Opera for Beginners

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What? You live in this magnificent city and you’ve never been to a performance by Lyric Opera of Chicago? You may think you know what you’re missing, or that it’s not your glass of Champagne, but we’re here to set the record straight.

Lyric Opera is grand and glorious, sexy and smart, laugh-out-loud funny and gasp-out-loud amazing, moving and uplifting. And a whole lot more. Grand opera uniquely combines performance and visual art and design, drama (or comedy) and music. Lyric’s 56th season includes two operas based on Shakespeare plays (“Macbeth” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”), three performed in English (“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Mikado” and “Hercules”), one set in a California miners’ camp (“The Girl of the Golden West”), and a famous French favorite (“Carmen”), spanning the 18th through 20th centuries.

Still not convinced? Please allow us to lay to rest the following misconceptions about attending a Lyric Opera performance:

I won’t understand what they’re singing.

Yes, you will. Lyric has used projected English translations above the stage for 35 years, and even projects the texts for operas sung in English. Before she’d ever been to an opera, Claudia Reardon was sure she’d have no idea what was going on onstage. “I don’t speak Italian, German or French…and if I’m not going to understand it, what’s the point?”

But after a friend summarized the romantic-comedy plot, she attended a performance of Donizetti’s “The Elixir of Love.” “I totally understood the storyline, and [the projected titles] didn’t interfere at all with my watching the performance – I still saw everything happening onstage,” Claudia exclaims.

I don’t have opera gloves or a gown, and my boyfriend doesn’t own a tuxedo.

Not to worry, says Katarina Visnevska, the fashion-savvy 20-something who works closely with Lyric’s Young Professional Chapter and serves as special events coordinator for Lyric’s Guild Board and all its Chapters. “On a fall or winter weeknight, you can come as you are from work to experience an incredible performance at Lyric,” she advises. “If you want to break out something dressier – a snappy cocktail dress and a killer pair of shoes – the opera gives you a great excuse, especially on the weekend or on an opening night during the season. And if you want to really experience all the glamour of Lyric’s special occasions, go all out for the Opening Night of the season, and for the midwinter Fantasy of the Opera Gala.” For these events, Katarina notes, “you dress to impress – it’s fun to see and be seen, and even photographed, on the red carpet and inside the gloriously decorated opera house.”

There’s no dress code per se at the Civic Opera House – at any given performance you’ll see folks in jeans or khakis and sweaters, or suits and chic attire. The general guideline is dress comfortably but nice. And if your date opts for a top hat, make sure he doffs it at the door.

Tickets are too expensive.

You don’t need to shell out big bucks for a night (or afternoon) at the opera – really. “For as little as $33, you can see the full stage, hear every note and experience a world-class performance,” says Mary Mueller, assistant director of ticketing services at Lyric. Watching the blood glisten on Lady Macbeth’s hands from a front-row seat ($207 on weekends) and hearing soprano Nadja Michael’s melodic descent into madness will cost less than the top-priced summer-concert tickets for Sting ($300), Crosby, Stills and Nash ($250) or Jimmy Buffett ($211). Adds Jack Zimmerman, Lyric’s subscriber relations manager, “You can sit anywhere and expect to be thrilled and touched by what you see and hear. There’s nothing but great seats at Lyric – all 3,563 of them!”

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