I know I fell short of my five yesterday, I'm just not sure how much. I had two early morning commitments, and didn't have time to walk before work, and then had the opera right after work, so had no choice but to do it over lunch. Only problem is, I'd forgotten my gear, so I just struck out towards downtown in my work clothes. My consignment-store Pradas are very comfortable, but apparently are not designed for five mile walks; they started cutting into the area just below my toes, so I veered into the library on Guadalupe, made a point of climbing all the stairs they had, ducked into the bathroom, and stuffed some toilet paper into my shoes as a buffer. I looked ridiculous, the toilet paper didn't help, and I gave up after another mile or so. Since I'd forgotten to look at the clock when I left (I was seriously off my game yesterday) I don't know how far I went but it was closer to three than five, I'd wager.
Who cares? The opera was incredible, the most enjoyable one I've ever gone to. Part of that was that we had great seats. My friend Matt got the second ticket (compliments of Janette), and it was open seating in the mezzanine. I got there at 6:00, weedled my way into the ushers' circle, told them how desperately I wanted the front row and made a few friends. When it was time to open the doors at about 6:45, one of them gave us the nod, we gulped down the last of our wine, went to the appropriate door and raced to front row center. The music was beautiful, I loved the scenery, and it was just so much fun watching Janette as the innkeeper; she was part of the chorus, but was onstage most of the time, and just has this effervescence, this presence.
Janette had told me that there were not going to be any backstage visits, but one of the ushers -- my new best friends -- told me that there had been a last-minute decision to allow visitors backstage, and gave detailed instructions as to how to get to the dressing rooms. So we went backstage, and not only hung out with Janette, but met all of the principals -- Nedda, Canio, Tonio and Silvio! "Silvio" speculated about what he'd do if someone stabbed his wife -- he hoped he'd be a little more heroic than his character -- and showed us pictures of his adorable five-month-old son.
A fun and magical night, and I decided that dress rehearsals are tons more fun than actual performances. Can't wait til April -- Janette has already promised me tickets to Faust!
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