My First Opera

Last Friday, November 13, 2009, at 8 p.m., I went to Greensboro Coliseum's War Memorial Auditorium with one of my friends to attend my first opera. The opera is called La Traviata, by Giuseppe Verdi and was presented by an organization called Greensboro Opera. The opera was absolutely gorgeous, despite an obvious lack of funding for stage sets or even costumes. The opera company had to make do with what they had, draping nice sheets over lawn chairs as substitutes for the elegant furniture Violetta Valery - the female lead who was a very well-off French courtesan - would have most definitely had. It was clear that some of the costumes were borrowed by the actors or had been scoured for during multiple trips to thrift shops. The lack of funding for such an amazing opera, combined with the small casting and single-night performance all made it very clear to me that we are still in a recession, despite what any radio station or news anchor might tell me. However, the absolutely angelic voice of Jennifer Black, who played Violetta, and the skills of the entire cast in telling the beautiful, tragic story definitely made up for a lack in funding. The basic story reminded me very much of Moulin Rouge, where the female lead is a rich French courtesan with a regular patron - Barone Douphol, played by Scott MacLeod, in this case - and captivates the heart of a simple young man - Alfredo Germont, played stupendously by Chad Johnson. The courtesan has never really known love, only lust and when Alfredo insists that he truly loves her, Violetta finds she is willing to leave her life of riches and the manipulating control of the rich Barone for this true love. Of course, as this is a tragedy, there is a twist: Violetta has tuberculosis, and has only a few years at most left to live. However, because of this, Violetta wants to live the last of her life with Alfredo, which she does. There is a twist as Giorgio Germont (played by Mark Walters), Alfredo's father, comes to Violetta to ask of her the ultimate sacrifice: to leave Alfredo and make the estranged son return back to his family; the drama intensifies. I will leave the rest of the opera to those who wish for the end not to be spoilt, and conclude with the statement that this opera was most definitely worth seeing both for the awesome talent and beautiful story line and I would encourage anyone who enjoys either to go see it.