Opera at the Ballpark

The San Francisco Opera had done a few of these simulcast now. Last year, I went to their simulcast at Stanford for "Rigoletto". This year, they hold a similar event at AT&T park, call "Opera at the Ballpark", showing "Samson and Delilah" on the jumbotron.

This is actually my first trip inside AT&T park. Compare to the other parks which I have been to(I have been to Wrigley Field, Jack Murphy Stadium and Tiger Stadium), this stadium is very new. It shows in the floor and seats. They are clean!

The weather was fairly cold. In fact, on my way to the stadium, part of 280 was actually raining! Luckily, the stadium was designed to shield the audience from the wind, so sitting through the opera was not a near death experience:)

I choose a seat about 20 rows behind home plate. One could have also sit on the field, but, I wanted a little more comfort:) The resolution of the wide screen jumbotron is quite impressive. From where I was sitting, I felt like I was watching my regular television(which is not HD) at home.

The opera itself is enjoyable enough. I sort of know the story of "Samson and Delilah", but am not familiar with the music. Acoustics at the ballpark is also not very good, but that is understandable.

Most people were there to enjoy themselves. I saw people circling the bases even while the performance was going on! The opera staff had handed out signs that say "Go Samson" and "Go Delilah" on either sides to the audience during the simulcast. Then, when there was any hint of physical contact between Samson and Delilah, people was holding up the sign and cheering! It was quite funny!

All in all, a enjoyable experience.