A night to remember at the Opéra Garnier

Our friend Shirley arrived from London on the Eurostar last Friday for the weekend. We had tickets for the ballet-opera, “Orphèe et Eurydice” (Orpheus and Eurydice) that I had booked months ago.  We almost didn’t care what was playing there, because we simply wanted to attend a performance at that grand, historic opera hall.

Ceiling near entry.

Built between 1861–1875 for the Paris Opera, the building is officially the Palais Garnier. Today, it is mostly used for ballet performances. It is also the legendary home of the Phantom of the Opera, the character created by Gaston Leroux in 1910, whose story was the basis of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

Standing before the grand staircase.

We did not glimpse the Phantom that night, but I think I sensed his presence.  I’ve read, but could not verify, that Box Five is always reserved for him. And while there is no lake in the basement of the building, there is a pool.  Paris firemen practice rescue techniques there.

The inglorious truth is that our tickets were, as the British say, “in the gods,” at the very top of the theater. The view of the stage was unobstructed, but that was not the case with our knees, which were unavoidably pressed tight against the backs of the people in the next row. (I’m not sure the woman in front of me understood that, given the looks back over her shoulder.) We were tucked up under an overhanging arch and couldn’t even see the Chagall ceiling.

Not much room--and very steep! I'm in the black dress with my knees against 

the seat of the woman in white.

I was willing to spend more for good seats, but unfortunately “pride goeth before a fall.” I was feeling rather smug last February, because I had researched the ticketing process and thought I knew what I was doing.  But I missed the part about logging on to an online waiting room 15 minutes ahead of time.  As a result, although I logged on precisely when the online box office opened, by the time I was served, few tickets were left.

Poor Kevin, at six feet tall, could not tolerate his seat.  Because we were in the back row, he was able to stand, but he soon felt the rising heat and had to leave.  Fortunately, an usher found him a seat a few rows below that was cooler and had more leg room.  The view wasn’t as good, but he did get to see the performance—which was achingly beautiful. 

The stunning Chagall ceiling with motifs from several operas.

The Paris Opera version of “Orphèe et Eurydice” incorporates Gluck’s music with a modern-dance ballet by choreographer Pina Bausch, staged on spare sets.  In this version, Orpheus does not rescue Eurydice from Hades, so art and love do not conquer death—a bleak interpretation, but still moving. (The first set of images shown here are from the Paris Opera production.)

Shirley and I at the performance.

Even with the cramps in our legs, we were glad we went. And to think, all that leg room in Box Five is wasted on the Phantom.