Norma

Last evening we went to the San Francisco Opera's production of Norma with Catherine Naglestad in the title role. It was glorious. This is the first time that I can remember thinking that the quality of the production was on the same par as the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

The sets were simplistic (good) but ridiculous (bad). The set designer had piled up a lot of finished lumber, trying to evoke the feeling of a forest. It looked more like Home Depot after a hurricane. However, even the Metropolitan loses its mind every now and then and does something equally silly. Did I tell you about the Il Trovatore in modern dress with black and white scenery?

Zoran Todorovich played Pollione and Irina Mishura played Adalgisa. The duets and trios were thrilling, much better than my recollection of Maria Callas' two recordings.

The orchestra was very ably conducted by Sara Jobin. The program notes point out that in addition to graduating from Harvard and Radcliff, she has a black belt in judo and sings in a gospel choir.

(The photograph comes from the San Francisco Chronicle. It is probably copyright. I feel that it is ethical for me to use it since I am a subscriber, but be careful if you use it yourself.)

Old Movie Theaters

I have not posted recently because I am embroiled in a project for my photography class. I am compiling a collection of photos of old, single screen, movie houses. I am amazed at how few there are left. In Pasadena when I grew up there were about eight theaters on or near Colorado Boulevard and one on Washington. None are left. Two are closed and hoping that money will drop from heaven for restoration. One has been converted into a 6 screen theater and so extensively remodeled that it is not recognizable. The remainder have been destroyed.

This is a photo of the Rialto, one of the two movie theaters in South Pasadena. It is only open occasionally. As you can see, it is in bad condition. The other South Pasadena theater has been destroyed.

When I was in my teens, I think that every movie theater that had ever been built in California still existed and a few were still being built. Now, about 80 to 90 percent are gone.

This is a nostalgic subject to me on several levels. My grandfather, Thomas Moule, opened one of the first movie theaters (a nickelodeon) in upstate New York and then managed the largest theaters in Detroit before retiring in 1945.