When La Scala reopens its doors tomorrow after the summer closure the audience will find tablets fitted in front of their seat. This means behind the seat in front, in most cases.
It is part of a series of improvements and enhancements coming twenty years after the theatre’s major refurbishment which concluded in 2004.
The mini-screens used until July could only show two languages, and spare parts to repair them were no longer available and so some remained dark. The new system will offer five languages – Italian, English, French, German and Spanish – with the possibility of arriving at eight languages in total. Chinese will be added for the titles broadcast by LaScalaTv in China.
The new system employs 8-inch touchscreen tablets. There will be 1,944 in the auditorium – 680 in the stalls, 784 in the boxes, 480 in the galleries, as well as 6 monitors for those in standing room in the second gallery. To avoid disturbing patrons nearby, the screens have a black background with a polarised filter to allow front vision while limiting side viewing. The new tablets will be able to be used before the show and during intervals to provide information for the public and with interactive features such as booking at the box office or ordering at the bar. In addition, as part of the theatre’s inclusion policy, there will be audio access for deaf spectators.
Work in the lower part of the theatre has been completed, but a ‘LED wall’ for subtitles has been suspended above the stage until the entire theatre has been fitted out.
La Scala has been undergoing much work to improve acoustics, to renovate the seats in the stalls and some parts of the foyers, with new seats in the theatre’s boxes. Work has also started on restoring the façade of the theatre which will last a year.
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Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan, aka ‘Gramilano’. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times. He wrote the ‘Danza in Italia’ column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on ‘Codice Carla’, 2023’s documentary on Carla Fracci.