Fun at the Opera

First of all, can you believe it…two blog entries in one day from the B&W gang? Well, I have to get this off my chest before I bitch-slap someone. We just came home from an amazing time at the Regal Hollywood in Chamblee watching a live, HD simulcast of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Tan Dun’s The First Emperor. More on the opera itself later, but first, the bitch heckler. I decided that I would “host” the broadcast, which only meant that I would say hello, thank people for coming, pass around a synopsis sheet, say how proud WABE is to be carrying the Met broadcasts, and give away a few items. Well, with about 7 minutes to the start of the opera, this bitch decided to yell at me to stop the welcoming festivities because she wanted to hear the orchestra tune. I was so shocked by her rude behavior that I had only one retort. Inwardly I thought that this must be her first time at an opera, and that’s why she wanted to stop something that was fun for just about everyone in the audience. So, I asked her (probably in a patronizing tone even though Ben said that I sounded sweet) if this was her first time at the simulcast (meaning…at an opera, you imbecile). She responded by telling me, “no, but this is the first time that I haven’t been able to hear the orchestra tune.” Wooptie-doo bitch, this ain’t no opera house. We is at the movie theatre now, ho. Well, I wish I had said that to her, but very professionally, I wrapped things up abruptly and got out of her way, mind you this was before I could give away the grand prize of a Grundig Radio. When I returned to my seat, which was right behind her, the gentle lady sitting to the right of Ben told us that the bitch heckler was not exclusively rude to me. Earlier she spread her particular form of self-hatred to other patrons in the theater. Apparently she refused to move over a seat so that others could sit together. Many people apologized to me for her rudeness, and that made me feel better. I am just not used to being heckled. A stand-up comic I am not, and boy am I glad that I didn’t go off on a schiksa tirade alla Michael Richards, just in case someone was videotaping.

Now, a few short words on The First Emperor. For those of you who have sat through Peking Opera, this is a production that would make sense to you. Time stands still, and the opera becomes a meditation rather than a story with dramatic motion. The singing is virtuosic, the stage direction is stylized, the costumes are breath-taking, and the stage design is industrial and yet sumptuous. At various points you can rock out with the gu-zheng, a Chinese zither, and the orchestra becomes the vocal percussion section. Go Rockapella! With a production dream team of this magnitude, how can you not be wowed by the experience?

The production team includes China’s leading film director, Zhang Yimou (House of Flying Daggers and Hero), and Academy Award®-winning costume designer Emi Wada (Akira Kurosawa’s Ran). Ha Jin, the National Book Award-winning novelist, is the co-author of the English language libretto.

Placido’s voice had such clarion ring, and Elizabeth Futral’s voice just shimmered in the high tessitura. I would love to see this live at the Met someday. When it comes out on DVD, go buy it, and watch it on an HD television.