Exterior of the Sarasota Opera House

Before 2006, I’d never attended an opera. That year, however, I happened to have a house mate who played in the orchestra for the Sarasota Opera, and he arranged for me to see Madame Butterfly. It was thoroughly enjoyable, despite the fact that my seat was in the very last row of the nosebleed section. For one reason or another, I hadn’t revisited the opera – I am constantly busy, I travel a lot, I am watching my pennies, etc. But this past weekend I happened to run into another musician from the opera, who insisted I should let her hook me up with a “friends and family” ticket to see Tosca that very evening.

I forked over $10 to my friend, rushed home to change into something more presentable, and arrived at the will call window to pick up my ticket with only minutes to spare before the performance began. To my surprise, I was escorted Read the rest of this entry »

I LOVE to travel. I can only stay put for a few months before I get the urge to head out for another one of the distant, exotic places that I haven’t yet checked off my list. Unfortunately, I can’t travel all the time. Once in a while I have to stick around and make some money to pay for all this travel about which I am so passionate. When I find myself grounded for a while – like now – I have to find a way to scratch that travel itch or I go crazy. That’s when I start looking around in my own back yard.

I am ashamed to admit that, despite the fact that I was born and raised in Chicago, I never visited Lincoln Park Zoo, attended a concert at the downtown band shell, went to the top of the Sears Tower, toured Frank Lloyd Wright’s home, visited the Old Water Tower, or watched the futures trading at the Chicago Board of Trade. It’s a mistake I don’t intend to repeat, now that I’ve relocated to Sarasota. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m following my dream, no matter what. Somehow, some way, I’m going to make it as a writer. That’s what I keep telling myself. And most days I have a lot of faith in my talent and my ability to make my dream come true. But some days….well, let’s just say that I lose my faith. When that happens, I obsess over whether I am on the right path. Several times over the past couple of months I have come very close to giving up my dream and just getting another job. But each time, something happens to prevent me from giving up. A couple of months ago I was feeling the pressure, when I received an email from my friend, Ron, telling me that he had just been diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. His unhappy news made me realize, once again, that life is short and I need to spend the remainder of it doing what I love.

Lately, I’ve felt myself sinking into a quagmire of doubt once again. Again I was rescued. This time my friend, Joan, emailed the following video to me. It features Paul Potts, a contestant in the Got Talent reality TV show, which is the British version of American Idol. When Potts, an unassuming cell phone salesman, strolled awkwardly onto the stage for his first audition and announced that he was going to sing opera, you could almost see to Simon Cowell and his fellow judges cringe. Read the rest of this entry »

This past Saturday evening I attended my first opera – Madame Butterfly. My house-mate, Sascha, is a bass player in the opera so he was able to get me a $5 house ticket. It was definitely in the nosebleed section – the very last row in the upper balcony – but the acoustics were great and I had a bird’s eye view of the performance.

Madame Butterfly is the story of Pinkerton, a dashing officer in the United States Navy, and Cio Cio San (not a complete innocent – she has been a geisha, after all), a nonetheless fragile, unworldly girl in love with the handsome sailor. It is clear that Pinkerton, although infatuated with the fifteen year old Butterfly, is a philandering heel, who upon the occasion of his marriage toasts to the day he will celebrate a true wedding to an American woman. Pinkerton deserts Butterfly and she pines for three years, always believing he will return to her and to the son he has unknowingly fathered. He does return, with his new American wife, and when he learns about his son he declares that Butterfly must give him up for “the good of the child.”

The set was exquisite in its detail: trees laden with cherry blossoms overhanging a traditional Japanese house with its sliding paper panels, all perched atop a hill overlooking the distant azure harbor. Even more breathtaking were the Read the rest of this entry »

Sascha Jacobsen, bass player for the Sarasota Opera

One of the first things I’m going to do when I get home from Key West is go to the Opera. I’ve made the acquaintance of a couple of the musicians who play for the Sarasota Opera every year. I met them because my house-mate, Joan, is away for two months visiting her mother in Louisiana, so she’s rented out her bedroom to Sascha Jacobsen, who is the bass player for the Opera. This is the second year that he’s roomed at Joan’s place and I have really liked having him around. Aside from the fact that it’s nice to have a man around (he takes out the garbage and fills the bottle for the water cooler – it’s a requirement for men), the house is often filled with music and he’s brought some of his fellow musicians around to meet me – like Kelly, who plays the violin for the Opera. So given the fact that I have never seen an Opera I have a sudden curiosity about it.

Opening night was last weekend, featuring Madame Butterfly. Two nights later they were performing Halka and Sascha asked if I would mind driving him to the Opera house. He’s here for two months and shipped his bicycle, but the bike just doesn’t cut it when he’s all dressed up in his tux and it’s raining. During the short four block ride he described the plot of Halka: Read the rest of this entry »