Talk story about televising an opera during a performance. It was the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Puccini's "La Boheme," seen by an audience of about twenty million. The telecast was sent live by satellite to Europe and Chile and Venezuela the afternoon of the performance, and shown throughout the U.S. on tape the following Wednesday. On a recent Saturday afternoon writer watched Kirk Browning, a gifted television director who specializes in musical events, prepare the telecast. Earlier in the week writer watched Mr. Browning tape a "Boheme" performance as a dress rehearsal for the telecast. Franco Zeffirelli was the director of the opera; Teresa Stratas performed the role of Mimi; Gil Wechsler was the lighting designer. Tells about planning the various camera shots. Two days later writer arrived to watch the live telecast. Tells how Browning had changed some things.
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