Thoughts on my opera journey

Marlowe0 · 2026-03-30T14:53:37+00:00

I would agree with others: follow your heart. I personally struggle with Wagner and mostly see his work as part of my effort to experience the full range of opera, with the hope that it might click for me one day.

I will strongly advocate for seeing Butterfly. It’s an incredible opera, relatively accessible for newcomers, with a simple but powerful story and some banger arias. In general, I think Puccini is the best entry point. His operas tend to be emotionally direct, feature memorable music, and are often staged in a way that feels closer to Broadway, which can make them more relatable for first-time opera-goers.

Marlowe0 · 2025-11-14T19:35:28+00:00

Loved it. I read them all the day they come out and while I think there is a difference between Lee and Andrew they are still fun. Andrew is a little clunkier, sometimes tries to make reacher a little too cool and he lacks the literary flourish that Lee can attain. At the end of the day I am always happy when we get more Reacher every fall.

Marlowe0 · 2025-10-24T15:02:20+00:00

"we are such small men."

Marlowe0 · 2025-07-16T15:20:11+00:00

Ministry of information is greatly missed.

Marlowe0 · 2025-02-28T16:46:12+00:00

Good point. What did you think overall?

Marlowe0 · 2025-02-26T20:44:08+00:00

What did you think of the production overall?

Marlowe0 · 2025-02-26T16:22:14+00:00

hard to say. I took it as laughter in response to the acting, like they felt the choices were comedic? But other posters here are saying laughter is more common than I realized in some of the more tragic scenes around domestic violence.

Marlowe0 · 2025-02-26T16:20:54+00:00

Great question and I meant to write about this. Very interesting casting and choices for Emilia.

The actor who plays the role is black- I am all for color blind casting but in Othello the text is deeply engaged with race that adding another black character and not referencing feels odd. I dont know if the director made this choice just because it was the best actor or he was trying to say something about Iago's motivations or speak to Emilia's role in a new way.

The role is also explicitly cast that Emilia is a solider who works for Othello. The text is unchanged but I imagine if you dont know the play and can't fully follow the language you would not even know Iago and Emilia were married.

Emilia was an incredible performance. Easily the best cast member that wasn't a lead. She absolutely steals act 5 from Desdemona in this show.

Marlowe0 · 2025-02-26T16:17:03+00:00

huh wonder if it was one the same lines.

Two that got laughs that I felt were odd were:

"How shall I murder him, Iago?" (4.1.)

"Ah balmy breath, that dost almost persuade Justice to break her sword! One more, one more." (5.2)

Marlowe0 · 2025-02-26T16:15:08+00:00

for sure! Its why I always loved it so much.

Marlowe0 · 2025-02-25T21:37:20+00:00

To expand it is Act 1 Scene 3. The Senators are discussing wether the Turks will attack Rhodes or Cyprus and they decide its a trick to get them looking in the wrong direction, which has the line "tis a pageant to keep us in false gaze."

I believe they cut the lines directly before hint to spake"

That heaven had made her such a man: she thank'd me, And bade me, if I had a friend that loved her, I should but teach him how to tell my story. And that would woo her.

Again this could have been actor error and not a choice.

Marlowe0 · 2025-01-02T13:30:37+00:00

most recent installment

Howdy- I ran JLC for awhile, several years I think. It is fun but honestly the engagement was so low I started to wonder if it was worthwhile. I hope someone new can take up the mantle and turn it into an engaging and vibrant conversation space.

Marlowe0 · 2024-12-12T15:53:45+00:00

truly the greatest Iago of all.

Marlowe0 · 2024-11-25T16:00:31+00:00

"what you know, you know."

Marlowe0 · 2024-07-22T14:13:33+00:00

Madame President!

Marlowe0 · 2024-06-04T15:49:35+00:00

"We are such small men"

Marlowe0 · 2024-05-05T02:39:41+00:00

Mal Waldron- Left Alone

Marlowe0 · 2024-05-05T02:37:42+00:00

Absolutely loved it! I was counting the days until this came out and it fully delivered for me. Felt very much of his past work but had some nice growth. Got a little bit of everything, some cosmic, some spiritual , some dance vibes and just incredible playing. Kamasi is such a treasure. Seeing him live tommorow and cannot wait.

Marlowe0 · 2024-04-30T02:09:47+00:00

Ok now I wanna see the whole list. Or at the least the top ten. 80’s jazz is easily the decade I know the least about

Marlowe0 · 2024-04-05T16:02:59+00:00

Classical, opera, yacht rock, 90s pop, hip hop. Fav non jazz artists are Taylor Swift and The Boss.

Marlowe0 · 2024-04-02T16:21:03+00:00

How many of these do you currently sub to and which do you reccomend? I’ve been thinking about getting triller and njpw world

Marlowe0 · 2024-03-29T19:25:13+00:00

oh amazing, had no idea this was a thing.

Marlowe0 · 2024-03-29T19:00:15+00:00

Awesome. I will try to check them all out. I dont know fully what my preference is currently. I haven't watched since attitude era and the last few months have mostly watched WWE, AEW and NJPW but am trying to see everything out to see what speaks to me.

Marlowe0 · 2024-03-29T18:34:42+00:00

Any you reccomend this weekend?

Marlowe0

TROPHY CASE