Opera and fims

A splendid evening at the Wales Millenium Centre enjoying a production of The Marriage of Figaro with the Welsh National Opera. It is almost with shame that I have to admit that this was my first visit to the "armadillo" but it had just happened that time spent here never coincided with something that I really wanted to see and, over the years, I have developed almost a rule that I will only see productions that I really want to see rather than think that might just be ok. There is so much more enjoyment then. I cried with joy at the beginning of the Lion King a few years ago and there were tears of joy as Figaro concluded last night. Looking at the surtitles, in English and Welsh, we were reminded of a delightful production, in Russian, many years ago at Nottingham Playhouse. My recollection was that it was called Guadeamos but now I think not and will no doubt spend a lot of time today trying to find the name of that particular play. The husband recalled pantomines with the older children when I was left at home with Charlie and we remembered taking the eldest to her first Shakespeare. Walking back after the performance last night we were both high on an evening well spent and gratitude for those supposrters who make such lavish performances accessible. An evening at the theatre in the widest sense of that term is such a special occassion. The trip to the cinema earlier in the week to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was just something to slot in inbetween other planned evernts. We enjoyed the film but didn't select the best seats, as we did for the opera and we didn't make a bit of an effort with the way we dressed. Back in the 1960s going to"the pictures" was a special event. I recall a family trip to see My Fair Lady with family including grandmothers and great aunts and a journey of some miles to a nearby town - and boxes of chocolates instead of bags.