Lett's see DC (and NY): My Little Town Blues are Melting Away

I brought my Mom back to DC with me after Christmas. We spent a few days gallivanting around the Nation's Capital before a quick trip to the Big Apple. I coaxed Mom into writing up her experience, and what you will get is a six part mini-series of the Mother Fish Out of Water. And let me tell you what, she was out of water! At some point along the series, I'll add my own brief recap of the events – you know two sides to every story. Part five of my Mom's six part mini-series of her trip to Washington, DC and NYC continues with our trip to New York City for speed sightseeing and an opera at the Met. This small town Mom has come a long way!

Ouch! My feet hurt! It didn't seem the blister pads wee doing their job. Rejuvenated by a shower and coffee, I prepared for the primary goal of my visit. The night before, I condensed into my backpack everything presumably necessary for a frenetic sight-seeing trip to New York City with a side of opera at the Met. We ate breakfast, added last night's left-overs and apples to our backpacks, and departed the warm house. Chelsea carried a compact umbrella and entrusted me with the community umbrella. It was very cold but not so bad once we got moving. We rode the Metro to where we would catch a bus for our ride to New York. We settled in, my anticipation growing. I probably should have tried to nap, but who knows if or when I will ever do something like this again? I watched the landscape looking for landmarks and place names I would recognize. It was so cool to see this for myself, to have my own perspective.

Chelsea and I ran through a list of sites to see, trying to prioritize for our time constraints. I knew we wouldn’t be able to see very many places. Top of the list was the Harley Davidson store to obtain the requisite souvenir t-shirt for John. Chelsea located one and upon arriving at Penn Station, we disembarked the bus and located a subway station where we could catch a train to whisk us to said HD shop. Chelsea's proficiency with the subway system and self-confidence put me somewhat at ease, though flashes in my mind of The Out of Towners occasionally gave me pause. We made it to the Harley shop and purchased shirts for John and me (not matching, though).

Needing to refuel and warm up, we found a Starbucks. We got hot drinks to have with the left-over quesadilla and apples. The quesadilla is still yummy. After eating, we shouldered our backpacks and headed back out into the masses of people. It was New Year's Day, for Pete's sake! Why weren't they all at home watching the Rose Parade? A few blocks later, I realized I left the umbrella at Starbucks. Since it was a community umbrella to begin with, it was serving its purpose. The next person to find it would hopefully pass on their good fortune of having been blessed with an umbrella.

We rode the subway back to the Time's Square area. We were to meet Sam (a college roommate of Chelsea's) and her mom, Daryl, there to make our way to our hotel. Chelsea and I wandered around. I liked the Target ads based on the Twelve Days of Christmas. The streets seemed pretty free of trash and confetti from the night before. I can't even imagine being among the crowd that amasses in Time Square for New Year's Eve. I was pretty overwhelmed by the hugeness of it all – the tall buildings, the number of people, and the busy-ness of everything. Sam and Daryl met us after doing some shopping. We walked to the hotel and checked in. We had a few minutes to rest, and then changed for dinner and the opera. My clothes didn't appear too wrinkled after being stuffed in the backpack all day. I wanted to make a good impression on Renee, after all! Biggest challenge? Putting on real shoes with my blisters! Thank goodness they were flats and we didn't have much walking tonight.

We found a little restaurant close to the hotel. I had an open-faced roast beef sandwich with spinach and Boursin cheese. Delicious. Bundled against the cold we walked a block or so to catch a cab to take us to the Metropolitan Opera. We climbed into the cab (not the Cash Cab) and were on our way. Though outwardly calm, I was getting very excited. Never, in all my day-dreaming, have I imagined doing anything like this. I think I need to expand the boundaries of my day-dreams.

Side story-Exactly 50 years ago my mom and her sister took a trip to New York City. They both left young families (5 kids for my mom, 3 kids for my aunt) in the charge of our Dads and various grandparents. Mom and Aunt Patty rode the train from Winslow, AZ to Battle Creek, MI, to meet their cousin Carolyn. They then rode the train to New York for a few days of sight-seeing. My mom's memories of what they saw are pretty vague, but she knows they had a good time. Heck, any amount of time away from that many kids is a good time!

Sam and Chelsea

Daryl and Susan

We arrived at the Met with me in total awe. The building is so beautiful and grand. We went inside and were met with even more splendor. The chandeliers in the expansive lobby were spectacular. It was hard to take it all in. We located our level and were directed to our seats. Chelsea showed me how the streaming translation worked on the back of the seat in front of me. I was nervous about liking the performance. I didn't want to disappoint her. After a few minutes the lights dimmed and a hush settled throughout the theatre. The music started, the curtain rose and we were underway. Though a little distracting to keep looking down at the seat for the translation, I was able to follow the performance with very little trouble.

