Tosca

Ravishing Russky soprano Tatiana Serjan as Tosca

Due to the good graces of the USO, I received 2 free tickets to last night's superb performance of our Lyric Opera's production of Tosca which introduced me to Russian soprano Tatiana Sarjen but more on her later. My original intention was for the Den to be a Man About Town feature only a little vexing issue with our IRS intervened just as I started the blog and now I almost have that painful matter behind me so the high steppin' will soon begin. I only consider last night a school night tune-up for what is to follow.

The Civic Opera House is an Art Noveau-Art Deco masterpiece.
Here is a wall inside the theatre that shows some of the detail.

Mr. DG, aka Our Man in Edgewater, is a fine fellow I formally met only 3 or 4 days ago. Much to our amusement we were on the same schedule and crossed paths several times each day with McDonald's at 7ish, for coffee and wifi, library when it opens at 10 and next to the library our little lunch spot Patio Beef.. I had only pleasantry variety interaction previously but noticed he was quite friendly, articulate, and all these bookish older ladies were always having a word with him over Dickens, Austen, and the like.  My friend Terry who I normally go to the Opera with was a late scratch and I do hate seeing a good seat going to waste so just asked DG if he was interested as it was a free ticket. His eyes lit up just as I suspected and he has long been a devotee of Opera and Theatre and has far more technical knowledge than I do so he was more than up for it.

I love the people watching during intermission.

I have another little money matter to clear up after I square up with my buddy JC on Friday. I'm also on the boot bounty...you know those gorgeous hunks of cold steel that put your car out of business.
I'm into the city for a pretty penny over some past due parking tickets. I always urge any robbery victim not to bother calling 911; that's too slow. Just park your car a foot past that sign with the arrow pointing the other way and watch how fast they appear. It's like they fall from the sky. Then they go get a hot dog, come back, and write another ticket. They drive around the block. BAM! Another.
Then they have these burly bastards that flunked out of Seal Team 6 school that drive around looking for cars with TWO tickets past due. That's right TWO! They should be wearing black hoods when they affix those clunky hangman's nooses. GSL's tickets number well past two btw...but his car remains unshod of said boot. For the last few months, I've been in a little cat and mouse game with the boot crews and this is where being clever is helpful. The trick is you must stay a moving target. Never park near where you live and I've got 3 or 4 cubby holes where they'll never find me. I've got guys posted on street corners letting me know when they're on the move. Smoke signals, carrier pigeons, tweets, and texts. Low Tech and High Tech. They can't find me. They won't find me. But I do need to settle up so I called the ticket lady to cut a deal. She said they don't cut deals. I tried low-balling her....she wasn't amused. I'll call her back in a couple of weeks after she's had time to think about it.

The Denver Boot: These boots make for walking

Mr. DG and I shared a giggle over my boot crew troubles and then enjoyed a splendid night of great music and drama with wonderful sets and great actors in addition to beautiful voices and music. Mr DG is a great companion to attend these cultural excursions with. We were in almost complete agreement on how good the sets were, the superb acting by everyone, how well staged it was overall, and the exquisite aria that Tatiana Serjan (Tosca) delivered to close Act I and marveled at how the night flew by. It was a marvelous night in good company and look forward to getting out more now that the dust is starting to clear.

There is of course that famous scene and aria that hit close to home where Tosca proclaims:
                                       
                                                         I live for Art.
                                                        I live for Love.

I'll endure money troubles, a boot crew posse, and a higher cost of living if I can live in a city that supports great cultural institutions like Lyric Opera of Chicago. Thank you USO!

While I know our dear Cynthia does far better, this is GSL's idea of a well laid table
Post performance cocktail at The Red Lion Pub. That's a Famous Grouse on the rocks at 11 o'clock.
At 1 o'clock is an empty mini bottle of  Baily's Irish Cream aka 'Irish Maalox'
I took 3 of those into the Opera as $14 is a little steep for this pauper's purse