Great! Your friend the opera buff thought it'd be a real
treat to drag you along to the opera too. While it can be
hard to show how excruciating you're finding this experience
because you don't want to let your friend down, there are
ways to find something else to do while the opera is ringing
through your ears. And who knows? You might even end up
liking what you're being expected to sit through.
!! Steps !!
Take everything you'll need to keep alert Prepare in advance. Taking
along a few things to keep you occupied can be a helpful way of
coping. Here are some suggestions:
* Take small candies or chewing gum to quietly chew or suck on.
Somehow, having something sweet in your mouth helps to cope with a
sour experience. Make sure they're unwrapped (and therefore not
noisy) before taking them.
* Have plenty of tissues or handkerchiefs to catch sneezes and
coughs. These can be very loud during an opera and people will
turn and look at you if you don't manage to muffle the noise
quickly.
* Stash a small notebook and pen in your bag. Perhaps you can write
down some thoughts to help pass the time. If you like sketching,
consider sketching audience members or the singers.
* Find out what language the opera is in and bring along your mini
dictionary. You can play "spot the word meaning" to while away
some time.
* Sneak in an MP3 player. Get really dark earplugs so they're harder
to spot. If your friend discovers this though, you'll be in the
doghouse.
A rare chance to really dress up Dress up beautifully or elegantly.
At least going to the opera gives you a grand opportunity to look
your very best, to the point of going over-the-top! Strut your
evening wear in the intervals and appear as graceful and erudite as
you can.
Try costume spotting. The costumes at operas are often incredible
and opulent. Spend some time watching the costumes and working out
how they were designed and what fabrics have been used. See how
realistic the costumes appear and think about whether there are some
particularly gorgeous ones that inspire you with fashion ideas for
your own clothes.
* You can do the same spotting with the scenery. Think about how the
scenery was created, how many hours it must have taken to create,
and what creative ways are being used to move it around and make
it work the way that it does.
Think about the composer. It can be amusing to try and work out what
the opera composer was thinking when he or she wrote the opera. If
the program gives you some indication, it might be possible to build
an entire picture of the composer's frame of mind at the time,
whether they had personal reasons behind the storyline, and what
story or moral they were trying to pass on down the generations.
Decide who would make better actors than opera singers. Opera
requires extremely good acting as well as singing to get the points
across, especially when it involves comedy. See if you can spot any
of the singers who would transfer well to acting if they ever had to
give up singing.
Space out. Crawl into your own headspace and think about things. If
you like meditating, take this as an opportunity to meditate in your
seat. It's a good space of time to think about things that you
haven't had time to focus on lately, like gift lists for friends and
family, solutions for that overflowing in-tray at work, and whether
or not you should buy that new pair of whatsits you saw in the store
window on the way to the theater. Or, if you'd rather, think about
nothing at all and use this as a time for complete mental relaxation
– you don't have to understand what you're seeing, you don't have
anyone talking to you, and you don't have chores before you, so make
the most of it!
* Stay relaxed and at ease. This can be a very convincing way of
maintaining a supposed look of interest while getting a lot of
mental work sorted, or even no thinking at all.
* Avoid nodding off. That will look bad and you might dribble,
thereby destroying your credibility with your friend.
Try to get into the spirit of it. Open up the program and read what
the opera is about. You might find it intriguing and you might
actually be curious at how the story is turned into an event set to
music. At least with a background understanding of the story, it
will be easier to follow the opera and you might end up enjoying the
story side of it.
* In case there is no program explaining the opera, do a quick
online search to find out the background to the opera before you
go, or on your smartphone in the foyer before going in.
* Ask your friend about the story behind the opera. Ask your friend
what he or she finds so fascinating about opera and try to see
their points as the opera unfolds. You might even be so intrigued
that it improves your entire experience.
* Bear in mind that opera performers train for many years and those
who make it to the stage are the best at their art. Do your best
to try and enter into the spirit of appreciating their skills.
Make excuses if the performance is extremely long. Take restroom
breaks and have a breather. Stretch your legs, yawn outside in the
foyer, check out the artwork in the foyer, and shake your body loose
before going back in. The happy ending means an end to
discussing it! Find polite ways of declining to enter into deep
conversation about the opera as well as avoiding owning up to how
much you hated it. Some of the answers you might give to being asked
how you liked it include:
* "It was very festive but I found it very hard to understand.
Italian isn't my forte."
* "It was interesting in its own way. It could grow on me."
* "Wow! What a mind twister!"
* "Brilliant! Say, how hungry are you? I could really dig a crunchy
custard at Bertie's right now."
!! Tips !!
* Show respect. Your friend will be very disappointed if you make a
big deal out of not enjoying yourself, let alone the fact that you
are seeing incredible artists who are likely the very best in
their field or they wouldn't be performing on stage for the
public.
* Resist playing Bejeweled on your phone or texting your Facebook
pals. Not only is it obvious but theater etiquette usually
requires that you turn your phone right off.
* Check out books like Stanley Sadie's _The Grove Book of Operas_
for more information on the background of operas.
!! Warnings !!
* Don't be offended if your friend notices how bored you were. Just
smile and say that you appreciate having been asked but that it
turns out that opera's just not your thing even though you can see
the good reasons why your friend enjoys it. Think about finding
mutual ground for the next form of entertainment the two of you
share together, or you'll risk your friend turning up his or her
noise at your choice of entertainment!
* Turn your cell phone off during the peformance.
!! Things You'll Need !!
* Distractions such as candy snacks
* Suitably packed bag
* Evening wear or top quality clothes
!! Related WikiHows !!
* How to Be a Good Audience Member
* How to Get Through a Boring Performance While Sitting in the
Audience
* How to Read an Audience's Mind
* How to Sing in Front of a Large Audience
* How to Sing Opera
!! Article Tools !!
* Read on wikiHow
*
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