The opera stage is filled with love, passion, and lust. But sometimes all of that romance finds its way into the seats of the concert hall, too.
Sarah Bauer, 30, and Nick Yee, 36, have been dating for more than three years, and Hawaii Opera Theatre’s HOT Tuesday was their official first date.
“It’s actually thanks to HOT Tuesday that I can remember the anniversary of what we now call our first date,” Sarah said.
Nick and Sarah met when Nick was hired as a DJ for an HOT Preview event being put on at The ARTS at Marks Garage, where Sarah was working at the time. Sarah was surprised to hear several songs she liked and didn’t know, and she asked Nick to send her some of the titles.
It was music that brought them together. But opera made it official.
Nick had an extra ticket to HOT’s 2014 production of Richard Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman on HOT Tuesday, a pau hana, pre-opera event for young professionals.
“Taking her to the opera seemed like a ‘serious move,’” Nick said. “I was looking at it like there was this sort of old world charm about it. I wanted her to know that I was serious.”
It did impress Sarah. She actually had already planned on going to the opera herself.
“There was something really magical about a date at the opera,” Sarah said. “It was such a classic sort of thing that you would see in the movies.”
The two were interested in each other, but they were still a bit nervous. The fact that HOT Tuesday included a cocktail pre-party calmed their nerves.
“At HOT Tuesday, you’re able to talk to the person that you’re on the date with, have a couple drinks, relax, have something to eat, relax – you know?” Sarah said. “And you have this great conversation starter for yourselves afterwards.”
Nick appreciated that Sarah enjoyed the opera.
He was looking for someone cultured, he said, and he thought he just might have found that in her.
“I was so starstruck by her,” Nick said. “Every time she opened her mouth she said something really beautiful and well thought out and very musically enlightened.”
But Nick had one more question for Sarah. He introduced it after the opera production, when the two were at a nearby bar.
“‘Do you like jazz?’ It’s a simple question, but it’s a very loaded one,” Nick said. “Within jazz, like opera, there’s a lot of subtlety, there’s a lot of messages, and there’s a lot mixed into it. Basically, it’s asking someone, ‘Do you speak the same language I speak?’”
Sarah did. She spoke it so well, in fact, that she surprised him. On a date not long after, Sarah even played an album for Nick by one of his favorite jazz artists, but he hadn’t yet heard the album.
That was when he knew she was a keeper.
That ‘shared language’ is the glue that’s kept the couple together.
“What’s made it last so long? It’s shared interests, it’s teamwork, it’s mutual support of each other, and it’s communication, bolstered by a mutual love of the arts,” Nick said of their relationship.
Nick and Sarah now live together and also work together at Hawaii Public Radio.
When asked if they have plans for Valentines Day, the two said they’re letting each other off the hook this year because they have busy days at work.
It didn’t take long, however, for Nick to admit that he had plans after all. Nick will be starting a new position as the host of a music program on HPR that day, and he plans to play two hours worth of music that reminds him of Sarah.
Maybe even an aria from The Flying Dutchman will slip in.
Even though they won’t be going on a Valentines Day date, Nick and Sarah know they always have a date night in their future at the opera.
“We’ve kept the tradition of HOT Tuesday alive, and we love it. It’s one of our favorite nights out,” Sarah said.