What's Opera, Doc?

Finally, somebody turned off the oven.

Look, I love all the free and low-cost summer events like the outdoor movie screenings, the concerts, and Shakespeare in the park, but oh, holy hell, this summer was hot. After long stretches of triple-digit heat (even L.A. sizzled this summer), I was happy as hell when the temperatures dropped 20 degrees at the start of fall.

With fall, comes pumpkin lattes and a slew of cultural events. This week we’re talking opera, tours, and some arts freebies.

Let’s start with opera.

“But Jim, isn’t that just large women in horned helmets?”

Get one thing straight right now – I don’t go to the opera for horned helmets.

The only horned helmet I've ever done. Oh, and be advised, just like in What's Opera, Doc?, the girl usually dies.

  I go to hear Don Jose sing the flower song, trying to convince the temptress Carmen of his love.

I go to hear Athanael sing to a dying Thais that nothing is true but life and the love of human beings.

I go to see Manon seduce Des Grieux.

I go to see want and desire expressed in all its twisting-knife-in-the-gut agony. I go to see love expressed so beautifully it brings tears to your eyes.

I go because it so beautifully expresses the love and desire I feel for  my wife every waking moment.

Nope, I don’t do horned helmets.

Look, I’m very new to this art form. I’m still trying to figure out my Donizetti from my Rosetti and Verdi (I do know Wagner. I loathe Wagner). Until I met my wife, my only exposure to opera was the classic Bugs Bunny cartoon “What’s Opera, Doc?” I still giggle whenever I hear the Ride of the Valkyries (I’m going to kill the wabbit, I’m going to kill the wabbit).

But after accompanying my wife to a couple of operas I was hooked. I can appreciated great music, regardless of its genre, and a beautiful voice is a beautiful voice.

Piotr Beczala and opera goddess Anna Netrebko in a scene from Manon. Seriously, dude, you're going to say no to that? Yeah, I didn't think so.

If you want to give this art form a look, there’s a couple of ways to go without it costing you an arm and a leg. L.A. Opera offers tickets starting around $20 for the balcony (that’s where my wife and I have our season seats). If that section is sold out, keep calling the box. Sometimes us season holders turn tickets in when we can’t make a performance.

Discounts are hard to come by. There are rush tickets for seniors and students, but rarely for matinees and rarely for some of the more popular productions. I have seen tickets on Goldstar, but that is rare.

Tenor Vittoria Grigolo and soprano Nino Machaidze in the L.A. Opera's production of Romeo and Juliet.

There are two other affordable options if you want to just sample opera. One is the Live in HD series from the Met where operas are shown in movie theaters (each gets two showings, one live and then an encore a few days later). Last time I went, tickets were $22 each, steep for movie showing, but cheap for an opera.

You can also catch operas on TV from time to time with PBS Great Performances. There is a version of Carmen featuring Elina Garanca that is absolutely sizzling.

If you’re going to a performance at the L.A. Opera you have some dining options ranging from low-cost to high-end. If money is an issue (and when is it not, really?), you can picnic on one of the tables in the Music Center plaza and at Grand Park. Another option is the Tina Tacos stand on the plaza.
Sometimes we’ll hit Phillipe’s for French dip sandwiches before heading to the Music Center.

Elina Garanca and Roberto Alagna were perfect as the temptress and the obsessed Don Jose in the Met version of Carmen.

If you got the bucks, then go straight to Pinot. Depending on what you drink, a meal for two will set you back $60, depending on what you drink and whether you have dessert (which we always do, my wife says). If you’re there for a matinee and they have the brunch menu, I can recommend the French toast. So fluffy, it’s like eating little clouds.

If you do go to an opera, squeeze the hand of the one you love during the great aria. After the performance, look them straight in the eye and tell them they are your passion, your obsession. And, to borrow from U2, telling them they are the reason why the opera is in you.

A few quick hits:


What’s that, you say? You want your cultural offerings for free? I can help.

On Sunday, Sept. 29 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. you can see “The Dude” himself, Gustavo Dudamel via a giant screen TV at Grand Park. They are broadcasting the performance of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles from the Disney Hall into the park.

If you go, go early and bring a picnic. Events at Grand Park fill up quick.

And here’s another Disney Hall-related freebie – On Oct. 5, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. the Music Center is presenting “10 Times the Party,” a celebration of the hall’s 10th anniversary. The event will be held in front of the hall and in it’s W.M. Keck Foundation Children’s Amphitheater, 111 South Grand Avenue.

The event includes music, dance, and arts workshops.

Over the next week weeks you’ll be hearing a lot about various tours you can take around L.A., starting with a great architecture tour. For now, let me offer up a suggestion on a fairly cheap, but wonderful set of tours – the L.A. Conservancy’s walking tours. My wife and I have done three or four of these tours, including the one for Union Station, the art deco tour, and the one for the Biltmore (aka the happiest place on Earth). They cost $10 a person for non-members, $5 for members.

For a great, low-cost date, do the Union Station tour and then go over to Olvera Street for taquitos at Cielito Lindo. You can cut down on the parking fee by using the park-and-ride lot at Universal City and taking the Red Line into Union Station (roundtrip for two $6).

On Sept. 28, Smithsonian magazine is sponsoring Free Museum Day. Several L.A. museums are participating, including the Petersen Automotive Museum, the Zimmer Children’s Museum, and the Pasadena Museum of Art. Find out more at the event website.

Another freebie coming up is Art Night in Pasadena on Friday, Oct. 11. Several museums and galleries will be open for free. There will also be a free shuttle service to get around to the different venues. We’ve got this penciled in our calendar. More information can be found at the event website.