Ingo wrote:
>1) Was anyone from our list actually able to attend, and if so, what >did you think of it?
I'll see you and raise you: I was in it! I'll leave it for others to evaluate the artistic success of the production. I can say that I had a lot of fun: more fun, frankly, than I often do in the stuffy confines of the opera house. There was an easygoing, community feeling to the project from the first rehearsal, and for me that made it a very special experience indeed.
>2) What do people in general think of this idea as a way to increase >opera's appeal? We've had a few discussions on this list about the >dumming down of classical music. It would seem to me that events >such as these could help reverse the trend.
This is a very good question. The audience turnout exceeded everyone's expectations. (At the first rehearsal, they told us they were expecting maybe 15, 000 and we ended up with something like 50,000 both nights.) People were enthusiastic but they were hardly what most classical singers or opera lovers would deem ideal audience members. They squirmed, they talked, they ate, they laughed, they drank. There *were* lots of kids there who came away from their first opera itchy to be opera singers. How do I know? Because there were autograph seekers. And they talked about how "fun" it looked.
Folks had a good time, but the jury is out as to whether they will become opera converts.
On the other hand, maybe it's enough that this one project was a success. Why do we always have to be building an audience? Why not service the audience we have, and let them do the work of sending their friends to see shows they've enjoyed? I think it's sometimes this striving, quasi-desperation for building a fan base that turns people off more than the trappings of opera.
Face it: it's a lot more fun to see an opera when you can stretch out, go to the bathroom when the urge hits, talk out loud, laugh at the stupid parts, leave if you get bored, wear bluejeans, eat a picnic, etc. When you enter the opera house for a regular-season production, there is so much expected of you and frankly some of it is a pain.
I'd much rather wear bluejeans and a sweatshirt to the opera I'm seeing tonight than what I'm going to wear. Come to think of it, I'd better go upstairs and choose what I'm going to wear. More on this topic later...
I'm glad you asked, Ingo.
Naomi Gurt Lind
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