. “I encourage my students who are studying classical ballet to come to the Bolshoi productions. That company is one of the greatest ballet companies in the world; and the students can learn so much just from watching their incredible performances!”

Minda Rae Amiran, professor emeritus and former dean of special studies at SUNY Fredonia, praises the benefits that come with seeing the production on screen. “I chanced to attend the Metropolitan Opera in New York for an opera that was also being shown by simulcast in Fredonia. I had splurged on a good seat, but I couldn’t see nearly as well as one can at our Opera House and I missed many nuances of the acting, which detracted from the experience as a whole.”

Hernandez also enjoys the “bonus” of seeing how the sets are put together backstage and the interviews with cast members and stagehands that often are featured during intermissions.

The Opera House remains the only venue in Chautauqua County licensed to present these events. “We strive to present a real variety in our satellite offerings, with the goal of appealing to a variety of audiences,” says Davis. Next up in the series is the family-friendly National Theatre Live production of Peter Pan on Aug. 19. “It’s wildly creative, and wondrously inventive,” he says. “And it’s perfect for young people with its bright, colorful set, funny, original songs and even a female Captain Hook. Critics have called it ‘spellbindingly imaginative.'”

The National Theatre’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is on Sept. 9; and for fans of Pink Floyd, the concert experience David Gilmour Live at Pompeii is on Sept. 13. The new season of Bolshoi Ballet Live ballets and Live at the Met operas begin again in October. Art & Architecture On Screen resumes in January.

Amiran anticipates the new productions. “The Metropolitan Opera, Bolshoi Ballet and British National Theatre are some of the best in the world. It’s wonderful to be able to see and hear them in Fredonia (as) I’m seldom in New York and never in London or Moscow. I greatly enjoy all of these when they are presented!”

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