Some recent traffic in front of our place: a fishing lodge being transported, three small-smaller-smallest tugboats in a parade, and a couple of freighters far from home, waiting to be guided into port and unloaded. Always something to watch. Yesterday, Pater said, he saw a big sea lion haul itself out of the water right on our neighbour’s beach. That’s unusual, and I’m glad they’re not around during swimming season!
Today-through-tomorrow are my busy days, and I’m determined to fit in an hour’s run before I head off today, but I have to tell you my exciting news.
Quite a few weeks ago, Ling Chan, the Social Media Manager at the Vancouver Opera (and the VOA has been collecting kudos for the great job it’s been doing spreading the word about Opera through blogs, FaceBook, Twitter, and so on) invited me to join their Blogging at the Opera crew for this Saturday’s world premiere ofLilian Ailing — it’s a brand-new opera, commissioned by the VOA with music by John Estacio and a libretto by John Murrell. It’s based on the true story of a young Russian woman, an immigrant to New York in the 1920s who walked across North America and up through British Columbia’s northwest, in search of a man named Jozéf. Seriously. It’s an epic journey treated as an epic should be — operatically! You can find out more here: follow Lilian’s journey, listen to parts of the opera, read about the costumes and set design, AND, if you’re anywhere near Vancouver, you should try to get tickets. There are still seats available over the four nights, even some great promotions if you’re 28 or younger. And if you get tickets for opening night, be sure to come by and say hello — I’ll be blogging in the lobby with several other local bloggers.
Now I’ve gotta run, literally . . . but think about picking up opera tickets. This is going to be an event!
Wow, that is SO cool, congratulations!!
Do those large ships ever blow their horns at night? Does it wake you up or are you and Pater accustomed to it?
Congratulations! Thank you for the beautiful photos and have a good run. I look forward to your writing about the opera.
What an exciting opportunity and the story sounds quite inspiring.
Have fun and tell us everything!
That's wonderful. How fun to blog about the opera, and what a good fit for your thoughtful voice.
Great photos and congrats! I must confess, I have only seen an opera twice while I was in Europe. Glad to see there is a new interest~good luck!
Sounds like a great opportunity – enjoy!
Pseu: Thanks! I'm looking forward to it. As for the ships, yes, they can be noisy, mostly when it's foggy. Or when they raise or lower their anchors. As well, sometimes they'll have deck lights on — ones that could light up a football field!
That can be annoying. . .
Susan T: It was a very good run, thanks!
Hostess: It's a marvellous story — worth looking at the VOA blog for some of the background. Lilian was incarcerated at Oakalla for a brief period, so right in our own backyard!
LPC: I'm a bit nervous about doing an adequate job, so thanks for the vote of confidence.
F>50: And I confess I've only ever seen operas in Vancouver;-)
We keep thinking we'll get to one when we're in Paris but it hasn't happened yet. You'd be surprised how much new interest the VOA has managed to whip up among the youngsters.
Tiffany: Thanks, I'm looking forward to it, albeit a bit anxiously.
I just love this promotion for young opera goers! Heard a bit of the opera on CBC on Sunday, eager to hear your take.
One of my pet peeves here is the National Ballet, who sell rush tickets at 11 am. of the day of the show, but you must appear in person at the boxoffice. That means seniors have to make two trips to the theatre on the day of the performance. I wish they could book online on the same day- so many elders are dance lovers but they simply cannot deal with this requirement (nor afford full price tickets).