I just got back from a rainy night at the opera! It was no fun walking around in the rain, but at least I opted to wear warm clothes rather than a dress and fancy shoes. There weren't very many people dressed up there anyway, so it wasn't a big deal.

The opera that I saw was Tosca, and I went all by myself. But luckily I had a nice woman sitting next to me to be my opera buddy :) She was chatty, but I didn't mind. So...the opera was beautiful. I don't have much to compare it to, but I was impressed. The singing was great, and the villain was super bad-ass. He had henchmen in top hats, and a shaved head and goatee (and what looked like leather pants) and people clapped a lot for him during the bows. Tosca (the female lead) was impressive, as was Mario (the leading man, who looked like Ray Liotta from where I was sitting). I enjoyed their duets especially.

I hadn't read up on Tosca beforehand, but I kind of expected all the main characters to die. And not to give away the ending, but that is indeed what happens. I was still dismayed and shed a few tears, because people dying is sad, and Tosca and Mario were in love, but tragedy befell them. Sigh...

The only things I didn't enjoy were the supertitles (that's what my dad calls them--they're the English translations of the lyrics, displayed on screens on either side of the stage). I know, those are silly things not to like. The titles were definitely necessary to my understanding of the plot, and I would've been lost without them, but trying to read them and watch the action on stage and enjoy the singing was tough. I guess if I'd known the story beforehand, I could've ignored the titles. Oh, and I wasn't expecting two intermissions! Those were good for stretching the legs, but I wanted to keep watching the opera! Plus the rows were really narrow, and I was afraid I'd go tumbling down off the edge of the balcony if I wasn't careful. But I didn't. Phew!

So, in summary, I enjoyed my night at the opera, and I'd like to go again someday. Maybe Wagner next time!