'La Bohème' grosses US$2.1m in North America

The Met: Live in HD continued its eighth season on Saturday with a live transmission of Puccini's most popular opera, La Bohème. An estimated attendance of 92,000 in North America earned a gross of US$2.1 million. It was seen live on more than 800 screens.

An estimated additional 110,000 people saw it live on 900 screens in 32 countries in Europe, 11 countries in Latin America, Russia, Egypt, Israel, Jamaica, Lebanon, and Morocco.

More than 15 million tickets have now been sold since The Met: Live in HD launched in 2006.

Delayed showings throughout Asia, Australia, Dubai, Madagascar, New Zealand and South Africa, as well as encore performances in North America and Europe, are expected to boost worldwide attendance of La Bohème to more than 300,000.

Encore screenings of La Bohème in Jamaica are on Sunday, April 13, at 11:30 a.m. at Palace Cineplex and Palace Multiplex.

Soprano Kristine Opolais stepped in at the last minute in the leading role of Mimi, after singing the title role of Madama Butterfly the night before. It was the first time in Met history that an artist made back-to-back role debuts in less than 24 hours.

The live transmission, hosted by Joyce DiDonato, was directed for cinema by Barbara Willis Sweete.

The Met: Live in HD, the Met's award-winning series of live transmissions to movie theatres around the world, has expanded its worldwide distribution this season to more than 2,000 theatres in 66 countries, the largest global audience the initiative has ever reached.

The next transmissions will be Mozart's comedy Cosi fan tutte, led by Met Music director James Levine on April 26, and Rossini's La Cenerentola on May 10, starring Joyce DiDonato in the title role.

Tickets are on sale for the 2013-2014 season at participating theatre box offices and via the web at www.palaceamusement.com, with a Palace Card.