I never claimed to enjoy the opera. Often I like the sets, rarely the story (but the story is never the point). If I close my eyes I enjoy most of the music, tho the soprano less than the rest. As often as not the staging, setting, design hold my interest and last night at the abridged The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera House it was only the design that kept me from strangling myself.

Full of puppetry and flying children the set designer hit a fun spark. Sadly, there was a second set designer whose hard edge and need for thick walls of glass kept getting in the way of real enjoyment. At lest we had good seats. The back row of the center parterre box number 28. The rear two chairs are really stools and we moved them together blocking the door but holding hands…

I can only say that if you intend to see this production be prepared for an amateurish attempt at humor.