About 300 people crammed into a movie theater at Cottonwood Mall earlier this week, nearly filling it, to take in an international blockbuster.

A typical Hollywood offering drawing a Tuesday night crowd? Think again.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart penned this one in 1791. "The Magic Flute" was performed by New York's Metropolitan Opera and beamed via satellite to select theaters around the country.

Welcome to the latest triumph of that dynamic duo, technology and niche marketing.

Albuquerque might not be able to support a New-York-caliber opera venue, but so far it has proven adept at packing movie theaters every few weeks.

The Starport Theater, the only theater in New Mexico offering the digital opera series, was 80 percent full for Vincenzo Bellini's "I Puritani" on Jan. 6. Tan Dun's modern opera "The First Emperor" sold so many tickets the show played in two auditoriums.

The series continues next month with Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" and through April with works by Rossini and Puccini.

While movie theaters typically cater to general audiences, those who shelled out $18 to see "The Magic Flute" knew their opera backward and forward, and in several languages, too.

From her seat in the back row, University of New Mexico junior Hannah Stephens remembered her first experiences with the Mozart epic.

"When I was 3 years old, I would sing along to it," she said.

That proved portentous, as she will sing the glass-shattering arias for the Queen of the Night character in a forthcoming UNM "Magic Flute" production.

Fellow singers Kelli Dahlke-Fuentes and Elena Maietta pointed out their professor several rows down.

After the performance, four women lingered in the front row, raving about it. Three of the four had been to the Met in New York before. Some had been regulars.

"When we first started going, women still wore evening gowns and mink coats," said Sherri Davidman, originally from New York.

The conversation soon lapsed into that staple of East Coast ex-pat talk: How to find good bagels "out here."

The production, with its razor-sharp picture and flawless sound, is made possible by a revolutionary delivery system. High-definition cameras record the action in New York, which is then beamed to Albuquerque or anywhere else around the world. Digital projectors create the picture for the audience.

While this week's Mozart production was actually an encore presentation, most of the Met's series is live.

"This is all being driven by technology," said Julie Borchard-Young, the marketing director for the Met.

The move toward live shows, which have recently included concerts by the bands Depeche Mode and Kiss, is driven largely by a firm called National Cinemedia, which is a joint venture of theater giants that includes AMC, Cinemark, Regal and United Artists.

The emergence of the company, which is preparing for its initial public offering, comes as movie theaters face a brave new world of competition, in which high-definition movies reach homes via the mail and will soon come via the Internet.

"It's almost like a stacked deck these days," said Eric Whitmore, the program coordinator of UNM's ARTS Lab, which researches the the artistic and scientific confluence of media technology. "What can the theaters provide that is still going to be a unique, special experience?"

Using the cool, new digital toys for live shows and other group experiences yet to be dreamed up might just be the ticket, he said.

"I think that's an area where theaters can continue to make something special," Whitmore said. "I'm interested to see how it plays out."

The technology might also give opera a shot in the arm. Far more people can fit into a vast network of movie theaters than can sit in the Met's opera house in New York.

"People like it once they're exposed to it," Borchard-Young said. "I am blown away by the breadth and scope of people that are attending."

That was the case Tuesday for Maggie Austin, who said she had never seen an opera before attending the show with Davidman, a friend from work.

"I was blown away," she said. "I just got so excited when she was telling me about that experience. I don't usually go out on weeknights, either."