Coming soon, to a theater near you .... Opera!

The Metropolitan Opera has signed an agreement with National CineMedia for an encore performance of its high-def opera transmissions to movie theaters across the country. This year's series of operas coming live from the Met will be expanded from six to eight transmissions.

And this year, my contacts tell me, we might even have a theater in Cincinnati participating. Last year, opera fans had to travel to Columbus and Kettering to see them. The groundbreaking HD transmissions played to 325,000 people, worldwide.

The opera-goes-to-the-movies season opens Dec. 15, with Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, starring Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon (pictured) and conducted by Placido Domingo.

The other operas: Hansel and Gretel, Macbeth, Manon Lescaut, Peter Grimes, Tristan und Isolde, La Boheme and La Fille du Regiment.

New this year, the Met is offering advance tickets, starting Oct. 19 for Met opera members, and to the public on Nov. 9. Tickets are $22; $20 seniors and $15 children. For info, visit www.metopera.org/hd or call 1-800-638-6737.

Stay tuned for names of theaters.