Escher World aka McIntyre Hall

I took this photo from the balcony of the foyer in McIntyre Hall, a fantastic performance space in Mount Vernon, Washington. Shelly and I drove down to see the opera, Mephistopheles by Boito performed by the Skagit opera company (Pacific Northwest Opera) and assisted by the Whatcom Chorale. I used to sing with them so it was great to hear them singing the beautiful choruses in this opera. A few even shared the stage with the Skagit Opera Chorus as "supernumeraries," or extras. 


The opera was wonderful and we had a great time way up in the balcony. It was actually a perfect spot where we could see the whole stage and easily take in the super titles above the stage. With our opera glasses we could watch the expressions of the singers who were all great, especially the lead soprano who has an amazing rich flexible voice. These days sopranos seem to have the richness of mezzos and the range of lyric sopranos. My hat's off the the gals who can manage this. In my days I was strictly a lyric, with clear highs but quiet lows. I couldn't have belted it out the way the lead did. 


After the opera Shelly and I stopped at El Gitano for a yummy Mexican dinner. We arrived home happy, full and filled with joy and gratitude that we have such a wonderful opera company nearby.