Jonathan Takiff: Coming soon, live concerts & lectures via Internet for senior living centers

ARE YOU someone who hums "Don't get around much anymore"? You've got company.

"There are already over 30,000 retirement communities in the U.S., and 50 million baby boomers are about to retire," said Mark Rupp, president and chief operating officer of SpectiCast, a new, Philadelphia-based, high-tech entertainment company focused on serving the stay-at-home senior population with high-quality entertainment delivered virtually to their doors. (Just like Domino's, but with no empty calories!)

Starting this fall, SpectiCast will pump out a series of live (and almost live) concerts by our esteemed Philadelphia Orchestra to senior living centers equipped with a broadband Internet connection, a big-screen TV and a high-grade sound system.

Also up for grabs will be the chance to sit in, remotely, on the Free Library of Philadelphia's fabulous Author Event series, which in recent years has hosted the likes of Malcolm Gladwell (talk about a "tipping point!"), Elie Wiesel, P.J. O'Rourke and President Obama, who hit the library's lecture hall just days before he announced his candidacy.

"These concerts are going to look and sound great," enthused Joan B. May, an 82-year-old resident of the Quadrangle life-care community in suburban Haverford. She was in the audience for a test of the webcast system in June, with Charles Dutoit conducting a resounding, all-Rachmaninoff program.

"We've got a screen here almost as big as a movie theater's and a brand new sound system," shared the spry May. "I wouldn't say the sound is exactly what you'd hear, sitting at the orchestra's Kimmel Center home. But it's close, quite good. Plus you don't have to worry about getting there and parking.

"The ticket will be far less expensive [under $10] and you can arrive in casual clothes - even wear your flip-flops, though most people won't. We like to dress nicely."

CULTURAL REVOLUTION: Taking art to the people using high-tech means has become a hot topic among cultural-performance organizations in recent years.

"In your near lifetime, you'll see every concert streaming live somewhere, somehow. Or else it won't exist," predicted Frank Slattery, the Philadelphia Orchestra's executive director.

The Metropolitan Opera has earned the most attention (not to mention added income) since 2006 with its (mostly) live, satellite-fed opera performances to movie theaters aligned in the NCM Fathom closed-circuit concert network. In fact, an encore performance of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" from the Met is on tap tonight at 7, with local screenings at The Bridge, the Riverview Stadium 17, the King of Prussia 16, the Neshaminy 24 in Bensalem, the Plymouth Meeting 12 and the Warrington Crossing 22.

A PLAN FOR THE FUTURE: The Philadelphia Orchestra started working toward simulcast concerts in 2001 with the opening of its new home at the Kimmel. The building's larger Verizon Hall was wired with seven remote-controllable high-definition cameras, plus microphones galore and separate video- and audio-mixing/broadcast booths at the back of the theater.

During the 2007-08 season, the orchestra participated in experimental, closed-circuit high-definition video feeds carried on the super-high-powered Internet2 system, available only to universities, the federal government and the military.

"For aficionados - mostly viewing on college campuses - the picture was absolutely beautiful," Slattery said.

SpectiCast's technology will deliver concerts via "the standard Internet," said Rupp, who came to this calling after a long run in the telecommunications industry.

"We'll supply each subscribing facility with a set-top box, about the size of a cable modem, which features our special software. We can deliver standard-definition video with a 3 megabits [per second] or better DSL or cable broadband connection. If you've got a system that does 6 megabits or better, the box puts out a true, 1080-line high-definition signal for connecting to an HD video projector or large-screen TV, or even to a closed-circuit TV channel, if the retirement community has that."

As for the sound, Rupp continued, "we can also deliver up to 7.1 channel Dolby Surround sound, though for the orchestra we're broadcasting in high-resolution digital [196 Kbps, 48 Hz] stereo."

To keep a sense of immediacy and excitement (and also for contractual reasons), SpectiCast

webcasts of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Free Library lecture series will be carried absolutely live to its "Multi-Viewer Venues," followed by a fast two or three repeats in the following 48 hours.

"If our premiere is Saturday night, it'll run again on Sunday afternoon, Sunday night and then maybe Monday night," detailed Rupp. Besides the music, each broadcast will feature specially prepared, preshow and intermission interviews and documentaries.

SPEAK EASY: Free Library of Philadelphia vice president of communications and development Sandy Horrocks predicted that "at least 50 percent" of the guest lecturers coming in for the library's Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night series will agree to have their 90 minutes of lectures, readings and intelligent Q&A carried live to the subscribing SpectiCast facilities.

Already lined up for the fall season - all with new books to tout, naturally - are Howard Dean, Ralph Nader, Julie Powell (of "Julie & Julia" fame), Melvin Van Peebles, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, actress Leslie Caron and former Daily News columnist Pete Dexter, among others.

"We're already the envy of other libraries around the country, because we pull in such extraordinary guests," Horrocks said. "A lot of that is due, frankly, to [public broadcasting TV and FM radio station] WHYY. We help get the authors here, pick up some travel expenses, then they also get a shot to be booked onto Terry [Gross] or Marty Moss-Coane's radio show[s].

"As a consequence, they sell a lot of books at our events and around the country from the radio exposure - and are likely to sell even more with SpectiCast. We're looking to drop-ship books to the locations where the telecasts are carried."

STARTING HERE: Limiting the initial marketing of SpectiCast to senior communities - with an emphasis first on the Mid- Atlantic states, then New England and the Southeast ("mostly Florida") - is one of those "gotta walk before you run" things for the operation.

But Rupp said facilities as far away as Wisconsin and California are likely to screen their shows. And the operation's backers (including SpectiCast Chairman Derek Pew) envision extending the reach of the service to community centers, playhouses, movie theaters, school auditoriums and even private individuals with larger home theaters.

"We're currently drawing the line at facilities that can accommodate 50 people or more," Rupp said, "but if we brought it down to 25, we might be able to sign up some private parties."

Wholesale pricing for Philadelphia Orchestra events will initially range "from $4 to $8 per person, depending on whether they're going to one performance or taking the series," he added. Pricing for a library lecture? "About what you'd pay for a cup of coffee."

And while today's seniors get an especially big thrill from classical music, Rupp allowed that homebound retirees 10 or 15 years down the pike might be excited by a virtual visit from Bruce Springsteen or Robin Williams.

"We'll be keeping our SpectiCast options open," Rupp said. "This is just the beginning."

E-mail Jonathan Takiff at takiffj@phillynews.com.

For more info about SpectiCast and to see clips from its preview concert, visit specticast.com.