La vie boheme....or not

Beauty Overhead
Originally uploaded by Genevieve Elise.

Last night Courts took me to the opera and it was not only the first time I'd been to the Lyric Opera House here in Chicago, but the first time I had ever seen an opera, anywhere.

We went to see "La Boheme" and it was absolutely beautiful. The Lyric Opera House is a superb example of Chicago's art deco architecture and though we were right up in the 'nose bleed' section, I actually preferred it because I got to fully appreciate the grandeur of the place. Plus, I had a birds-eye view of the whole stage and could appreciate the complete majesty of the sets and the costumes. Sometimes I don't think you get to appreciate those sorts of things from up close.

But it was a Friday night, and after a delicious raspberry cosmo, I was admittedly a bit concerned that I'd struggle through the 3-hour performance (that Courts warned me was actually short, by opera standards). But the lights dimmed and the stage came to life, and the effect was mesmerising.

The opera was set in Paris, but sung in Italian (the composer Puccini's native language of course) and yet I followed along with the sopratitles, and loved every minute. And there were more young people in the audience than I think I expected. But unlike musical theatre or the cinema, the audience was completely respectful. There was no shuffling, no audible whispering, no crunching of candy wrappers, or anything like that. It was such a different world and I really enjoyed it.

But I did say to Courts that next time, perhaps we could see something a little more happy? La Boheme is a beautiful story but it is wrist-slashing material towards the end!