Aida, Not the Only Princess of the Night
Debbie Apsan
IDC- 9125
The opera, Aida, revolves around the thoughts, decisions, and actions of the princess, Aida. After reading the libretto, the plot seemed interesting, but being no princess myself, it was hard to relate Aida’s conflicts, to the story of my life. However, Monday night, November 5, I saw Aida performed at the metropolitan opera house, and it changed my views on life; that night I was transformed into a princess.
When I stepped out of the subway with my friends, we made our way to the opera house. But right next door was a Glamour magazine show. Therefore, outside the theatre, there was a red carpet leading up to that event. I decided to walk on that carpet on my way to the opera house, which, from the outside, looked like a palace: there were high ceilings and beautiful chandeliers hanging. It was outside there that I felt my first sense of royalty.
Well, that was only the beginning. We continued on inside, and I remained on the first floor, and the usher showed me to my orchestra seat, a plush, red chair that was extremely comfortable–T -29 to be precise. On all sides, I was surrounded by members of my class, all of whom were dressed elegantly for the occasion. Then the show began, and I suddenly was sitting there with stunning music entering my ears, while actors sang their lines, and the musicians played their instruments. And, while I was sitting there, if I needed to be reminded of a certain detail in the plot, I could just switch on the little TV in front of me for a translation. And then Aida entered the stage. At this moment I felt especially imperial, because I had previously met the star a week before. As the opera progressed I felt privileged to be viewing the scenery. It was really remarkable in the “return victorious” scene, where ballerinas started dancing, and horses galloped across the scene, and a group that looked like real prisoners, were dragged onto stage
When the opera was complete, I was a little reluctant to leave. How could I just leave my royalty in the theater like that? Well, even Angela Brown had to step down from her position of power after every show, so I followed her example and left the theater and headed for the subway that would take me home.