LULU: LIVE

Lulu in hd: live @MahonPointOMNIPLEX

We don't feel the same level of anxiety attending opera screenings as we would possibly experience at lets say... the first (or fairly recent) screening of 'The Hunger Games' (which so happened to be taking place in the screen next door to 'Screen 2' - where 'The Met' occupied the cinema screen's space for 4 hours on November 21st. On the seldom occasion that I do frequent the cinema I try to avoid 1st screenings for a number of reasons including: the overcrowding - meaning that you have arrive in early to collect your tickets (queue for the popcorn) and enter survival of the fittest mode to get the 'best seats' (making sure you're not too close or too far from the screen and you're in the sweet spot for the convergence of the speakers - making the most out of the surround sound) whilst also assuring that you get seats next to your friends. This is not a problem for live opera events. Not in my experience anyway, and not at the cinema I attend to get my dose of ehmm opera...

For The Met's most recent live broadcast of Berg's Lulu I forgot to pre-book my tickets, yet instead feeling the pangs of my error I confidently went to the ticket desk thinking...

1. This is not the new 'Hunger Games' 

2. This is not La Traviata

I was right - 40mins before the performance would begin I had purchased ticket no.10 out of a possible 252 seats.

I wandered in to the 'theatre' 20mins early. The usher offered me a programme and to show me to my seat (I decided to decline the latter...). These broadcasts must also stick to the schedule and a countdown is situated on the upper right quadrant of the screen.

At this point the screen is shown to us - alternating between 'live' views and audio of the orchestra warming up, and in-house advertisements including segments on: radio, legacy, The Neubauer Foundation, ambassadors, the HD live season, and Bloomberg philanthropies. As elderly couples make their way into the theatre I reflect on how much more difficult it is to 'sell' a trip to the cinema-opera to my friends... 4hours is possibly pushing the boundaries of friendship to the limits. 

The screen then shows advertisements from the associative partners - bringing into question the kind of dialogue that must be made between the funding departments, the relative opera house HD initiative staff and how cultural and economic policy work within this initiative. Interestingly, further content notes the 'production gift' from the sponsor - which in this case was Bloomberg (who apparently 'share a passion for drama in office and theatre')... the appeal of the live and mass-reaching nature of these broadcasts to global companies. 

Cinema audience members are furthermore encouraged to engage with the institution by: signing up at metopera.org/HDFans (further distinguishing them from the in-house audience -  as they are no longer seen as fans of the content but that of the context), this HD member is offered 'exclusive' (and elusive) year long benefits... whatever this means...

One of my favourite parts of these broadcasts is the behind the scene's segment of the production. We are firstly given a contextualisation of the creative team. We hear and see the lines of communication and are given a visual of the maestro while the stage manager orders 'maestro to the pit'. In this particular broadcast the most interesting camera shots were reserved for creative team. At a certain point the backstage team had to break with the convention of permitting the camera to have this all access/ omnipresent exclusivity by warning the camera person to step back 'unless they want to be on stage' as the last preparation were being made (or assembled) by the stage crew before the next act began. It is usually the backstage crew who break the formality and can't resist distorting the apparatus by 'photobombing' the constructed 'behind the scene' segment (like the interviews) - becoming an antidote to the apparatus of exposure (or the construction of exposure).

There were certain 'issues' with the screening I attended - the delay, reverberation, the lack of surround sound and the uncertainty of the cinema staff (who left the lights on longer than necessary and as a result, an audience member had to step out to inform them of this). 

Kentridge designed highly detailed projections which (during the intermission) we were told that 'they spread out from the stage' - which of course was an experiential loss to the virtual spectator.

There's always an awkwardness during these live (and obviously planned) cast interviews - yes the performers have just returned from stage: panting, sweating, and are barely adjusted to the backstage environment. The artificiality or perhaps the notion that this is a superficial interjection to the performance is tangible through their facial expression, body language, and gestures; even when performers must leave they seem apprehensive to go without Voight's permission. 

During intermission the camera spans in to the costume department where we can see the wardrobe mistress nonchalantly ironing - 'unaware' of the camera and mass audience's gaze directed to her. 

The liveness resonates certain dangers, a large part of the opera industry works with clientele from around the world - therefore the language barrier and the interview section can cause apparent distress - but there is of course a feeling of duty (or contract obligation) to engage with the additional faceless and 'immediate reaction-less' audience.

We (opera-cinema goers) are the lucky ones - we get an insight into the eerie calm behind those closed curtains and get a sense of the next act as the set is being established in front of our very eyes. I wonder how do those attending the in-house feel about this - is there a serious case of #FOMO*?

Voight's final interaction with the virtual audience expresses the importance 'to be here - nothing compares to live opera'.

*Fear of missing out :o