Opening Night at the Atlanta Ballet

I stopped by for the season opener at the Atlanta Ballet tonight. Their performance of Giselle was just wonderful. The costumes were really amazing.
A couple downers: the lady on my left who had a persistent, throaty cough. Thank goodness another audience member had some spare cough drops! The Fox was only about 1/3 full, which explains why there’s no live music anymore. Various musicians and supporters were outside the Fox picketing, as announced in the Atlanta Composers Blog. The recorded music was fine (fine as in “functional”), but it just doesn’t feel as warm and fuzzy and human as it did when the orchestra was there. And there’s a certain sense of spectacle that’s missing. It’s a little awkward to walk into a show when someone gives you the earnest plea, “You deserve to hear live music.” Good luck to them. Let’s hope that each side will come to their senses, and that fellow Atlantans will remember what a treasure they’ve got.