I cannot imagine a more arts-enriched weekend than the two days I've had!
Friday night hailed the opening night of La Boheme and the Metropolitan Opera. Every performance, I get paid to fake shop around the set of a fake Paris with my fake cousin Lauren, who is from the South of France (or so our story goes). Musetta's waltz is just gorgeous, I never tire of hearing it. It's really a rare privilege to be part of something that is so beloved by the Met Opera audiences.
After Act 2, I got to bounce from the opera house, and was able to race up to Columbia's campus to support the lovely Erin in her choreographic debut at Orchesis (greek for "dance"). The show was lovely, and I especially enjoyed the choreographers' music choices. The best of the night was this cover of "Hey Ya": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c745E7T_Wvg
Today I woke up on my leisurely day off and spent the afternoon at the Met Opera - taking advantage of the free standing room tickets that come with my Met Opera employee benefits - and watched the matinee of the matinee of the popular Satyagraha, Phillip Glass' opera about Gandhi's formative years in South Africa. Satya is loosely translated from Sanskrit to mean "truth/love", and agraha to mean "insistence/force" and the combination of the two engrams encapsulate Gandhis' approach to nonviolent protest. I couldn't help but see significance given all the violence and uproar with Occupy Wall Street in recent weeks.
As to the Satyagraha production itself, I'll try to use words to describe it, but really nothing seems sufficient to detail the experience better than watching Phillip's libretto and McDermont and Crouch's production unfold in person. Satyagraha was equal parts mystifying, saddening, and enlightening. Gorgeous puppetry and symbolism, though perhaps a bit more thematic repetition than was necessary to get the point across. Then again, what do I know? I'm only an opera newbie! In a fun bonus, I got to watch the last two acts from the front row of the mezzanine when a few season ticket holders left (way too) early.
The most exciting part of the afternoon was when Phillip Glass himself came out at the very end of the curtain call to bow with the cast. I've heard him talked about for years, but never realized he was well into his 70s.... how the world turns. He's still fiercely original and quirky as ever... I hear his current partner is in his 30s... weeerk it Phil!
On a whim, I switched from clapping to waving (we wave at the audience in La Boheme after Musetta's waltz; it's always a crowd pleaser), and lo and behold a few of the principal singers and even Phillip Glass waved back!
After a wonderful dinner where I played sugar momma to a dear friend of mine as a belated birthday present, I stumbled upon a jazz performance at Columbia's Miller Theater, spent my night practicing "You and I" by Ingrid Michaelson on the ukulele, and am now happily off to bed.
Lots of love,
A Broadway Baby
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