La Boheme was one of the best performances I have ever seen. It started with the entrance to the theater. The fountain in front of Lincoln Center was a great attraction that was a perfect preface to this experience. The interior of the theater was filled with chandeliers and was covered in red. It was an amazing sight filled with an elegant atmosphere and joyful faces. Finally, the class got to our seats and waited for the performance to begin.

The two most impressive aspects were the singing that persisted throughout and the four different acts on stage. The actors did a phenomenal job in conveying the themes and ideas through their singing and dramatic actions. The actresses playing Mimi and Musetta were especially great in their ability to change the projection of their voice during the play. The first and fourth set was the artists’ apartment. It was amazing how they were able to create a set that was very realistic with key details. From the small table in the middle of the room, to the fireplace, to the bed that had to be pulled off of the wall, every detail of that set had a purpose in the overall story. The second set was truly amazing. It was the marketplace, where all the main characters gathered to socialize. There had to be over 100 people on stage during this part of the play in the two-floor market place set. They had a horse walk through the stage at one point! This act was probably the best and most impressive part of the performance. The third set was outside the apartment in the middle of the winter. This was impressive because of the amount of snow the set was able to depict. This was the most advanced performance we had seen as a class all year. This production clearly had more financial support and more resources than some of the other ones. This leads me to say, I wish we sat closer.

I want to start by saying I appreciate everything the Macaulay Honors program does in their effort to prepare us for the future. It is one of the best college programs in the country and in the world. With that said, I want to address our seating in the opera and the effect it had on our experience. The class sat at the very top of the theater and it was impossible to see the actors and who was speaking at what time. At some points, I could not tell the difference between who exactly was speaking. Especially since the opera was in a different language, it was hard to read subtitles and keep up with the characters while sitting so high up. I understand why Macaulay wants to send us to the opera, but we simply do not get the experience they want us to have. I understand opera tickets are extremely expensive and the program does its best to provide us with the best experience they can. However, I think the class can agree that it would be great to go to a less expensive production and sit closer to the stage. For example, when the class went to see The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, we sat very close to the performance and that provided us with an enjoyable experience that I will always remember. We were able to witness the passion every actor performed with and were able to connect to the show. These different circumstances shaped our experiences.

The Arts in New York City is a great class that Macaulay requires us to take. It teaches us valuable ideas about art as an expression and art as a business. This is one of the classes that separates Macaulay students from others by providing us with unique knowledge we can use later in our careers. The mandatory events of the class could be changed to better our experience, but overall the class was enlightening and enjoyable.

This is a zoomed in photo of the actors.