Sevilla de Opera

We got back to the Gran Lar Hotel and Meg had to go up stairs and lie down.  The short cut turned out to be a long zig-zag and Meg was spent.  I went to the desk to see if I had gotten a call from a cousin of mine who lived in Seville, but no notice had come. So I talked to some of the our friends who were planning a night out to see an opera.  I asked if there were any tickets available, and they said, "Yes, but you will need to get one more person to come with us to share a taxi."
  So I went up stairs to see if Meg would be up to going.

She was resting, but in high spirits and when I told her about going to an Opera Cabaret, she was excited to go.  We had about an hour to get ready, so it did not take us long to put on our spiffy outfits and go down to meet the girls. There were six of us, and we hired two taxis to take us to the theater.  Lorraine, Meg and I went in one car, and Charmaine, Sue and Bonnie went in the other.  I got to sit in the front seat and talk in Spanish to the cabbie.  As we drove by, he explained about the University and how the building was once the largest tobacco factory in Spain.  It was where Carmen worked that inspired the opera, Carmen.  Then we came upon the river, and he explained how important it was to the city of Seville. The port became important fist to the Phoenecians, then the Roman, and the Muslims as a route linking the heart of Andalusia. When the Christians took over it was the main port to receive the wealth from the new world. We turned right onto Paseo de Cristobal  Colon which was parallel to the river past the Plaza de Toros and turned right onto Calle Almanza. We turned into the Mercado del Arenal which was a large vacant building and we were lead to the back to the intimate cabaret theater.

We arrived early so we got seats close to the stage.  The tables were set in two sides of the room leaving a large open isle clear to the back that would be used by the actors during the play.  The stage was a simple platform with a stylish door and and balcony above and a window to the side.  Since the Cabaret was presenting a portion of Don Giovanni and El Barbero de Sevilla nothing more elaborate was necessary.  The four singers were professional artist from Italy that would play the primary roles, and music was provided by a beautiful, blond Ukrainian pianist. She was preparing by practicing her scales to warm up her fingers.

We settled into our seats and ordered wine and tapas.  While we waited for our drinks, we stepped onto the stage and took pictures in front of the set.  Then Lorraine caught the attention of one of the performers who was checking the stage setting.  They immediately got into an animated conversation about Don Giovanni.  Apparently, she had sung parts of the piece in a production, and they discussed how it was to be performed in this venue.  We were all introduced to him and told him that we were from Florida in America on a quest to sing in churches all over Spain.  He was pleasantly surprised and delighted that we had time to come and enjoy the show.

Soon we were sipping our drinks and nibbling on tapas as the room filled up with other patrons taking all the available seats.  It was a charming setting and after a glass of wonderful vino rojo, we were feeling pretty mellow. Then the house lights went dim and the pianist began the familiar Mozart overture to Don Giovanni, and we sat up a little straighter in our chairs. Mozart catalogued his opera as an"opera buffa" or comic opera.  We learned that the fellow we spoke to was the comic in the show and according to Lorraine, that was a splendid, funny part.

Loretta had sung the part of Donna Elvira

This opera would use four main characters:
 Don Giovanni - A young arrogant, promiscuous,  nobleman who tries to seduce all the good        looking women he meets.
 Leporello - Don Giovanni's servant and our comic
 Donna Elvira - a lady of Burgos who is abandoned by Don Giovanni and who wants to take revenge.
 Don Octavio - in this production is enamored with Elvira but can't get her attention as she is secretly still in love with Giovanni.

As the play began, we were all on the edge of our seats because the singers were almost on top  of us.  On many occasions they stepped off the stage and sang directly to us as if we were part of the show! This sent tickles up our spine.  All of us giggled like star-struck teen-agers.  How much fun is this, we thought!  The play continued with beautiful singing, and when our comic performed his part, we clapped and yelled BRAVO as is he were the star of the show.  We especially liked the episode where he brought out the "catalogue" of Don Giovanni's conquest and the pages all fluttered to the floor.  These included 640 girls in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey, and 1,003 senoritas in Spain!

At the end we gave the cast a standing ovation and took many pictures.  Our comic came and talked with us and asked us to sign the book and so we did making the conquests of Spain 1,009!
The whole evening was delightful and we were in high spirits when we returned to the hotel that night -- six ladies of the night seduced by Don Giovanni!
   Pictures by Charmaine