Night at the Opera (and day, and night, and...)

If it's Wednesday, it must be...Lucia di Lammermoor? There are few things that can keep me from my weekly Wednesday night trivia jaunts. Last week it was a Presidential debate. This week it was complimentary tickets to the Metropolitan Opera. Although I was deathly ill for the better part of the day, I managed to summon enough health to make it over to Lincoln Center for the near 4-hour performance (just a bit longer than David Lynch's Inland Empire). While the opera was amazing (as operas seem to go), my favorite part happened during the first intermission.

The theatre at Lincoln Center is truly a majestic, awe-inspiring space. I've been to many elegant theatres in my lifetime, but The Met is simply breathtaking. Aside from the decadent beauty of the decor, the sheer size of the stage is just ridiculous with 100-foot-tall curtains and similarly-sized set pieces. Even if you don't like opera, the experience is one to behold. They also have behind-the-scenes tours which might be a meager, but somewhat acceptable substitute for those not inclined to drop good money on an actual show. In any event, after the massive curtain drops at the conclusion of the first act, I could hear the stagehands fussing about as they replaced the old set with the act two set. Somewhere near what should have been the end of the intermission, from behind the curtain men were heard shouting things like, "Shit!", "Look out!," and "Oh my god, oh my god!" This was followed immediately by a loud crash and a muffled scream of anguish. Needless to say, the intermission lasted about ten minutes longer than it was supposed to. I found this amusing.

As for the opera, it's about a woman who goes mad because she can't be with the man to whom she's betrothed. So, like every other opera basically.