More Snapshots of Met Prima

The evening paraded as many jewels and diamonds as sparkling stars in the house chandeliers. About 90% of the audience were in formal garb. Amidst the tuxes, Sieglinde was wearing a polo shirt, tan pants, and sneakers. Everyone lined the stairs and corridors to look at one another. There was a Japanese TV crew videotaping interviews with guests during intermission. They asked a beautiful, shimmering white couple about opera and about the Met and the coming season, and they got painfully generic answers (the kind generic Americans can give in their sleep). Sieglinde was standing a few feet away, munching on her smuggled cookie. They should have picked her. Can you imagine the kind of exchange they would have gotten. But Sieglinde looked dumpy, as did the true, everyday fans that attended the evening. Sieglinde panicked momentarily when she couldn't find Lois Kirschenbaum in the Family Circe boxes, but then found her and her rebelliously grey head positioned in the left orchestra. Who did she sleep with to get that thousand-dollar ticket? Like Sieglinde, Lois was wearing the same frock she's had since the Carter years. Elsewhere, Sieglinde spotted Barbara Walters, sporting a new face yet again, and Sean Connery from above (the bald head was shiny). The rich people had dinner at the grand tier promenade. Sieglinde thinks the Met should charge them double: they can afford it, and they get so much mileage out of it. Meanwhile, Sieglinde runs to the corner Chinese take-out place before they close for the night. Beef w/ broccoli. White rice. Diet Coke. *burp*