I went to go see Carmen in London last night. We had to leave the castle around 2:30 because it takes 2 and a half hours to get there. Since there weren't that many people going, we went on minibuses. - which means, I could feel the bumpy road at excruciating details. And the people behind me was talking non-stop until we got there while I was trying to get some sleep and rest my poor throat which was hurting quite a bit.
But when we got there, it was very pleasant. The theatre was very beautiful both inside and outside. It was called the Coloseum and was decorated Romanesquely. I took the pictures so I'll post them later on. We had around an hr and half so we went to grab something to eat. Having been empty-stomach for over 12 hrs, I went into a place called the Spaghetti House. We got a table fairly quickly and I ordered a fettuccini with veal slices (which was more like just cooked chicken) and Ryiko got a lasagna. I would've found it just okay had I not been starving. After that we walked around for a bit and went to China Town where Ryiko got some instant noodles. And then we headed off to the Opera house.
Contrary to what I had expected, Carmen was reinstalled in a modern setting. So instead of Gypsy women dressed colorfully in 15-16th century Spain, Carmen was among the hookers who were trying to seduce patrol guards (instead of soldiers). Thank god there are still Matadors in Spain - who knows what they could have done if there weren't. Apparently the main soprano was away so a subtitute participated instead. She sang very well so I couldn't reallyc complain. It was good to hear some familiar songs such as Havanera and... some other songs that I don't know titles of. But then my soar throat start to kick in halfway through. So when the singers started repeating things over and over at a very slow pace, I wanted to just scream "just SAY IT ALREADY!" I got a Bailey's at the intermission to cool off but the bell rang so quickly I just had to drink quickly bottoms up.
While the opera itself was quite good, the people were not that great. The ISC students laughed when no one else laughed thus being a little bit of embarrassment. And there was a guy who had a puffy curly hair blocking my view. So all the while trying to position my poor bottom on the seat which was about a half of a regular chair seat, I had to lean over at different angles just to see tiny figures of opera singers.
But for the first time seeing an opera in London, it was rather a pleasant experience. I would like to do it again sometime. For some reason, opera tickets are way cheaper than those of plays... While a play ticket may cost up to 65 pounds, an opera ticket costs around 20, at most, in such a theatre as the one I saw Carmen in. I may go to London with my friends before I leave the UK for Christmas and maybe I'll have the chance to see another opera.
Now to get back to my dull English essay...
