-
Italian Opera in Chinese
On weekends only, on Broadway
below Houston there's a nondescript middleaged
Chinese man who sits on the corner with a tape player at his feet. I noticed
him
the first time because he was singing an aria from La Boheme. The
next time it
was Return to Sorrento.
I could tell he was a romantic and favored the more sentimental songs.
Some people did put money
in his cup, and he was there every week in good weather.
It was remarkable to watch, if only to see the expressions of the tourists
who passed.
It was clear this fufilled their expectations of multicultural New York
gone wild.
Why wasn't he singing Chinese opera?
-