I went to see La Boheme at the Seattle Opera.

The activity was definitelyworthwhile.

• It's the most fast-paced opera I've ever seen (I've seen about 10), and includes several scenes where different actors are singing different lines simultaneously. My opera-watching experiences are under constant threat from my tendency to fall asleep, but I managed to make it through La Boheme with no caffeine, though my eyelids did droop once or twice.
• The plot is a mix of comedy and melodrama... nothing to think or feel deeply about, but nice Sunday afternoon entertainment, in the same category as Spiderman 3.
• The Seattle opera house is actually quite nice. Not as grand as the Metropolitan Opera in New York, but not as stuffy, either.
• The actors (singers) in the Seattle opera have world-class resumes (sang in major roles at the Met, etc.), and sounded good enough to me, though I am really no judge of operatic singing quality.
• It was cheap, as operas go- $134/person, rather than the $400+/person I've paid in, say, Yokohama.
  

The opera itself was less than 3 hours start-to-finish.


I went with my parents and wife. Good group to go with. It's opera- it's only going to be fun for people who can sit still and concentrate on classical music for extended periods of time.

Labels: opera Seattle LaBoheme

  ¶ 9:47 AM