I was able to make it to the premiere, thanks to a great babysitter. Living in the theater also made the babysitting easy, the sitter came here and then I just walked to a different part of the theater. A friend from church came to the opera with me but sadly, we could not get a ticket for her boyfriend. Anyhow, the opening went very well. Brian sounded great and has some of the more interesting things to sing in the opera (he is kind of the star of the show). A favorite of mine was when he was singing about "how all living things breathe" when his character is contemplating life and death with a dead crow. The director is very pleased with Brian and he played a great crazy/mentally ill. There are many visual aspects of the set with many projections to look at. I think I took the opera a little too literally and the next time I watch it I am going to look at the entire work as more of a dream/nightmare not connected to reality. I am kind of glad my mom did not travel to see this one as I am not sure how much she would have liked it. And so goes modern opera.

These three photos are from the actual nightmare scene in the opera. Brian plays a very depressed and disturbed Roderick Usher who has summoned his childhood friend William to his home to help him. Roderick's twin sister (who William did not know existed) is also ill and ends up dying. She is placed in the family tomb, but is not actually dead. There are extreme overtones of incest. I can't decide if it is better as a wife to watch my husband in a romantic opera situation or an implied incest situation. Neither is super ideal, but neither is real. It's a crazy life, but I am very proud of Brian's work and success. He only had about 2 weeks to learn this role.

To keep Brian's feet firmly on the ground, within a few hours of the opening, he had to clean up Colin's vomit due to late night illness. (I would have helped but was nursing Jane.) Although Brian is quite possibly the most normal musician ever, there is nothing like traveling with toddlers to combat possible opera big-headedness!