DCPalaver: Opera on the Mall

You sometimes hear people lamenting about young people's lack of enthusiasm for opera.  Given the cost of tickets, it's not surprising that it's a tough sell.  Here's a chance for the hoi polloi to get a taste of opera -- and spend a beautiful first-day-of-fall day on the mall -- for free.

Tomorrow at 2 pm, the Washington National Opera will present a simulcast of Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème at its third annual Opera on the Mall.  The event will take place on the Washington Monument grounds at Constitution Avenue and 15th Street, NW.  (The forecast calls for 80 degrees and sunny:  bring sunscreen!)  It will be simulcast to colleges and high schools around the country.  It is also being shown at the AFI Silver Theatre and Old Town Theater here in the DC area, but the AFI simulcast is sold out (so it would be wise to call the Old Town Theater in advance at 703-683-8888).  If you'd rather see La Bohème in a more traditional setting, the production continues its run at the Kennedy Center until September 30.  Though a quick glance doesn't show many tickets left, I've lucked out before by calling the Kennedy Center on the day of performance, when they sometimes release additional tickets.

And now a note for our lower-brow audience:  I was going to include in this post a photo of Opera Man.  I googled "jon lovitz opera man" under the mistaken assumption that Lovitz played that Saturday Night Live character.  Turned out Lovitz played Opera Man's brother in one episode, but Adam Sandler played Opera Man himself (how could I be so wrong?!).  I included a photo of Sandler in a previous post, so I don't dare do it again lest you think I'm Sandler-obsessed. But the search turned up a Wikipedia article about SNL characters that included this bit of Opera Man's shtick.  My favorite part is Wikipedia's explanation of the joke.

Tom Hanks-o, nominato,
second time-o, you're-a great-o!
Next year vacacion, go to France-o,
Give someone else a freakin' chance-oh!

(A movie poster of Billy Madison appears, which Adam Sandler clearly is joking that he is not Oscar worthy material given his heavy dependence on sophomoric humor.)

Comments

[NorthernOutlaw]

I hate opera and I hate Adam Sandler, what a perfect post. :)

No seriously , I hate Adam Sandler.