Teatro alla Scala Trip

I cannot begin this post without giving the back story, so here it is:

In December of 2018, I was honored to meet the American soprano Angel Joy Blue. I was on my way to New York to see her in "La Boheme." There were already two things I was excited for: New York and an opera at the Metropolitan Opera House. I started to watch the opera on way to New York, just so I can become familiar with it. I had explained to some of my friends that I was on my way to New York to see this opera and that I was very excited to hear Angel Joy Blue live. One of those friends told me that I should use the power of social media to try to meet her. I thought, "why should I even bother? Opera singers are way too busy for them to meet their fans." I gave it a little more thought, and I said "you know what? the worst that could happen is that she can say no, and it won't kill me." So, I used my Twitter to message her privately and ask her if she would be okay with me meeting her the night of the performance. Within 10 minutes she replied and said "yes! let's meet outside after the performance." My heart dropped. I could not believe that I was going to meet one of my new favorite sopranos after her performance of "La Boheme." I will never forget this performance because of how much the story resonated with me, and how much fun I had watching it. The music of Puccini is really something that you have to sit down and appreciate because his music "hugs" you and makes you think about a lot in life.

Now here's the story of how "lucky" I got on St. Patrick's Day at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy:

For my birthday, I found out that Angel was going to be in Germany to sing "La Boheme" and I figured, why not? I love her so much already and I would love to say hello to her again. Unfortunately things got complicated for her and she had to cancel the show in Germany. I had messaged her privately and I told her that I hope everything is okay and I would love to see her in the near future. She replied to me that she was very sad she couldn't make it, but that she looks forward to meeting me again also. Well, that time came.

I receive on my phone a notification that Angel - what they call on Twitter - had "tweeted" that she would be in Milan, Italy March 12th, 14th, and 17th to sing as Violetta in "La Traviata". I go on twitter and exclaim how excited I am to be able to see her, even if I had to hear her from the janitors closet. I rush to the website of Teatro alla Scala and I find out that the tickets were sold out. By this point, I pretty much lost all hope because it is very hard for you to get a ticket if it's sold out. The next thing I knew, I get a message from Angel saying that she would love to have me in the audience. She told me that she would get a ticket for me if I confirmed that I was going. You better believe my fingers were typing for the first available ticket for me to go to Milan and see her. I expressed to her that I would absolutely love to see her and that would go. A couple days pass, and she tells me that she was able to get a ticket for me and also get me backstage access to see her after the show. My heart was racing by this point as to how excited I was that this was happening to me.

Taking the train to Milan was a very calm, peaceful ride where I was able to reflect as to how lucky I feel for this to be happening to me. It was also quite adventurous because I had never been to the city and I had to really rely on my reflexes to get me to the Teatro by 2:30pm. When I arrived in Milan, the first thing I did was to search where the theatre even was. Google said that I had to take one metro to get to the theatre. I started to follow a big sign that said M, which I was praying that it meant Metro. I eventually find myself with a sign confirm that it was, and I was relieved for a second. When I get closer to the platform, I realize that I did not purchase a ticket to get on the metro, so I start to search for the nearest kiosk. Thankfully, I was able to find a small shop that was selling the tickets for me to board the metro.

When I arrived at the theater, I was confused because I thought that there was going to be a very elaborate entrance where I could not miss it. The outside of the theater looked like a fortress with it's cement walls. But that was because I came behind the building. When I saw the line of people with fancy clothes on, I knew that I was in the right place. With my broken Italian, I was able to find a woman who was kind enough to help me find the backstage entrance. When I got to the backstage entrance - again with my broken Italian - there was a gentleman who I explained that I had a ticket under Blue. They found a ticket an in envelope and made me a badge for backstage access. They showed me to my seat, and I thought it would be a regular seat up on the 4th floor, which I was honestly anticipating. Boy, was I wrong. I look out and I'm like holy cow, this is an amazing view! I can see everything.... I then find out that the chair was in the middle of the entire place. I could not believe it.

After the show, I get a message from Angel telling me to come up to see her. I immediately sprinted to the nearest exit, and I found my way to the backstage door where I was initially. Only this time, it was packed with people who wanted pictures with the artists who sang this evening. Thankfully because I had that backstage badge, I could cut through everybody and get to see Angel. I caught her as soon as she started to reapply her makeup for the press, but we hugged anyway. Because of her, I was able to meet the great tenor, Placido Domingo, who was playing as Germon in "La Traviata." This legendary man was part of the Three Tenors, with the other members being Luciano Pavarotti, and Jose Carreras. 

Meeting Maestro Domingo

This just taught me a big lesson: the worst thing that could happen to someone is that they could say no and you move on with life. If they do say yes, thank them from every fiber in your body. I will always be appreciative for this experience to Angel and I will never forget this experience. Thank you, Angel Joy Blue, for making one of my dreams come true.

With the queen Angel Joy Blue, after slaying the stage!