November 15, 2008: La Bohème

Dear Friend,

My day started at three in the morning. Tonight is opening night for Terror Texts at Northwestern College. I contacted the box office to get the number for the Green Room, hoping I could catch the cast before they started warm-ups. A friend, Eugene, answered and said the performance would be at ten in the evening, which meant the cast hadn’t even shown up for make-up and costumes yet. He gave me his cell phone number and I told him I’d call at nine-thirty his time, five-thirty in the morning my time.

I remember these following events as if they were a dream. That I was contacting my friends right before a performance was rather outrageous and exciting to me. I hadn’t spoken with any of them in so long. Also, when my alarm went off at five-thirty I was only half aware of what I was doing, I was so tired. I called and Eugene put me on speaker phone. I’m pretty sure I surprised everyone, told them I loved them, and wished them a great opening night. I couldn’t understand anything anyone was saying on the other end, but I got the impression they appreciated my gesture. I then hung up and went back to bed. After I woke up I had to remind myself that I had, indeed, woken up at five-thirty in the morning and called the United States just to say “hi.” It was a fun memory.

Tonight I saw my very first opera. Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème was showing tonight at the Opera Naţională Bucureşti (Romanian National Opera in Bucharest.) I had the time and the money and therefore saw no reason why I shouldn’t go. It was quite the experience. If you’re at all familiar with Jonathan Larson’s Rent, you’re close to knowing the story of Puccini’s La Bohème. It follows mainly the romance between poor bohemians Rodolfo and Mimì. Rodolfo is a writer and Mimì is a seamstress with tuberculosis. There’s another romance between Rodolfo’s flatmate Marcello and his old flame Musetta. Throughout the play there’s a dichotomy presented between the two relationships, how Rodolfo and Mimì’s is more virtuous and full of true love than Marcello and Musetta’s.

The performance was great. I was sitting in Box Twenty-Four as opposed to the nosebleed section, which meant I had a great view of the entire stage. As I watched the performance I was keeping in mind how heightened the drama was and how spectacular the experience was meant to be. People go to the opera to be thrilled. Thankfully, as I was being “coerced” into connecting with the characters onstage, I was paid for my time and patience with a horrifically spectacular ending. Mimì, her tuberculosis having gotten worse, dies in the end and the heart-wrenching scene sent a chill down my spine because of the death knell blasted from the leading French horn in the pit. As Rodolfo weeps and holds his deceased love, paper flower petals pour from the cats onto them with the only light onstage being the spot shining down on them. Heightened emotions and silly schmaltziness at its best. It was glorious!

Blessings.
Kailen