How to Sit Through Opera

Edited byDJ Katie and 38 others http://www.wikihow.com/Sit-Through-Opera

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Great! Your friend, the opera buff, thought it'd be a real treat to drag you along to the opera too. While it can be hard to show how excruciating you're finding this experience because you don't want to let your friend down, there are ways to find something else to do while the opera is ringing through your ears. And who knows? You might even end up liking what you're being expected to sit through.

EditSteps

1. 1
   

    Take everything you'll need to keep alert
   Prepare in advance. Taking along a few things to keep you occupied can be a helpful way of coping. Here are some suggestions:
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   • Take small candies or chewing gum to quietly chew or suck on. Somehow, having something sweet in your mouth helps to cope with a sour experience. Make sure they're unwrapped (and therefore not noisy) before taking them.
   • Have plenty of tissues or handkerchiefs to catch sneezes and coughs. These can be very loud during an opera and people will turn and look at you if you don't manage to muffle the noise quickly.
   • Stash a small notebook and pen in your bag. Perhaps you can write down some thoughts to help pass the time. If you like sketching, consider sketching audience members or the singers.
   • Find out what language the opera is in and bring along your mini dictionary. You can play "spot the word meaning" to while away some time.
   • Sneak in an MP3 player. Get really dark earplugs so they're harder to spot. If your friend discovers this though, you'll be in the doghouse.
2. 2
   

    A rare chance to really dress up
   Dress up beautifully or elegantly. At least going to the opera gives you a grand opportunity to look your very best, to the point of going over-the-top! Strut your evening wear in the intervals and appear as graceful and erudite as you can.
3. 3
   

    Try costume spotting.
   Try costume spotting. The costumes at operas are often incredible and opulent. Spend some time watching the costumes and working out how they were designed and what fabrics have been used. See how realistic the costumes appear and think about whether there are some particularly gorgeous ones that inspire you with fashion ideas for your own clothes.
   • You can do the same spotting with the scenery. Think about how the scenery was created, how many hours it must have taken to create, and what creative ways are being used to move it around and make it work the way that it does.
4. 4
   

    Think about the composer.
   Think about the composer. It can be amusing to try and work out what the opera composer was thinking when he or she wrote the opera. If the program gives you some indication, it might be possible to build an entire picture of the composer's frame of mind at the time, whether they had personal reasons behind the storyline, and what story or moral they were trying to pass on down the generations.
5. 5
   

    Decide who would make better actors than opera singers.
   Decide who would make better actors than opera singers. Opera requires extremely good acting as well as singing to get the points across, especially when it involves comedy. See if you can spot any of the singers who would transfer well to acting if they ever had to give up singing.
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    Space out.
   Space out. Crawl into your own head space and think about things. If you like meditating, take this as an opportunity to meditate in your seat. It's a good space of time to think about things that you haven't had time to focus on lately, like gift lists for friends and family, solutions for that overflowing in-tray at work, and whether or not you should buy that new pair of whatsits you saw in the store window on the way to the theater. Or, if you'd rather, think about nothing at all and use this as a time for complete mental relaxation – you don't have to understand what you're seeing, you don't have anyone talking to you, and you don't have chores before you, so make the most of it!
   • Stay relaxed and at ease. This can be a very convincing way of maintaining a supposed look of interest while getting a lot of mental work sorted, or even no thinking at all.
   • Avoid nodding off. That will look bad and you might dribble, thereby destroying your credibility with your friend.
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    Try to get into the spirit of it.
   Try to get into the spirit of it. Open up the program and read what the opera is about. You might find it intriguing and you might actually be curious at how the story is turned into an event set to music. At least with a background understanding of the story, it will be easier to follow the opera and you might end up enjoying the story side of it.
   • In case there is no program explaining the opera, do a quick online search to find out the background to the opera before you go, or on your smartphone in the foyer before going in.
   • Ask your friend about the story behind the opera. Ask your friend what he or she finds so fascinating about opera and try to see their points as the opera unfolds. You might even be so intrigued that it improves your entire experience.
   • Bear in mind that opera performers train for many years and those who make it to the stage are the best at their art. Do your best to try and enter into the spirit of appreciating their skills.
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    Make excuses if the performance is extremely long.
   Make excuses if the performance is extremely long. Take restroom breaks and have a breather. Stretch your legs, yawn outside in the foyer, check out the artwork in the foyer, and shake your body loose before going back in.
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    The happy ending means an end to discussing it!
   Find polite ways of declining to enter into deep conversation about the opera as well as avoiding owning up to how much you hated it. Some of the answers you might give to being asked how you liked it include:
   • "It was very festive but I found it very hard to understand. Italian isn't my forte."
   • "It was interesting in its own way. It could grow on me."
   • "Wow! What a mind twister!"
   • "Brilliant! Say, how hungry are you? I could really dig a crunchy custard at Bertie's right now."
10. 10
    Enjoy it! If you pay attention, you may find you like opera!
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EditTips

• Show respect. Your friend will be very disappointed if you make a big deal out of not enjoying yourself, let alone the fact that you are seeing incredible artists who are likely the very best in their field or they wouldn't be performing on stage for the public.
• Resist playing Bejeweled on your phone or texting your Facebook pals. Not only is it obvious but theater etiquette usually requires that you turn your phone right off.
• Many finer opera houses now have supratitles - these are scrolling translations across the top of the stage of the words being sung so you can follow the story without having to know Italian or French, etc.
• Opera stories have more sex and violence than many cable TV shows. Give it a shot, and leave your preconceptions at home.
• Check out books like Stanley Sadie's The Grove Book of Operas for more information on the background of operas.
• Listen to the words the performers are saying and try to figure out what it sounds like in English, or your native language. It might be hard if they're speaking fast, though.