{"id":1371,"date":"2014-07-13T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-14T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=1371"},"modified":"2014-07-13T21:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-07-14T02:00:00","slug":"a-night-at-the-opera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=1371","title":{"rendered":"A Night At The Opera"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"webeagle\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Urban Dictionary defines a \u201cbucket list\u201d as a \u201clist of things to do before you die.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s derived from the phrase “kicked the bucket”. Many people have what is known as a bucket list, and we\u2019re no different.<\/p>\n

\u201cAttend the Opera\u201d is one of the items we crossed off last Friday evening.\u00a0 Thanks to a great friend, we were offered two tickets to the Opera \u201cDead Man Walking\u201d, which is a part of this year\u2019s series at the Des Moines Metropolitan Opera.\u00a0 We graciously accepted the tickets with fantastic seats.\u00a0 I\u2019m far from being an expert on opera, but allow me to review the production we saw.<\/p>\n

Prior to viewing the opera version of Dead Man Walking, I had read the book and saw the movie.\u00a0 I have also heard Sister Helen Prejean [pronounced PRAY-\u0135ahn] speak a few times on the incidents that lead her to write the book.\u00a0 Even though I\u2019m not an expert on opera, I can surely comment on the opera through the experience I have in working toward abolition of the death penalty.<\/p>\n

The basics of the story are in the opera: the fact that two teenagers were killed; a man was sentenced to death; a nun became his spiritual advisor; the nun\u2019s lack of reaching out to the victims\u2019 parents before it was too late; and the fear, rage, love, confusion, passion, and other emotions that make this such a great story.\u00a0 All of that is portrayed in the book.\u00a0 Perhaps legal matters have something to do with it, but I can\u2019t understand why Patrick Sonnier\u2019s [pronounced SONE-ierre] name was changed to Joseph De Rocher [pronounced DAY RO-chey].\u00a0 Nor do I know why he was executed by lethal injection on stage, while he was electrocuted in real life.\u00a0 Those may be minor distractions to someone who read the book and listened to Sister Helen.\u00a0 However, I am disappointed that lethal injection was substituted for electrocution because I do believe that electrocution demonstrates a more barbaric use of capital punishment.<\/p>\n

The operatic version of Dead Man Walking was better than the movie version with Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn.\u00a0 I base this opinion on some of the laudable performances that portrayed the emotions in such a way that made you feel them.\u00a0 The entire production was awesome, but three performers stand out for me.<\/p>\n

Wayne Tigges, a Bass-Baritone from Dubuque, who played Owen Hart, the father of the girl who was murdered, was my favorite.\u00a0 You could see the emotion in his eyes when he sang.\u00a0 And every part of his body was into the character and the song.\u00a0 Karen Slack, a Soprano from Philadelphia, played the role of Sister Rose.\u00a0 Ms. Slack\u2019s voice and her acting brought me closer to the real-life role Sister Rose played in Sister Helen\u2019s decisions.\u00a0 The role of Joseph De Rocher\u2019s mother was played by Margaret Lattimore, a Mezzo-Soprano from Port Jefferson, NY.\u00a0 I think she had a difficult part to play, and not only did she do it exceptionally, but the notes she sang had to have been meant just for her.\u00a0 I heard a lot of range in her sung lines.<\/p>\n

Being the first opera I have attended, I had no idea what to expect.\u00a0 When we walked into the building there were people having a glass of wine, mingling with each other, and viewing the displays.\u00a0 There was a lack of signs to indicate where one should go to find a seat.\u00a0 A woman named Ellen approached us and noticed that we seemed to be new to the venue. \u00a0\u00a0She told us about the opera and how this particular opera is more like a musical than other operas; that it is an American opera (lyrics are in English); the season\u2019s series; opera in general; and other informative tips.\u00a0 She represented the Des Moines Metro Opera with splendor.\u00a0 Ellen was warm, genuine, and pleasant.\u00a0 We were thrilled that the DMMO provides such a service through its Board.<\/p>\n

We may have deleted \u201cAttend the Opera\u201d from our bucket list, but I want to add \u201cLa Traviata\u201d, \u201cThe Barber of Seville\u201d, and \u201cCarmen\u201d.\u00a0 Realistically, we\u2019re going to have to cross a few other things off the list before I\u2019m going to be able to add anything.<\/p>\n

I am excited to have experienced my first opera, and to have that opera be \u201cDead Man Walking\u201d is a dream come true.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The operatic version of Dead Man Walking was better than the movie version with Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[522,523,528,524,526,527,525],"class_list":["post-1371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-death-penalty","tag-bucket-list","tag-dead-man-walking","tag-des-moines-metro-opera","tag-helen-prejean","tag-karen-slack","tag-margaret-lattimore","tag-wayne-tigges"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1371"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1372,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1371\/revisions\/1372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}