Plays/Operas/Musicals

cheerfulgreek · #1 11-22-2011, 12:25 PM

Does anyone other than me love plays, musicals and operas? I love plays and I also like operas, it's just that I don't get to go to them as much as I'd like to. I go to a lot of plays on the weekends and the Nutcracker every year, too. It's so much fun. This will be the first year I'll be going to see the Christmas story, though. I used to go to see an opera a lot with my parents, but I was so young, and back then I thought it was kind of boring. As I got older, I started having more of an appreciation for them.

barbino · #2 11-22-2011, 01:27 PM

I love them all. I especially love opening night at the opera. I have been to several but not for a long time. I went to my first opera in 8th grade art appreciation class. Like you, I don't go to operas enough, although Chicago has the Lyric Opera right downtown. Plays here are very expensive, so my husband and I rarely go.
Moody Bible Church sponsors many musical ensembles (Handel's Messiah, Candlelight Carols, Friday night sings) and they are not expensive so we do go to them with other members of church. Also, the University of Chicago always sends me stuff from the Music Department, but I don't make it out to the "other side of town" often. Their Music Department has excellent music presentations and it is well worth the trip when we do go.

AlphaFrog · #3 11-22-2011, 01:46 PM

I love, Love, LOVE all of the above. Last weekend my kids and I saw The Magic Flute and The Pirates of Penzance....although I will admit even after seeing it and reading a full synopsis, I don't really "get" Pirates. My kids loved it, though.

The next one we're seeing is Cathy Rigby in Peter Pan at Madison Square Garden on Christmas Eve.

MysticCat · #4 11-22-2011, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

I love, Love, LOVE all of the above. Last weekend my kids and I saw The Magic Flute and The Pirates of Penzance....although I will admit even after seeing it and reading a full synopsis, I don't really "get" Pirates. My kids loved it, though.

I knew I'd find you in this thread.

I love anything Gilbert and Sullivan.

Love opera, too, though I like some more than others. I'll take Puccini over Verdi any day of the week, and Magic Flute (which I love) is the only Mozart opera I really care for.

My favorite opera is probably Suor Angelica, perhaps because Senza mamma is probably my favorite aria. Interesting that I like it so much given that there are no male characters.

ETA: Don't know why I left it out, but I love musical theatre. Broadway radio is by far my favorite Sirius station.

Still BLUTANG · #5 11-22-2011, 02:53 PM

DC Opera has a mini-subscription / discount program for people under 35. It's called Generation O and offers discounts, discussions with the cast/crew, and other fun stuff along with the the amazing experience of opera itself. i've subscribed for the past few years and will continue to do so until i age out.

AlphaFrog · #6 11-23-2011, 08:44 AM

Rehearsal last night reminded me how much I love The Messiah (yeah, not quite a play/opera/musical...whatever). The director would call out a chorus number to rehearse and I would turn to the person next to me and say "Yay! My favorite!"...and that process would repeat all night. I'm such a geek.

MysticCat · #7 11-23-2011, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Rehearsal last night reminded me how much I love The Messiah (yeah, not quite a play/opera/musical...whatever). The director would call out a chorus number to rehearse and I would turn to the person next to me and say "Yay! My favorite!"...and that process would repeat all night. I'm such a geek.

Oh AlphaFrog. If it were not you, I wouldn't do this, but it is you and you are such a geek, so . . . .

1) No, it's not quite a play/opera/musical. It's an oratorio, which is essentially a concert opera (story but no staging, no sets, no costumes, no character interaction), usually on on a sacred subject (though sometimes drawn from mythology).

2) The name of the oratorio is Messiah, not The Messiah.

AlphaFrog · #8 11-23-2011, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Oh AlphaFrog. If it were not you, I wouldn't do this, but it is you and you are such a geek, so . . . .

1) No, it's not quite a play/opera/musical. It's an oratorio, which is essentially a concert opera (story but no staging, no sets, no costumes, no character interaction), usually on on a sacred subject (though sometimes drawn from mythology).

2) The name of the oratorio is Messiah, not The Messiah.

Yes, and yes, I know. Especially #1, being that I'm singing it with the Oratorio Singers of Charlotte. And I HAVE seen it staged and with costume....usually with disastrous results. #2 is a bad habit that I can't seem to break. Even as I hit submit I realized it and was about 98% sure you would call me out on it.

victoriana · #9 11-23-2011, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Rehearsal last night reminded me how much I love The Messiah (yeah, not quite a play/opera/musical...whatever). The director would call out a chorus number to rehearse and I would turn to the person next to me and say "Yay! My favorite!"...and that process would repeat all night. I'm such a geek.

Oh lord, Messiah. Back in my high school days, I used to play lead flute in the orchestra for that. It was exhausting, by the end of it my cheeks were so tired I thought I was going to die! I do miss it though, because I just love Baroque music.

I am a huge fan of musicals! I have been in some, like Thoroughly Modern Millie, Damn Yankees, Once on this Island, ect. I've seen Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Oklahoma, Footloose, and a few more I can't remember at the moment. I'd really like to see Gypsy, Funny Girl, Spring Awakening, Legally Blonde, and White Christmas in Detroit this year.

I am actually going to be in Sweeney Todd next semester, so I'm pretty excited for that. I don't think I want to be a lead or anything, but chorus or a small part would be a lot of fun.

I'm not a fan of straight plays unless they're comedies or a drama I already know I like. One of the funniest shows I have ever seen was a show here my freshman year called Hotel Paradiso. I laughed so hard, I almost died. It was so funny!

AGDee · #10 11-24-2011, 01:46 AM

Ditto on musicals and plays.. not so sure about operas. I have a strange auditory sensitivity and opera seems to set it off. I don't know if it is the pitch or frequency of the sopranos or what, but it's almost physically painful for me to listen to it. I also have a noise threshold and if I've been somewhere loud (like tonight, to a bar to see a live band), I need near silence afterward. I had to listen to talk radio on the way home from the bar.

clarinette · #11 11-24-2011, 06:28 PM

I love plays, operas, and musicals. I'm grateful for the Met's HD broadcasts, otherwise I wouldn't see opera much. My school puts on plays and musicals, and I make sure to go to those.

ASUADPi · #12 11-24-2011, 06:37 PM

I LOVE plays and musicals.

I am not a big Opera fan. I like some opera songs but not as many as I do musicals.

As for Messiah, I miss singing it. Before moving to Fayetteville, I had done it every Christmas season for the past 5-6 years. I loved it. Thankfully the Fayetteville Orchestra is doing a Messiah sing along, so I am pretty excited about that.