Photo © Dan Rest

Last fall, Lyric Opera of Chicago was kind enough to invite me and a friend to be special guests at the final night of the Lucia di Lammermoor. My friend Maryhelen’s birthday was around the same date so I thought, why not take her out to the opera to celebrate!? Neither one of us had ever been to the opera.

Valets singing the countdown to curtain time

We arrived early with time to kill, so we hung out outside listening to the valets sing and people watching (no I did not take any street style photos, I was off-duty). We got a kick out of the valets’ enthusiasm, which in turn made us really excited for the show. When I entered the theater house I felt engulfed by wealth. Even the ceiling looked to be gilded with gold-leaf. I also felt a wave of intense civic pride to be a citizen of Chicago. Working at both the trust & estate law firm and at the Chaddick Institute taught me that civic engagement and philanthropy have long been hallmarks of Chicago’s aristocracy, who continually invest in public works like Millennium Park. The Lyric Opera House was another example of how Chicago’s wealthy invest in our cultural heritage as a city. The opera is a strange but enchanting art, as I would find out that evening.

When the lights began to flash we took our seats. We sat second row right in the center and the seats could not have been any more perfect. When the curtain lifted and the show began I was confused. Everyone was wearing kilts. Lucia di Lammermoor is set in Scotland? I thought all operas took place in Italy? Earlier that evening Maryhelen and I had dropped by one of my favorite boutiques before the show to grab dinner. I ran into a few friends there and we chatted about the opera and how I’d never been. One of them warned me that the whole show was in Italian. Italian? But how am I supposed to understand it! She smiled and told me that it’s more about the singing and the performances than the actual words. So now I was even more confused because here was an opera sang in Italian but set in Scotland. As I could piece together throughout the performance, it was very similar to Romeo and Juliet.

The legendary “mad” scene in Lucia di Lammermoor

Clearly, I had no understanding of the opera whatsoever. But I did have a blast. In fact, I have never been so thoroughly entertained by something I couldn’t understand. Sure, there were subtitles (seriously, above the stage there was a screen with the English translation) but once I became enthralled I didn’t even care. My friend was right. The opera is about the performance. I was blown away by the acting. The facial expressions and depth of voices changed wildly as the characters moved through out the play. Pop “musicians” produced by a marketing team at a recording label can’t hold a candle to the true skill of the actors at the Lyric Opera. I have never, in my life, ever been so moved emotionally by a live singer as I was that evening by Susanna Phillips, who played Lucia. The “mad” scene in the castle brought me to tears and I’m as cynical a person as can be when it comes to being entertained. The most shocking part of all was how acoustically intense her singing was without speakers. It was astounding to hear the raw power of the human voice.

Photo by Ralph & Jenny

My favorite part about the opera was watching actors experiencing the emotions of their characters so violently, so raw, that they literally become the characters. I actually saw Susanna Phillips channeling the heartbroken Lucia gone mad, crazed in blood-soaked clothing, insane with sorrow after committing murder. The opera actually draws the audience into the experience in a way that watching a movie never will. Seeing live actors perform with such energy was exhilarating. I left that night feeling like I’d seen something magical transpire. I’ve never left a jam concert feeling that way. Going to the opera was a ton of fun. Not only did it give me an excuse to wear my Junya Watanabe dress, it gave me an excuse to feel cultured. Maryhelen and I walked through the Loop, chatting about the opera and life in general. Although being the twenty-somethings we are, we did grab snacks at the Rock ‘n’ Roll McDonalds before going out dancing at a club after the opera. Even young people like us enjoyed the opera, and so will you!

Maryhelen and I are classy broads!