Opera for the masses

Space Needle's new "retro" orange top

On Saturday evening, the Seattle Opera produced their first ever high-definition simulcast. The big event was part of The Next 50, a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Seattle World's Fair and the Seattle Center.  And the price was right- seats were free! Best of all, the opera was the popular Madame Butterfly by Puccini. 

A neat trick: balancing the Space Needle on your head

Here we are, a couple of eager beavers near the front of the line at the Key Arena when the doors opened at 6 pm. Still two hours left to show-time, but the mood was festive.  A nice lady in line behind us snapped the picture.

Security check at the door

We filed in and obediently opened our purses for the guards, who were mostly looking for outside drinks so folks would have to buy $4 bottles of water and $9 glasses of wine at the concession stands.  I was sneaky (that's all I'm saying.)

The enormous Key Arena was the home of the Seattle Sonics basketball team until they left for greener pastures in Oklahoma.  It's a venue now for big rock concerts and 6,000 seats were opened for the opera broadcast.  It wasn't full, but close. We love a bargain in Seattle. In fact, there were more people watching the free simulcast at Key than attending the pricey opening night performance inside the opera house a few yards away. Go figure.

As for the overall experience, they did a great job. The screen was enormous and the sound not bad. There was a fair amount of popcorn munching and walking around but that's to be expected when the riff-raff goes to the opera :-)

The only problem with simulcasts is I have to constantly remind myself that the performance is happening live somewhere else.  It was just like going to MET operas at the movie theater.

The Key Arena screen

So we had an interesting weekend and the weather finally took a turn for the better.  Another highlight was seeing the super moon since we stayed out long past our bedtime on Saturday night.  Here's a picture that was posted on the West Seattle news blog.  Spectacular.

Photo by Danny Vinci

And last but not least, a "flock" of American Goldfinches was hanging around the yard on Sunday.  Perhaps 5 or 10 birds is not a real "flock" but I say it is, especially when when it comes to golden birdies. I hope they stick around for a while with their babies. I heard that some of you back East have swarms of them and they're as common as sparrows. Seeing the Washington State Bird is always a special sighting around here. And a flock is a extra special bonus.