Last August I wrote about nasty drama on the line to see Hair in Central Park, and tried to envision improvements at the Metropolitan Opera as well as Shakespeare in the Park.
"I wish the line systems at Shakespeare in the Park and the Met could be improved to avoid that kind of conflict and pain," wrote I. "It just sucks to leave the people in line to play such a big role in enforcing the strict rules. There's got to be a better way. Handing out place tickets in the order of arrival might be the best strategy."
More ticket line trouble broke out at the Met on Monday afternoon, as opera fans gathered for rush tickets to see the well-reviewed Eugene Onegin.
To the surprise of many, there wasn't much of a line in the chilly construction zone where a bunch of early birds lined up at the front while, around a corner, some others waited on a bench.
The problem arose when later arrivals inserted themselves ahead of the bench-sitters. This is a phenomenon known as cutting, but the grown-ups who cut the line acted like schoolchildren when challenged by the bench-sitters.
I'm learning that you can tell when, deep down, cutters know that they're trying to pull a fast one. They aren't the ones who'll go to management for backup. Or, if they do go to management, they'll try to pretend that they haven't been set straight. Instead, they'll just try to stand their ground—even when, in this case, they wouldn't even have lost much by going back a little bit in line.
The woman from the Met who intervened in this case was terrific, but the Met could still do better when it comes to managing the line. Policy should be spelled out clearly, on site and online. Line supervisors should be on hand for more of the afternoon. And, while I'm at it, more of an effort should be made to make the line comfortable instead of making it an endurance challenge out of Survivor: At the Met.
I should note that the Met is now offering advance online ticket drawings, which might end up being part of the solution.
As for Eugene Onegin, it grew on me as it went along, gradually winning me over. The early pastoral scenes were pretty, but I didn't get drawn into the action until the balls and the duel and the intrigue of the later scenes. And Piotr Beczala earned the crowd's favor with his sweetly voiced Lenski. Bravo!
The other Eugene Onegin performances this season will be on February 14, 18, and 21.
Here you can hear Beczala performing "La donna e mobile," from Rigoletto.
Source (2:17)
Showing posts with label Metropolitan Opera. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Metropolitan Opera. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Shakespeare in the Park with Hair
Shakespeare in the Park's Hair isn't Shakespeare, but it is very good theater. The production takes the patchwork sprawl of the iconic '60s musical and transforms it into a magical, moving experience using the well-channeled energy of its talented ensemble.
I'd seen the Spring 2001 Encores! revival and the movie version (substantially rewritten by Michael Weller), but this ediiton (reworked by original co-writer James Rado) seemed almost completely new and fresh, a quilt of skits, parodies, and avant-garde theatrics tied together by threads of plot and character development. Here and there I would have liked the stage action to have given more context to the songs—the action that triggers "Easy to Be Hard" didn't seem sad enough to warrant the song's somberness (see movie counter-example here) and "Good Morning Starshine" might have been sung too much to the audience and not enough to the Tribe, with the lyrics possibly coming across as too nonsensical (see Idina Menzel/Encores! counter-example here). But the pieces still came together very well, the climactic "Let the Sun Shine In" a powerful "broken-hearted plea" (as artistic director Oskar Eustis put it in the program notes) made all the more touching by an awareness of how rarely it has been taken to heart over the past thirty—no, forty—years. And Andrew Kober did good work in the Margaret Mead sequence.
Hair's run, originally scheduled to end in August, has been lengthened to September 14 thanks to another "Hair extension." I would be surprised if the show didn't make it to Broadway, but of course this is an opportunity to see it free in Central Park—at a price. For most people, it takes time and effort to get the tickets. And there can be emotional costs as well. Oh yes, it's true.
So here are tips on getting tickets on weekdays (especially good weather Tuesdays through Thursdays). Keep in mind that, as the run continues, the recommended times will probably tend to be earlier and earlier.
