Symphony coolness
Last night, my company sponsored a night at the Seattle Symphony.
My boyfriend and I have gone to the symphony before but it's been a while, and it seemed to be something he enjoyed, so we decided to attend this. Our general feeling has always been that you can hear the music from anywhere in the room, so we're not paying through the nose for a good view - I like to listen with my eyes closed anyway. So we got the 'nosebleed' seats - way up in the third tier box area. So he came over, we got all gussied up, and headed off to the symphony... only to find that a ticketing error had double booked one of our seats. A season ticket holder was in it. The musicians were already on stage tuning up, so there wasn't long to reseat us or we'd be locked out until after the first movement! The head usher offered to move us to 3rd tier center, but we didn't really want to be in the center and have to climb over people to get in and out. So what did he do? He moved us to 2nd tier box! An upgrade that more than doubled the 'price' of our tickets, for free! (3nd tier box is $20, 2nd tier box is $42.) I did have to RUN up and down stairs in high heels for the privilege, though. ;)
At the intermission, we decided to go explore, because I had heard that there was some sort of reception. We left the concert hall and came down the stairs, and spotted a balcony full of people that was roped off with ushers standing at either end beside the velvet ropes. In the middle of the balcony we recognized my company's CEO. We walked over toward the usher and the rope, and some other came up in front of us. The usher looked at them and said my company's name, and the people shook their heads and wandered off. So we gave it a shot - we nodded and went on in! We waded through all the people and when we got to the center, there was a table set up where they were pouring complimentary glasses of wine. The only time we will probably EVER get anything for free at the symphony!
As for the music itself, the first set was Dvorak which I enjoyed; the second was Bartok, and it was unpleasant. Neither my boyfriend nor I liked it. The old man behind us who had been occasionally coughing popped in a cough drop before Bartok, so the unpleasantness of the music was compounded by the unpleasantness of this guy sucking his cough drop and rattling it around against his teeth. (I couldn't tell who was doing it for sure at the time, so I wasn't sure who to throw things at. ;) I tried casting some indirect dirty looks back in that general direction but they didn't help.) Then after the intermission, the Beethoven was beautiful. So 2 out of 3's not bad, and upgraded seats and free wine (not to mention just plain being an excuse to get dolled up) make it a hands-down winner of a night. :)
My boyfriend and I have gone to the symphony before but it's been a while, and it seemed to be something he enjoyed, so we decided to attend this. Our general feeling has always been that you can hear the music from anywhere in the room, so we're not paying through the nose for a good view - I like to listen with my eyes closed anyway. So we got the 'nosebleed' seats - way up in the third tier box area. So he came over, we got all gussied up, and headed off to the symphony... only to find that a ticketing error had double booked one of our seats. A season ticket holder was in it. The musicians were already on stage tuning up, so there wasn't long to reseat us or we'd be locked out until after the first movement! The head usher offered to move us to 3rd tier center, but we didn't really want to be in the center and have to climb over people to get in and out. So what did he do? He moved us to 2nd tier box! An upgrade that more than doubled the 'price' of our tickets, for free! (3nd tier box is $20, 2nd tier box is $42.) I did have to RUN up and down stairs in high heels for the privilege, though. ;)
At the intermission, we decided to go explore, because I had heard that there was some sort of reception. We left the concert hall and came down the stairs, and spotted a balcony full of people that was roped off with ushers standing at either end beside the velvet ropes. In the middle of the balcony we recognized my company's CEO. We walked over toward the usher and the rope, and some other came up in front of us. The usher looked at them and said my company's name, and the people shook their heads and wandered off. So we gave it a shot - we nodded and went on in! We waded through all the people and when we got to the center, there was a table set up where they were pouring complimentary glasses of wine. The only time we will probably EVER get anything for free at the symphony!
As for the music itself, the first set was Dvorak which I enjoyed; the second was Bartok, and it was unpleasant. Neither my boyfriend nor I liked it. The old man behind us who had been occasionally coughing popped in a cough drop before Bartok, so the unpleasantness of the music was compounded by the unpleasantness of this guy sucking his cough drop and rattling it around against his teeth. (I couldn't tell who was doing it for sure at the time, so I wasn't sure who to throw things at. ;) I tried casting some indirect dirty looks back in that general direction but they didn't help.) Then after the intermission, the Beethoven was beautiful. So 2 out of 3's not bad, and upgraded seats and free wine (not to mention just plain being an excuse to get dolled up) make it a hands-down winner of a night. :)