Midsummer Night’s Dream [10.15.13]

Opera was something that I’ve always held close to my hard and had a great respect for. I guess it brings me back to the times before my mom decided that voice lessons were getting expensive and that I should stop. They were times that I loved and  feared. The fear surprisingly was more from my teacher than the actual performing. While doing scales, she would viciously grab at our diaphragms to remind us to use them for support and pull our chins down so that we could project more. Starting at ten years old, I was probably able to sing opera when I turned twelve and she assigned me the song “Think of Me” from The Phantom of the Opera. It took a long time and it was still really difficult.

This is why I give props to the opera singers I saw that night (it was my first time going to an actual opera). Not only are the notes tremendously high, but they’re moving around, lying down or sitting which is extremely difficult. That skill takes a lot of hard work and dedication.

Despite the fact that I knew I had a biology lab waiting to be done and an 8 AM class the next day, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not only was the singing phenomenal, but the sets and costumes were beautiful. I know the set was either a hit or a miss for most people, but I thought it was so clever in how it sort of let your own mind start imagining the scene because of the simplicity of the actual one. I also loved how the four main characters were wearing all white starting off, and then it started getting stained with green as they ran around the forest. So far, this has been my most favorite experience in Macaulay and think it’ll top the ballet, too but we’ll see. 😉