Before entering the Metropolitan Theatre, I was excited because this was my first opera as to the many first time events I have been to in our IDC class. I loved the atmosphere from the outside being very grand to inside being cozy as well as luxurious. The theatre was packed and our seats were considerably nice. The opera began instantaneously; it took me by surprise even when I was looking at the stage the whole time. The curtains went up immediately and it began with a very gray and dark stage, where I only saw the glimpse of a few prisoners for the first few moments. Also, the orchestra began playing before the stage acting and actual opera and ended with the orchestra playing alone.
    After reading House of The Dead by Fyodor Dostoevsky I was able to identify many of the scenes, yet some were still confusing. It didn’t seem to go in the same order as the novel as I recall (I may be very wrong). The scene were the little chubby fellow and the tall guy argued and fought was most appealing to me because it was the exact scene from the novel. The chubby fellow ended up asking him what kind of bird he was. This was a form of fun play in the prison system as told in the novel, which is different then that of the outside world, the world full of freedom. Each prisoner’s story had its different effect. With that said, some were confusing to me.
     The opera itself projected by the various men in the prison were rather lower in tone and voice then I had expected. Maybe it was because of what they’re saying restrained them from going aloud; however, I thought they were suppose to project their voices. The orchestra was rather entertaining as well. I tried to apply myself in seeing the difference in the orchestra’s music and the opera singing, but I failed. To me, all the components seemed to go with each other. The drums mingled with the bell sounds and the projected voices of the men.
    I also found some parts to be funny and awkward at the same time. As I have read in the book, the women were actual women. In the House of The Dead Opera, I saw the men playing as the women. The sexual acts among them exuded the sense of homosexuality. It was funny in the way they acted out, but awkward in the roles they played. I like the fact that they weren’t only serious; they made the audience including myself laugh.