Music and Concerts

Rihanna opened her “North American and Canadian” tour  in Vancouver. And as part of their N97 Mini Tour, Nokia was there. Guess who they brought with them…

Heather of Urban Cowgirl, Sherry Lu and Michael Fashionista. And the Anthology!

Ke$ha opened. And I hate to admit it, but I love her. I mean, Tik Tok? It’s a classic.

Sherry wore the perfect shoes — Ke$ha’s Dinosaur is terrible, but terribly catchy.

Rihanna brought all her hits: Disturbia, Live Your Life, Umbrella (her encore). She sang live(!) at times. But it wasn’t her voice I was mesmerized by. She is freakishly gorgeous.

Wore a vintage dress, which is actually my sister’s (thanks Rissa!).

And a vintage necklace, which is the gaudiest fake gold, even by fake gold standards.

And my trusty Frye boots, I’d wear them every day if I could get away with it.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go try to figure out how to work my new N97 Mini.

P.S. Get super techy and add the Anthology on Facebook.

What a way to end the season. Vancouver Opera’s take on Puccini’s classic Madama Butterfly is beautiful and brilliant, not to mention, brightly coloured. And I was there to blog all about it (nerd alert!).

Before taking our seats, opera bloggers John, Gus, Stacey and I had a backstage tour. We weren’t allowed to touch (or twirl) these parasols, but let me tell ya — what looks like simple corrugated plastic backstage makes for dramatic props on stage.

And I loved every psychedelic-shaped, primary-coloured inch of it. (Photo by Tim Matheson.)

Looking like the set of a sixties game show (can’t you just envision it filled with dancers doing the Austin Powers?), the stage’s swirls have been known to cause vertigo in those sitting in the balcony.

But we were sitting front row, centre. (Surtitles be darned — sitting that close means you can see the singers’ throats quiver).

This visual spectacle is the work of set and costume-designer Jun Kaneko, a Japanese-born sculptor at the forefront of the contemporary ceramics movement. (Thanks, Vancouver Opera, for the photo.)

So what’s the story? A beautiful fifteen-year-old geisha falls in love with an American sailor and sacrifices everything for him — her family, her friends, her religion, you name it. He marries her, but then leaves to return to the States, (didn’t her mother warn her about guys like that?) and she gives birth to his ridiculously adorable child.

Three years later, he returns to Japan to take their son to the States, leaving Madama Butterfly behind. She is in such despair, she… well, I won’t ruin it for you. (Manga by Roy Husada.)

Coincidentally I wore a sixties dress, but less mod and more Aud(rey). And that means it’s official: I have not worn a single dress from this millennium to the opera this season.

First, there was the eighties number with the crinoline, then there was the eighties number with the shoulders, then there was the fifties wedding dress and now this. Plus, last season, I rocked this significantly shorter sixties dress.

Even though this is the end of the opera season, my friends, there are still five performances of Madama Butterfly if you want to get in on it.

P.S. Make like a social butterfly and add me on Facebook.

And yes, I am blogging in the foyer of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. We’re about to go backstage but before we do, I’ve been reading the synopsis and here’s the story in a simplified nutshell: Figaro and Susanna are engaged.

One problem though: he’s a valet and she’s a maid. Which would be fine except that their master, the lecherous Count, has a thing for Susanna and intends to claim his feudal right to take a manservant’s place on his wedding night.

Oh dear.

But this being opera there are love triangles a-plenty and Figaro and Susanna are only one of the many would-be couples facing drama trauma. Who will outwit whom? Who will disguise himself as a woman to learn dirty secrets? Who will end up in a much older suitor’s bed?

I can’t wait to find out. To read the full Manga, click here.

Update: After heading backstage for a pre-show talk (see my friend Briony exploring above), we’re sitting front row, which is fantastic (unless you want to read the surtitles) but we get to see the opera the way the conductor sees the opera, which means we have a clear view of all the sweat and the spit.

And this is how polluted my brain is: I’m watching Mozart’s masterpiece and I can’t help but think of Gossip Girl. Figaro and Susanna = Dorota and Vanya. I mean, really.

But the Marriage of Figaro is to the opera world what the Nutcracker is to the ballet world: it is accessible, popular, and full of melodies anyone would recognize. Which is why Briony and I are having an absolute blast.