esmeiolanthe (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
esmeiolanthe) wrote2013-10-29 05:18 pm
esmeiolanthe) wrote2013-10-29 05:18 pm
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Myshuno! 2013 Prompt: “Meeting someone who has never been to an opera” (178 words)
The prompt for this story was “Meeting someone who has never been to an opera” submitted by mzyra. This story fits into Chapter 7 of Ruth’s (un)Officially Wacky Boolprop Challenge.
Rating: G
Dramatis Personae
Oliver Couderc, aged about eight.
Oakapple Shankel, aged about nine.
Setting
The playground. Oliver and Oakapple are sitting together, sharing their snacks.
OLIVER: Hey, do you want to come over this weekend? I got a new remote control helicopter.
OAKAPPLE: Cool! When?
OLIVER: I dunno. Tomorrow afternoon?
OAKAPPLE (dejected): Can’t. I have to go to my mom’s opera.
OLIVER: Your mom’s what?
OAKAPPLE: My mom’s opera. (at Oliver’s baffled expression) You know, an opera? (as Oliver is still baffled) You’ve never been to one?
OLIVER: Uh-uh.
OAKAPPLE: You’re so lucky. All they do is stand around and sing forever about stuff they could say in, like, a minute.
OLIVER: Why?
OAKAPPLE: I dunno. That’s all they do, though – stand around and sing. My mom gets to wear this really awesome armor and breastplate, but she doesn’t actually fight anybody.
OLIVER: So what does she do, then?
OAKAPPLE: I told you. She sings. One of her songs is about a fireman, but there aren’t any firemen in the show either.
OLIVER: That sounds boring.
OAKAPPLE: That’s what I say. Dad says I’m wrong, though. He says it’s (with great disgust) “cultural”. (huge sigh) I’d rather go play with your helicopter.
Notes
Technically, Oakapple’s mother is performing in an “operetta,” but I’m not fussed about the difference (it’s all to do with the proportion of singing to speaking), I don’t think the original prompter was, and you shouldn’t be either. Oakapple’s description of opera is quite accurate.
The oper(etta) in question is Iolanthe by Gilbert & Sullivan, and Oakapple’s mother is playing the Fairy Queen. In this production, the fairies’ costumes are a parody of Wagnerian heroines, just like in the original, and they look something like this.
There is indeed a song in Iolanthe that references a fireman: the second verse of “Oh, foolish fay” contains repeated references to a Captain Shaw, who was the first head of the London fire brigade, and who was also apparently a pretty good-looking guy. You can see the song here.
Rating: G
Dramatis Personae
Oliver Couderc, aged about eight.
Oakapple Shankel, aged about nine.
Setting
The playground. Oliver and Oakapple are sitting together, sharing their snacks.
OLIVER: Hey, do you want to come over this weekend? I got a new remote control helicopter.
OAKAPPLE: Cool! When?
OLIVER: I dunno. Tomorrow afternoon?
OAKAPPLE (dejected): Can’t. I have to go to my mom’s opera.
OLIVER: Your mom’s what?
OAKAPPLE: My mom’s opera. (at Oliver’s baffled expression) You know, an opera? (as Oliver is still baffled) You’ve never been to one?
OLIVER: Uh-uh.
OAKAPPLE: You’re so lucky. All they do is stand around and sing forever about stuff they could say in, like, a minute.
OLIVER: Why?
OAKAPPLE: I dunno. That’s all they do, though – stand around and sing. My mom gets to wear this really awesome armor and breastplate, but she doesn’t actually fight anybody.
OLIVER: So what does she do, then?
OAKAPPLE: I told you. She sings. One of her songs is about a fireman, but there aren’t any firemen in the show either.
OLIVER: That sounds boring.
OAKAPPLE: That’s what I say. Dad says I’m wrong, though. He says it’s (with great disgust) “cultural”. (huge sigh) I’d rather go play with your helicopter.
Notes
Technically, Oakapple’s mother is performing in an “operetta,” but I’m not fussed about the difference (it’s all to do with the proportion of singing to speaking), I don’t think the original prompter was, and you shouldn’t be either. Oakapple’s description of opera is quite accurate.
The oper(etta) in question is Iolanthe by Gilbert & Sullivan, and Oakapple’s mother is playing the Fairy Queen. In this production, the fairies’ costumes are a parody of Wagnerian heroines, just like in the original, and they look something like this.
There is indeed a song in Iolanthe that references a fireman: the second verse of “Oh, foolish fay” contains repeated references to a Captain Shaw, who was the first head of the London fire brigade, and who was also apparently a pretty good-looking guy. You can see the song here.
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Thanks for reading! :D