The good kind, I mean. Where a lecture makes you fall so deeply in love with its subject that you want to switch majors. In this case, the subject was Vancouver Opera’s Nixon in China and the lecturer was Assistant Stage Director Stephen Drover.
As part of the opera’s Fan Night, Drover took us through some of the highlights of the $1.4 million dollar production. It got philosophical. And interesting.
Ponder this: opera is always seen from afar (hello opera glasses!) but we are living in the age of the close-up (hello HD TV!). So how did the fine folks at the opera bridge that gap? They brought cameras onstage to project visual close ups onto the backdrop and miked the performers (so often frowned upon in the opera world) to achieve audio close ups.
But my favourite part had nothing to do with technical trickery and everything to do with dance. The second act — oh! The second act! — featured a beautiful sequence choreographed by Wen Wei Wang (whose work I’ve been a fan of for years). It made me realize it’s been far too long since I’ve been to the ballet.
So what did I wear? A beautiful, straight-out-of-the-eighties dress that my sister found for me. (Thank you, Rissa!) The vintage clutch is one of many I have in my collection.
A pendant necklace I also stole from her (how do those of you without sisters dress yourselves?).
And shoes the colour of pink highlighters.
Want to see more photos of Nixon in China? Take a look here. (The other gal in that photo? Kim Li of Delicious Juice.)
Wondering what I wore last time I went to the opera? And the time before that?
The first three images are courtesy of the Vancouver Opera. Thank you again, VO, for an amazing evening!
P.S. I’m on Twitter. Are you?
