Thursday, March 26, 2009

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Opera

Lisa recently published a blog titled, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Monster Truck Show.” Hers is a nice story about giving away tickets to the Monster Truck Show. For some, that would be a great act of kindness, for me the kindness would be the sucker who took the tickets off my hand. However, I shouldn't be so harsh on some people's idea of a great time. After all, there were people who actually enjoyed disco. I didn't associate with any of them, but Lisa's story reminded me of this experience during the waning years of disco. By the way, just to dispel any rumors since I'm often portrayed as a rugged mountain man with a dirty hat, I have been to more than just one opera… This particular event happened in '81 or '82 and I still get a chuckle thinking about today


I couldn't believe the traffic on highway 76, also known as Independent Boulevard. Five days a week, this was a hectic road, but it was a Saturday afternoon and the cars along the main drag into Charlotte were so thick the highway was nearly a parking lot. Certainly all these folks weren’t going to see the Charlotte opera’s production of Madame Butterfly. We hoped to arrive in time to check in to our hotel, dress up and head out for dinner then to the show. As it was, we were afraid we’d not have time to even change clothes. As we got closer to Owen’s Auditorium, we noticed that everyone was turning in. I’d never imagined opera was that popular in North Carolina’s Queen City.

We still had a little over an hour to the show and our hotel was only a few blocks away. We drove on past the auditorium, ran through a fast food establishment and checked into the hotel, eating in our room as we dressed up. Instead of fighting traffic, we decided to walk back to the auditorium. As we walked, moving faster than the cars turning into the parking lot, I read the shared marquee. The auditorium and the old Charlotte Coliseum were next door to each other and, as folks in suits and fancy dresses were promenading into hall for opera, others dressed much more comfortably stampeded into the coliseum to see monster trucks and over-sized tractors duel it out. I was worried that we’d be late as the tickets made it very clear that latecomers would only be seated between acts and was glad to find that we just beat the clock. We found our seats just in time a red-faced conductor to step out on the stage. He stumbled as he apologized over and over, saying that he’d never had to do this before, but because of the traffic for the event next door, they didn’t have enough musicians in the pit to perform the opera. That evening, Madame Butterfly started with a thirty minute intermission.

Madame Butterfly was beautifully staged. We enjoyed the show immensely. But I couldn’t help but to think, as Butterfly was croaking with a knife in her guts and the curtain falling, that folks next door were watching tractor’s play tug-of-war and trunks with over-sized wheels drive over junk cars. Although Puccini would have rolled in his grave, I chuckled at the thought of bringing the two sides together with a monster truck opera featuring the band Queen. All this was over a quarter century ago; I have yet to write the opera. Maybe tomorrow.

22 comments:

  1. I've been to the opera once. It wasn't a good scene.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nevermind. I don't think you'd have much of an audience for it. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmmm... I never dressed up for any opera though. Heck I'm rough, I go everywhere in either well-worn (and stinky) sneakers or hiking boots. I didn't even dress up when I went to the Sydney Opera House.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I saw the "Miss Saigon" take on Madame Butterfly...unfortunately there was no Monster Truck show that night.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Write that opera this weekend :) In total

    Now that I live down here I get the physical setting of your Southern stories much more

    ReplyDelete
  6. "That evening, Madame Butterfly started with a thirty minute intervention."

    I presume the red-faced conductor was the person of honor at the intervention?

    Although I have attended lots of musicals, I've never been to an opera but I would if given the chance. We just don't have any venues around here.

    ReplyDelete
  7. TC, in that case, it sounds like a good story!

    Kenju, what? NO "Night at the Monster Truck Oprea?" :)

    Mother Hen, the opera was one way to get your date to wear high heels :)

    Walking Guy, I never saw Miss Saigon--but can see how the story makes the translation to Vietnam

    Pia, I have more ideas than time!

    Ed, you got me... that should be intermission, egg on my face!

    ReplyDelete
  8. lol. it really doesn't get any further away on the spectrum does it? Can you think of any other two completely opposite events that could have made it any stranger?

    As far as infringing on copyright... I think we're probably more likely to hear from a few 'rednecks' with an opinion on our opinion.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't normally point things out but when the wrong word is used and it would be grammatically correct if it wasn't out of context, I can't resist.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thirty minute intervention sounds appropriate for either monster truck or opera fans.

    :)

    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  11. btw - your new photo is REALLY cool.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Lisa, I've dealt with rednecks all my life! Copyright lawyers are another thing.

    Ed, thanks for pointing it out--otherwise I'd missed it and someone out there may have made a bigger deal out of it!

    Randall, there's probably a lot of folks who agree! lol

    Lisa2, thanks. The photo was taken by a friend when I was in Mexico. I was writing in my journal and wearing my infamous hat (and granny glasses)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nice to read you, Net Chick sent me.

    I love the opera, though I am partial to Die Fledermaus myself. I can just imagine the confluence of people.

    ReplyDelete
  14. That had to be a sight. Opera vs. Monster Truck show, interesting image.

    ReplyDelete
  15. That mad rush u wrote about only to have to wait reminded me of the army stint which the all young men here have to undergo. Back then, we always have this joke about the SAF-Singapore Armed Forces-: In SAF, you rush to wait (for the shoot, exercise etc. to begin thanks to frequent unexplained delays in the past) and you wait (thanks to the consistent delays!) to rush (adrenalin rush).

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The Walking Man reminded me of my late cousin whom I lost to breast cancer. The last opera she saw was "Miss Saigon" and she was very disappointed. I liked Zeffirelli's film adaptation of "La Traviata"! He took a lot of heat for it, but I saw if 6 times! :D)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Granny glasses? I don't wear granny glasses and I don't need to. That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Gwen, my favorite opera would be Don Giovanni

    Kontan, only in Charlotte!

    Stan, thanks for visiting. Much of life seems to be "hurry up and wait"!

    Michael, I've seen very few film adaptions of operas--even though I've seen probably a eight or ten different operas

    Lisa, No, not you with Granny Glasses--me (with the string around the glasses so I don't lose them). I was fine without glasses UNTIL I turned 47, it's been downhill since. At first, I needed them for footnotes, now I need them for anything but large print :(

    ReplyDelete
  20. Never into monster truck shows but loved disco! But then, I love to dance!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wow, no kidding! What a funny dichotomy of entertainment. I don't get the monster truck thing myself... No judgement, just not sure I understand. I'm glad you enjoyed the opera. Its so much fun, every now and then, to get dressed up and make a special night of it.

    ReplyDelete
  22. few things sound worse to me than a monster truck show

    ReplyDelete