Quickly, it seemed, Act I ended. I made it through not wanting to run from the theatre with my ears covered. A short intermission and we returned to our seats, ready for Act II. (HAHAHA that’s funny – the Met has never been known for short intermissions, but I suppose the excitement of it all made it seem to Mom that it was a quick intermission.) This portion dragged a little for me, but I didn't fall asleep. Again, I was surprised at how quickly the time passed. Another intermission and we wandered to the gift shop. Chelsea, Sam and I were admiring some ornaments made from chandeliers retired from the opera house. They were made of Swarovski crystals and so, so sparkly. One would make a fabulous addition to any Christmas tree. Sadly, they were definitely out of my price range. Back to our seats and Act III. This portion was quick-paced, funny and bitter-sweet. Before I knew it, the performance was over. Pretty amazing.

Chelsea's friend, Sarah, arranged a back-stage pass for us to meet Renee Fleming after the opera. Thank you, Sarah! We made our way downstairs, through hallways and corridors to finally arrive at the dressing rooms. We joined others waiting in line. Our turn came at last. Chelsea introduced us all. We expressed our appreciation for a stellar performance and she agreed to a picture with us. I was so honored to meet her. She seems most gracious and appreciative of her fans. She has a very powerful voice for such a petite person. I totally enjoyed the performance even though I'm not as passionate about it as Chelsea. It's a very impressive art form and I do appreciate that. We meandered back through the hallways and found our way outside. A short walk and we were able to hail a cab to take us back to the hotel. Rats – still not the Cash Cab. We arrived at our hotel and our previous plans for a nightcap quickly dissolved as exhaustion kicked in. Well, for me anyway. I think the others may have deferred to me. Hey, it was a long day. (I think we were all happy to hit those comfy beds at the Marriott.)

~ Susan

Renee Fleming, Chelsea, Daryl, Susan, Sam
I love how my mom and Renee color coordinated – they’re just cool like that.

Mom's first opera at the Met was Richard Strauss' der Rosenkavalier, an almost five-hour marathon of music, starring Renee Fleming as the Marschalin and Susan Graham as Octavian.

And we're done!

The final curtain has come down on my last opera for the 2008/2009 season. Oh and what a season it has been! Renee...Placido...Dmitri...Patricia...Nessun Dorma...The Meditation...Song to the Moon...Di Provenza...The Met...The Kennedy Center...Thais (four times)...Lucrezia Borgia (three times w/ Renee, once w/ Sondra)...Il Trovatore...Peter Grimes! (twice)... What memories! So many great memories. And all the good friends along the way. Can't wait to do it all again!

And oh my gosh LEONTYNE PRICE! How could I ever forget???

The Banner that started it all

Some things are just meant to be. But every once in a while, it takes a sign from up above to get you moving on something. This is that sign, er well banner:

Woah! Wait! Who's that there in the bottom left hand corner? Could it be RENEE FLEMING?!! As a matter of fact, it is.

Last summer - July to be precise - I was in DC for a little vaca. Michelle, Sean, Lauren and I went to the Kennedy Center to see Shear Madness. Upon exiting the Kennedy Center, I noticed this banner ruffling in the breeze and it sent me a-pondering. "Hmmmm," I thought, "maybe I could see Renee Fleming in concert. Note to self, see when she's touring." So as soon as I got back to Arizona, I checked Renee's concert schedule, and the rest is history. I saw her in Denver on September 30th, and when I moved to DC in the winter, I saw her portrayal of Desdemona in the Met's Otello on February 22nd. And now I'm going to Massachusettes this weekend to see her in a concert performance of Eugene Onegin. Plus Lucrezia Borgia in November at the KC and hopefully Thais and Rusalka at the Met in 09.

So were it not for this banner, I probably wouldn't have seen the Denver concert. Which means I more than likely wouldn't have known to check the Met's schedule for Otello. Not seeing Otello probably would have kept me from meeting my new opera buddy Leah. So thank God for little (and big) signs (or banners)!

For the record, this picture was taken July 29th, Mel's birthday, and our little excursion to the KC for the Lion King. More on that for sure!

The Fantastic Life of an Opera Fan

Sometimes I don’t know how I get to do the things I do. But I do things, and I’m amazed at what I do get to do. On occasion, it just takes asking a question and a door opens so something cool happens. That’s how this story begins.

