Okay….normally I would be so happy to be asked for id…having long since passed the tender age when that was a common event for me, however this time it wasn’t so hot. Last week we decided to go to the Opera. It’s the first time either of us had ever been and we thought we’d give it a try. Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky) was playing…neither of us had heard of that particular opera…but when we saw in the paper that the tickets were only $50 we decided to go. A nice evening out…supper and then…the Opera! Sounds pretty good right?
Supper was nice…although very early since we had to eat at 5:30 to make it in time to pick up our Opera Tickets at the box office.
We walked to the box office and the lobby was packed with people…all about…hmmm… I’d say around 20-40 years older than us. We were truly one of the youngest couples to be there. The ticket agent asked to see some id. Fine, I figured…they are just making sure it’s me picking up the tickets…oh…but no!… the agent informed me that indeed these tickets are meant for people under the age of 30! WHAT????? I’m being carded because I’m TOO OLD??????? As I looked around me and literally saw no one close to my age range I simply stated that I wasn’t that far off and couldn’t they please make an exception since this was our first time to the opera. The ticket agent held firm however and between her and another woman they only wanted to offer us box seats across the Opera Hall from each other at a huge discount of …get this….$125 each! That was apparently half price.
This is the first time I’m seeing an Opera, it’s not in English and I don’t want to sit somewhere far from my husband. That was not an option. I wondered what the heck they were going to do with our tickets…since we wouldn’t be sitting in those seats. The woman replied that they sometimes get "walk-ins". Okay…let me get this straight….you’re going to have a couple of people under 30 on a party night come in 20 minutes before the Opera starts and want tickets? Um, yeah…get real. Standing in front of these ticket agents and arguing for tickets because I was "too old" while behind me a bunch of geriatrics shuffled along to their seats was just too rich. Someone needed to wake me up from this nightmare.
Finally a "young" man (read under 30) came up behind the ticket booth and said it was okay to let us in. They made such a big deal out of it. What a joke. We were just happy to be able to use the tickets finally and found our seats.
The happiness was short lived. No…no…some "young" people didn’t come along and kick us out of our seats…the Opera was B-O-R-I-N-G. I mean brutally dull. Lame like sitting in a class where the prof just drones on and on and on about some subject that you just don’t care about. Robert was sleeping after the first 15 minutes. The guy in front nodded off after the first 5 minutes.
Normally I can find something redeeming about any live performance. The music, the costumes, the story…but as much as I tried…nothing was captivating me. Our seats were so high up that we couldn’t see the costumes with any clarity and there were only 2 or 3 people on stage and they weren’t dressed fancy anyhow. The music was horrible…sorry for any (Tchaikovsky) fans out there but uninspired is a very kind description of the score. Reading the sub titles of the story lead me to believe that the misogynist that wrote the whole thing would have been better off writing a bad sitcom for the Spike Network.
This all could have been bearable if the opera only lasted 1.5 hours…this was a 3 hour show with a 30 minute intermission. Did I mention that the seats were uncomfortable and small?
Needless to say when intermission finally arrived we headed to the nearest exit. After all the hassle of getting in, it turned out to be a huge waste of an evening. At least now I know…we must be too young still to attend the opera : )
Sorry to hear you had deal with all the chaos and idociacy of others.
Hey Suzanne, not sure how often you update this blog….LOL doesnt look like you do that often, but just thought that I would let you know Im here checking it out and have added you to my list of blog friends….OK…off to read more.
Carla