La SpeeeeEEEEEEEEranza!

I’m prefacing this with the fact that I originally was writing it like September 23^rd or 24^th as a word document and I’m just now posting it.  Sorry!

Yesterday I received an e-mail about events that are happening in Florence for students this week.  In that e-mail was information about a concert that night of Porgy and Bess.  And what was even better was that the tickets for students were only 5 Euros!  So of course I planned on going.

So, when I got home I went for a run (because I’m running in the Corri la Vita this weekend) and went about 2 miles I think only really stopping at stoplights.  I got back and had hoped to cook dinner before going to the concert, but realized that to get there in time to buy a ticket, even by bus, I needed to shower and leave.  So I did and then looked up a quick bus schedule.  Well, I couldn’t find any evidence of this bus around my house, so I hopped on one that came by, asked if it was going to the theater, and several people on the bus said yes and a young couple told me to go with them.

So, I talked to them for a while and we got to the theater and looked for the ticket office.  They had purchased their tickets online, and apparently so had a few other hundred people and they all had to stand in the ticket line to pick up these tickets.  We finally found the end of the line, about a block long, and took our places.  The guy told me that he didn’t know about any tickets being left, but I could always try.  So I stood there.  As we got closer we started seeing signs saying the performance was sold out, but I was already about 20 minutes into the wait.  So we talked about it and decided that maybe people didn’t show up and I should keep waiting because I had already committed over half an hour (and the show was already about 10 minutes late.  So I got to the point in the line where you just stand and wait for the absentee tickets.  My new friends wished me luck and get their tickets.

I continued to wait.  I was very confused by the line because no one was assisting us and we were all just standing there.  Then finally they started giving out tickets.  Most were for 35 Euros and I thought about buying one and trying for a discount of like 10 or 15 Euros.  Then all of a sudden they said that they were not selling any more tickets because they had to start the show.  We were all extremely let down.  But then some guy showed up behind all of us and he had a single ticket and it looked like he had a girlfriend for whom he couldn’t buy a ticket.  I asked him how much and he only wanted 5 Euros!  But then they said they were closing the doors and he thought the ticket wouldn’t matter.  The people behind the desk said I could still get in if I hurried.  So I gave him the money and took off running.  The ticket was for the floor seats but the door was closed, so they took a last minute group of us upstairs to the second tier.  We walked in as they were finishing tuning, but it was amazing to make it in like that!

So, as for the concert, it was decent.  From the tier I could hear the singers on stage right pretty well, but for the second half I moved down to my actual ticketed seat and could only really hear people on stage left.

After the concert I went around to the stage door, of course, and waited for performers.  The chorus slowly filed out and I actually knew a few people, one of whom because he had sung Colline in La Boheme in Lucca when I was there two years ago.  Super cool!  My voice teacher’s wife was also in the chorus and the music director for my church.  The only soloist I saw come out was the tenor who sang Sportin’ Life, Ronald Samm.  I talked with him for a bit and he was very nice.

Overall a very fun and exciting night, made all the better by the suspense of whether or not I would get in to see the concert!

Now, as you all could tell it took me a while to get this post up.  My Internet is back to not working at my apartment.  I’m starting to look for a way out of the agreement so I can move at the end of this month or maybe for the next semester.  Internet is kind of required in this day and age to stay in touch with friends and loved ones.  Also, I have a couple more blog posts written up in word perfect so I’ll try to use this week to get everything up.  Try not to miss one!