Leonard Piper was a grade-schooler in New Jersey when he learned that New York’s Metropolitan Opera would be broadcast for the first time — on the radio.

"It was the first radio broadcast of the opera, the very first," said Piper, recalling how radio announcer Milton Cross described the sets and the costumes in that historic broadcast of Humperdinck’s "Hansel and Gretel" on Christmas Day 1931.

"It wasn’t the music that really turned me on; it was the excitement of the theater," he said.

That was then. This is now, when Piper and other local opera fans can see as well as hear top-flight entertainment in all its high-definition glory at local movie theaters without the hassle and expense of traveling to the world’s great cultural capitals.

And they can munch on popcorn and arare while doing it.

Such "event cinema" is part of a growing trend in the entertainment industry in which the classical arts, from opera to theater and ballet, but also rock and pop concerts, comedy acts, museum exhibitions, sports and more, are screened in movie theaters. (Because of time-zone differences, most programs are shown here on a delayed basis.)

"People in Hawaii are always looking for different types of experiences in cinema and different things to do. For us it’s something that’s here to stay," said Lindsey Chun-Hori, promotions and events manager for Consolidated Theatres.

Recently, Regal’s Dole Cannery 18 in Iwilei had opera buffs like Piper singing their praises to the Metropolitan Opera’s "Le Nozze di Figaro" ("The Marriage of Figaro"), while balletomanes were leaping for joy over "Bolshoi Ballet: The Legend of Love."

Other famed performing arts organizations hitting the big screen include England’s National Theatre Live, the Royal Ballet, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Monty Python and the Big Apple Circus.

The National Theatre broadcasts, launched in 2009, have included "Frankenstein" with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, Sam Mendes’ "King Lear" and "A Streetcar Named Desire" with Gillian Anderson.

Shakespeare fans, on the other hand, can enjoy the "Shakespeare’s Globe on Screen" series at Consolidated Theatres’ Kahala 8. The coming attractions include "Macbeth" (Tuesday) and "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" (Dec. 4), all performed at the 400-year-old London theater that originally staged the Bard’s plays.

The Event Cinema Association predicts the broadcasts will grow to 5 percent of the overall global cinema box office by 2015 and pull in $1 billion by 2017, according to its website. Some movie theaters already claim event cinema comprises as much as 18 percent of their box office revenue, the association said.

Chun-Hori said moviegoer demo­graph­ics for event cinema vary depending on the presentation. While it’s easy to imagine an older, more cultured crowd for opera and ballet screenings, the National Theatre’s broadcast of the record-earning Broadway revival of John Steinbeck’s "Of Mice and Men" is a hot ticket across the board because it stars James Franco, Chris O’Dowd and Leighton Meester. The stage drama was beamed into more than 900 venues across the U.S. and Canada. (Those who missed Thursday’s screening at the Kahala 8 and Dole Cannery 18 can watch the encore at 2 p.m. Wednesday.)

Franco told the Associated Press that he pushed for the screening as a way to recognize the cast and creators of the production, and to bring it to a much wider audience than just those who could afford Broadway prices. The $20 ticket for the cinema broadcast is about six times less than the average stage ticket in New York.

"Even though it will never have 100 percent of the live feeling, it will still have energy," he said. "I’m glad that it exists in what I think is the absolute best we could do at capturing a live performance."

Fathom events, headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colo., is the industry leader in distributing event cinema to its exhibitor partners. It introduced the programming to Hawaii in 2008 with a Met performance at Dole Cannery 18. Company officials say advances in technology have made it easier to get the niche content into local movie houses, and they have found an enthusiastic audience for it in Hawaii.

"Honolulu cinemas track better than average in the ‘arts and entertainment’ and ‘classic’ categories," according to Fathom spokes­man Erik Stein.

For fans of classical performance arts, the "cine­casts" are as satisfying as the real thing, maybe even more so, since the view is up close and personal, highlighting the detail and nuance of a performance, especially when presented on larger IMAX screens.

That’s especially true for the Met, which in recent years has put a premium on casting singers who can act, rather than those who simply "park and bark."

"It’s just like being there, except you get these close-ups of these gorgeous people," said Piper, who transformed his early passion for opera into a career as a set designer. He recently braved storm-flooded roads from Makaha to see the Met’s production of "Figaro."

Opera fan Susan Ishi­kawa of Hono­lulu used to live on the East Coast and visits New York during the holidays, usually squeezing in a visit to the Met.

"It’s nice to be there, but you really see a lot (on the screen)," she said. "You’re right up there."

It’s also nice when considering the cost. Prime seats at the Met cost $460 each, compared with $24 or so for a ticket to opera cine­casts at a local movie theater. Other events go for as low as $15.

The screenings themselves are a fun mix of the movie and live theater experience. It’s best to get there at the scheduled showtime, since there are no trailers. Instead, the cine­cast shows guests entering the New York opera hall and settling into their seats. It’s a good time to check out the latest in opera-going fashions.

Though delayed for Hawaii, the productions run in real time, so there is a full intermission, allowing for a trip to the restroom or snack bar. Being in a movie theater, food and drinks are allowed inside, but the audience reaction is more akin to live theater, with laughter at the funny sections and applause after a well-done rendition of a favorite aria.

Although the shows are taking place thousands of miles away, the broadcasts give viewers an insider’s vantage point, with backstage interviews of key performers, conducted by fellow artists. The production of "Figaro" featured famed soprano Renee Fleming interviewing the singers, using her knowledge of some of the key challenges of the roles to provide extra detail, and Met General Manager Peter Gelb talking with conductor James Levine about the score.

"We love the intermission when they do the interviews with the actors and singers," said Ishi­kawa, who sometimes makes an event of the screenings by going out to dinner with friends afterward.

What you don’t get from the interviews, you might be able to get from fellow audience members, since many are themselves opera experts. One who regularly attends is Ed Shipwright, a retired piano professor from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, who during "Figaro" filled in some of the background to Mozart’s comedic masterpiece.

"I’ve been to the Met many times, but it’s a terrific experience to see it out here in the middle of the Pacific," Shipwright said. "I can’t believe it. We’re very lucky and I hope it continues."

In some places, though, the reception hasn’t been as warm. One Chicago critic complained that while it might be good to cine­cast unique, one-time events, showing New York-branded productions would simply overwhelm local theater companies and keep star performers from traveling to other locales.

That doesn’t seem to be a worry here. Even Henry Aki­na, artistic director of the Hono­lulu Opera Theatre, regularly attends the Met cine­cast. He is especially looking forward to the Met’s presentation of Wagner’s "Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg," scheduled for Dec. 13.

"You don’t see that play often," he said. "We’ve done Wagner, but this one is five hours long.

"You can’t get better than the Met in this country, and that’s why I come."