Much closer to curtain time—at a point when Security people had finally started showing up and explaining the policy to everyone on the line—I reluctantly confronted the two women again, and they eventually wound up going away, blaming me for ruining peoples' evenings. By this time, the woman's companion had finally arrived and cut in front of the mass of people who had arrived before him, including the family that had moved back. He too was furious at me—but it turned out that he was able to qualify for a one-for-one place exchange with one of the women who went away. (I immediately realized that the women who left might have been able to take advantage of the one-for-one exchange because of the guy who had moved back to be with his family, but by then they were long gone.) I did get support from some people around me, but it was still upsetting to play the role of The Man (especially for Hair!) and be the target of so much anger from people. And it turned out that it was all in vain anyway, because the cut-off point for the tickets was just in front of all of us. So ultimately none of us were close enough to the front of the line to get a ticket. I did get in, though, because a friend who'd arrived earlier but had already seen the show decided to give me his ticket. So I guess I'm not totally unlikeable. (Thanks, Steve!)
Anyway, I wish the line systems at Shakespeare in the Park and the Met could be improved to avoid that kind of conflict and pain. It just sucks to leave the people in line to play such a big role in enforcing the strict rules. There's got to be a better way. Handing out place tickets in the order of arrival might be the best strategy.
Source (3:52)
I'd seen the Spring 2001 Encores! revival and the movie version (substantially rewritten by Michael Weller), but this ediiton (reworked by original co-writer James Rado) seemed almost completely new and fresh, a quilt of skits, parodies, and avant-garde theatrics tied together by threads of plot and character development. Here and there I would have liked the stage action to have given more context to the songs—the action that triggers "Easy to Be Hard" didn't seem sad enough to warrant the song's somberness (see movie counter-example here) and "Good Morning Starshine" might have been sung too much to the audience and not enough to the Tribe, with the lyrics possibly coming across as too nonsensical (see Idina Menzel/Encores! counter-example here). But the pieces still came together very well, the climactic "Let the Sun Shine In" a powerful "broken-hearted plea" (as artistic director Oskar Eustis put it in the program notes) made all the more touching by an awareness of how rarely it has been taken to heart over the past thirty—no, forty—years. And Andrew Kober did good work in the Margaret Mead sequence.
Hair's run, originally scheduled to end in August, has been lengthened to September 14 thanks to another "Hair extension." I would be surprised if the show didn't make it to Broadway, but of course this is an opportunity to see it free in Central Park—at a price. For most people, it takes time and effort to get the tickets. And there can be emotional costs as well. Oh yes, it's true.
So here are tips on getting tickets on weekdays (especially good weather Tuesdays through Thursdays). Keep in mind that, as the run continues, the recommended times will probably tend to be earlier and earlier.
I have to say that the pain involved in getting tickets for these free events is a major downside for me. Last night, for instance, I ended up being a very conflicted "hall monitor" on the standby line. Out of the people immediately in front of me, one woman was joined by another woman, and then (if memory serves) a guy was joined by about five family members. That's when I piped up, said I hated being a hardass, and went over the no-cutting, one person/one ticket rule. The guy very nicely explained that he'd be moving with his family to the back of the line anyway, but the two women stuck together...and then the woman in front of me said that someone would be joining her.You can join a "virtual line" for one or two tickets per person every performance day until the 1:00pm cut-off time—don't count on getting those tickets, though. Currently the best time to get in the morning line for one or two tickets per person seems to be before 8:00am; the earlier you get there, the better off you will be. The ticket distribution takes places around 1:00pm. The current best time to get in the standby line for one ticket per person is before 4:00pm—there is no cutting in this line, so if you show up after your partner(s), the best thing to do is suck it up immediately and go to wherever the back of the line happens to be. (If you wait and then someone narcs on you, then you'll probably end up much farther back in the line.) Don't expect to get a standby ticket until the last minute, so bring your own victuals or be ready to get some from a vendor or the concessions stand or get something delivered from a nearby deli. (Security mentions one deli in particular.) You can probably expect some passersby to offer a spare ticket, or you might be able to get the consent to replace someone who leaves the line (after that person gives up on the line, accepts a giveaway ticket, or moves back in the line to be with a latecomer) on a one-for-one basis, but don't count on either contingency actually occurring!
Much closer to curtain time—at a point when Security people had finally started showing up and explaining the policy to everyone on the line—I reluctantly confronted the two women again, and they eventually wound up going away, blaming me for ruining peoples' evenings. By this time, the woman's companion had finally arrived and cut in front of the mass of people who had arrived before him, including the family that had moved back. He too was furious at me—but it turned out that he was able to qualify for a one-for-one place exchange with one of the women who went away. (I immediately realized that the women who left might have been able to take advantage of the one-for-one exchange because of the guy who had moved back to be with his family, but by then they were long gone.) I did get support from some people around me, but it was still upsetting to play the role of The Man (especially for Hair!) and be the target of so much anger from people. And it turned out that it was all in vain anyway, because the cut-off point for the tickets was just in front of all of us. So ultimately none of us were close enough to the front of the line to get a ticket. I did get in, though, because a friend who'd arrived earlier but had already seen the show decided to give me his ticket. So I guess I'm not totally unlikeable. (Thanks, Steve!)
