Friday night entertainment

Tonight I went to BYU with friends see Mozart's Don Giovanni. I thought it was quite well done. It started 30 minutes earlier than most BYU productions, so I was worried we'd be there until 10:30, but, it wrapped up at 9:57. I love that they did NOT put microphones on the singers. The last musical I went to at BYU (Oklahoma) was not very enjoyable for me because everyone had microphones and it was way too loud for me during the singing. (Though in fairness, I suspect my ears are a bit too sensitive -- I almost always wear earplugs when I go to movies)

The woman sitting behind me tonight was quite fidgety -- constantly rubbing her stockings-clad leg that was right behind my head. The sound of the friction against the fabric drove me to distraction and I REALLY wanted to turn around and ask her to please sit still. Instead of embarrassing myself and my companions, I resorted to leaning forward to put some distance between my right ear and those stockings. Somewhere during the first act she then started playing with beads of some kind, and I nearly exploded with indignation. This time, I did turn around to "shhhh" her. That was the last of the beads, but not the end of the scritch scritch scritch on the stockings, so I spent long moments of the second act hunched forward.

This is the first time I've seen this particular opera, and I understand it was shortened some. I like operas with a bit (or a lot) of humor, and this one fit the bill. I personally thought it was funny that we had an "Opera death" in the first 10 minutes of the show -- you know the kind I mean -- one of those deaths were it takes 'em awhile to die, and yet they manage to sing while going through their death throes. I found I had more patience for it when it happens early. When it happens near the end of the show, I am usually thinking something along the lines of "Less singing, more dying"!

I think I have a ways to go before I become a true Opera aficionado...