An Afternoon with Mozart

Last weekend our Department Chair and I took a group of students to the Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit. I sported a giant mini-van, equipped with homemade Funfetti cupcakes for the road trip, extra paper towels, and a few other supplies that any parent/teacher should have in their Swagger Wagon.One of the students immediately asked if it was my car, and my response was, "Heck no! I'm not old enough to have a minivan!" And that's when I realized I was old enough to have a minivan, and I cried a little inside.

The multiple hours of driving to and from Detroit made for a very long day, but it was worth every minute. We have some very generous alumni who now work for MOT and not only gave us extremely discounted tickets, but also provided us lunch, a tour of the opera house, and an inside The Actor's Studio-esque session with the cast.

The Group (apparently I'm the only one who missed the memo about taking off our coats)

We all know that Detroit is perhaps not the most thriving city in the U.S., and that you're more likely to see tumbleweeds blowing down the main roads than cars, but seeing the Detroit Opera House for the first time was magnificent. There is such a history in that building (as in the rest of the city), and they've managed to create and maintain a gorgeous, acoustically perfect venue that any city would be proud to have.

I've grown up on stage, have seen many back stages and dressing rooms, and now work for 2 organizations that allow me to continue to be on/around stages regularly. Even so, I was gawking like a kid in a candy shop when they showed us all of the cool behind the scenes areas: multiple floors of dressing rooms, a costume shop that has provided not only for many operas and Broadway tours, but also many motion pictures. Fun Fact - Neil Patrick Harris just recently did several days of film shooting on the very stage we stood on! I won't bore you with the rest of the tour details or the details from our Q&A with the cast, but I'll just say the professional opera world is very cool - in a nerdy musical geek sort of way, of course.

Tour: On stage

Tour: Backstage...headdresses for one of the Three Ladies

The performance of Mozart's Magic Flute was absolutely wonderful. We've all heard the Queen of the Night aria (whether you realize it or not) and as a soprano I tense up with nervous anticipation when those high F's are coming up, but this soprano sailed through them with ease and confidence. I only wish I could hit those notes, but let's be real - it's not going to happen. The actor playing Papageno was hilarious, and when we met him afterward it was clear that he wasn't doing much acting; he's naturally a loud, funny guy with a big Texas accent, belt buckle, and cowboy boots.

The day was a success, the students loved the experience, especially those who were seeing an opera for the first time, and I had a great time "working," if you can call it work. And now, I'm looking forward to another opera in the future, perhaps Detroit, maybe Chicago, who knows.