Saturday night, my wonderful husband and I were able to make up for being at the Shiloh Club two weekends in a row by seeing Houston Grand Opera's La Boheme (Thanks again for babysitting, Mom). We grabbed a quick dinner at the bar at Glass Wall and were downtown, parked and in our seats by 7:20. We were literally front and center---> first row behind the orchestra pit. You can imagine our surprise when they ushered us to our seats. We knew we were Row B, but thought at the least there was a Row A. At the risk of sounding unappreciative, it was hard to see the translation screen above the stage, but being up close and personal for such a wonderful production was worth a little bit of neck craning.
I know opera aficionados don't always revere La Boheme, but it was a great "starter" opera. I was amazed at the little laughs that were interspersed with the serious context of the story. Being someone who cries at cat food commercials, I thought the end would really send me. However, the last act is so quick and almost comes out of nowhere. It didn't have the time to really shake me. I also think the fact that it was in Italian made is less dramatic for me. Over all, I loved the story and was able to imagine Paris at the time. Even though the story took place nearly a half century before Toulouse Lautrec partied in Montmartre, I could picture the Bohemians hanging outside of the Moulin Rouge. It conjured wonderful images for me of a time and place that can never truly be captured by art or relived. **Wishing for a time machine**
This is the "curtain" for the production. It was what hid the set when you were first seated. I couldn't take any pics of the real set (this is contraband taken with my cell phone as it is), but I thought this was pretty enough to snap. Also, my handsome husband outside of the The Wortham Center. For any of you who don't know, Houston has a very well-respected arts community. We have the 2nd largest number of theater seats in the country, after NYC. The opera, ballet and symphony are all renowned in the national arts scene.
Here is a great photo of the Houston Theater District at dusk with the north side of downtown as a backdrop. Just behind the bridge on the right, you can see the back of the Hobby Center, which is Houston's home for off-broadway. I think the last production we saw there was Spamalot. Brilliant! The Hobby Center is also home to Artista, one of the best restaurants in downtown. Yum!
And since that is all the culture you can handle for one blog entry, let me bring it down a notch with a photo from the evening before:
Simon on the deck at the Shiloh Club.
We miss you already, Renee!
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