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Coming to a movie screen near you, the best in theater
by Gloria Goodale, The Christian Science Monitor
Plays from the world's most revered stages are being beamed into multiplexes, bringing theater lovers a chance to see top-class productions at a modest price
HOLLYWOOD--Theater lovers rejoice. The world's best stage productions are on their way to a movie house near you. Thanks to the digital revolution, everything from London's acclaimed National Theater production of Racine's masterwork "Phèdre," starring Helen Mirren, to the off-Broadway cult favorite "Forever Plaid," not to mention upcoming top Broadway musicals, are beaming into multiplexes from Reykjavik to Los Angeles - in high-definition and eventually 3-D, to boot.
It's high-tech culture for the low price of a movie matinee and a box of popcorn. And in a sure sign that regional thespians aren't worried about the arrival of their digital counterparts, the premier regional theater in the United States, Minneapolis's Guthrie Theater, will actually screen a delayed transmission of "Phèdre" July 8 and 9 in one of its main stages.
"It's the wave of the future," says Guthrie artistic director Joe Dowling. This week alone, in addition to the two-night reprise of the "Phèdre" production, which was beamed live around the world this past Thursday, "Forever Plaid," will go national for a special 20th-anniversary event live from Club Nokia in the heart of Los Angeles July 9.