As we're admiring the Rose Reading Room at the New York Public Library, I gleefully lean over to the niece and say, "This is where they filmed that awesome opening scene in 'Ghostbusters'... remember that?""Umm, no." she says with a polite half smile.
She might as well have said, "No, I don't remember cuz I'm not ancient, you old geezer. And what the hell is a Ghostbuster??" Wow. Am I that old? This must be how our parents felt when they talked about having no electricity and plowing the village fields on a water buffalo. Have I become them? How depressing. Ahh, pesky kids. Ugh, off to H&M so I can feel young again.
Anyhoo, today we're going on a behind-the-scenes tour of the New York Metropolitan Opera House. And speaking of oldies, our 15-member tour group must be, to my best estimate, a combined age of about eighteen hundred fifty years old. Ok, maybe I exaggerate... but definitely over a millennium, easy. Much older than, say, the period settings for La Boheme or La Traviata... which, btw, the set for the 2nd act of the latter is being assembled onstage as we speak. It's quite amazing to see the crazy stage production going on behind the curtain: an orderly chaos of 180 stagehands working together building 3-story tall sets with 3000 lights on 5 rotating stages. It's crazy, but somehow it all works.
As the tour continues, we and our band of merry little oldies make our way down to the storage room, where ridiculously big ass pieces of scenery... like the bull ring from Carmen and a 30-foot Egyptian column from Aida... lay waiting for their turns on stage. All kinds of props are strewn everywhere, and the place is pretty much a huge mess... kinda like the niece's bedroom, but cleaner. Which all leads me to wonder, how in the world would anyone find anything here? But I guess if the niece can accurately pinpoint a dirty sock in her cluttered closet, then I guess they can manage here. Ya think? Side note: if there's one thing you count on in life, it's oldies needing the bathroom. As the wifey always says to me, "Only you and my grandma need to go every 2 minutes." Thank god for the oldies cuz we take a much needed bathroom break. Ahhh...
As we're winding through this labyrinth of backstage corridors, it's neat to hear all the random singing and rehearsing going on. Take a few steps and we're in the workshop, where all the painting, carpentry, and metalwork happens. Take a few more steps and we're in wardrobe. Elaborate costumes are hanging on racks while an army of seamstresses are sewing, measuring, and cutting from countless rolls of fabric as if they were at a sample sale at Britex. Try to imagine your middle school shop class crossed with your Chinese mom's sweatshop with all the ah-moo's hitting a falsetto. Yeah, it's a pretty trippy scene... all without the use of drugs. Woo hoo! 
Yes, everything here is quite the production. After all, the Met is the largest opera house in the world... with 72-ft high gold plated ceilings, great acoustics, beautiful Swarovski chandeliers, an elegant red velvet motif, and five tiers of seating. Sitting smack dab in the middle of the auditorium, I'm humbled by the grandeur of the place. Sitting smack dab in the middle of the auditorium with a bunch of oldies, I'm sure as hell glad we took a bathroom break. Random Stuff:
Pancakes for dinner? Yes! Especially if they're from the Clinton Street Baking Co. in the Lower East Side. Their blueberry pankcakes never disappoint. The wifey can have them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or all three!
9 rides today on the subway with our 7-day unlimited pass. Totally worth!- Ending the night with some shopping at UNIQLO in Soho. The niece is exhausted. Yeah, baby... who's looking like the oldie now??
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