Anyway, I wish the line systems at Shakespeare in the Park and the Met could be improved to avoid that kind of conflict and pain. It just sucks to leave the people in line to play such a big role in enforcing the strict rules. There's got to be a better way. Handing out place tickets in the order of arrival might be the best strategy.
Source (3:52)
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
PICKET TICKETS: METROPOLITAN OPERA RUSH SEATS
Don't count on seeing The Lion King tonight—that Broadway strike is still in force. But take heart: You can still spend the evening in the company of musical royalty, with even more Julie Taymor!
For a mere $20, you can get primo rush tickets for Taymor's take on the Mozart opera Die Zauberflöte (a.k.a. The Magic Flute) at the Metropolitan Opera.
I honestly can't believe that I continue to push the rush ticket deal at the Met, because the more that people know about it, the harder it is for me and my friends to take advantage of this amazing opportunity, the envy of opera lovers around the world. But here I go again: The rush tickets will go on sale at the Met at 6 pm for the 8 pm curtain, but you should get there early—maybe around 3 pm, to be on the safe side. Think of it as being like TKTS, but more comfortable (you wait indoors) with a better price.
To be frank, this production got a dismissive New York Times review in October, but I'm sure it's worth a try for Taymor's production design as well as the excitement of Diana Damrau's first night as the Queen of the, uh, Night.
The rush tickets are available for performances Mondays through Thursdays. Upcoming rush opportunities include the well-received Le Nozze di Figaro.
Don't count on seeing The Lion King tonight—that Broadway strike is still in force. But take heart: You can still spend the evening in the company of musical royalty, with even more Julie Taymor!
For a mere $20, you can get primo rush tickets for Taymor's take on the Mozart opera Die Zauberflöte (a.k.a. The Magic Flute) at the Metropolitan Opera.
I honestly can't believe that I continue to push the rush ticket deal at the Met, because the more that people know about it, the harder it is for me and my friends to take advantage of this amazing opportunity, the envy of opera lovers around the world. But here I go again: The rush tickets will go on sale at the Met at 6 pm for the 8 pm curtain, but you should get there early—maybe around 3 pm, to be on the safe side. Think of it as being like TKTS, but more comfortable (you wait indoors) with a better price.
To be frank, this production got a dismissive New York Times review in October, but I'm sure it's worth a try for Taymor's production design as well as the excitement of Diana Damrau's first night as the Queen of the, uh, Night.
The rush tickets are available for performances Mondays through Thursdays. Upcoming rush opportunities include the well-received Le Nozze di Figaro.
Monday, October 01, 2007
FLOWERS FOR LUCIA
Last week I saw the superb new production of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Metropolitan Opera—and I'm still energized by the experience!
Lucia is an Italian opera from 1835 about a Scottish lass who falls in love with a man who's caught in a blood feud with her own brother! Talk about uncautious!! And ill-fated!!!
The hype about the production revolves around the French diva Natalie Dessay, who deployed cagey acting in her well-shaped interpretations of Lucia's celebrated arias. Another attraction is the direction of Mary Zimmerman, the MacArthur fellowship recipient who won a 2002 Tony for Metamorphoses. With the very generous helping of talent at Zimmerman's disposal, the production is unusually well-rounded as a theatrical as well as a musical event. The three male leads—Mariusz Kwiecien as Enrico (Lucia's brother), Marcello Giordani as Edgardo (Lucia's love), and John Relyea as Raimondo)—all very strong, have roles in which they attempt to dominate Lucia; as the opera unfolds they come to dominate her vocally and also seem to tower over her more and more. She's an incredible shrinking Lucia!
