Preview: Simulcasts

EasyJet ain't always easy. New York's Metropolitan Opera is a long, long way away. Theater ticket prices have gone nuts, even before the scalpers raise the rates. If all that's a drag - if your favorite part of live theater is not the physical theater - check out a simulcast (or taped production) beamed in from Berlin, London, New York and elsewhere right here in Prague and for a fraction of the price.   

Cinemas around town are showing opera, ballet and theater captured by expert cameramen and camerawomen, so you won't even have to worry about looking the wrong direction and missing any of the action onstage. It all costs about 300 Kč and requires little more than a ride to Bio Oko, Kino Aero, Světozor or Lucerna.

Bio Oko, for example, runs the Živě, or Live, series, which brings in opera, ballet, theater, classical music and rock, both nationally and Europe-wide. Represented there are Italy's La Scala, London's Royal Opera House and the Salzburg Festival, among other distant gems.

For example, Tuesday, Jan. 15, see La Bohème, conducted by Mark Elder, directed by John Copley and beamed in from the Royal Opera. Recorded Thursday, Jan. 10, this production of the period piece might be a better bet for your money than, say, forking over close to 200 Kč to see Les Misérables at the multiplex.

Down Žižkov way, there is Kino Aero's National Theatre Live project, which beams in its shows from London, and you can probably guess from where specifically. The productions, running around three hours, are all presented in high-definition - making for a visual experience that real life almost cannot match.

Jan. 17, Aero is presenting the multimedia performer - seriously: He has been nominated for any Academy Award and won both a Tony and a few Emmys - John Lithgow in The Magistrate. The production, directed by Timothy Sheader, himself the winner of an Olivier Award, is a laugh-a-minute Victorian farce.

These productions happen in the next week, but the whole winter offers offerings, all worth the time and money - especially because of the time and money they save. Check the websites of your favorite art-house cinemas to know exactly what's on where and when, but also check the websites of your favorite national theaters, ballets and operas because there's a good chance you can catch that show right here in Prague.

Milan Gagnon can be reached at
mgagnon@praguepost.com