Opera Bastille: Christian and Anne-Marie treated us to "The Damnation of Faust", Berlioz, on Wednesday evening. The supertitles were in French. The designer (a Japanese guy, I'll get his name later) used computer images superimposed on a screen (in lieu of huge sets) and the principal singers, opera chorus and dancers were viewed in this wonderful imagery. It was delightful . . . For example, when Faust jumped off of the boat to commit sucide, his image was seen floating down and bubbles coming up . . . you would just have to have been there. Superb production, great hall, accoustics. Great seats 5th row, stage right. While searching for the designer's name on the internet I found this old review of the opera . . ."In the 1960's, at the Palais Garnier, the Opéra had Maurice Bejart stage this work, with ballet as an integral part of action. Here they employed the very creative Canadian stage designer Robert Lapage. With designer Carl Fillion, he used the full forces of the team at the Bastille to create stunning visual images that were carefully calibrated to fit with the action and music. Treating the proscenium like a 16/9 format television screen, he divided it into grids to provide repeated images of often stunning impact. Employing dancers, climbing acrobats, extras and filmed images to fill the squares, the scenes fit well with the music and were, except for some merely decorative moments, a significant artistic achievement, as well as fine theatre. The size and complexity of this production, with its incumbent costs, might discourage companies less blessed with resources, both financial and technical. "

After, we all walked to find a restaurant nearby. After dinner, we needed to find a taxi to take us all home. One of the things I love doing with Anne-Marie and Christian, and we did it in 2001, is the search for a taxi late at night . . . it is always an adventure, and I love running through the streets of Paris with them.