A Night at the Opera

It was a lucky week for us. As I was scanning my email on early Monday morning, I ran across this email announcing opera tickets for sale. Wow, what luck as the new opera house (http://www.operaen.no/) has really taken off since it opened its doors here in Oslo. Since the opera house opened in April 2008, it has been selling out shows as quick as they go on sale. I think the city is starved for good entertainment. Long story made short, we were able to purchase two tickets to "Porgy and Bess". And better yet it was at a discounted rate, only 35 Euros a ticket! Yeeehaw...


Some facts on the opera house:

Gross area: 38,500 m2 divided into 1,100 rooms
Audience areas: 11,200 m2
Stage areas: 8,300 m2
Rehearsal rooms, administration and workshops: 19,100 m2
Depth below sea level of stage: 16 m
Main Auditorium: 1,364 seats (depending on size of orchestra pit)
Stage 2: Up to 440 seats (depending on stage design)
Rehearsal Stage 1: 200 seats


Here's a shot on the approach to the opera house. Quite a modern looking building, don't ya think? I really liked the feel from the outside, but I didn't get that same feeling on the inside though. Tourists just love to walk around on the outside of the building, cameras at the ready.







Obligatory shot of me at the opera....




Obligatory shot of Chris at the opera. I really like this photo of her by the way. Yes, dear even with your "leopard theme" going on. As you can see, a strict dress code was in effect.




Here's a shot of side nearest to the fjord.




And the obligatory shot of both of us at the opera...



After all was said and done it was dark outside. We took a few photos, but this was the only one that was half decent. It really is a beautiful sight at night.



So, my verdict on the opera.....

Well, not one of my favorites but a good performance by the cast and the sets were very well put together. I was not familiar with the story line prior to going in to the show, so that probably had an impact as well. Chris did explain the background of the story at intermission and that helped a bit, but not enough to sway my opinion too much. By the way, I am always amazed at how much Chris knows about literature, art and history.

Overall, my bottom line is.... I don't think anything will ever compare to "Phantom of the Opera" that we saw at the JFK center in DC.