For someone who has never been to the opera before, I was completely in love with my first experience. From dressing fancy at Lincoln Center to the actual show, I loved everything about it. I was surprised to see how full the theater was when I walked in. I did not realize how many people went to watch the opera! Last week in class we watched Rent, the movie version of La Boheme, and the whole time while we were watching La Boheme, I could not help but compare the movie to the opera. Watching Rent really helped me understand what was going on in the opera, which was especially hard to follow since it was in Italian and not English. I was able to recall the movie and link the opera to it so I was not completely lost. Rent is set in more modern times in New York City, whereas La Boheme is set in Paris in the 1840s. Another key difference is the disease that the characters had. In Rent Mimi had Aids, while in the opera she had Tuberculous. In addition, I noticed that the character Angel in the musical had a much bigger presence in the musical. Her death was very emotional, but Schaunard, who is the equivalent of Angel in the opera, did not die in the opera version. The last scene where Mimi was dying from the disease made me very emotional during the musical version but not during the opera. It may be because of the disconnect I felt since the opera was in Italian, but when we were watching Rent in class, that scene really hit me and made me so emotional that I started to shed a few tears. 
What stood out to me the most regarding the production of the show were the sets. They were so realistic and built perfectly. I felt like I was a part of the show itself. Each set including the apartment, the market, and the scene that was set outside in the winter all were made so beautifully. There were so detailed and accurate that even the fake snow looked real. It was also so cool to see how the characters interacted with the different sets.
Another thing I noticed was the size of the pit orchestra. There were so many members, which make sense because they were playing all throughout the show and accompanying the actors and actresses. They had to play each number with the same emotion that matched what the actors and actresses wee feeling. I can only imagine how many hours the orchestra practiced to sound that amazing on the night of the actual show.
I am so thrilled that I was able to go to Lincoln Center and watch La Boheme at the Metropolitan Opera. I thought that the overall production of the show was amazing because all of the elements were executed so perfectly: the acting, the music, the sets. When everything came together, the show was just breathtaking.
