IMAX, Opera and the City of Light Combine in “Renée Fleming’s Cities That Sing – Paris”, Debuting Sept. 18 With IMAX LIVE In-Cinema Event
Stage Access Brings Superstar Soprano to IMAX® Screens Worldwide
in Uniquely Spectacular Blend of Music, Performance, Culture and Travel;
Live Conversation with Fleming, Hosted by Kelsey Grammer, on Sept. 18 Only
LOS ANGELES (August 30, 2022) – For the first time, IMAX, opera and the performing arts come together in the dazzling Renée Fleming’s Cities That Sing – Paris, an IMAX and Stage Access production that premieres Sept. 18 with a special, one-day-only IMAX LIVE conversation with the Grammy® Award-winning soprano and Emmy® Award-winning performer Kelsey Grammer.
The IMAX LIVE special presentation is available in select IMAX locations only at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT, and tickets can be purchased online beginning today at the IMAX LIVE website – http://tickets.imax.com.
The IMAX LIVE presentation of Renée Fleming’s Cities That Sing – Paris can be seen in more than 100 IMAX venues across the U.S. and in cities worldwide. Audience members will be given the opportunity to ask questions of Fleming during the IMAX LIVE presentation. Attendees will also receive an exclusive digital program. A complete list of participating IMAX® locations (subject to change) can be found on the IMAX LIVE website.
Following the IMAX LIVE presentation on Sept. 18, Renée Fleming’s Cities That Sing – Paris will be presented again as a spectacular large-format film – without the live presentation – in additional locations; check http://tickets.imax.com for details.
“IMAX is the perfect format for our one-of-a-kind film – it has the sheer scale to do justice to the expressive power of this art form,” said Fleming, the four-time Grammy® Award-winning legend who is also the only classical performer ever to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. “Opera is called grand opera for a reason: It’s larger than life. You’re incorporating every art –instrumental music, singing, drama, poetry – into one major art form: opera! It’s all there. So, what better way to see it, if you can’t see it live - or in addition to seeing it live - than on the largest screen possible?”
This groundbreaking cinematic event features a performance by Fleming at the historic Théâtre du Châtelet, where she is joined on stage by world-renowned tenor Piotr Beczala and featured performers Axelle Fanyo and Alexandre Duhamel as they perform opera selections with connections to Paris. Leading couterier Alexis Mabille and acclaimed director Robert Carsen also join Fleming in the film, which can only be experienced in IMAX.
Renée Fleming’s Cities That Sing – Paris is directed by François-René Martin and produced by Tripp Hornick and Elmar Kruse. Jason Richmond, John Turner and Bruce H. Lipnick are the film’s executive producers.
Lipnick is founder and CEO, and Hornick is COO, of Stage Access, which, together with IMAX, produced Renée Fleming’s Cities That Sing – Paris, and the upcoming Renée Fleming’s Cities That Sing – Venice, which will debut with an IMAX LIVE special event in October.
“Stage Access is honored to have been able to create this remarkable series, reinventing how classical music can be enjoyed and connected to culture in the most immersive of experiences with the incomparable Renée Fleming,” Lipnick said. “Fleming’s ability to connect with audience as both a performer and host is unmatched, along with the intimacy and scale of IMAX.”
“It is more impressive watching these performances in an IMAX theater than literally sitting on the stage, five feet from the singers – I know, because I was there!” adds Hornick.
Stage Access is defining the performing arts in the digital era as the only company in North America that produces, distributes and licenses classical arts programming across multiple platforms, including a relationship with IMAX. With a mission of Bringing the Stage to You®, the company’s own fast-growing STAGE ACCESS on-demand streaming service is available online for iOS, Android, AppleTV, Amazon Fire and Roku, and is a leading producer of acclaimed original programs, including Yo-Yo Ma, Six Solo Bach Cello Suites from the Odeon, Athens; and The 3 Tenors: From Caracalla to the World, The 30th Anniversary Documentary. Across all Stage Access platforms, Emmy® Award-winning performer Kelsey Grammer serves as host for new major programming, including such exclusive collections as the Rossini Opera Festival.
American soprano Renée Fleming is one of the most beloved and celebrated singers of our time. Winner of four Grammy® Awards and the U.S. National Medal of Arts, she has sung for momentous occasions from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to the Diamond Jubilee Concert for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. She is the only classical artist ever to have performed the U.S. National Anthem at the Super Bowl. In November, Fleming will star at the Metropolitan Opera in the world-premiere staging of The Hours, a new opera based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and award-winning film.
IMAX LIVE is bringing a differentiated offering to the market by connecting IMAX® theatres via a high-speed network capable of simultaneously broadcasting events and experiences of all kinds worldwide. Renée Fleming’s Cities That Sing - Paris and Renée Fleming’s Cities That Sing - Venice are the latest in IMAX LIVE’s music series, following a presentation of Halsey’s musical film If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power; and two sold-out concert experiences in support of Kanye West’s latest studio albums Donda and Donda 2. IMAX LIVE has also hosted a number of exclusive film screenings featuring conversations with participating filmmakers and talent, including Peter Jackson (The Beatles: Get Back - The Rooftop Concert); Jordan Peele (Nope); Frances McDormand and Joel Coen (The Tragedy of Macbeth); and Colin Trevorrow, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeff Goldblum, and DeWanda Wise (Jurassic World Dominion). This year, IMAX LIVE expanded into the gaming landscape, with Summer Game Fest Live! and the upcoming The Game Awards airing live in IMAX® theatres for the first time in December.
More information about Stage Access, its productions and its streaming service can be found at www.stageaccess.com.
For full details about Renée Fleming’s Cities That Sing – Paris, as well as the upcoming Renée Fleming’s Cities That Sing – Venice, visit the IMAX LIVE website at http://tickets.imax.com.
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Media Contact:
John Singh for Stage Access Clare Anne Darragh for IMAX
J2 Communications Frank PR
(818) 458-7800 / john.singh@j2comm.com clareanne@frankpublicity.com