Nixon in China, and other NYCings

[sandrylene]

This past weekend there was travellage down to NYC for friend visitings and opera viewings. And lots of restaurantings, as well. Mostly it was for the opera viewing, but the rest was certainly good times.

So the opera: Nixon in China was... let's say just a bit cracky.

Comments

[bookelfe]

hahahaha the "the people are the heroes now" is I think the ONLY BIT I can remember the tune of. Well, that and of course "pigpigpigpigpigpigpig!"

I am glad you posted this! With you doing a musical analysis and Shannon doing a historical analysis, I will feel much less guilty about doing my own much less educated review. >.>

[sandrylene]

Hahaha, most of what stuck in my head was NEWS! NEWS! But surprisingly more than that actually stuck with me, which I did not realise until a few days after the performance.

That said, I'm not sure any of it is more fun than pigpigpigpigpigpigpig! :D

And uh. Yeah, I want to see what Shannon has to say - I was sad that I had to sprint to the ladies' room on the second intermission, but y'know, some things trump even historical understanding. :P

[sovay]

Act 3 vis a vis who did or did not die is completely confusing.

I have neither seen nor heard Nixon in China, but this review is making me a combination of want to and back away very slowly.

[sandrylene]

Oh, it's definitely a Thing of Wonder to see. I would recommend it to folks who enjoy modern music or are history aficionados, but I suppose for traditional opera-goers, it's a bit far afield. I think I have finally found something more difficult to follow than ballets that use copious miming gestures I have never learned. :P

That said, the fact that I couldn't tell what was going on may be partially just a testament to my cluelessness and how far away our seats were.

Regardless, it was definitely entertaining!

[genarti]

THE PEOPLE. ARE. THE HEROES. NOW

[mybadhairlife]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I too have that simultaneous feeling of "how can I NOT see this" with "I want to run as far away from this as possible".

At the very least, I am grateful for the very colourful mental images, because it's been a long, grey day!

[sandrylene]

I always advocate for watching well-produced train wrecks. Particularly if you can do so with friends. :P

Though actually this wasn't very wrecky, and may have been way more comprehensible if seated closer to the stage.

...though on reflection no amount of help will ever make Kissenger's bizarre bathroom pseudo death any more sensible.

[piemancer]

GAH! My friend was in a recent (Ok, last year) production of that, and I had only just gotten it out of my head! AUGH!

[sandrylene]

Heh, I am sorry about that... genarti and I have been re-spawning bits of it into each others' heads over the past week. We're like enablers, but for a thing that secretly neither of us actually wanted to do in the first place. :P