I read a blog. I asked the author a question. She answered with “it’s kind of short notice, but let me check.” A couple hours later, she responded back, “I’m your new best friend.” Truer words were never spoken. That simple.

Brace yourselves for this because it is super awesome. I saw Renee Fleming in Otello, and she was remarkable. She totally rocked the role of Desdemona, and I was there to hear it live. That alone is pretty cool and I would have been 100% content if the evening ended there, but it didn’t. After the famed golden curtain fell, and the last shouts of “Bravo! Brava!” and the applause faded away, Sam and I made our way to a corridor.

There stood a man with a piece of paper in his hands. On that paper was Sam’s name and my name. We were on THE list. So, said man with said paper asks who we’re here to see. “Renee Fleming.” “And your names?” “Chelsea and Sam.” “Okay, head on back around the corner. Another guy will ask you the same and direct you where to go.”

This is the part where I start to freak out. My name is actually on the list. And I’m on my way to see Renee Fleming. NO WAY! This is a prank. Somebody is toying with my emotions. So the second guy is up. He asks the same questions. I gave the same answers. This man says, “Go through that door and wait against the white wall to the left. Someone will come to direct you to the room.” We walk away, and the nerves kick in, and I medium freak out again. Not like freak out freak out, but oh-my-gosh-I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening freak out.

Someone shows us to a green room that was quite cozy with two couches, an oversized chair and an upright piano. Sam and I were scrunched in the corner. There were probably about 15-20 people in this small room. Sam and I chatted for a couple minutes, which really consisted of me saying, “I can’t believe this is happening,” and “She is my absolute favorite!”

Then, Renee appeared. Right in front of my face. Well, not right in front of my face. She came in the room from the door on the opposite side. I seriously almost started to cry when I saw her twenty feet in front of me. She made her way through the small crowd, stopping and talking with each individual, giving them her undivided attention as each one commented on her excellent performance. Being the nosy Nellie that I am, I of course listened in on the conversations. Some talked about the interview she conducted with fellow soprano Karita Mattila at last weeks HD transmission of Manon Lescaut. Renee said she was so surprised when Mattila did the splits on a whim. Some talked about her daughter, who sang in the children’s choir and made a cameo in Otello. One woman commented on the long, blonde wig she wore for the roll.

Finally, it was my turn to meet this unpretentious diva. What do I say? How do I say it without sounding like a psycho stalker? I think my brain just shut down and my mouth started talking. I introduced myself, said I was a huge fan, and that this was my first opera, then I asked if I could give her a hug. (I think I heard some old lady say, “Oh, how sweet.”) How much of a nerd am I?! So she gave me a hug and asked if I was an opera singer too. I sort of chuckled and said, “No, I’m actually in politics in DC.” To which she replied, “Well it’s certainly an exciting time to be in politics.” She asked Sam and me what we thought of the opera. We said it was amazing. Then Sam said I came all the way from DC to see her. This is where I had my stalker moment. I told her that when she comes to DC in November, I’m going to see her. [Really Chelsea? She probably doesn’t even know where she’s going to be performing next week and you’re reciting her concert schedule for the next five years. Way to not look like a loon!]

Anywho, Renee graciously signed our playbills and I was fortunate enough to get a picture with her. Then I gave her another hug, because I can, and Sam and I grabbed our coats, and left. I pretty much was on an opera high the rest of the night. I seriously could have died right then and there and would have been okay with that. Let me put this another way: I was more excited to meet Renee Fleming than I was to meet the President, which says a lot.

We walked (I skipped) to the nearest bar to get a drink and calm me down. When we got there, Sam realized she left her camera on the pay phone when she was putting her coat on. So we tried to pound our frozen margs and you all know what that means – brain freeze – and tried to navigate the maze of construction to find the stage door leading back to the pay phone. Thank God we found the camera. Otherwise my meeting with Renee would only be a mental picture.

Sam and I headed back to the Penn Station area to grab food/drinks to pass the time before our 1:50 am train back to New Haven. All-in-all, an evening not soon to be out done.

If it seems my affinity for Renee Fleming is excessive to a fault, it’s because there truly are not enough words to describe what is experienced when hearing her perform live. And the crazy thing is opera is performed without amplification (no mics). It takes a lot of power and a lot of hard work to get a voice to carry in a 4,000-seat house and still sound good. I only hope that I can intrigue you all enough to want to pick up one of Renee’s recordings and give it a listen. You’ll truly be blown away.

