The Metropolitan Opera in New York City and the National Theatre in London are respectively 270 and 3,000 miles away from Hanover, but faculty, students and local residents can watch performances from the comfort of the Hopkins Center thanks to the broadcasting services each company offers.
The Metropolitan Opera production of "The Enchanted Island," which aired over the weekend in Loew Auditorium, marked the beginning of the high-definition transmissions offered this term.
The opera is a pastiche devised and written by film director Jeremy Sams, consisting of the musical compositions of Handel, Vivaldi and other Baroque composers.
The production blends the storylines of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" to create a unique new story.
While students may see the opera as an aloof, high-cultured institution, these broadcasts make the productions more accessible to the casual opera-goer.
In a further attempt to increase accessibility, "The Enchanted Island" does away with the language barrier the librettos are all in English.
Although Sams' contemporary production is a departure from the traditional scheme for operas, the two other operas being streamed at the Hopkins Center this term are decidedly more orthodox.
Richard Wagner's "Gotterdammerung" (Feb. 11-12) and Verdi's "Ernani" (Feb. 25-26) are both works by renowned composers.
Both feature plots involving star-crossed lovers similar to "Romeo and Juliet."
"The Met tries to mix it up and show new stuff like what you're going to see this weekend," Sydney Stowe, manager of film at the Hopkins Center, said. "And then also, Romeo and Juliet' and Carmen' and some famous ones in the canon."
The canon pieces are extremely popular among older patrons who are familiar with the works and enjoy seeing them performed often, according to Stowe.
"[Older patrons] don't want to see Nixon in China,' so the new operas don't do so well," she said. "I think it's great that the Met allows us to show something for everyone."
Not only older patrons enjoy these operas, however students appreciate the broadcasts as well.
"It's nice that the College provides students the opportunity to experience such worldly culture up here in little Hanover," Tyler Stoff '15 said.
In addition to the Met, the National Theatre also screens select performances shown at the Hopkins Center.
Unlike the Met, the National Theatre performances are not broadcast live, however, due to the time difference between Hanover and London, but they are instead pre-recorded.
This winter, the National Theatre brings two productions to the Hopkins Center. "Travelling Light" (Feb. 9), directed by the National Theatre's renowned artistic director Nicholas Hynter, details the rise of an Eastern European man who becomes a powerful Hollywood film director.
The second play is a staging of Shakespeare's "A Comedy of Errors" (March 1).
The plot follows two twin brothers who were separated at birth as they visit the same city one day but as they are repeatedly mistaken for one another, each man begins to question his own sanity.
Like "The Enchanted Island," the production puts its own spin on the story by updating the setting to a more contemporary period and casting two black actors to play the twin brothers.
The productions streamed at the Hopkins Center this term are limited due to audience interest, as well as conflicts with live productions, according to Stowe.
"I think it's important to, a) see if there's an audience and b) to make sure that you're not cannibalizing what's already happening at the Arts Center," Stowe said.
