La Bohème [backdated to Friday, gathering-style]

[lil_blondeangel]

At ten to seven the lights in the main halls flashed, and people hurried to their seats as the lights in the auditorium went down. Behind the curtain, everyone was waiting silently in their places. then the curtain came up, the lights came up, the music started and the spectacle had begun

Comments

OTA

[his_ganymede]

Opera had not been in existence yet--not truly--when Kit last trod the stage, but theater was theater, acting was acting, and since the music and dancing were taken care of, Kit was able to focus on what he'd always done best. Drama. He'd managed his way around the new conventions--not the least of which was including women on the stage playing themselves instead of being played by boys. And for all that he hadn't performed this time, he felt his heart swell in a familiar sort of awe and glee at the applause that greeted the curtain call.

In the entrance hall, he let his gaze sweep over those that lingered, pleasure radiating from him like from a well-stroked cat. It wasn't perfect, given the shadow that lingered in his heart and the empty space by his side, but it was good, and good was something that had been rare these last few months.

He'd take it.

[lil_blondeangel]

[[mind if we do a three-way with Faramir as well? If yes, assume he's beside/following her during the below and I'll ping Bell, and then we can continue on Meg-Kit-Faramir?]]

"Kit! I didn't have much time to talk to you at all, yet - But I wanted to to welcome you to the family, so to speak." She smiled widely. "The opening night of your first show here... and it went well."

[his_ganymede]

Kit returned her smile, leaning to kiss her cheek. "It went very well. You all were marvelous, all I could have hoped for." He gave her companion a smile, as well, full of good will and good cheer for everyone. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Kit Marley."

It was as good a name as anyone's and he was vaguely put out at his birth name not being recognized these days.

[three-way's fine!]

[faramir_hurin]

I know the cheek kissing is a formal greeting--my uncle and cousins kiss--so I'm not terribly surprised by it. He appears full of success, as he should be.

"My name is Faramir of Gondor," I respond, holding out a hand to shake. "Congratulations to you. I not only enjoyed the performance very much but am now very curious for the next so that I can compare."

Not to rush anything.

"Though I don't suppose a rest after this would be too much for you to ask. We have nothing like this at home."

[lil_blondeangel]

Meg returned the kiss, of course, but had to remind herself that he did only one - in France it was usually two, one on each.

She laughed a little at Faramir's enthusiasm. "I'm glad you like it, but the next one shall be a recital and gala, in the winter. A little bit of many things, and we've yet to decide on a programme. This one is still running for the rest of the month."

[his_ganymede]

Kit shook the man's hand, vaguely wondering why his name sounded familiar, but dismissing it after a moment. "A pleasure to meet you, Faramir. Thank you for the compliments...I'm pleased you enjoyed the show. It was my first time directing an opera, so it's excellent to findn it a success."

He flashed a smile at Meg. "Personally, I do like the sound of a 'gala,' I have to say."

[faramir_hurin]

"The last gala went very well too. I imagine you can choose that program when you've finished with this show." One at a time.

"We do not have buildings set aside for entertainment only," I tell Kit. "So the entire concept is new to me. Meg took a tour with me and another friend of hers so I could see the opera house. It is incredible."

I hadn't seen very much of it all all just working on the play.

"Where do you come from? I mean, is this new to you as well?" I do not think so. "And when, I suppose. I ask too many questions but it's still the best way to learn about someone."

[lil_blondeangel]

Meg retured to Faramir's arm with ease - she felt comfortable there.

"With one the women who works for me at the Dance Studio." she added.

[his_ganymede]

Kit nodded in polite interest, giving Meg a smile. "I still need to come by there." Not that he was much of a dancer in the way she taught, but he liked watching them.

"I can't believe there is a world out there with no theater," Kit said, sliding his attention back to Faramir with an shocked look flitting over his features. It had been his life, his love, as long as any other. It was the place where Will's words still reigned, and Kit would die before he let them fade away--moreso even than his own. "In my world....theater is...still a highly revered art form. I'm from England, the country that gave birth to the greatest playwright who ever lived." His smile was softer. "I don't mind the questions."

[faramir_hurin]

"We do have plays and entertainments, but there are no buildings made only for them." Though we don't have as many as the English do, I know that much.

"The city of Minas Tirith--the capitol city of Gondor--was built several thousand years ago. Our great halls will host entertainments, but nothing could be set up as elaborately as on a stage." Now I'm thinking. "It's a new idea and we might be able to have a theatre in the future, though nothing like this."

After the war.

"Who is that? The greatest playwright who ever lived?" I feel foolish because people from Earth would know. "I'm not from Earth, so my curiosity is added to by a certain ignorance."

means: the English (people)

[lil_blondeangel]

Meg laughed. "Les Anglais!" she said, switching to her native tongue in her mirth. "They can't stop telling you what a fabulous writer was their William Shakespeare..." But there was a hint of respect in her voice, too.

Re: means: the English (people)

[his_ganymede]

Kit waved away Faramir's lack of knowledge. "I would ask the same sorts of questions about your world," he said with a smile. "In fact, I'm eager to hear more about it. I've yet to meet anyone here not from some version of Earth." As familiar as he was with different realms, a whole different world was exciting and new.

But they'd moved on to one of his favorite subjects, and his questions would have to wait. "He was fabulous," Kit insisted. "Brilliant and beautiful and so much more than any who came before him, though I did help him out with a line or two here and there, as he did for me."

Re: means: the English (people)

[faramir_hurin]

"I have heard of William Shakespeare and read some of his poetry." I did not get to see the production of The Tempest on the island and I wish even more now that I had.

"Our own entertainments run towards historical lays. But..." That would be an idea. "Many of them are in the Elven languages. I don't know about a play, but I can easily see singers performing the lay and dancers showing the story at the same time."

It's not exactly what we did in the musical play--the dancers wouldn't be singing. Or perhaps they might. The idea is so new that I almost miss something. He looked modern.

"You knew William Shakespeare?"

[lil_blondeangel]

"Yes, it's very interesting to learn about different world." Meg said, agreeing with Kit.

"Oh, Faramir - you should tell me them, if you can remember. Perhaps I could try to put together a dance, to interpret one." She was excited. It could be a chance for her to create her own dance, from scratch - perhaps something they could put in the programme for the winter production.

[his_ganymede]

Kit listened, entranced, to Faramir's description of theatricality in his world, caught as much as anything by one thing, "Elven? You have elves in your world?" He had met Gabrielle, but not learned near as much as he wished of her world--but her existence did not seem as rare as the Fae were in his world, still.

The idea of interpreting stories from another world caught his writer's imagination as much as it did Meg's. "I would be delighted to try and interpret one into a play. I've some experience with that, even with the most difficult stories to translate." There waas a flicker of modesty there, but it was quite possibly feigned. He had been as famous as Will in his day, the one Will turned to for help on some of his tricker conceits.

But that brought him back to Will and he could go on and on about him for days if allowed. "I more than knew him. He was my dearest friend." One of the two loves of his life, though he had learned few believed him when he said such.

[faramir_hurin]

"I remember a number of them, but there are two Elves here that will know more." Well, one certainly and another possibly. "Although Lord Finrod will know mostly Quenya, and likely things that were lost by my time