The Minnesota Opera's Tempo program is perfecting parties. Tonight they transformed The Varsity into a Hollywood Bohemian dream-scape in conjunction with their upcoming opera, La traviata -- the very opera that inspired the movie Moulin Rouge. It was a cold and windy night and the Varsity had a line around the block, but everyone who made it in was welcomed with a cozy, candle-lit atmosphere complete with fortune tellers, burlesque dancers, and Tango performers. And that was just to get the evening started.
Bunny had a short numerology session and before grabbing drinks and hors d'oeuvres and settling into one of the horseshoe-shaped booths, we got our photo taken by a lady from FairShadow Photography who had set up a theme booth. Music by Cafe Accordian Orchestra played a lively set, then red and black-clad Tango dancers took over the stage and showed off their intricate moves before two be-feathered showgirls escorted Joshua Dorothy, the Tempo board chair, onto the stage to speak a bit on the details of the organization.
"They expect me to talk now," Joshua said, short of breath. "But I don't know how I can after that." It's always fun to watch what happens to Josh when he takes the stage. At the last Tempo Party, dubbed Opera Bootcamp, the host demanded he do push-ups. I suspect that his breathlessness tonight was much more pleasant. Tenor Brad Benoit, who was accompanied by pianist Jeremy Reger, captivated the audience with a couple of songs from La traviata.
Foxy Tann, the Boss of Burlesque MCd the event, taking the stage at intervals throughout the evening in a jeweled dress and her signature giant hairdo. At around 10pm she introduced the screening of Moulin Rouge -- the version starring Nicole Kidman and Ewen McGregor. I had never seen this movie before and was delighted at how absolutely bonkers it is. Suddenly the psychelic lights on the wall made more sense. Bunny ran out to the corner store and bought a bag of popcorn while I replenished our cocktails.
From our vantage point, we could see peoples' fingers, elbows, and arms dripping over the crowded balcony as the movie began. Chandeliers and disco balls twinkled from the ceiling and soon, not surprisingly for a music-based party, people in the audience were swaying in time or singing along with the movie's soundtrack. During a few of the scenes, dancers came out and performed before the big screen.
When the movie ended, Foxy Tann again took the stage. "Are you crying?" she asked, wiping a tear from her face. She quickly made sure to let us know that the evening was not over, but in fact was just getting started. The movie screen rolled back up into the ceiling and Chrissy & Shawn, who make up the "booty-shakin' jams" DJing duo, DJ Unicorns. And I can confirm that, indeed, booties promptly began to shake.
Tomorrow I'm off to the Tut exhibit at the Minnesota Science Museum. Stay tuned.
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