Reporters Notebook
A novice's guide to opera, Glimmerglass style
As a 30-something Oneonta resident who arrived from Brooklyn three months ago, it can be somewhat difficult finding things to do that don’t involve sitting at home and watching endless amounts of anime (for more information on this, see my previous column).
However, one of the first things I heard about upon arriving in Oneonta, and since I also spend a lot of time at The Freeman’s Journal office in Cooperstown, was The Glimmerglass Festival.
The Glimmerglass Festival, for those of you who might not be aware, hosts musicals, predominantly operas, at their huge property in Cooperstown. In response to COVID, they are having “Glimmerglass on the Grass,” where shows are set on a large outdoor stage and where attendees can bring lawn chairs, snacks, wine or whatever else to enjoy the show.
I had an opportunity to go to one of these performances. It was “Songbird,” which is adapted from La Perichole and created by Eric Sean Fogel, James Lowe and Kelley Rourke.
I didn’t do a lot of research prior to attending this performance, because I had never attended an opera before and I wanted to go in with an open mind. The Glimmerglass staff made things easy for me though because they helped direct my car to suitable parking and made it easy to find my spot.
I was given a square socially distanced from other squares. I sat with a water bottle in one hand and my notebook in the other. The scenery at the outdoor stage was beautiful. It put me in a nostalgic mood from the time when I used to watch my aunt perform on outdoor stages on Long Island during summer stock.
