ENTERTAINMENT THEN AND NOW

Some time back in the seventies, Placido Domingo sang the title role in Tales of Hoffmann at the Lyric Opera in Chicago. As if that glorious tenor voice weren’t enough, that was a blockbuster performance. When a nearly full-size train engine rolled onstage, the audience rose to their feet and cheered. Of the many operatic and theatrical performances I saw during 50 years of urban life, that one stands out above all the rest.

Living in New York in 1970, I had taken full advantage of entertainment there: There were the Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center, and the many theaters. I heard a lot of jazz and even met Dizzy Gillespie.

In Chicago, we attended performances at Lyric Opera, the Goodman Theater, and the Chicago Symphony. My husband and I lived for a time in Old Town on the near north side of the city, where we spent many evenings at the Old Town School of Folk Music and the Earl of Old Town saloon, listening to Steve Goodman, Bonnie Koloc, and other talented local musicians. In the sixties we had seen the original Second City troupe, featuring the matchless Severn Darden .  Like New York, Chicago was a feast of entertainment.

When we went to London, during an overwhelming week of theater we saw Angela Lansbury, Ralph Richardson, and John Gielgud at laughably low prices. At the D’Oyly Carte, John Reed sang the patter songs in Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance.

After all that, San Francisco was a letdown, but we made do. The excellent Savoyards at Stanford provided some great performances. There were occasional evenings at the War Memorial Opera House and the Louise Davies Symphony Hall. Just a few weeks before his death, I pushed my husband’s wheelchair to the opera house so he could hear Frederica von Stade sing in Die Fledermaus; sadly, she had the flu and could not appear that night.

That fiasco may have been the last straw for me. Yes, I loved the urban life we led, but I was already in my sixties, and it was becoming hard to find entertainment that was affordable and satisfying. My husband was very ill and no longer able to leave home easily. So, after his death I cut back greatly on trips to The City (do they still call San Francisco that?).

Now, living in rural El Dorado County, I scarcely ever go to theaters or concerts—and don’t miss them. My companion and I contentedly rent movies from Netflix, watch television, listen to CDs, and read books. Especially when traveling we do go to many museum exhibits, some of which have actually improved over the years; others seem too flashy and child-oriented. When I do attend something that seems like a necessary cultural event, it is usually disappointing. Whether entertainment has changed or I have simply grown old, modern plays and music never seem comparable to those of years ago. I still hope to hear Domingo again, though!