My very first outdoor opera: Tosca, and geese, and funny Roya

 I found out that Puccini's Tosca would be performed on the last night of July. Oh, Puccini, Puccini, who can resist his charm,So, we, me and other fellows, tried to get the tickets before the show started. The beautiful ticket lady gave us discount because they have more seats open that night.

Well, this is my first time to enjoy an opera outdoors. Unexpectedly, many funny things happened; we laughed so hard that I think Puccini would have thrown us out if he would have been here with us. Let me tell you the funny things:

1. Our funny Japanese fellow got drunk before the show. The cocktail she ordered was way too strong for her. She was dizzy but managed to use her super Japanese dictionary to tell us the story. "it is a tragedy, and everybody dies at the end," her last comment.

2. in the middle of the show, when the singers started to charm us with their powerful voices, groups of geese flew by the site. They quacked the loudest quacks, seemed to say, "we can sing better."

3. Our drunken Japanese lady grabbed 2 chairs besides her to put our salad plates. But then, the 2 people came back. and she asked, "are these their chairs? were they sitting next to me?"

4. At the end of the opera, Roya for some reason took off from her seat. we thought she was going to the lady's. She lowered herself in a sneaky way that we couldn't help but laugh, while on the stage, Tosca stabbed the police,..her lover was shot, she killed herself, and....all the climax moments of this tragedy....and we were laughing like crazy.  when Roya sneaked back, we realized that she didn't go to the lady's but to steal a poster of the opera for her friend. And we laughed even more. Ihsan laughed so much that his shoulders moved up and down like a train engine.  Later, the drunk Japanese fellow Reina told us she didn't know why we were laughing. She laughed because Ihsan laughed! ....

I had a great time, but Puccini was not the only one who brought the fun. 

if you like to know the story, here is the link for you, enjoy!

Puccini - Tosca - Royal Opera - BBC production

Angela Gheorghiu, Romanian soprano; Mario by Jonas Kaufmann; Scarpia - Bryn Terfel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xXJyfe2qxo&feature=related

Puccini - Tosca - Metropolitan - conducted by James Conlon

Shirley Verrett as Tosca; Luciano Pavarotti as Mario; Cornell Macneil as Scarpia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq0TfUivyvA&feature=related

The site at our library.

Tosca and her love. The lady (Japanese maybe,) very tiny and delicate , but her voice was powerful.

Tosca and the police.

The stage was extended to the audience.

uh...I don't really know who they are....