Tosca! In Central Park

Last Monday, my fellow opera/picnic/park fans came out to the Great Lawn in Central Park to listen to the Metropolitan Opera's free concert performance of Puccini's Tosca. Nik has an entry on his blog of our outing including the NYT photo of the robust looking singers. I gotta say, as a theatre person, I find it entirely too challenging to suspend my connection with reality and believe the casting these opera companies make. A couple years ago, I caught the MET's production of Madama Butterfly (Puccini) and the little butterfly wasn't little at all. "Little" is a nice way of saying "small enough to fill the Grand Canyon." Plus (no pun intended), she must have been 40! This year's City Opera production cast a young Korean opera singer who I could buy as Madama Butterfly.

Nik scored a sweet spot for us to set out a lovely little picnic with paté, rosemary-olive bread, wheat baguette, pasta salad, salami and cheese platter, Brie, several bottles of wine and an appearance by creamy peanut butter. I brought my latest InStyle which had a nifty little Hanes Cotton Underwear interactive advert which allowed Nik to dress his underwear model in his preferred color/print of said undies. "This is the greatest thing ever!" he declared. Nik works at the Hall of Science, did I mention that?

When Nik was finished toying with the advert (passing it on the Steve), Tosca erupted at the head of the Great Lawn as twilight hit. Nik decided that we needed to document our first cultured foray into the park with photos. He came up with some lovely artsy pictures--my favorite being this one of my girl, Cyndi, reading Nik's book.

He did some random candids as well including Cyndi and I posing for my camera (results coming soon).

In August, The New York Grand Opera Company's production of Puccini's Turandot comes to the Naumberg Bandshell in Central Park.