Reflection and an Army on the Move

This weekend, while feeling a little under the weather, I found a stack of ticket stubs... and I realized I still have stubs for most events since the beginning of June. For fun I added up the face value -- not all had values printed -- and was astonished to discover that I've spent just a little less than $2,100 (exclusive of parking, incidentals, and--in one case--airfare and hotel) on my performing arts "habit" during that time.

Then I ask myself the "Value/Worth" question: I feel that I've gotten value from something--and it was worth the financial investment if I can answer two questions negatively: Is there something I would have rather spent that money on? and Did I feel like my time was wasted?

By and large, the answer to both was absolutely not. Sure I enjoy some things more than others, but with very few exceptions I've never felt as if there was a better use for my time or money. And the awesome thing about Cleveland is there are just as many events at $10-or-less as there are at the $125-or-more price point.

Shifting gears, The Cleveland Orchestra is doing their European Tour and Vienna Residency through November 3rd... no suprise there. What is suprising is the size of the undertaking. According to the Cleveland Orchestra Blog, the tour includes 102 musicians, 18 guests, 8 staff, 4 stagehands, 1 tour agent, 1 doctor, an assistant conductor and the music director -- for a total convoy of 134.

I've never taken the time to count the number of musicians on the orchestra roster but if you had asked, there's no way I would have guessed more than 100. I'm sure the logistics involved in managing that number of people, not to mention instruments, in Cleveland is a challenge enough -- I can't imagine what it's like to pull it all together on the road.