Attended this live opera last night (Thu 1Jun23) on a LW outing, $34 for bus and opera. Seat W63, which is rear orchestra (orch range rows A-Z, seats 1-68 in W). Had to check in at 5pm; returned at 11:45pm.
I liked it. OK staging/costumes. Great music/singing. Acting/direction was ok - elicited some laughs behind me. Orchestra-level audience was a good mixture of ages/races.
The bottom line: I'm a cinema person. I'd much rather suffer the occasional whinge at a video director's choice than have a static master-shot view from the back 40. (My group ticket was labeled as $10, but on the website, seat U56 is priced $174 for the final performance, a Sunday matinee.)
I was looking forward to this being my first (opera) production with an actual black Otello, only for it to be lost by the physical distance between us. I considered bringing binoculars, but mine are so large & heavy; I would have needed elbows on armrests most of the time (and I had zero time on armrests). Besides, peering through a device restricts your vision of side action that may be important; a director is prepared for such things. So Live Opera from a poor seat is not a good experience. I'm used to seeing faces up close, and that enhances opera just as much as other visual arts. (I wondered during the perf how large were Verdi's theatres.)
Enjoyed the lecture (missed the beginning) by conductor Conlon. Little of the history was new to me. I liked his musical insights: the kiss music, which reminds me of the love/death in Tristan und Isolde, prem 1865; Otello prem 1887) in the first act repeats at least twice in the opera, notably at the end.
The bus trip was pleasant enough. Loved that we sailed through the traffic inbound using the HOV lane. Great to look at some LW scenery from the height of the bus seat (over parked cars), and to see how much taller downtown LA has become.
Saw a couple of bunnies on the walk home (midnight!), and heard an owl hooting (or a recording thereof) near the main entrance/Regency Terrace. Glad to see actual barricades at the main exit, redirecting cars to a second lane at the entrance; didn't observe whether pedestrians would also be blocked.
