Check Out This 'View'

It doesn't matter if you hold season tickets to the opera or have never heard an aria -- "A View From the Bridge" is worth two hours of your time. The gritty show, set among immigrant dock workers in New York, has four more performances scheduled at the Kennedy Center before it closes on Nov. 17. With black and white photographs of New York buildings and workers forming the backdrop, this adaptation of Arthur Miller's story is impressive to behold and to hear. The show focuses on a married couple who have been surrogate parents to their blossoming adult niece. When the wife's two male cousins emigrate from Italy, the husband becomes jealous of his niece's affection for the youthful cousin and things devolve from there.

It's not a typical opera in the sense that costumes are simple, understated period attire and the music is not the earth-shattering, diva-like music that comes to mind with Verdi and Puccini. Rather, there is occasional cursing and plenty of bad grammar. There aren't many duets, which makes it easier to understand the characters. If you do have trouble, the superscripts are helpful.

One prohibitive factor in attending the opera is the high cost. Tickets for this show run from $45 to $300. However, Washington National Opera hosts a fabulous program called Access to Opera, which sells 50 tickets for $25 each to two performances during each show's run. For "View," the show dates are tomorrow, Nov. 8 and next Wednesday, Nov. 14. Both performances are at 7:30, but tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 10 a.m. on the day of the performance. There is no age restriction on the tickets, though there is a limit of two tickets per person.

--Erin

By Erin |  November 7, 2007; 3:48 PM ET Theater
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