TOSCA!

last night i was invited to a very very special treat. my dear friend greg emailed me the night before asking if i wanted to accompany him to see the opera "tosca" which was playing at the Met. now, this is something i've been wanting to do for a long long time. you see, i was named after tosca. my mother give me my middle name because this was her favorite opera. as a child i hated the name because it was "weird." but i grew to love it, as it was a unique name with a cool story behind it. unfortunately, i'd never had the chance to see the opera, let alone really get into the story or even hear much of the music. kinda lame for having the name and not knowing much about it.

it was high time i saw the damn thing. and at the met no less! i already had plans for wednesday night but thought this to be a once in a lifetime treat, so i cancelled. i got dressed up for the big night and met greg in front of the enormous theater. he didn't even recognize me. guess i clean up nice. ha!

this was my second time in the theater. it's overwhelmingly huge and decadent. being there made me feel like a true new york patron of the arts or something. love that feeling. we had incredible seats... orchestra section with a clear view of the stage (didn't even need my binoculars that i brought). greg doesn't screw around when it comes that kind of thing. i felt so honored.

i made friends with the nice man sitting next to me and just had to tell someone my fun story. i took out my wallet, pulled out my california ID and showed him my middle name in official print. his eyes widened and asked how i got such a cool name. i told him my mother gave it to me. "well, she has very good taste" he responded. i was waiting to see.

soon enough, the big gold curtains were pulled open. the stage was giantic with an elaborate set. i already loved it. the music began and the singers took stage. i was mesmerized. those voices! so loud and piercing and just amazing. i couldn't believe that sound was coming out of those people. i asked greg if they were miked and he said no. filling that huge space with those big voices was just plain magic.

i got totally into the story, thanks to the digital subtitles on the backs of the seats (so high tech). i had chills every time they hit those high notes. the whole thing was thrilling. and i was happy to have that fiery character's name. every time they sang "tooooosca" i thought "that's me." ha!

as we left the theater i told my seat partner "yes, my mom does have good taste!" and on my walk home, i called my mom to thank her for naming me after such a cool opera. she said "oh good, glad you liked it. i was so worried that you'd hate it." silly mom.