Opera Anyone?

I can first off say, I used to never be a fan of Opera. Broadway sure, I mean who hasn’t tried to reenact that scene from Chorus Line when they see a top hat and start blurting out ‘one, singular sensation!’? I have, and trust me I have gotten a lot of mixed reviews from the audience at the stores I have been at while shopping. I mean yes my mother laughs and gets a kick out of it, but otherwise, yes I am that weird, but I’m very proud of it. I grew up knowing of course about Rocky Horror Picture show, and a few others, but I just never really was into Opera for a while. My first experience wasn’t really a ‘go to the theatre, dress up, and go see the opera’ type of experience, it was in a movie I had grown fond of at an early age. That wonderful movie is Fatal Attraction. I know that’s such an 80’s movie (but I’m a 80’s freak, I still think Don Johnson was hot as Sonny James Crockett and Phillip Michael Thomas was hot as Ricardo Tubbs from Miami Vice so, yeah now you understand why I’m totally weird). My point is, while watching the film, I remember Gwen Close’s character talking to Michael Douglas’s character about ‘Madame Butterfly’. I remember that particular composition playing and how that played a huge deal in the movie. Since then, I’ve started to grow fond of it and I have always wanted to see it, but have missed it on PBS and when it played in the theatre so hopefully sometime I can finally experience it. Hey that’s what being in Tampa is for, in Key West, although it was big community for the arts, only certain kinds of shows would come. I mean yes they had Rocky Horror, Little shop of Horrors, ballet, and a few other things, but that was really it.

So in class, seeing Amadeus, I couldn’t help but to crack a laugh. My mother introduced the movie to me during the fall (and yes I liked it, a lot) since she hadn’t seen it in a long time, along that with Jesus Christ Super Star (she’s the reason I’m even into plays, thanks to her I have a love for the Rocky Horror Picture Show, HAIR (the original 1968 Broadway cast is just to me gives off the feeling of the revolution of the 60’s), Chorus Line (same in liking the original cast, it just has more feeling, well I think so), RENT, Hairspray, and a few others… But, I think re-watching the film in class made me really appreciate Mozart. I mean yes I have listened to classical music, but like most people I only know the compositions, but not the composers of the work. So to hear Bach and Mozart’s operas became a touching experience when you’re in that particular mood of wanting to analyze and enjoy the moment. It was easier to do it then since when I had seen it with my mother it was more so of a laid-back feeling and just watching a film and not really appreciating the compositions, so it was good I finally got un-lazy I did that for class.

So hopefully sometime, I’ll get to see Madame Butterfly, even though I’ve made a small leap in seeing shows at a theatre and for my birthday I’m going to see Spamalot (I know, but c’mon Monty Python is awesome) and would be into the ‘popular’ section of our discussion about the arts in opera and theatre, but I’m like a lot of people I need entertainment in that particular way sometimes, but at the same time a bit of culture works so I like to live on both ends of the spectrum.