Many famous opera’s have been featured at the New York City Metropolitan Opera House. However, Two Boys, currently on display, is a cut above the rest. It features a potentially controversial story line of love and loss. The story catalogs the exploits of a detective named Anne Strawson who is investigating a young man named Brian, suspected of killing an 13 year old boy named Jake.

The entire Opera is filled with struggles faced by the actors. Namely, the detective struggles with the loss of her own son who she gave up for adoption at an early age. As she speaks with the parents of Brian and starts to piece the narrative of Two Boys together, she becomes disenchanted with herself and her decision to give her child up.  Also, Strawson struggles with the care of her aging mother whom she is evidently and naturally deeply attached to.

The young man, Brian, faces challenges of his own. He is faced with accusations and his life is disrupted for a crime that he did indeed commit. Sadly, the boy who he stabbed does die after being found to be brain dead and taken off life support. The shocking plot twist at the end leaves the viewer wanting for more, yet satisfied with what they have seen. The social overtone here is one of shame in homosexuality. Unfortunately, this is a problem that exists in many LGBT identifying people in the real world, and the opera sheds a candid but respectful light on the issue.

Two boys is brilliantly structured. It contains all the elements of a great and unique opera: good sing, effects, and dancing all culminate to give the viewer a sense of wonder that he or she will not soon forget. The uniqueness of the opera is manifest not only in its modern story line, but in its effects as well. Namely, the laser lighting and projection of a continuous stream of chat logs challenge the viewers’ expectations of a more classical form of opera.

However, the audience gracefully surrenders these expectations as the story progresses.  It seemed as though the initial reaction of the audience was one of levity and humor; this mood was short lived. The story line really drew the audience in. It was provocative, captivating, and, most of all, original. Two Boys is the perfect storm for a new spin on what constitutes the perfect opera. One can only hope that operas like these become the rule rather than the exception.