A Trip to the Heartland

Not enough people know it, but opera is alive and well in the middle of Iowa.  Not only do they have a long-standing opera festival but also a well-respected young artist program.  Add to this that they were presenting a rarely performed work, Marc Blitzstein’s Regina – a work Utah Opera will present this coming January – and I couldn’t stay away.  Now, I must confess, the company I was visiting – Des Moines Metro Opera – is situated on the campus where I went to college, so there were extenuating circumstances for my wanting to visit.  That stated, it turned out to be a much more productive trip than I first expected.

Any of you who have flown into Des Moines’ airport know that incorporating the word “International” into the title feels a little bit of a stretch.  It has two concourses total, and about ten gates a piece.  The bright side: when departing from Des Moines, I don’t know if a shorter and easier security line can be found in a city airport.  When I arrived, I went to the car rental counter where I had a reservation and their computers were down.  (Mind you, I believe this particular counter only got computers last year, but you can imagine how much challenge this creates.)  Once we did all the paperwork by hand, I was rewarded with a lovely upgrade that included satellite radio.  Bonus – the radio never came off of the Metropolitan Opera’s 24/7 station.  But enough of this, we were ready to go.

I stepped out the door…OK, so lately it has been hot here in SLC, but I was reminded what a fantastic thing we have in our lack of humidity; what do I have in Iowa?  The same temperatures at home but with the added benefit of about 90% wetness in the air.  I needed a change of shirt before I got to my car!

So…in the car with the Met’s station blaring (it was a Strauss marathon…yes!) and the air conditioning on full tornado mode, I make my way towards the home of Des Moines Metro Opera.  Now…here’s the thing, Des Moines Metro Opera isn’t actually in Des Moines.  The aforementioned campus where I will see performances is actually in a sleepy little town nearly 15 miles south of the Des Moines city limits…and I must add: there is LITTLE in between save corn fields.  It’s eerily like the movie, Field of Dreams; somehow, they built it…thirty-six years ago…and people came…and continue to come.

To be continued…