The excellent casting extends to Michaela Martens, who brought her full-bodied voice to the character Alicia and Stephen Costello, a diplomatically sweet-voiced Arturo. And the music! Deborah Hoffman's harp solo (on a Lyon & Healy Style 23 harp?) was exquisite, Cecilia Brauer added armonica atmospherics to the Mad Scene, and the entire orchestra was, as usual, wonderfully responsive to James Levine's baton. (I'm beginning to hear the same kind of push-the-envelope quality in Donizetti's score that I've heard in Beethoven's later work.) The sets ranged from an old-fashioned outdoor scene to a minimalist, somewhat cartoonish, ruin of a castle—strangely yet successfully eclectic.
Hell, I even liked the wedding scene, which Anthony Tommasini (and others) criticized for its clustering of the guests into a photo pose: "Though the moment is beautifully directed, this staging device, again, overwhelmed the stirring performance." Me, I thought it complemented the performance. If I remember correctly, the moment when the flash went off was a dramatic turning point: Yes, Enrico had just succeeded in wedding Lucia to Arturo and estranging her from Edgardo...but, immediately after his contrived "picture perfect" moment, Lucia collapses, a scrim separates her from everyone else, and everything starts to unravel.
The audience Thursday night was generous with its applause, but (to my surprise) there were no flowers for Lucia. So I suppose this is my blog-bouquet for Natalie Dessay and everyone else involved in the production.
$20 rush tickets are available for performances of this particular Lucia on Monday, October 1, 2007 (8:00 pm) and Tuesday, October 9, 2007 (8:00 pm). They go on sale at the Met at 6:00 pm each performance day; on Thursday, it was wise (but, it turned out, unnecessary) to show up by 4:45 pm.
Here's a glimpse of one of Dessay's "Mad Scene" performances. Crazy!
Source (00:34)
Last week I saw the superb new production of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Metropolitan Opera—and I'm still energized by the experience!
Lucia is an Italian opera from 1835 about a Scottish lass who falls in love with a man who's caught in a blood feud with her own brother! Talk about uncautious!! And ill-fated!!!
The hype about the production revolves around the French diva Natalie Dessay, who deployed cagey acting in her well-shaped interpretations of Lucia's celebrated arias. Another attraction is the direction of Mary Zimmerman, the MacArthur fellowship recipient who won a 2002 Tony for Metamorphoses. With the very generous helping of talent at Zimmerman's disposal, the production is unusually well-rounded as a theatrical as well as a musical event. The three male leads—Mariusz Kwiecien as Enrico (Lucia's brother), Marcello Giordani as Edgardo (Lucia's love), and John Relyea as Raimondo)—all very strong, have roles in which they attempt to dominate Lucia; as the opera unfolds they come to dominate her vocally and also seem to tower over her more and more. She's an incredible shrinking Lucia!
The excellent casting extends to Michaela Martens, who brought her full-bodied voice to the character Alicia and Stephen Costello, a diplomatically sweet-voiced Arturo. And the music! Deborah Hoffman's harp solo (on a Lyon & Healy Style 23 harp?) was exquisite, Cecilia Brauer added armonica atmospherics to the Mad Scene, and the entire orchestra was, as usual, wonderfully responsive to James Levine's baton. (I'm beginning to hear the same kind of push-the-envelope quality in Donizetti's score that I've heard in Beethoven's later work.) The sets ranged from an old-fashioned outdoor scene to a minimalist, somewhat cartoonish, ruin of a castle—strangely yet successfully eclectic.
Hell, I even liked the wedding scene, which Anthony Tommasini (and others) criticized for its clustering of the guests into a photo pose: "Though the moment is beautifully directed, this staging device, again, overwhelmed the stirring performance." Me, I thought it complemented the performance. If I remember correctly, the moment when the flash went off was a dramatic turning point: Yes, Enrico had just succeeded in wedding Lucia to Arturo and estranging her from Edgardo...but, immediately after his contrived "picture perfect" moment, Lucia collapses, a scrim separates her from everyone else, and everything starts to unravel.
The audience Thursday night was generous with its applause, but (to my surprise) there were no flowers for Lucia. So I suppose this is my blog-bouquet for Natalie Dessay and everyone else involved in the production.
$20 rush tickets are available for performances of this particular Lucia on Monday, October 1, 2007 (8:00 pm) and Tuesday, October 9, 2007 (8:00 pm). They go on sale at the Met at 6:00 pm each performance day; on Thursday, it was wise (but, it turned out, unnecessary) to show up by 4:45 pm.
Here's a glimpse of one of Dessay's "Mad Scene" performances. Crazy!
Source (00:34)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
