Advil, the Wonder Drug

Light bright. Noise loud. Head pound. Advil take.

We did it. The 2008 run of the new production of George and Ira Gershwin’s opera Porgy & Bess at the Opera de Lyon is officially open, and it was a rousing success.

The opera cognoscenti were in full force, the house was packed, and the next thing I knew I was giving a downbeat. 3 hours 22 minutes later there was wild cheering, rhythmic clapping, and a very very very relieved conductor on stage surrounded by the cast, throwing kudos to the orchestra and ready for a beer. Like any premiere funny things happened:

(The conversation between the Chef d’Orchestre, moi, and the orchestra manager, Sylvan, at intermission) –

CdO: “Sylvan, when I walk out of the pit after it’s all over I would really like something to drink.”
OM: ” Water?”
CdO: (Surely he’s joking?) “No, something to DRINK!”
OM: “D’accord. Would you like it in your dressing room?”
CdO: (What’s with the sense of humor tonight?) “Sylvan, I said WHEN I WALK OUT OF THE PIT!!!”
OM: “D’accord!!”

When I walked out that good man handed me a Duvel, one of the finer Belgian beers. I was half way through it before I even got onstage for the bows. And I must remember to rewrite my will to mention this outstanding gentleman.

And what was with the lighting cues? At the end of Act III scene I all the lights in the pit went out 2 beats BEFORE the end of the scene. The band, to their credit, just soldiered on in the dark. But when the exact same thing happened at the end of the next scene I made a mental note to hunt done the lighting guy and ensure that said person would thereafter be incapable of producing offspring. The looks exchanged in the pit (after the lights came back on) were priceless. I got the impression that it was just another “Night at the Opera,” if you know what I mean.

Our Sportin’ Life, a rather large and in charge guy originally from the Caribbean, was in rare form, especially during his two short dances. Hamming it up to the point that I thought I would fall off the podium laughing. Maria (and because this is set in South Carolina we are pronouncing it “ma-RYE-ah”) brought tears to my eyes flirting with Lawyer Frazier. There was the occasional wayward prop (what was with the dice going all over the stage?), as well as a few moments of very characteristic improv. All in all the cast was in fine form. Porgy, Bess, Crown, the whole lot did really well.

It took me about 20 minutes to make it to the reception. I walked in and made a beeline to the buffet, which was completely untouched at the time. I suddenly found myself surrounded by applause as I was holding a plate in my hands. As grateful as I was for the accolades I was more interested in FOOD! So I shouted “Mangia! Mangia!” They got the idea. You would have thought you had just thrown a freshly killed wildebeest in front of a pack of starving hyenas. The Opera de Lyon seriously underestimated the amount of food necessary to hold of this hoard, what with A) all the singers/musicians around; and B) all the black folk. I’m surprised a food riot didn’t break out.

When we finally stumbled out of the opera house Lyon was hopping. The celebrations weren’t for us though. The football team Olympic Lyonnaise had just won their 5th national title in a row and all the hooligans were out partying it up. After a rather futile attempt to find a semi-quiet place to get quietly (more) inebriated Melayne, Elisabeth, and I just bought a bottle of wine and retired to my little studio apartment to gab. When my wife popped up on iChat @ 3:15 in the morning (7:15 pm her time) she was a bit surprised to find me still awake and somewhat coherent. After we all said hello to her the ladies starting heading out the door mumbling something about “it’s time to go because we’re out of wine.” My wife laughed hard. It was just one of those nights.

Now I suppose we settle down for the run. That is, after we recover from our hangovers.