My Return to the Opera

Review of La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi at the Arizona Opera

First, some background. Growing up, my favorite (and really only) opera experience was the opera scene from Final Fantasy III (VI) on the Super Nintendo: a beautiful little 10-minute opera in glorious 16-bit form.

Following my graduation from Arizona State University with a degree in Theatre in the Spring of 2008, I spent the summer as an Apprentice Carpenter for the Santa Fe Opera. This was my first an only foray into Summer Stock and, by all accounts, they're a pretty top tier Summer Stock gig. I was one of two carpenters and I got hired on prior to most other applicants even being interviewed because the Technical Director also happened to be an ASU alum. Yay alumni connections (though it hasn't really proved beneficial since)!

Anyway, while there I got to see all five of their operas that summer: Falstaff, The Marriage of Figaro, Billy Budd, Radamisto, and Adriana Mater. Outside of some videos in my Theatre History classes, this was my first introduction to opera. On the carpentry side, I wasn't really doing anything I hadn't done working in the scene shop at ASU, everything was just way more expensive. On the performance side, however, I was largely disappointed.