Peter Gelb’s successful experiment at the Metropolitan Opera – broadcasting live performances in HD in movie theatres across the country – has set the stage for other performing arts and live entertainment to be seen on the big screen. The latest initiative, according to the Hollywood Reporter, involves four Broadway shows, including Memphis,which is still running in New York, to be broadcast globally starting with Memphis in the U.K. and Ireland on Nov. 24, with South Africa, Hong Kong and several major European territories to follow before the end of the year. Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Jekyll and Hyde (starring David Hasselhoff) and and Putting It Together (the Sondheim revue starring Carol Burnett) will launch across Europe starting early in 2012. NYC and London-based Supervision Media and New York’s Broadway Worldwide have signed exclusive licensing arrangements with these shows. Broadway Worldwide’s production of Memphis was presented in movie theatres throughout the US and Canada earlier this year. Memphis remained on tour in the United States with current bookings through August 12, 2012.
