# Barber of Seville (cross-post)



## amplifiedheat (Jun 9, 2008)

I had the good fortune to snag a last-minute ticket to _The Barber of Seville_ at the Kennedy Center tonight. (I don't want to think of my seat as _farther_ from the_ stage_ so much as _closer_ to the _chandelier_.:icon_smile

The crowd was for the most part respectably attired. Coat and tie was the rule, with a handful of pocket squares and bow ties, and even the rare tuxedo. (Perhaps the most memorable sight was a man in scrupulously correct black tie, but with black woven tassels. I'll chalk it up to whimsy.) The jeans-and-chest-hair-baring-shirt crowd was thankfully scattered.

For my part, I learned that one can indeed run in Park Avenues, especially if one has had three glasses of iced tea just before Act I.

Opera buffs will remember that clothing plays a central role in _The Barber of Seville_. Count Almaviva spends the first act and much of the second act in disguise, first dressed in the cloak of a poor student and then in the black robes of a music teacher. At the critical moment, he throws off his rain cloak to reveal the richly tailored clothes of an aristocrat, proving that he is the count and saving the day.


----------



## Scoundrel (Oct 30, 2007)

Good for you! I'm looking forward to my first opera soon (will be going dressed to the 9s)!


----------



## sko (Jul 1, 2009)

Barber is one of my favorite operas of all time...certainly my favorite Rossini. Hope it was a good show!


----------

