Opera Evening: Lillian Alling

Let's begin with dinner, shall we?
CHAMBAR(sham-bar). a ritzy little restaurant. the inside decor was  elegant and simple. 
nik & i ate ostrich. yes. ostrich.
my eyes did a double take when i spotted it on the menu.
truthfully, i didn't know human beings ate ostrich, call me a fool if you must. it tasted... like beef. it was nice. it didn't taste too out of the ordinary. we also had mussels... mmm... reminds me of back in the day when the fam went camping & we went clamming, fishing, mussel hunting and crabbing.
& then before we knew it we were paying our bill and running out to get to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
Nik & i thought we were going to be early, being there twenty something minutes before the show started.
plainly wrong.
before i move on, nik was asked to be one of the bloggers that night. was a real treat. i was her 'guest' that evening & got to experience the same things she did (besides, of course, blogging- pre opera, intermission & post opera). 
after nik spends 5 minutes quickly blogging pre-opera, we run to our seats and settled in. 
luckily we had a great view-- compared to the last time we came (we were in the very VERY last row).
Lillian Alling was simply brilliant. 
the singing was outstanding.
i feel as though i'm eligible to make a 'judgement' because i myself am a singer and took several years of classical training in the past. by no means am i a professional & have opera training safely secured under my belt but i do have a decent amount of knowledge. 
Lillian Alling takes the audience through a story of... another story. it begins with Irene (Judith Forst) & her son (Roger Honeywell) in the mountains of British Columbia in  1980- Irene is wishing her loved cabin a farewell. there is , of course, a story behind everything. Irene tells her son the true tale of Lillian Alling (Frederique Vezina), a past figure that she knows much about.
the story of Lillian Alling is taken through her journey to find a man, Josef Nikitich (Thomas Goerz) who she proclaims that her life is bound to and that she will marry. 
on her journey she meets a telegrapher, Scotty MacDonald (Calvin Powell) who immediately finds interest in her. their acquaintance set off both positive and negative outcomes: after meeting Scotty Lillian Alling is unfairly sent to prison but once she is set free, she shares with Scotty her deepest thoughts and struggles and thus, he is more than ever established to help her..............
(that is all that i will share)
the set: perfection. the dynamics & movement were so on point. 
bits of humor gave the audience time to adjust in their seats from the pull of intense periods throughout the performance.
and the orchestra!... the beginning of the second act i closed my eyes and just listened to the music play. i imagined i was in a forest-- birds, water trickling nearby, and past big, leafy bushes: a castle. hehe, oh what your imagination can do.
i was really pleased with the whole presentation of the opera. 
i met a lovely lady, Kathleen (5th photo) who spoke to nik & i about blogging & the opera, and Lily the blogger co-ordinator- wonderful lady as well.

After the opera finished nik ran out & blogged post-opera. we snapped some photos & spoke with a bunch of neat people. 
then... the after party on stage (or should i say squishy crowd of people). it was okay though because everyone was kind to say 'excuse me, pardon me' & i had the chance to spot out dresses and outfits i liked. 
nik & i met Frederique Vezina who played Lillian Alling & got to ask her a few questions. super kind lady.
and then SUE!--- the wardrobe designer.
the whole time we were trying to hunt her down & finally gave up in the end. until.
shazam. she showed up right as we were about to leave!
first off, she wears the most grand pair of glasses. 
i told her how much i admired the 'safari-like' jacket that Lillian wore throughout part of performance. "it's actually something i would wear in our own time period. everything is coming back now". & it's true. 
her spunky personality was wonderful and we stood there talking fashion for quite the while. i loved it.
my sore feet were telling me it was best we left or else they would not be able to walk me back to our car.

Picture snapping in the parking lot?
i know so! ;P




▲natt