A Night At The Opera

No, this isn’t a Marx Brothers show, its my account of a night watching and listening to The Gondoliers, a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. I’m assuming its called an operetta, though, one would think that an operetta would be shorter than an opera. You know, like a baby opera, a short little show with about 5 songs and we are all out of there in thirty minutes. Oh noooooo, one would be wrong thinking that. Very, very wrong. Three hours later, we were let loose. So, I’m assuming it is called and operetta because they speak during the play, unlike an opera which only has singing. At least, with an operetta, one is able to follow the story without the help of a outline of the libretto and a penlight. I mean, how many of us have sat, hunched over with our coats covering our heads trying to read the libretto by the glow of our cell phones, muttering, "what the heck is going on?" under our breaths?

Actually, I’m being facetious. I really did like the show and especially Katie’s performance. She was super! She and her friend, Amy, hammed it up in every scene, stealing the show away from the leads and giving the audience something to watch and enjoy while the lead characters sang. Some of the acting was abysmal at best, very wooden and tight, but, for the most part the music and singing was enjoyable. The orchestra was excellent and very professional sounding. Some of the highlights of the show were the unexpected involvement of the orchestra in the plot. I haven’t seen that before in a show and I found it refreshing. At one point, the characters made a negative comment about bands which elicited a chorus of complaints from the pit. In another section, two of the characters on stage were soliciting funds from another character and the orchestra had their hands and or instruments held up asking for handouts. The Idaho Falls Opera Theater and the Hillcrest Musical Theater class can be very proud of their work.
I always enjoy watching Katie sing and act. She has developed into a very accomplished actress and her singing has matured to the point she could probably make a living singing if she wanted to. She doesn’t, but she could. If it weren’t for Katie’s involvement in the arts, and Jake’s playing football, Mikki and I would have nothing to do. Or, at least, we’d have to spend a lot of time searching out things to occupy our spare time. It is exciting to watch them mature in each of their various endeavors and to cheer them on.

Even more satisfying to us as parents, is their dedication and hard work. Jake spent a good part of his summer running, lifting weights and generally preparing for football this fall. Katie has given up uncounted hours in rehearsals for the operetta, missing many school events, including having to give up swimming, which she loves. I admire both of them for their level of commitment.

I must apologize for the brevity of this post and for the seriousness of its content. I guess I fell back into my journal mode and didn’t put much thought into writing as I usually do, just sort of coasted, so to speak. I’ll try harder on the next post.

As a post script, I'll try to upload some photos of Katie in her costume when I can. I will have to upload them from the camera first, and that usually takes a few months to get to, so , be patient, young Patawan.