Broadway expands to Movie Theater shows

27 April 2011 Last updated at 05:14 GMT

Broadway has always been limited to the theatre district in New York City, but that is soon to change with the announcement of the upcoming movie theater showings of two well known Broadway shows.  The two shows include Tony Award winning musical “Memphis” and “The Importance of Being Earnest” – the Roundabout Theater Company’s acclaimed revival of Oscar Wilde classic play starring renowned British actor Brian Bedford.

Although the idea of releasing Broadway shows has been tossed around for years, the concept has taken off in recent years thanks to the number of movie theaters that are equipped to show high definition video and who are also looking for something different. The advent of 3D capable theaters has also helped getting Broadway into movie houses, but most theaters are satisfied with showing Broadway shows in High definition.

New York is trying to follow in the footsteps of the London National Theater, who had great success with their “NT Live” and the Metropolitan Opera’s “Live in HD”. The new offerings will be the first time that Broadway shows will be made available in movie theaters while the shows are still experiencing successful theatrical runs. Both shows are critically acclaimed and can still be seen live on Broadway.

Sue Frost and Randy Adams, the producers of “Memphis”, stated that they are not concerned that the release of the show in movie theaters will threaten ticket sales for the actual Broadway show.  The producers have said the release of the show nationwide would actually be a useful marketing tool and could help with the show. One of the producers also pointed to the success of Broadway in the movie industry, with movies such as Chicago and Phantom at the Opera.

The Broadway movies are filmed with the use several angles. The cameras are placed in several locations throughout the original stage although they are placed so that it would not interfere with the audience’s view. The broadcast tries to give the audience the experience of seeing the show live while having the benefit of close-ups and editing.

Broadway Worldwide declined to say what the cost would be for the broadcast although their director of operations did hint that it would be between the $2-4 million mark and would depend on the number of stagehands, musicians and performers involved. The producers of the broadcast said that the goal of the production was to make their work “as accessible as possible to as many people as possible”.