We Got Cultured

Ross and I had the opportunity to go to the Dallas Opera last night to see Romeo and Juliet on the house. Because Valentine's Day is coming up, CollegeLife has had Tommy Nelson come in an teach on the Song of Solomon (love, sex, and marriage stuff). Last week at their weekly meeting, they played the Dating Game with one their most eligible single girls and three eligible bachelors. You know the game; she asks questions and then picks one. The guys had their voices distorted and sat behind a giant shadow box, and she asked questions like, "If you were a dinosaur, which one would you be and what sound would you make?" or "If you had to be a rainbow, pot of gold or a leprechaun, which one would you be and why?" Obviously really important questions when choosing a date. 

Well, we got to tag along on their date because Ross was filming it Bachelor style. We got the VIP treatment too because Ross knows a guy who works at the Opera house, so we were ushered into valet parking, got to eat dinner at the 10th floor of the Wylie Theater with a balcony view of Dallas all to ourselves, and were seated in some prime seating. Probably one of the swankiest dates I've ever been on.

I learned a few things about the Opera, and if you ever go you should know a few things too, like:

1. Opera is very long.
2. You clap for the conductor when he enters after every intermission, so we clapped for him THREE times. I mean really, doesn't one at the beginning and one at the end suffice?
3. If you have a fur, you should probably wear it.
4. Go see an opera that you don't know the story because if you know the story, by the end you will be saying to yourself "Come on already. Just get on with the dying part."
5. Operas have subtitles playing on a screen above the stage (or at least the one in Dallas does) so you can know what's going on, which is nice (though probably not needed in the case of Romeo and Juliet).
6. If you have the chance, you should go. It's pretty amazing to witness people who can sing like that for that long and that beautifully.

Inside the Windspear Opera House in our amazing seats

Outside 

Photo sneaked by Ross at the end.

The Dating game couple.
Aren't they cute!