Thanks to my "new best friend" for adding to an already amazing evening and giving me an opportunity of a lifetime – a favor not soon forgotten. Thanks to Sam for sharing in my joy and adding to the awesomeness of the night. Thanks to Renee for pretty much being Ah-MAZING and not freaking out when I freaked out because I was meeting you. Thanks to the cab guy who got us there on time.

To make a long story short...

When I lived with Charlotte in Flagstaff, I met tons of her friends from all over the place. One of my favorites was probably Jackie. So Jackie calls me out of the blue and says she's coming to DC for work and wanted to see if I wanted to grab dinner one night. "Sure!" So we went to some Chinese place on Thursday and sat there for three hours talking about everything. The cool thing about Jackie is that she's a trained opera singer, and used to sing. So we talked quite a bit about that. She actually sang for Charlotte and me after the Renee Fleming concert in September. It was quite awesome.

Nada mucho on Friday. It was a slow day at work. Oh, but I did get my haircut when I got off, which was quite the experience. Mel had recommended the place that was a block from the office. I'm not that picky about my hair. Just chop it off and if it's not that good, give it a week and I'll love it. The place was buzzing with activity and I got a masterpiece by Monaè (right, and I'm Michelangelo). But first I got a flippin bath from the lady that washes the hair. They wrapped a towel around my neck, but I should have been given a rain poncho instead. The hair washer was fierce with that water - all down my back, flowing in my eyes. The haircut was great, again I'm not hard to please, but what bothered me was their insistance on trying to get me to purchase their products. It quickly turns a $35 haircut into a $57 visit. In times such as these, I must summon the words of Nancy Reagan and "Just say 'NO!'"

Saturday I woke up at 6:30 so I could spend an hour on the metro and trek all the way out to the last stop on the Blue Line by 8:30. I was meeting Jackie and one of her friends she knew from work to go to Mount Vernon. I had been my Junior year of high school when I came to DC for Bush's first inauguration, so I figured I'd give George Washington's homestead another look-see. It's been seven years, and the house has not changed much. Maybe a few more inches of dust, but the paint job is still hideous. Washington may have been an excellent statesman and general, but his taste in paint colors is pretty narly. I did find a quarter face up when we were walking the grounds. I thought it was kind of special, you know, finding Washington's face on his own estate. Good times for sure.

The Metropolitan Opera does this cool thing where they broadcast an opera in high definition to theaters across the country. So instead of paying an arm and a leg and traveling all the way to New York (like I'm doing this Friday to see Renee Fleming in Otello) you just pay twenty bucks and go to your local theater. I've seen two operas this way, and it's quite enjoyable.

Manon Lescaut, an Italian opera was playing yesterday out in Alexandria, so I went. Here's the jist of the opera: A poor girl falls in love with a poor guy. She yearns for luxary and goes with the rich old man. Poor guy comes back into her life; she gets caught stealing jewels from old rich man so he has her sent to America (weird, I know). Poor guy can't live without girl, so he goes to America with her. They're stranded on a desert in Louisiana without water (Puccini obviously didn't do his research when he wrote the opera). Girl professes her love for poor guy and she dies.

The broadcast was amazing! Karita Mattila was pretty awesome as Manon Lescaut (the poor girl). She's an intense singer and I very much enjoyed the performance. A lot of reviews haven't praised it, but I liked it. I'm not trained in music and can't tell the difference between B flat and B sharp, but I know what sounds good to my ears, and this sounded excellent. The Met broadcasts are also cool because during the intermissions, the camera takes the audience behind the scenes and interviews the singers and stage directors about the production. Renee Fleming (my favorite soprano) was conducting the interviews. This got me really excited about seeing her next Friday. I seriously wanted to stand up in the middle of the theater and tell all the patrons that I was going to be seeing her next week. That's how excited I am!

All-in-all a very enjoyable experience. It's a great way to get your feet wet in regards to opera.

Today, I went to the mall. It was huge, but I was not impressed this trip out. Perhaps I was not in the shopping mindset, but I needed to find something to wear for Friday. I've stuck with the tried and true black top. You can't go wrong.

So three days of work this week. Congress is on recess so it should be uneventful. Last Thursday, the Republicans staged a walk out and I'll try to remember to write more about it tomorrow. I leave for Connecticut Thursday afternoon to visit Sam. On Friday we travel to New York to see Renee Fleming in Otello (I'm excited!).

Happy Birthday Mom!

From the 2/17 Met Broadcast of Manon Lescaut