opera

b and i saw madame butterfly at the met opera last night. it was my first opera, and i loved the experience. b was only able to get standing tickets which put us about as far from the stage as possible. our standing spaces were really tight so everyone had to crowd up to their little monitors with the translations. then, about halfway through the 1st act, i almost passed out. i'm not sure if it was the crowding or if i had been a little dehydrated. i had to sit down for a while before standing back up to watch the rest of the 1st act.

during the intermission, b and i were just standing in our spots, waiting for the show to come back on. a couple came up to us and offered us their tickets. they had seats, not very far from where we were standing but seats nonetheless. i couldn't believe our luck. i wasn't sure if i would've been able to stand through the rest of the performance. they were from out of town, and one of them weren't feeling well. they were so kind in the way they approached us that i knew immediately that they weren't new yorkers. they were too chatty to be new yorkers. no offense because new yorkers can be extremely kind as well. a man standing just one person away from me on the train fainted this morning. thankfully, he came around quickly. everyone offered suggestions to let him rest and get air. a woman offered him her (unopened) bottle of water. but new yorkers won't stay around to chat. they're all in a hurry to get somewhere. these visitors took the time to ask us where we were from and talked. a new yorker would've kindly offered us the tickets and said good night.

the opera itself was stunning. the story is about as messed up as it can possibly get, loaded with social/cultural/gender complexities. the singing was incredible. the costumes were so beautiful, even from where we sat. the set was minimalist but very creative in the way the space was used. the direction was very clever. it was overall genius. i definitely want to take advantage of the cheap tickets that the new general manager has started to entice more patrons.