A few months ago, I heard a radio ad for the Crested Butte Music Festival. I pulled up the calendar on the website and found a Tuesday matinee: the dress rehearsal for a double bill of the comedic one-act operas Offenbach’s The Island of Tulipatan and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. I emailed my mom the information to see if she wanted to meet us there, hoping I wasn't the only one who thought driving 200 miles to the opera sounded like a fun idea. Luckily, we're a bunch of nerds and made a date!
When we were searching for campsites before the trip, we were surprised to find that there weren't many camping options near town other than the Oh-Be-Joyful Campground, a first-come, first-serve campground a few miles outside of town. With our fingers crossed, we headed down four miles of dirt road and, sure enough, found an open site. The campground used to be free, but as of summer 2017 there is a $10 fee - which is a fair price for the views, vault toilets, and a creekside site.
The next day we met up with my mom at her Airbnb, which happened to have a pool and was right across from the Mount Crested Butte Mirror Palace tent, where the opera was being held. We went for a dip then put on our finest and walked over to the show.
The Mirror Palace is a "mirror tent", or a spiegeltent in Flemish, which is a theater that was commonly used in the early 1900s for traveling shows. From outside the doors we could hear layers of strings warming up. Inside the tent a crimson red velvet ceiling draped down from the center like an enormous skirt, meeting the circular walls. We took our seats. The orchestra quieted. The conductor took a breath and with a whip of his baton the overture of The Island of Tulipatan poured out.
I thought of my grandmother, a coloratura soprano and college musical director. When she got dementia, one of the last things she proudly said on repeat was, "Can you believe I directed over 90 musical productions?!" It's been 10 years since I stopped dancing, and had the turning sensation of curtain call in my stomach. It's been a few more years since my mother, an actress, stopped performing. It must have been some combination of those memories - listening to the opera recording of my grandmother, watching musicals at her house, going to my mom's rehearsals, missing dance - that brought tears to my eyes during the overture for a comedy. And I looked over at my mom, and she was tearing up too.
But that didn't last long because the 100+ year comedic operas were actually pretty funny! The Island of Tulipatan is about a prince who was raised as a princess, due to his mother covering up his sex at birth to avoid sending her child to war. Similarly, at a similar time, the Duke's wife gave birth to a fourth daughter, but the Duke was away at war and the mother covers up the sex of her child and raises her as a boy. Through lots of gender bending confusion - it even has to be revealed to the prince and princess that they are a princess and prince, respectively - the two fall in love and get married.
Gianni Schicchi is a darker tale about family and greed - in a funny way! It begins with the death of Buoso, the patriarch of a wealthy family. The mourning family light candles, say prayers, and quickly move on to read the will. The family is outraged to find that the family fortune has been given to the monastery. A young man in the family suggests that his fiancee's dad, Gianni Schicchi, be sent for. But the family argues that he is a poor man, a business man, a con man. But with few choices to get their fortune back, Gianni Schicchi is sent for, and his daughter comes along. He isn't there for long before the family insults him and he refuses to help. That's when his daughter famously begs him to look at the will with the aria O Mio Babbino Caro.
Gianni Schicchi humors his daughter and devises a plan to play Buoso by lying in his bed under covers and bandages, as if he is ill, so the notary won't know his true identity and he can write a new will. They send for the notary, and while they wait for him to return, each family member tells Gianni Schicchi which estate they want to inherit. Even after everyone modestly asks for one estate, there still remains the big ticket items: the mule, the house, and the mills. Each family member pulls him aside and attempts to bribe him to put the remaining items in their name, and then the notary arrives. Gianni Schicchi does as he says he would and, disguised as Buoso, gifts each estate to each family member. Then, they wait to hear who gets the house they stand in, the mills, and the mule. And Buoso, really Gianni Schicchi, gifts the house, the mills, and the mule to his dear friend.... Gianni Schicchi! Gianni Schicchi kicks everyone out of his new house and the young couple lives happily ever after. Ha!
But that didn't last long because the 100+ year comedic operas were actually pretty funny! The Island of Tulipatan is about a prince who was raised as a princess, due to his mother covering up his sex at birth to avoid sending her child to war. Similarly, at a similar time, the Duke's wife gave birth to a fourth daughter, but the Duke was away at war and the mother covers up the sex of her child and raises her as a boy. Through lots of gender bending confusion - it even has to be revealed to the prince and princess that they are a princess and prince, respectively - the two fall in love and get married.
Gianni Schicchi is a darker tale about family and greed - in a funny way! It begins with the death of Buoso, the patriarch of a wealthy family. The mourning family light candles, say prayers, and quickly move on to read the will. The family is outraged to find that the family fortune has been given to the monastery. A young man in the family suggests that his fiancee's dad, Gianni Schicchi, be sent for. But the family argues that he is a poor man, a business man, a con man. But with few choices to get their fortune back, Gianni Schicchi is sent for, and his daughter comes along. He isn't there for long before the family insults him and he refuses to help. That's when his daughter famously begs him to look at the will with the aria O Mio Babbino Caro.
Gianni Schicchi humors his daughter and devises a plan to play Buoso by lying in his bed under covers and bandages, as if he is ill, so the notary won't know his true identity and he can write a new will. They send for the notary, and while they wait for him to return, each family member tells Gianni Schicchi which estate they want to inherit. Even after everyone modestly asks for one estate, there still remains the big ticket items: the mule, the house, and the mills. Each family member pulls him aside and attempts to bribe him to put the remaining items in their name, and then the notary arrives. Gianni Schicchi does as he says he would and, disguised as Buoso, gifts each estate to each family member. Then, they wait to hear who gets the house they stand in, the mills, and the mule. And Buoso, really Gianni Schicchi, gifts the house, the mills, and the mule to his dear friend.... Gianni Schicchi! Gianni Schicchi kicks everyone out of his new house and the young couple lives happily ever after. Ha!
The next day, Kenny and I hiked the Oh-Be-Joyful trail, which starts at the campground. Only catch is you have to drive or walk across a knee-high creek.
But it's well worth it. Because on the other side there are waterfalls.
And butterflies.
And flowers.
And waterfalls.
And butterflies.
And flowers.
After the hike, as the clouds started to gather, we stopped at the cemetery before heading out of town
All and all, a weekend well spent in Crested Butte.
(P.S. Annie went to doggy daycare at Oh-Be-Dogful Pet Ranch and had a great time while we were at the opera!)
(P.S. Annie went to doggy daycare at Oh-Be-Dogful Pet Ranch and had a great time while we were at the opera!)