The Place to Be Tonight: Art @ New York City Opera

Preparing for First Hand Grenade Throwing, Southern Israel, 2005. Courtesy Rachel Papo and ClampArt

Good morning!

A great event to get to tonight is the free, public opening of the contemporary art installations presented by New York City Opera in its renovated house. The setting is the very, very special Promenade, with its Elie Nadelman sculptures. And since there's no performance tonight, it is your prerogative to dwell luxuriously here instead of worrying about getting back to your seat.

What you'll see: In addition to E.V. Day's manipulations of City Opera costumes, suspended in air, City Opera is presenting photography exhibitions along the perimeters of the red-carpeted balconies. Make sure you ascend to the first balcony, for the display of work by Rachel Papo, who is among The New York Sun's distinguished photographers (see some of those assignments here), and who last month won the Lucie Award for the International Photographer of the Year - Deeper Perspective Award.

Who you'll see: In addition to the artists -- both Papo and Day are strong, intelligent women who will invigorate you in a moment -- you'll likely hear from the guy in charge of making City Opera matter: George Steel. An elegant man, and one to pay attention to especially in the next few weeks. And then there's E.V. Day's husband, Ted Lee, author with his brother Matt of a new cookbook on Southern cuisine.

What does this have to do with opera? The photograph above is part of a series that has thematic resonance with the first opera of City Opera's season, "Esther." As City Opera's press department advised us, "Drawing from her experience as a teenager serving in the Israeli Air Force, Rachel Papo depicts the subject’s negotiation of the often contradictory roles of soldier and adolescent girl. The image echoes the struggle of Esther, who was also a teenager at the time she was called to risk her life to save her people from annihilation."

Dress: Make some effort! Color would work well here (remember, you'll be on a red carpet!)

Details: The preview takes place tonight from 5 pm to 8 pm at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, to the left of the fountain. "Esther," by the way, premieres on Sunday.