Fan says live broadcasts of opera at Tinseltown are offering excitement

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

VINDICATOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER

Elliot Legow is an opera afficionado who often travels to feed his passion. The Liberty resident and his wife are regulars at performances in Pittsburgh and make frequent trips to New York and Chicago as well.

So going to Boardman to see the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in High Definition series is a no-brainer.

Legow, an attorney, said the Met series — which can be seen at Tinseltown, near Southern Park Mall — is exciting.

“You are right on top of the action, and the sound is terrific,” he said. Attendance at the shows he’s seen ranged from the teens to around 50.

The series is in its first year in the Youngstown market. The operas are broadcast live on Saturday afternoons and repeated on Sunday afternoons. Tinseltown is one of 600 venues worldwide where the series can be seen.

Legow, who is vice chairman of Opera Western Reserve’s executive committee, took in the most recent Met Live offering, “Macbeth,” on Jan. 13. Next up is Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” on Feb. 16.

David Vosburgh, production director of the Youngstown-based OWR, has yet to see one of the Met broadcasts but said it’s a wonderful idea. He certainly doesn’t see it as competition for his own opera company.

“It’s a way of expanding the audience for opera,” he said. “People who go wonder what it would be like to see it live.”

Vosburgh noted that his first job in theater was in the coat-check room at the New York Metropolitan Opera — a job that came with a huge perk.

“I got to see every show for free,” he said.