Transposed spectacle

Lincoln Center (Plaza), early afternoon:


Times Square, early evening:
I had wondered if the live opening night transmission would make any sort of impact in the canyon of Times Square. With Broadway closed off between 7th Ave. and 44th St., its entire 43rd-44th St. block was devoted to viewers' chairs. They were full.
The opera was shown on three screens: (from left to right) Nasdaq, Panasonic, and Reuters. What did we learn? That Panasonic, unsurprisingly, has the best display. But Reuters did provide a neat vertical banner (which scrolled to mention the Met, not just the title here displayed), and production stills on an adjacent, side-facing screen.
What looked like the equipment used in parks concerts was providing sound easily audible even over the Times Square din. Lack of interest in the opera and Cristina Gallardo-Domas kept me from attending the actual performance, but hearing James Levine make Butterfly's entrance music so strongly tell reminded me that I might've considered his return.

On the whole, there seemed to be a real charge among those present, both those seated and the passers-by, who seemed to do even more picture-taking than is the norm in Tourist Central, USA.

*     *     *
Maury should have a report from the house, as perhaps will the remaining New York Wellsung and other bloggers. My Met season begins Thursday, with Levine and Dorothea Röschmann in Idomeneo.

UPDATE (9/26): Via a man with a non-junk camera, Lincoln Center (Plaza), evening.

(And another Times Square report, from the newest New York blogger: Anne-Carolyn Bird, soon to storm the big stage herself. Congratulations on it all.)

And Maury does weigh in, with a "Yes."