The Opera House by Ricky

In A People House © by Dr. Seuss and The Tale of Custard The Dragon © by Ogden Nash.

With apologies to Dr. Seuss and Ogden Nash I submit for your reading pleasure (or whatever it turns out to be):

The Opera House

La Scala - Stage View

Come inside, Mr. Bird said the mouse

And I will show you what’s inside an opera house.

An opera house has things like stairs,

Elevators and soft cushy chairs,

But don’t sit too long or ushers will stare.

Around the pillars and down the halls

There is more to see behind these walls.

On the stage, there is much to do

Before the productions are finally through.

There are ropes, ladders, and scaffolding galore,

And canvas and cloth and curtains that reach the floor.

With pits for music and trap-doors for exits

Performers must avoid blows to the solar plexus.

In the dressing rooms beyond the stage

Many a Prima Donna hath raged.

Stagehands are waiting in the wings

For the final time the “Fat Lady” sings.

Come on, come on there’s more to see

Let us make haste I have to pee.

From gilded washrooms to golden arches

Patrons patiently check their bejeweled watches

For the time when the curtain will rise

And they can finally sit down and close their eyes.

Talking and snoring are both frowned upon

But then, so is “shushing” someone looked down upon.

An opera house is seldom austere

Many have a large chandelier

Which refracts the light with a tinkling sound,

But gives no warning before crashing to the ground.

Keep moving right along you see

Before that thing comes down on me.

Opera houses oft feel alive,

Where life and death both do thrive.

Some will house a persistent ghost

But only one is more famous than most.

Composers remembered from times long past

Now drift through the air where they do bask

In the glow of the product of their life’s task.

No more than this do they ever ask,

That we the living appreciate them so

Not one is forgotten though dead long ago.

An opera house cannot become a tomb

When so many of us come to fill the room

And keep alive the majestic tradition

Of all the castrati operatic renditions.

Farinelli, Senesino, and others all knew their position;

Was to sing beautiful arias in their unusual condition.

Do you see? Do you see? The pit fills with musicians

And the gilded boxes house the patricians.

So now, Mr. Bird, said the mouse.

You know what there is in an opera house.

Oh, I forgot to mention that it’s about time you knew,

An opera house presents operas too.

Now we must leave this beautiful place

To buy a ticket lest we lose face.

What! All sold out. Don’t fly into a rage.

Remember poor Custard is crying for a nice safe cage.

La Scala - Audience View

© 30 October 2011

About the Author

Emerald Bay - Lake Tahoe, CA

Ricky was born in June of 1948 in downtown Los Angeles, California. He lived first in Lawndale and then in Redondo Beach both suburbs of LA. Just prior to turning 8 years old, he went to live with his grandparents on their farm in Isanti County, Minnesota for two years while (unknown to him) his parents obtained a divorce.

When united with his mother and new stepfather, he lived at Emerald Bay and then at South Lake Tahoe, California, graduating from South Tahoe High School in 1966. After two tours of duty with the Air Force, he moved to Denver, Colorado where he lived with his wife of 27 years and their four children. His wife passed away from complications of breast cancer four days after 9-11.

He came out as a gay man in the summer of 2010. “I find writing these memories to be very therapeutic.”

Ricky's story blog is “TheTahoeBoy.blogspot.com”.