NYC Opera And the Blizzard of ’06

Once or twice a year, cosmic forces bring together a few of my Crazy Opera Girls, uniting us for a whirlwind weekend in some glamorous city. A handful of us comprise the ancient, sacred group known as the “˜Flamingas’ – named after that fine bird who saucily flounces around the avian world in a cloak of bright pink, thumbing its nose at the evolutionary idea of blending into one’s environment. From this human merging of pink feathered greatness, wondrous and awesome events occur!

Such a flocking manifested itself in the Big Apple earlier this month. Crazy opera girls Cindy (Virginia), Lin (New Jersey) and myself swooped into town, taking over the ritzy Millenium Broadway Hotel – right around the corner from Times Square.

BUT, I get ahead of myself. The trip really started smokin’ when I checked in for my flight at Frankfurt airport, and experienced a faaaaaaaabulous first: a RED (not yellow) boarding pass! Yes my friends, I had booked myself a *first* class seat for this leg of my flight, so that I could conduct important due diligence up in the front of the plane. My initial observation was that I was the ONLY chick in first class (HMMM!!). The second thing I noticed was the delicious glass of champagne, the fluffy down comforter, and a comfy polo-type shirt in case I didn’t want to wrinkle my traveling duds. Later came the caviar and accoutrements. Not bad!

Back to NY: we joyously reunited in the hotel room with bottles of delicious vino courtesy of Lin, many flamingo-themed party favors, and a LOT of noise! In a flurry of pink feathers, we donned our best babe-a-licious outfits & headed out to Devi (a chic Indian restaurant) on 18th Street for some VERY SPICY grub.

The many colorful brass-and-glass lanterns dangling from the ceiling at Devi were worth the trip alone! The service-with-an-attitude was distinctly New York (sigh”¦). Although my mouth was on fire most of the time, making it hard to converse, the heavenly Mango Cheesecake dessert put out the flames and brought us a few steps closer to God.

Saturday was the big day, with TWO star-studded operas awaiting our eyes and ears at the Metropolitan Opera. While Lin had to work, Cindy and I glammed up and cabbed it to Lincoln Center, getting in the mood with some Mario Lanza playing in the taxi. In my opinion, the Met has the most beautiful and unique light fixtures I’ve ever seen in an operahouse, which we duly admired upon entrance.

The first opera, a matinee, was La Traviata (Puccini), starring a luminous Angela Gheorghiu as Violetta and sexy Jonas Kaufmann (German dude!) as Alfredo. They totally wowed the house in this tragic love story. Afterwards, Cindy and I checked to see if we were on the backstage list. We weren’t. [NOTE: if you know you're not on the list, just say you're looking for the Lost-And-Found and you'll go right in! A lesson we learned too late.] So of course we planted ourselves at the backstage door and waited for the stars to exit a short time later. I chatted with Jonas, a very serious and successful performer, who comes off like a good-natured surfer dude with his wild curly hair. Angela was beautiful and ALL DIVA, which of course I think is just wunderbar! We even got a glimpse of Anna Netrebko dashing by at full speed on her way to the evening’s performance.

We headed back to the hotel to gather Lin, grab some chow and drinks at the hotel bar, and head right back to the Met for installment #2: Rigoletto (Verdi), with the mega-hot duo Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon, and Placido Domingo conducting. The energy and excitement in the crowd were palatable, and NO ONE was disappointed. The sets were WOW, the singing was DOUBLE-WOW, the whole experience was sensational.

Between acts, I scored a VIP-lounge card from my seat neighbor, so we headed into the Baroque-style lounge to see how the other half lives. Unfortunately, drinks weren’t free and we weren’t serenaded by young, aspiring tenors. But the sofas were comfy.

I should mention a very important detail here. Right in the middle of our life-changing operatic bliss, entered the “Blizzard of 2006″, as the media coined it. Yes, a full-force, city-stopping, airport-closing BLIZZARD came barreling right through NYC. By the time the second opera was over, the snow was practically flinging itself out of the clouds and onto our heads. We exited the “back way”, where we could hail a taxi under an overhang, and secured our position back at the hotel. We popped the last cork of the day, put on our tiaras, and watched the Olympics in our PJs.

On Sunday morning , the city was under about 50 feet of snow, so it seemed. Airplanes had deserted the city and Cindy’s flight was canceled. Lufthansa put on a brave face and assured me over the phone that my 3pm flight would go, so I bid my fabulous girls farewell and Doctor-Zhivagoed it to Newark Airport. This was no small feat, considering the doorman had to trek several blocks in deep snow to score me a taxi to Penn Station. Once I arrived at the Newark train station, the airport lightrail was closed, so we all piled into a bus and were schlepped to our respective terminals. The airport was officially closed, only ONE food place was open (and PACKED), so I sat around reading Renee Fleming’s fantastic book – “The Inner Voice” (about her life as a soprano) for hours and hours.

Sure enough, our flight DID depart, and only a few hours late. Only 12 intrepid snow-adventurers had braved the elements, so the plane was empty! I later learned that Cindy and Lin made the best of the blizzard with 25th-floor movie theatres, apple martinis, and shopping! THAT’S MY GIRLS!

Photos follow:

Meeting Lin at Penn Station in NYC:

There’s Time Square!

Setting our mouths on fire at Devi Indian restaurant:

Off to Lincoln Center:

Fancy lights:

After the performance with Angela Gheorghiu:

Cindy with German tenor, Jonas Kaufmann:

Later, back to the Met for Rigoletto & champagne:

Villazon as that dastardly Duke…

Curtain Call with Villazon, Netrebko, and the guy who marvelously played Rigoletto:

Gratuitous shot of the interior Met ceiling and lights:

Feeling regal, but all worn out for the night!

This is what greeted us the next morning!

Yes, that’s me, searching a cab (or a snowmobile…dogsled…whatever!)

Goodbye NYC!