A Night at the Opera

Last night I saw my first show at the Metropolitan Opera. The production was Verdi's Luisa Miller. That afternoon, I took the bus with my 10 year old NY cousin to Lincoln Center. I asked the guy at the ticket booth for a student ticket ($25), and I got a seat in the second row, three chairs from the aisle which normally costs somewhere around $170. Pleasantly surprised, we decided to walk to a farther off bus stop on the other side of Central Park, and she regaled me with a splendid variety of New Yorkisms and 4th grade riddles. The cast for the night's show was a flurry of cancellations due to sickness, including 2 of the bigger stars in the performance. We did catch a break when after the first act one of the second stringers in a lead role pulled out and someone with a much better voice subbed in for the rest of the show, including two of that character's best arias. The show itself was so-so, but gosh was the Met Opera House spectacular. All sorts of nifty little touches which make it a magical sort of place. I was sitting close enough to make a close study of the conductor. From my seat, I could hear him hissing along in rhythm with the orchestra during the intense moments when the singers weren't singing. There was also this strange social dynamic amongst the bassists and the clarinetists which was fun to observe. For the final act, the craggy old man and his young attractive escort in the seats in front of me left, and the operagoers to my right insisted that I take the front row aisle seat. Such fun. Such fun.

Looking forward to Boston.

Michael