Figaro! Oh Wait…Wrong Opera…

The trip to the opera was such a pleasant experience! I can’t even begin to describe the amusement and delight it gave me. It was so simple and brought me back to a more innocent time. Waiting for the show to begin was also pretty exciting, because I really had absolutely no personal experience with opera performances. I was really curious to see what it would be like. And of course, do I even need to mention the rising of those beautiful and glittering chandeliers?

Regretfully, there were a few stumbles along the way though. I wasn’t able to make it to the class dinner, which I heard was a lot of fun. Also, once the show actually started, everyone started pulling out his or her binoculars, which I realized I never got. I also kept wondering where the captions were, since I thought they were supposed to be behind the seats in front of us. It was also too late to read the playbill’s summary, since the lights went down.

So, the first half of the show was pretty confusing, and would probably be extremely perplexing if I didn’t already know the story of Hansel and Gretel. However, even in all its cloudy continuance, I absolutely loved the first few numbers. The singing was impossibly carried all the way to the back of the theatre, with all its sublimely voiced notes still in tact. The acting was so exaggerated in a good way that I could still keep up with the story and jokes despite the fact that I had absolutely no idea what anyone was saying. I also came to like the fact that we were so far away from the stage, because the entire set seemed so small that it reminded me of an enchanted dollhouse.

During/After the intermission, things started to fall into place. Jackie let me use her binoculars so I could actually see things up close. I also looked at the screen behind the seat in front of me and thought, “hmm…I wonder what would happen if I press this big, red, and conspicuous button next to it.” And, as it turns out, that button turns the screen on and displays the captions. And did that make a difference! It also turns out that the singers were actually speaking English.

The last acts of the play were much more straightforward. It told the story of Hansel and Gretel as I remembered it, and made me laugh several times. However, I never did quite get the pictures that they would sometimes show, like with the huge mouth, or the bloody plate. I also found it a bit disturbing that all these little kids were singing and laughing around a questionable duplication of a burnt witch.

Nevertheless, the story ended very nicely, and as promised, was extremely uplifting. It was a very enjoyable way to end our first semester. I think as we all embark on the adventure to adulthood, it’s good to remember what it’s like to feel like a child again.