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| - I love widening my horizons, and have never been to an opera, so when I heard that Die Fledermaus was going to be there, I thought it was time to give opera a try. I'll admit, I had no idea what Die Fledermaus was about but had recognized the name from an episode of Friends. A friend was going to see it with his German mother and told me a bit about the story and it sounded interesting! He indicated that it was actually an Operetta which has subtitles. (After viewing the COC website it looks like all of their shows have subtitles).
I was expecting to spend about $50-$75 for cheap seats but was pleasantly surprised that the COC has an Under 30 special where they reserve some seats in every performance for people under 30 for $22 ($35 if you want to be bumped up to a better seat day of if available). Great idea in my opinion to get younger people involved. And it sure seemed to work b/c I saw a lot of younger people at the show.
The seats were in Ring 5. And while high up, there was still lots of room, you could see the stage and orchestra well and had a good view of the subtitles. In fact, since I went on a Tuesday there were actually a lot of empty seats up on the 4th and 5th ring and after the intermission my friend and I moved down to better seats without a problem. It looked like a lot of other people did too.
Drinks and snacks were a bit pricey. And I was surprised at only 1 intermission when there were 3 acts. However, the 2nd and 3rd acts went quicker than I thought. They scare you a bit by saying that you may not be allowed in if you're late, and can't leave the show b/c it disturbs the performers. Since I have a small bladder I didn't drink anything so was a little parched, but then saw a few people being seated after the show started, so I guess the rule isn't adhered to strictly.
While I don't think I'm going to be seeing a ton of operas now, I really enjoyed myself and the beautiful theatre. I would come back if there was a show that tickled my fancy and would like to see a ballet here.
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