The opera wasn’t that bad! Going in I was almost certain I’d fall asleep. Everything moves at a slow pace and scenes are drawn out for ages. However, there was a lot to appreciate about the opera that kept me awake and curious during the entire runtime.

For each of the acts, I could not get my eyes off the set. The stage looked beautifully decorated and arranged so much so that you could spend the entirety of the act looking for small details. I really enjoyed act 2 and 3 which took place at the market and on a snowy front yard, respectively. The market space is where the bar was located and the snowy front yard was outside of their art studio place. At the market space, there were tons of extras and sometimes I’d just follow one around with my eyes and they’re always doing something! If I were up there I’d just be walking in circles and acting natural but these guys really knew what they were doing. They were talking to other extras, pointing fingers, holding hands. It was great. And the snow set was just perfect for the act. Act 3 was definitely my favorite.

Act 3 was when Mimi comes crying and super sick and asks Marcello to help her because Rodolfo keeps leaving her. I actually started feeling kinda bad for her. I saw Brian next to me crying and sniffling but he begged me not to tell anyone that he cried at the opera. Anyways, the snow made the scene just right and inspired me to feel for Mimi and Rodolfo. Especially when they said something like, “The winter is so lonely without a lover let’s just stay till Spring.” In my head I was thinking facts b I feel u fam.

As you can see I started getting into it and felt myself resonating with the characters and the story. It’s lowkey super relatable to everyone’s love life. I wish I had a notepad out so I could take down some cheesy lines and tell them to my baby mama. My favorite part was when Rodolfo said you are as beautiful as dawn and Mimi said na you should’ve said I’m as beautiful as sunset because I’m almost dead. I was shook that was so fire.

Lastly, my favorite part of the entire opera experience besides sitting next to the cutie Brian was watching the orchestra conductor. That guy was so lit the entire time. It was hard to see him at times but his movements and music instructions gave me chills. Often times I’d watch him bring down his arms fast and hard so that the orchestra blasts the cellos drums pianos everything they got and it was so enchanting.

Really awesome experience shoutout Macaulay and Professor Shelly for making it happen and shoutout Hamad for being Hamad and shoutout Lincoln Center for being so pretty. Just wish there were more people of color watching the opera. I followed Mimi on Instagram and she’s a Hispanic-American singer and she is super involved in the minority community and trying to make art (including the opera) more accessible for all people. Super dope woman I dm’d her telling her I’m in love and thanking her for a great experience and she responded! she wrote, “thAnk you!” yay