(Opera [House) Party]

On Wednesday I went to Houston Grand Opera's production of Donizetti's The Elixir of Love. The performance was lively and fun though it was a bit of a "bubble gum" opera (sweet but lacking substance). *addendum: my comments here refer to the simplistic plot and not the complex, beautiful music*I went to my first Oh! Opera in the Heights production on Friday evening with my friend Sarah. Her job at the newly launched "mapazine" (online map-based magazine) CultureMap has proved to be quite the cutting-edge connection to everything cool happening in Houston. Massenet's opera Manon was LONG (start time: 7:30pm; end time: 11pm) but a good taste of what the intimate venue has to offer. I thought the male lead had impressive vocal control. The female lead was fine until the conductor announced that she had "something in her throat" but would soldier on through to the end. She choked her way through the fourth act and bounced back in the final act for her death scene.I figure it's about time that my roommates make an appearance on the blog. Ben is a grad student at Rice, and Roshen works for AmeriCorps. They are fantastic and committed cooks, which makes me feel good that at least someone is using the kitchen. In fact, I don't think the kitchen has every been so overwhelmed with food preparation than it was on Friday night when friends came over to celebrate Roshen's birthday.As you can see in the picture above, there was plenty of delicious and colorful food to go around (the shish kabobs just scratch the surface of the feast). It was fun to mix and mingle a bit before dashing back to Baylor to study for the weekend. My only reprieve came on Sunday night when Brandi, Peter, and I went to see Mary Wilson of the Supremes perform with the Houston Symphony. I had so much fun but was a little put off when Mary Wilson called for people to join her on stage as backup dancers. I was practically jumping out of my seat when she pointed her finger directly at Brandi and me and said, "Not you ladies... you're too young!" Let's just say it was her loss, and I had to bust a move from the confines of my sneakily stolen, unoccupied second row seat.Nonetheless, Mary rocked some classics and threw in a few ballads (including my favorite of the night: a soulful rendition of Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now). The three of us stuck around after the show to snag her signature at a meet and greet. Mary's looking pretty good for 65, right? Speaking of looking good, Wentworth wanted to show off his patriotic collar. While the red, white, and blue normally only makes an appearance in July, we thought it was appropriate in the wake of Paul's deployment and the tragedy at Fort Hood and on the eve of Veterans' Day and Sarah's deployment. I'm pretty sure he'll be sporting his American pride until Sarah and Paul are home safe in 2010!