Last night, Little Man got his first taste of opera when we attended the Dallas Opera's production of Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss. I got tickets from work, it's an "operetta" which means it's a light-hearted comedy and it was in English. I figured it would be a good foray into opera for the little guy - so off we went in our Sunday best. In the car I said, "I'm so excited to have such a handsome date for the evening." Little Man looks at me and says, "Dad just wouldn't go because he said opera is crap." Nice Randy, real nice. Now, our whole family loves Tom and Jerry cartoons. And there's an episode about Johann Strauss: At the home of Viennese composer Johann Strauss, lives Johann Mouse. Whenever the composer plays his waltzes, the mouse dances to the beautiful music, unable to control himself. One day, when Strauss is away, the housecat learns to play piano. This forces the mouse to dance, providing the cat with a chance to pounce on him. Word soon spreads about a piano playing cat and a dancing mouse. So, Little Man already knew several of the songs at last nights performance.
Little Man made it until the first intermission (and I was feeding him Skittles the whole time to keep him from fidgeting) which is about what I had expected. My Mother always said if you aren't exposed to things as a child, you're less likely to appreciate them as an adult. So, thanks to me and Tom and Jerry, he's now been introduced to the wonderful world of opera. Bravo!
