La Boheme was playing at the Sydney Opera House. Puccini's opera is the classic love story about two friends in love with two very different women. They are Bohemians who struggle with passion, jealousy and ultimately, health and death. The Sydney production set the story in 1930's Germany.
I looked into tickets which ranged from 65 to 280 AUD on the website but I could not find any seats under $150. We had previously been to the theater and found out (what is not advertised) that sometimes they sell discounted standing room only tickets for that day's performance. Sometimes people stand in line well before the box office opens. The best part is that the standing room tickets are full view tickets where you can see the whole stage as well as the surtitles (which are not subtitles because they are above the stage). For La Boheme, the $150 seats are restricted view, so we decided to try our luck with standing room tickets on a Thursday night.
We were lucky that Thursday morning. There was only one lady in line ahead of me and she didn't want all ten available tickets. The tickets were less than the lowest price that I had seen listed. Yea!
Matthew came home from work and we dressed up, donning our most comfortable shoes. As we took the ferry over from McMahon's Point, it was hard to believe we'd actually be going not just in The Opera House but in the actual Opera Theatre. We were both excited.
The inside of the Sydney Opera House echoes the shapes from the outside. The bathroom stalls are even wavy. We felt very grown-up to ascend the stairs up to the main level. Since we would be standing for a long time, we sat on a bench just outside the ticket taker until the very last moment.
I was amazed at the intimate size of the theater but due to the shape, there are many restricted view seats. Since the theater is so steeply sloped, the stage is viable even in the back. The standing tickets were great...one of the best places in the house. We could see everything well. There is a little half wall in front of you that you can lean against. At intermission, we quickly found a couch to sit down on and helped ourselves to the water provided. After intermission we were pleasantly surprised when the usher told us that we could sit anywhere there were seats available (I guess they figured that if they were not there by then, they were not coming). Yea!
La Boheme
The music and voices were amazing. The staging was sometime great and sometimes just plain strange. In Act II, the restaurant scene for Muzetta's Waltz was incredible. There were so many things to see. In Act III, the staging was just... well... strange. It was supposed to be in a guardhouse that had a fenced courtyard but it looked more like a jailyard for no discernible reason. It was just odd. I felt like there was something missing in the story, but evidently Puccini's edited out a scene that helps the story flow.
Another thing I questioned about this production was that the scene featured on some of the advertising posters has a woman up against a wall with a man leaning into her and rain falling. The posters have an emotional resonance. I loved the poster. But this scene did not exist in the presentation we saw and the couple featured on the poster were not in the opera. It was not just different performers...that scene did not exist. Strange and somewhat disappointing.
We enjoyed discussing the show on our way home. Matthew had announced before the show how he had discovered that the musical Rent was loosely based on La Boheme. I laughed and said "not so loosely". He agreed after the first scene that loosely was not the right word. We watched the DVD of Rent 2 nights later so he could see it. I like that they had all but 2 of the Original Broadway Cast in the movie instead of hiring Hollywood stars. Anyway...
Overall we enjoyed out night seeing La Boheme at the Sydney Opera House. We enjoyed the show and were blown away by the voices. We had a fabulous night out. Glad I wore comfortable shoes!
I looked into tickets which ranged from 65 to 280 AUD on the website but I could not find any seats under $150. We had previously been to the theater and found out (what is not advertised) that sometimes they sell discounted standing room only tickets for that day's performance. Sometimes people stand in line well before the box office opens. The best part is that the standing room tickets are full view tickets where you can see the whole stage as well as the surtitles (which are not subtitles because they are above the stage). For La Boheme, the $150 seats are restricted view, so we decided to try our luck with standing room tickets on a Thursday night.We were lucky that Thursday morning. There was only one lady in line ahead of me and she didn't want all ten available tickets. The tickets were less than the lowest price that I had seen listed. Yea!
Matthew came home from work and we dressed up, donning our most comfortable shoes. As we took the ferry over from McMahon's Point, it was hard to believe we'd actually be going not just in The Opera House but in the actual Opera Theatre. We were both excited.
The inside of the Sydney Opera House echoes the shapes from the outside. The bathroom stalls are even wavy. We felt very grown-up to ascend the stairs up to the main level. Since we would be standing for a long time, we sat on a bench just outside the ticket taker until the very last moment.
The music and voices were amazing. The staging was sometime great and sometimes just plain strange. In Act II, the restaurant scene for Muzetta's Waltz was incredible. There were so many things to see. In Act III, the staging was just... well... strange. It was supposed to be in a guardhouse that had a fenced courtyard but it looked more like a jailyard for no discernible reason. It was just odd. I felt like there was something missing in the story, but evidently Puccini's edited out a scene that helps the story flow.
Another thing I questioned about this production was that the scene featured on some of the advertising posters has a woman up against a wall with a man leaning into her and rain falling. The posters have an emotional resonance. I loved the poster. But this scene did not exist in the presentation we saw and the couple featured on the poster were not in the opera. It was not just different performers...that scene did not exist. Strange and somewhat disappointing.
We enjoyed discussing the show on our way home. Matthew had announced before the show how he had discovered that the musical Rent was loosely based on La Boheme. I laughed and said "not so loosely". He agreed after the first scene that loosely was not the right word. We watched the DVD of Rent 2 nights later so he could see it. I like that they had all but 2 of the Original Broadway Cast in the movie instead of hiring Hollywood stars. Anyway...
Overall we enjoyed out night seeing La Boheme at the Sydney Opera House. We enjoyed the show and were blown away by the voices. We had a fabulous night out. Glad I wore comfortable shoes!
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