Opera x 2

 Yes we have already been to the opera twice since we moved, which is pretty good going I think. 

First up was a matinee of the Merry Widow at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh. It's not our favourite venue because the stage is a bit weird, not very deep but very wide, so sometimes productions look a bit odd when accommodating to it, but as far as that goes the Merry Widow fitted quite well. 

I liked the sets and costumes, and the music is lovely in an 'I'm almost a musical rather than an operetta' kind of a way. Further than that I won't go. The director had updated the action to 1950s New York ad set it amongst a collection of gangster families; Mafia, Eastern European, something else which escapes me. Leaving aside the horrific cacophony of, not always successful, accents this led to, I don't find the mafia a fit subject for mirth and hilarity.  Setting an act in a Sicilian lemon grove with every farcical trope you can think of just annoyed me when compared with the brutal killing of Michael Corleone's young wife in The Godfather. Lots of people loved it, but I'm sorry, I just don't find the mafia funny. Basically because they.re not. 

Obviously you can't take pictures during the performance but here's a photo of the curtain call

The other 'opera experience' was a pop up at the Falkirk Wheel last Sunday. They were doing two performances; a family show with a story about the Scottish canals and the boats that used to use them and a cut down version of The Pirates of Penzance. We're not huge G and S fans but we thought the other one might be fun and the Falkirk wheel isn't far and the weather was nice so we went. 

here's the wheel; for those who don't know, it's actually a boat lift to take boats from one section of  the canal to the other; the height differential is huge at this point. 

A little representation by the Visitor Centre of life on the canals once upon a time.

And the three singers and two instrumentalists who performed Puffy McPuffer and the Crabbit Canals. The children in the audience loved it, joining in with the singing and generally leaping and squirming about with great joy and it was huge fun for the adults as well. The performers were all fantastic. 

We have done lots of other things as well since moving in despite the shingles and the ongoing BT saga and I will get caught up eventually, although we are actually going away for a just over a week tomorrow so when I get back there will be even more to catch up with. I think that's a good thing though.