Carmina Burana

We were very late. We had tickets for the 8:00 performance of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana at the Kennedy Center (The Choral Arts Society of Washington, including our friend Doug Gill, directed by Leonard Slatkin). It was 7:57. I was prepared to just stay home but Janet wanted to go for it. At 8:15 we were on our way. New York, 7th, Independence, slipping through yellow lights, expecting to be seated in whatever empty seats were near a door halfway through the performance. At 8:45 we stepped across the barriers and the ushers (no longer in position to take tickets) looked at our tickets and told us to run. The usher at our door, who was leaving when as arrived, rushed us in and told us to "just sit in those seats there." We plunked down, Leonard Slatkin walked on stage, and the choral launched into the dramatic and familiar beginning of "Fortuna." The performance was fantastic and we had not missed a note. We were, however, lacking a program. When it was over, Janet asked the usher if she still had any programs. She gave Janet her own. I'm glad that she did because it was full of interesting information. It also had some notes that the usher had made, including "no late seating."