10 Reasons Why You Should Go to the Opera Right Now

Every now and then my pal Gus lets me play dress up and invites me to his amazing Parterre level box at the Metropolitan Opera. Inevitably, I almost always say yes (except for the night after my birthday as it was the night after my birthday and I was too busy self-medicating to get off my couch to take a shower). I leave feeling cultured and superior (to my alter ego, Rhonda who was mentally at home watching Country Music Television and stuffing her face with cheese fries).

Last night, while seeing La Boheme, it struck me why the opera is so addicting. So, I created a full, scientific list of its allure:

1. It's glamorous
2. It's (architecturally) beautiful
3. The men are hot.
4. The women are divas.
5. It's the best place to people watch in NYC, hands down and there are always some well dressed, handsome men in the crowd who have been wrangled into going by their mothers, grandmothers or sugar mamas.
6. The costumes and sets are fabulously elaborate
7. It's almost always FOUR HOURS long (BYOR: bring your own Ritalin) -- thereby letting you prove to yourself that the Internet has not, in fact, ruined your attention span.
8. Bragging rights. Nothing says "you're a klassy lady" like casually dropping, "Saturday? Oh, I just went to the Opera...v"
9. It gives you a reason to take a shower, do your hair and dress up for an occasion that doesn't involve an "I do."
10. It's almost always formulaic -- so, not unlike a country song, you always have the comfort of knowing what is going to happen.

For the formula -- check out my full post WITH PICS at www.abroadabroad.com