This season, the Met’s groundbreaking series of live HD performance transmissions, which kicked off at 1 P.M. today with Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, is not only presented in movie theaters around the world, but also in New York City schools in each of the five boroughs.

At High School of Enterprise, Business and Technology on Grand Street Campus in Brooklyn, the show is sold out at nearly 1000 tickets. The school didn’t spare any effort in terms of marketing: there’s a huge color banner for “Live in HD” on the side of the building, facing Bushwick Avenue, with a picture of Anna Netrebko, who is singing Juliette, standing 20 feet tall. The school kids also put up posters in local eating establishments, including Grand Street Grill, their local bodega, and The Great Wall Chinese restaurant.

Kenny McLaughlin, a history teacher, is the school’s Director of Audience Development. His extra-curricular program prepares students to attend and enjoy cultural events and live performances, including proper attire and etiquette. The entire HD presentation is manned by students, wearing shirts with a “Grand Street Campus Music and Art Department” logo. This is serious business here!

14-year-old Katrina has never seen an opera before. “I used to think opera would be boring,” she said an hour before curtain time. “That it’s one lady singing the entire time. I got into this because Romeo and Juliet is a really famous story. I think this program is great because you see that anything can happen.”

Photos: Stephanie Berger/Metropolitan Opera

This entry was posted by Philipp Brieler on Saturday, December 15th, 2007 at 10:43 am and is filed under The HD Blog, 2007–08 Season. 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.