Sunday, September 30, 2007
Smooth Opera-ator
My friend took me to opening night at the Lyric Opera last night. It was a fairly spectacular event, if you enjoy classical music or unfortunate fashion choices. Because it's the first show of the season, people really put their own special interpretations on what it means to "dress up," whether it's a flowy floral caftan or a shiny silver mumu. We ourselves opted for suits without ties, because we're really cool and also don't want to end up dying of heat stroke. I wanted to bring my feathered headdress, but I felt there was a narrow possibility it might be overkill.
Anyway, opening night was kind of cool. There was free champagne and appetizers, and lots of kindly old people who love to engage you in awkward small talk about the cello at intermission but will turn on you at the drop of a hat if you happen to breathe too loudly during Violetta's big aria. They even had a red carpet out front you could pose for pictures on, if you wanted. Unfortunately, my exclusive contract with the Janice Dickinson Model Agency prevented me from participating.
As for the actual opera, it was La Traviata, which is kind of a fun one. It's about a whore who dies from consumption and the man who loves her. But aren't they all, really. It was quite splendidly sung and staged so that it wasn't just crossing the stage and singing, as so often happens in opera. I'm still waiting for them to use my idea of a La Boheme entirely on treadmills, though.
My friend took me to opening night at the Lyric Opera last night. It was a fairly spectacular event, if you enjoy classical music or unfortunate fashion choices. Because it's the first show of the season, people really put their own special interpretations on what it means to "dress up," whether it's a flowy floral caftan or a shiny silver mumu. We ourselves opted for suits without ties, because we're really cool and also don't want to end up dying of heat stroke. I wanted to bring my feathered headdress, but I felt there was a narrow possibility it might be overkill.
Anyway, opening night was kind of cool. There was free champagne and appetizers, and lots of kindly old people who love to engage you in awkward small talk about the cello at intermission but will turn on you at the drop of a hat if you happen to breathe too loudly during Violetta's big aria. They even had a red carpet out front you could pose for pictures on, if you wanted. Unfortunately, my exclusive contract with the Janice Dickinson Model Agency prevented me from participating.
As for the actual opera, it was La Traviata, which is kind of a fun one. It's about a whore who dies from consumption and the man who loves her. But aren't they all, really. It was quite splendidly sung and staged so that it wasn't just crossing the stage and singing, as so often happens in opera. I'm still waiting for them to use my idea of a La Boheme entirely on treadmills, though.
