Monthly Archives: January 2011

Kids and Opera

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There are admittedly very many things I do not know about opera. I can’t rattle off dates of premieres and am likely to mismatch composers with their operas on live radio.

I can, however, claim one very large success: Getting my kids to like opera.

My parents tried to get us to like it and all I can say about that is it’s amazing my sister and I lived to adulthood. I remember getting the giggles and holding my breath to keep from laughing. Don’t try that. We also used to play tiny, invisible instruments. And then we’d laugh.

Taking our cue, Mom tried us on comedies – thinking we’d enjoy them more. We didn’t. She did not at any point beat us senseless. This speaks of the power of music to calm even the most frayed of nerves.

So how do you get your kids to like opera? Don’t let them go.

It all started when I was reviewing opera for an indie newspaper. I went to several operas by myself and then came home talking about them. One day when my husband and daughter were dropping me off at a theater, my daughter couldn’t take it anymore. She pitched a fit.

“It’s not fair!” she wept. “You always get to go and we NEVER get to go.”

I explained that it was for work and she didn’t seem to mind when we went to our other stupid jobs. But she did not relent.

I lay down the law with her. If she didn’t like it or was scared, she had to suck it up. We could not leave and she could not be disruptive. I explained that the opera was not for children and not in English. I tried to talk her out of it. Finally, I was in danger of being late, so I succumbed to her pleas.

I don’t know if it was the build up or if she’s just wired for opera, but my 6 year old was literally on the edge of her seat the whole time. Aside from little exhilarated gasps, she did not make a sound.

I’ve since taken both kids to opera – live and broadcast – and they both dig it. We started going to so much opera together I thought it was high time to take my mother along. After all, I owe her. She took us to everything.

When I invited her to join us, she declined because after all these years she is finally willing to admit that opera is not her thing.

My own mother doesn’t like opera. After making us watch hours and hours and lifetimes of it.

Which is maybe why we didn’t like it ourselves.

To be completely honest, I don’t know if your kid will like opera or not. But if they seem game, there’s a lot that’s great for kids. It’s epic. There’s music. There are costumes. Lots of opera companies offer discounted tickets for kids, which I always take as a sign that kids are welcome. It’s not necessary to wait for a performance that’s strictly for children.*

Watching their faces verifies that there is something magical happening on stage and we’re not crazy for loving it like we do.

And there’s always the hope they’ll take us when they grow up.

*I didn’t take my kids to Boris Godunov. And I’ll probably skip Lulu with them. I’m the one they come to when they have nightmares and I like my sleep.

La Fanciulla Del West – synopsis

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Am I the only one who thinks La Fanciulla Del West (la fahn-choo-la dell vest) is Peter Pan, but with cowboys?

It’s about Minnie (Wendy), who owns a saloon in a California gold rush mining camp. The miners fluctuate between bar-brawling tough guys and lost boys who just want their moms. This is the charm of La Fanciulla.

In the role of Peter Pan, we have Jack Rance. He is the sheriff and leader of the lost boys. Together they fight against the bandit Ramirrez.

Rance is in love with Minnie and claims that soon she will be his wife. In fact, it looks like he is already wearing a wedding ring, which seems presumptuous. Turns out, he is married and Minnie is not entertaining thoughts of marrying him. Rance tells her that one word from her and Tinkerbell will never see him again. Or his current wife. I get confused.

The miners brawl while Minnie is away and argue over who she loves most. When she appears, they simmer down and line up for the Bible class she teaches.

A stranger appears. His name is Dick Johnson and he takes his whiskey with water – which is totally &*$%ing unheard of in these parts. Minnie recognizes him as the man she fell in love with on the trail a month or so ago. He does the same.

But he has not come to the Polka (isn’t that the cutest name for a saloon ever?) for Minnie. He is actually the Dread Bandit Ramirrez and has come to steal the miners’ gold.

There is a kerfluffle and all the miners are lured out of the Polka in search of Ramirrez, inadvertently leaving Ramirrez/Johnson alone with their sweet Minnie – who will blow anyone to bits if they  so much as think about stealing her boys’ gold.

Ramirrez stops thinking about stealing the gold and falls in love with Minnie instead.

In act two Minnie prepares to receive Ramirrez (who is still Dick Johnson) at her cabin. A native American, Wowkle (I believe she was Tiger Lily in Peter Pan), is at the cabin cooking and cleaning for Minnie. She is important because a) someone needed to be Tiger Lily) and b) she has had a child out of wedlock and is therefore a vehicle to demonstrate Minnie’s goodness. Minnie has encouraged those crazy kids to marry, but does not judge them in the meantime.

Aside: Minnie is awesome.

Ramirrez arrives. This scene is a tricky balance of passion and propriety. Ramirrez takes Minnie’s first kiss, but stops there. (Despite Rance referring to him as Minnie’s “perfect Johnson.” Oh, Puccini. You 14 year old boy, you.)

Men arrive and Minnie shoves Ramirrez/Johnson into the pantry. The men explain that Johnson is Ramirrez and they trailed him to Minnie’s cabin. When she asks how they know, they tell her Nina the Whore IDed him.

I don’t remember there being a prostitute in Peter Pan, but my money’s on Smee.

She tells the men to go away and then very nearly kills Ramirrez herself. He leaves, is shot by the lurking sheriff and staggers back into the cabin for Minnie to fall back into love with. The Sheriff comes knocking and this time Minnie shoves Ramirrez into the attic. Which is a mistake.

Ramirrez and Minnie almost get away with it, until blood drips through the floorboards.

Minnie then plays three hands of poker with the sheriff. If she wins, Ramirrez goes free. If Rance wins, he gets both Minnie and Ramirrez. This is perhaps the only time the lovely Minnie cheats. Ever.

During intermission while the stage turns from a mountain cabin into an old west goldrush town, Minnie nurses Ramirrez back to health and sends him off to lead an honest life. On his way to lead an honest life, the lost boys track him down and the curtain opens on act three.

Everyone shows up for the hanging of Ramirrez. He maintains that he’s now a Good Bandit but that they can go ahead and kill him anyway. They think that’s a fine idea. Minnie arrives, threatening to shoot them all. And then she reminds the men of how she mended their pajamas and took care of them when they were sick.

Little by little the men are abashed because they love Minnie So. Damn. Much.

Ramirrez and Minnie leave the camp in search of Neverland, or possibly Vegas.

Peter Pan stands alone as the curtain closes.