Our trip to see The Heiress on Broadway this past Wednesday was, for the most part, a very enjoyable one.  I’ve gone to see Broadway plays before, but this time the experience was a bit different. This time around, I knew what to expect because I had read the book the play was based on.  Although for many people this would be seen negatively, to me it made things more interesting. It was fun being able to compare the two versions of the story.  I personally favor the play over the book Washington Square. The play incorporated a lot of humor into the telling of the story, although I do understand that it is easier to accomplish this through acting as opposed to writing.  In addition, I loved the ending of the play. When reading the book I was dying for Catharine to give Morris a taste of his own medicine or any type of punishment at all. When Catharine stands up Morris in The Heiress by leading him to believe that she will take him back and elope with him, I could not have been happier.

Overall, the play The Heiress was very entertaining.  Besides the wonderful actors and well-written script, the props and setting were also worth mentioning. I felt that the detail and effects, such as the light shining through the windows to show that it was morning, were very cool.  They made the scenes seem very believable which I loved. The only complaint that I have is that the seats where too steep, making the play hard to see without uncomfortably leaning over the railing.

In class on Wednesday, we had a guest speaker who came in to talk to us about classical music and to also gave us a bit of an introduction for the philharmonic we will be attending this Sunday.   Before he came in, we had a discussion on the opera we had seen the previous week.  I enjoyed this part of the class because I was able to determine whether my peers had some of the same feelings or questions I had.  Also, I was able to get some of my questions answered.  Something I was glad to get clarified was Lui’s purpose of  the play.  When I raised this question in class, I was under the impression that Lui had no purpose due to the fact that nobody was paid  attention to her or seemed effected by her death.  Professor Kahan, along with some of my other classmates, opened my eyes to the possibility that she had a less obvius purpose.  The character of Lui existed to make Turandot’s heart melt and without her, Turandot would probably not have realized that she wanted to be with Calaf.  She also helped with the setting by communicating the view of servants/low class people in those days through her use of third person and her treatment in the play.

What I remember most about the second half of Wednesday’s class was how enthusiastic professor Sirotta was about what he was talking about.  The love and excitement he has for music and the subject/inspiration of his symphony truly amazed and inspired me.  I also enjoyed listening to his story about his first memory of music.  At first this didn’t seem very impressive, but I then attempted to recall my earliest music memory and was unsuccessful.  The fact that professor Sirotta was not only able to remember the song but practically every detail was actually very cool, and his decision to incorporate this memory into his present day work seemed nothing short of genius.  This, along with all the time and effort it took him to put together this symphony, makes me more than happy to show up and support professor Sirotta this Sunday.

On Wednesday we went to the Metropolitan Opera and saw Tourandot.  Being that this was my first opera, everything truly fascinated me.  So many people showed up and seemed excited.  This was a bit surprising due to my prior belief that opera was no longer something people were interested in.  Not only did people show up, but they also got dressed up, wearing gowns and suits along with their flashiest accessories.  They actually complimented the Metropolitan Opera, which was a very extravagant and classy building with beautiful chandeliers and red velvet stairs that seemed to go on forever.  Once we got seated, I was excited to see the show that had all these people aroused.

Overall, I thought the show was very well written and rehearsed.  I loved the detailed and exorbitant costumes, and thought the props and choreography were perfect.  The singing was clearly done by professionals who, in my opinion, made singing opera seem simple.  As far as I could tell, they hit their notes and had enough power to be heard from the back of the auditorium.

Some thing I was not particularly fond of was how they used the character Liu.  She made a big deal about how she loved Calaf and later dies for him, but even then, she is still simply forgotten.  Her death is not made into a big deal, which made me wonder why they even put it in the script.  Another thing that made the opera a little less enjoyable was the fact that we were sitting so far away.  I wasn’t able to see the characters’ faces, and therefore their showing of emotions.  This definitely took away from the show/experience.  Also, I had a hard time going back and forth from looking at the translations to the stage.  Regardless, going to the Metropolitan Opera and watching my first opera was still a great experience, and one that I may want to repeat sometime in the future.

This past Wednesday in seminar, we looked at a clip from the movie “Girl with a Pearl Earring” to add to our conversation about hair.  It was brought to my attention that hair was seen much differently a few decades ago than it is now.  The fact that it was associated with sexuality seemed pretty amazing yet ridiculous at the same time.  The thought of having to cover your hair at all times and your husband being the only one to ever see it seems a little insane and also cumbersome.  The scene in “Girl with a Pearl Earring” that illustrated this precept helped me see just how big of a deal showing hair actually was for these women.  To them it did not seem like a stupid idea or an inconvenience, which was a bit of a surprise for me.

For the second half of the class, Dr. Liu came to talk to us about an art exhibit in the CSI gallery that we were about to see.  I really enjoyed listening to Dr. Liu because he did a great job of explaining things in a way that I was able to really understand.  He also made a lot of good points, which had me very interested.  I loved his point about how even though everyone in this day in age is basically forced to specialize in a certain area or subject, it is still possible, and even preferred, that you take an interest in some other areas as well.  Specifically what he was talking about was how a scientist could be knowledgeable of and fascinated by art.  This seemed to be a perfect introduction to the art we were about to see in the CSI gallery, which was filled with very detailed and unique art that did in fact incorporate science, and religion as well.

In class on Wednesday we continued our look at Edward Hopper paintings while also discussing an idea brought up by John Berger in Ways of Seeing.  Although looking at Hopper’s collection was interesting, our discussion on the excerpt from Ways of Seeing was what I really enjoyed about Wednesday’s seminar.  Discussing the idea that men can always get away with a lot more as far as appearance goes is something I definitely agree with but never really gave much thought to.  The fact that it was so obvious yet seemed so new was probably what left me in awe. As an example, we took a closer look at Robert Di Nero at a special event.  In the picture, Di Nero looked like he had barely put any effort into his appearance.  His hair was gray and a bit messy, he looked a bit scruffy which gave the impression that he was too lazy to shave that morning, and it seemed as though he wore his wrinkles proudly, taking no measures to hide them.  We then took another look at the Mona Lisa and the effort she must have put into her appearance. It is exactly this that likely made her worthy enough to be the subject of Da Vinci’s painting.  Her hair looked done, her dress was elegant and made of rich material, and she even included accessories like a veil and shawl.  By the end of our discussion I was convinced, and even a bit uneasy.

Some other things that stood out to me from Wednesday’s class were a few of the paintings by Edward Hopper.  The first piece was Hopper’s New York Interior.  At first glance I really liked the painting.  Although I was unable to see the woman in the painting’s face, I still managed to feel bad for her.  This was probably because of her bulging muscles that told the story of her hardworking and tiring life, or the small and dark apartment that she was forced to live in because she was probably not doing too well for herself.  Another painting that I recall is Night Shadows.  I remember being intrigued by this painting when it was first put up on the projector.  I thought it was pretty cool how Hopper was able to make me uncomfortable by convincing me that I was stalking the suspiciously speed walking man that was in the painting.  The scene is dark and brings on some mystery, which seems to be a trend with Edward Hopper considering that New York Interior, American Landscape, Seven A.M. and a couple of others that have this same element of style.  Another trend that I found looking at Hopper’s collection is his obsession with shapes.  In Night Shadows Hopper paints columns in the background which adds a number of vertical lines to the piece.  The same occurs in New York Interior where vertical lines and rectangles are made into curtains, doors, and a detailed fireplace with columns.  Hopper cannot even control himself from adding a bit of this element to his self- portrait where he includes the door and doorframe of the room he is sitting in.