opera!

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Free opera? Well, it is a project by the Royal Opera here, to reach out to the community and educate. We are part of the community, so Brian, John and I hopped on the tube and headed to Canary Wharf to see Tosca on big screen in Canada Square. The tube ride was part of the adventure, as this young guy got on and recognized an old "friend?" Not sure... He spouted on and on about this person and that person, and somehow Jack, Simone, and ShirLee.. I couldn't figure out if they were all sleeping with each other or what! But this guy was oblivious that the train was packed with people, and we just finally had to start laughing. We were all laughing too, every color of person, man, woman, old, young, you name it. When this guy finally got off the train, the other guy whom he was talking to, or at really said, "I haven't seen that fellow in two whole years, and this is what he tells me." It was funny!

We arrived at Canary Wharf to find an entirely different world from where we have been living. It is the financial district, to put it bluntly. Just coming up the escalator, we noticed the suits.. pretty amazing contrast from where we have been living. I imaging that some of those very suits live in Bloomsbury, but they work in Canary Wharf. We got to the top and the outdoors, and found some "spitting" (otherwise known as sprinkling, or light rain), and stepped outside. What was revealed was true skyscrapers, of steel and glass. VERY different from the old architecture where we are living. This was like being in the newest part of any city USA. We found Bank of America, Citibank/Citicorp, Barclays, BP, McGraw-Hill (the big publisher in U.S. education), and lots of planes flying overhead. We saw several nice restaurants with people outside smoking and drinking after work. It was like we had stepped into "Sex and the City." We had not experienced anything like this yet. We asked around, and all we had to do was go up some steps and turn the corner, and there was Canada Square. Again, the green in the middle of non-green. It strikes me so much, that the value of space seems moreso here. People realize that sitting on a nice piece of grass is worth the trip, or not having a yard means that there is always a beautiful park nearby. I wish we recognized this value more in the U.S.

We saw the huge screens immediately. There were two of them, as well as some sort of giant space-ship-looking thing in the middle of the park. The opera had already begun, so we tried very hard to be quiet, but when shaking our plastic bags to put on the wet grass, were quite unsuccessful. Yet, people seem to be fine with everything here as long as you apologize. We definitely had a better view than the 69 pound seats Emily and I almost bought a week ago! We laid our towels over the plastic bags and sat down to enjoy the opera.

Yet, it seems we were really there more to enjoy the atmosphere. None of us knew much about Tosca, although once Vissi Darte (sp) was sung, we recognized it... and I knew lots of death happened!
They (as in the educational people), passed out nice pamphlets with act-by-act descriptions. There were also great interval moments with even more information. The first interval displayed some of the things Royal Opera and Ballet are doing to get community and school involvement. There were high school students helping with a film. A striking thing to me was that one girl, when asked if she could sing, responded, "Oh no, I am tonedeaf." I thought that was only something U.S. kids say on a regular basis. This was a UK teen instead. It is not a statement my profession is proud of. We wish for all to sing, and I think that is part of the opera and ballet to prove. They want all to see that they can at least make some sort of melody, put on a costume, and move to the music. I wish the U.S. would do more of this.
They are broadcasting certain Metropolitan Opera House productions via satellite in movie theaters across the country, but they are not free, and not necessarily live. In fact, they cost more than a normal movie and have restricted me from going. It just brings a lot to the forefront in terms of what is important in society.

Back to the opera... we really enjoyed hearing glorious singers and learned a lot more about Tosca. We also observed others, and how relaxed they were, and how many were out despite the weather. It had stopped raining, but it was FREEZING! We made it through two full acts, but none of us could feel our faces with the wind, so, despite the excitement in the third act, we headed out. Our tube ride was much less exciting, but I still struck up a conversation with two Canary Wharf construction workers. The workers had been boating against each other all evening, so they laughed when they found out I had been cold. They said they were soaked to the bone, but enjoyed the friendly competition. One gentleman said I had to make it to Canterbury! Yet, they were also intrigued by the fact that we were out listening to opera. He told me to head to Sadler's Wells because he had been the head of construction on its refurbish. I am definitely intrigued.

It was a lovely evening and reminded me of Ravinia, but with screens and free! (the lawn) We still had a picnic and a glass of wine, we just had to bring it with us and not pay for it. I believe it's quite a successful event for the ROH.

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