Wednesday, June 21, 2006

PWM

...Which, of course, stands for "Pretty Woman Moment" - you remember that scene when Julia Roberts goes to the opera with Richard Gere and it's her first time and she's completely entranced and overwhelmed? (You know you do - she even does Julia Roberts Face No. 2 - the one where she doesn't show all her teeth). Well, although it's very far from being my first time at the opera, dear reader, last night I found myself having just such a moment (minus the diamonds). I was at the Opera Bastille (with my friend Signor G) watching Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'Amore" and in the the third act, the main character, Nemorino, sings an aria called "Una furtiva lagrima". It marks the moment when he's finally sure that Adina, who has always spurned his advances, really loves him because he saw her shed a single tear. It's a beautiful tune, a tenor standard, and one I know by heart, as my singing teacher used to make me plough through it every week. But in this (wonderful) production, just as the intro started, suddenly all these stars descended from the ceiling, taking me completely by surprise. And I was a goner. Lump in the throat, tear in the eye. Naked rhino75 emotion. You couldn't bottle it, lemme tell ya. And talking of emotion, I spent the afternoon at the inauguration of the new Musée du Quai Branly, designed by Jean Nouvel. Kofi Annan was there too, tho' I don't think that, strictly speaking, he qualifies as *showbiz* - must have slipped in through the back door. My opinion: fantastic building, wonderful space, but the exhibits appeared to have been lit by someone who had cataracts and the curating was breathakingly pretentious. Hopefully, given how much the thing cost, they'll be able to fix that part, as architecturally it's a stunning piece of work. P.S. By the way, it's now official, I have a NEW job!!! Thanks for all those good vibes at the start of the month. Mwah!!

11 comments:

Rob7534 said...

Congrats on the new job Rhino! YAY!

I love that aria, it's beautiful, but I can imagine that any director would always have to think of new ways to keep the audience enthralled, and stars descending sounds MAGICAL! You should have taken pics!?!? Dam you!

Even a bad camera phone pic!

rhino75 said...

THank you Rob!! I didn't even think of taking a photo though, I'm afraid. Too busy being Julia Roberts :D

Anonymous said...

I know exactly what you mean: I had just such a moment watching Ghana beating the Czech Republic in Cologne - it was the second Mexican wave that got me.

Hey, congrats on the employment news! Same employer, different gig?

rhino75 said...

Were you wearing diamonds for that? Thank you matey. Same employer, same office even, but I shall be changing desks. Whoopee!! :D

Frog with a Blog said...

Good news Julia, am happy for you. My vibes are usually very efficient. They work well with love and sex as well, but I charge for that.

I had the same Julia moment at the Madonna concert we were at together, remember? When she shouted "will you help me sing that fucking song?" before starting Material Girl. I hid that little tear in my eye and blamed it on sweat though... Now you know.

rhino75 said...

and I never noticed - too busy practicing my "dog yelps" for that number (ever the perfectionist, you know me!) But L'Elisir d'Amore was fab, I recommend it!! And thanks for my vibes :D

Unknown said...

Good for you, getting the new job!

Reluctant Nomad said...

Congratulations and celebrations!!

rhino75 said...

Thank you Babs and Nomad!!

Anonymous said...

Brother of mine!!! Congrats on the job!! V good news indeedy!!! Loving the PWM - that's soooooooo glamerous!!! ;-) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

rhino75 said...

Thanks sis!! 'Bout time too. And I get to go to London for a couple of days next week... hurrah!!