Opera Bob comes out to Pride!!

I learned 2 things today...

1. To get noticed at Pride, dress appropriately: BRIGHT COLORS and BLING!! It's amazing how far you can get with those two things. Tomorrow I intend to add glamour hair and gloves, if the weather allows. I'll report back.

2. The opera stigma is pretty entrenched and needs some serious retooling.


As soon as you say the word 'opera,' you get one of three responses:

1) positive,
2) curious and tentative, or
3) hostile/disgusted.

And sadly, the last of these is the most common. It's perplexing...it would be one thing if we were a haughty, mean-looking bunch of people, it would be one thing. But we're normal (or at least close), outgoing, friendly, and non-threatening. I think this might be OperaBob's greatest challenge...enlightening new audiences. Opera is fun, inspiring, and can really speak to modern audiences, if they're just open to the experience and willing to accept the form as something different from film and Broadway. And yeah, it's not something mainstream audiences come into contact with every day, there's a few more layers to it than anything Jerry Bruckheimer puts out there. But it's not like you need a Masters' in opera to get it. In fact, I know TONS of people who have that very distinction, and STILL don't get it.

If anyone out there in the blogosphere has ideas on coaxing shy, curious opera virgins out of the shadows (or ideas on defusing the savagery from the anti-opera crowd that is merely operating out of ignorance), give a shout out.

~Maggie