Cape Region taking advantage of technology
Technology continues to bring great advances to our society as a whole and to our own neck of the woods in particular. The amazing thing is how technology can enrich our lives so affordably and how quickly our area embraces such opportunities.
This Saturday, Oct. 5, will see the first live broadcast of a Metropolitan Opera production on a big screen at Cape Henlopen High School’s Performing Arts Center. With the advent of jazz festival shows, a Mid-Atlantic Symphony concert planned for December and the premiere opera simulcast planned for Saturday, the school’s auditorium is definitely earning its performing arts center name.
The premiere simulcast at Cape will feature composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s epic romantic tragedy “Eugene Onegin.” The people seated in the opera house in downtown New York City will hardly have better seats than those who attend the performance at Cape. Through a creative collaboration between Cape Henlopen Educational Foundation and Rehoboth Beach Film Society, more than $30,000 has been raised to purchase a high-definition screen, projector and satellite dishes that will bring the opera into Cape’s theater at the same time the cast and orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera are unfolding their magic on the stage.
The only difference is that local opera buffs won’t have to drive four hours to New York City, and home again, as well as pay the inevitable hundreds of dollars that a trip to the Big Apple involves. For a full afternoon of one of civilization’s highest art forms – the “Eugene Onegin” production runs three hours and 45 minutes – the Delaware Cape Region audience will have to pay only $25 for an adult ticket or $15 for a student ticket. Tack on a meal at one of the area’s great restaurants after the show and those who attend will enjoy a special and affordable experience usually reserved only for wealthy urban dwellers.
Cape Henlopen Educational Foundation and Rehoboth Beach Film Society’s collaboration for their live opera simulcast initiative is not only improving our already admirable quality of life in Delaware’s Cape Region, but is also breaking down the economic barriers that have up until now prevented the great majority of people access to such live performances. Technology can be a great equalizer, and these organizations are to be commended for seizing this opportunity to continue to move our area forward.
