A night at the Opera

So, I know that it is technically Feb 1, but I still haven't gone to bed, so I am going to consider this a blog update for January. Hopefully, there will be more tomorrow, but since I am already behind, I thought I would give a quick update about the date I was on tonight.

I went with my home teacher (that's basically a male member of my church who visits once a month to share a message and offer any help I need), Adam, to see Orpheus and Eurydice at the Metropolitan Opera. Now, I don't normally date my home teacher (one of those unspoken rules), but I've known Adam for a couple of years now, and he's a great guy, so I thought...sure! He'd originally asked me to go to dinner with him on Monday of this past week. Of course, that was the day I awoke uber sick with the fever and chills (poor guy had to come over and give me a blessing when he was going to be taking me out). So, we rescheduled.

The music was beautiful. The mezzo playing Orpheus (yes, this means a girl was playing a boy. It's an opera thing, sometimes) was fabulous! Adam says he's seen her do other things where she is even better. The orchestrations were lovely. That's about where the good stuff ends. The costumes and set looked like they were comprised of whatever happened to be lying around the shop. The lighting wasn't too bad, and actually had some great moments. The choreography (there is always a core of dancers in a traditional opera) was awful. It was painful to watch at times, but there was a redeeming scene (but only one). However, it was a good learning experience and reminder of what my job is as a choreographer. Gratefully, as I said earlier, the music was beautiful and my company was great, so I really did enjoy most of the opera.

After we left, we were re-introduced to the freezing night air, so Adam suggested we get hot chocolate. I, of course, jumped on that idea. We went to a gelato place on 74th st and Broadway. I know--who has hot chocolate at a gelato place, right?! Well, apparently the Upper West Side does. I had a taste of the milk chocolate, and I thought I had died and gone to heaven by way of Paris. It was the most amazing hot chocolate (what an insufficient title) I've had since I was in Europe. I ended up getting a Hazelnut Hot Chocolate with whipped cream. It was so rich, and the cream was so thick, that they gave me a spoon to help me drink it. Adam got the pear and chestnut gelato. I tried some of his pear, and it was delicious!

As we walked back to the subway, Adam introduced me to one of the many gourmet grocery stores in Manhattan, and he pointed out the best places to get chocolate in the area (he's quite the chocolate connesiour). The ride home on the subway was long (the NYC subway on the weekends is always ridiculous), but we had a good conversation.

I had a good time. I only coughed a few times, and it was all induced from postnasal drip, and not some other nasty phlegm. I looked human again (it's been a tough week as far as looking presentable). And I got to know my friend a little better. I had fun! Hopefully, we'll do it again.

Alright, I better go to bed now since church starts in 7 1/2 hours. Hee hee hee.