Now Playing: Chris Thile, "Stealing Second." Track 1, "Ah, Spring".

Last night, Nicole, Katie, Rachel, and I went to the Tulsa Opera to see La Boheme. Somehow, the apartment complex had managed to buy tickets so that people from the apartments could attend the performance for free.

At about a quarter past six, Rachel and I, dressed and brushed, scurried over to Nicole's apartment. She and Katie were there, thoroughly dressed up. Nicole had on a pair of the most awesome (and uncomfortable-looking) sandals I've ever seen. We clambered into her Hummer and drove downtown. The evening sun was just above the horizon, striking directly into our eyes as we crossed the highway and turned down onto the surface roads, low bumpy streets between old buildings. The downtown area has suffered economically for years. Many of the old shops and warehouses on the fringe of the area are empty. We went past McNellie's, the Irish bar, and past the Blue Dome district, an artsy area that has refurbished and used several of the more unusual old buildings.

We parked in a lot near the PAC, right downtown. The PAC is an enormous cream-colored concrete building, right in the heart of the downtown area, surrounded by skyscrapers, with the green steeples of churches down the street. The sun was still far enough above the horizon to strike down over the faces of the skyscrapers looming over us, flashing on endless rows of plate glass windows, glowing in the fabric of the Stars and Stripes waving on the roof of a building across the street.

Inside the PAC, we were welcomed by rows of well-groomed ushers in yellow jackets. We had no trouble getting tickets, so we stood around for the hour or so until the performance started. Nicole and Katie ordered champagne from the bar. The lobby quickly began to fill with people. Most of the opera-goers seemed to be wealthy older people, very well dressed, though there were a few younger adults with children, and of course a large contingent from the apartments (free anything tends to draw students, whether they like the free stuff or not). Grant came, and Crystal with Kyle, and several other people I recognized, many of them voice students from the music department.

We all stood around in the lobby, talking, our small circle being compressed into a very tight knot by the press of the crowd. Overhead, a big glass-and-metal sculpture sparkled in the open air between us and the balcony of the second level. Katie told us a story about the artist who'd made that particular sculpture. We just stood and chatted until a quarter past seven, when they opened the house doors and began to seat people. Our seats were, of course, in the "nosebleed" section, so we had to climb endless flights of stairs to reach them. Katie, Nicole, Rachel, and I had seats together. There was a full empty row off to one side, though, so at intermission we moved over there and sat with Grant, Crystal, and Kyle.

At half seven, the lights went down and the crowd went silent. In the pit, the orchestra thundered their feet on the floor to applaud the conductor, and the audience applauded. Then the music began, the curtain went up, and the performance began.

La Boheme is by Puccini, an opera about a community of artists struggling to survive in 19th century Paris. The story is basically a brief, tragic little love story. Peculiarly enough, though all the characters are French, the opera is in Italian, which was slightly disappointing to me (hearing someone speak French always reminds me now of Christmas in Paris and of Emmaline and Catherine chattering away in French on our way to city centre one afternoon in the spring).

I'm not a huge fan of opera, having never been to one before, but somehow this opera managed to poke fun of itself while still being sympathetic to its characters. The opening scene, where four of the artists are talking in their garrett, is absolutely hilarious, and Rachel kept cracking up beside me. The music was beautiful--the orchestra and singers did a magnificent job. As Nicole commented during one of the intermissions, "It's one thing to hear them sing on a CD. You kind of say, 'Oh, yeah, that's neat,' but when you actually watch them producing those notes for real...!" It was pretty amazing to see what the singers were capable of. My flute professor actually plays for the Tulsa Opera and the Ballet, so it was fun to get to see him perform.

The sets were lavish, beautifully painted and decorated. Since it was a story about poverty, the costumes weren't necessarily that spectacular, though the silly rich diva girl, Musetta, had some pretty amazing dresses now and then. The music was the best part, though, of course.

So I enjoyed it. I had been so tired this afternoon that I'd thought I wouldn't go, but I was glad I did. Afterwards, we applauded the singers and the orchestra thoroughly. Then we sat in our seats and talked until one of the ushers politely asked us to move on so that they could lock up the house. We moved out onto the balcony and were again asked to move, so we went downstairs. Everyone was pouring outside into the chilly night. Overhead, the skyscrapers glowed like enormous ice crystals, green and blue, lights striking up their mammoth flanks.

Nicole, Rachel, and I went back to TU. Grant and Katie went out together. Back on campus, we went to ACAC and bought smoothies at the Hut. We parted ways to change clothes, but Rachel and I went over to Nicole's apartment after we were more comfortably dressed. Rachel Jr., Amy, and their sister Rebecca were watching Leatherheads, the three of them tumbled snugly together on the sofa. I'd brought over the remains of Tara's birthday cake, which Nicole and I served together to anyone who wanted it. Then Nicole, Rachel, and I settled down to watch the film, too.

I nearly fell asleep. Both Rachels actually did fall asleep. The film ended at a quarter to one. Rachel and I said good-night, went back to our apartment, and went to bed.