The inevitable...

Saturday night, I was invited by my "not-quite-my-girlfriend-but-my-personal-universe-revolves-around-her-but-I-really-wish-she-were-my-girlfriend" to go see "La Traviata" at USM. Never having been to an opera before, I was indeed looking forward to it, but mostly I was just looking forward to playing dress-up and hanging out with the object of my affection.

The main purpose for the evening was that she wanted to offer to a friend of mine (a USM student) the opportunity to see the opera as a "thank you" for having helped her out on a side-project when we needed some info at the USM Library. So she invited my friend and her boyfriend as well as me. A very thoughtful gesture! (Now you know one of about 18 million reasons why I love her so much!)

The performance was actually a major thing for the USM Arts. The Southern Symphony and the Southern Opera Musical Theatre Company joined withthe Mississippi Opera, giving the students an opportunity to perform with professionals as well. Then this week the whole show will perform at Thalia Mara in Jackson, so the USM kids will have their first professional gig.

The short version: Guy meets girl. Guy falls in love with girl. Girl says no. Girl changes mind. Guy's father breaks them up. Girl leaves even though she loves guy. Guy thinks she loves somebody else. Guy gets pissed. Guy insults girl. Everyone gets pissed at guy. Girl is ashamed but also dying. Father repents to girl and tells guy the whole story. Guy returns to girl. They make up. She dies. The end. Sounds like an opera to me...

Fortunately, I am not that much of a philistene. It was very well done and I am extremely proud of the USM kids. The music was fantastic. And the principals (the pros) were just freakingly amazing! Especially the girl. She's from Texas! Who knew!!! And she's got a voice that would bring tears to the eyes of a Georgia chain gang parolee. All in all, a great performance.

But what surprised us all was the fact that (other than production staff) I was the only guy in black tie. I had expected to see some shirtsleeves and jeans, but I was wrong. When I was first invited, my girl was under thin impression that no one would be dressing up. She was basing that on her years at USM. I, on the other hand, was arguing that yes, many people would not be dressed up, but I figured that at least half the crowd would be in suits and I was really expecting a couple of dozen attendees that went all the way. Hoo boy - was I wrong.

But oh well...

My girl was to die for. That was the best part. It felt good to put on the old monkey suit. It's actually the first time I have done so since I dropped a quarter ton of fat, so it was a pleasant experience. Other than the shoes... I hate the melon-slicers. Shiny patent leather shoes are a sign of man's inhumanity to man. They serve no purpose. However, my girl is equal parts stylishly hip and old-fashioned (another reason I love her), so to make the experience good for her, I acquiesced. But don't think I didn't wear my kicks on the 90 minute drive to and from H'burg! Fortunately she is also a good sport which is another reason I love her so. Did I mention that?

But also many thanks to the young lady I spoke to in Javawerks on the way back home. We had gone in to get coffee to go and I also had to put up a flyer for my band's coming gig in Jackson. After placing my order, I went back to the memo board. At the big table you can't see from the front were 2 guys and a girl hovering over a laptop. As I am always impressed by seeing students hard at it at 11PM on a Saturday night, I bade them a hearty good evening. They all smiled and the young lady called me "sir". I felt so ancient! But I just laughed and said "oh, it must be the tux" and then she commented that she really liked my tennis shoes. Ha! All was forgiven! Thank you, whoever you are! I hope your hard work pays off!

Good job, USM!!!!!!!!