An audience estimated at more than 3,000 people gathered on Lincoln Center Plaza to watch the performance of Lucia on a large screen that stretched across the center arches of the Metropolitan Opera House. When the first act was over the audience stood, stretched, brought out snacks, and chatted in the growing twilight. They began to settle down once again as the evening’s on-screen host Mary Jo Heath did live interviews with the production team of Lucia (director Mary Zimmermann, set designer Daniel Ostling, and costume designer Mara Blumenfeld), followed by short interviews with Plácido Domingo (who is conducting the season’s premiere of Roméo et Juliette tomorrow night), and director Bartlett Sherr (Il Barbiere di Siviglia). This opening night performance is dedicated to the memory of Beverly Sills, and in tribute of the great artist there was a short film and sound montage celebrating her life in the theater. Photos of Sills in some of her greatest roles flashed across the screen. Afterwards there was a brief silence, followed by enthusiastic applause and cries of “Brava” from the audience, some of whom were moved to tears.

This entry was posted by Philipp Brieler on Monday, September 24th, 2007 at 5:09 pm and is filed under New Production Countdown. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.