Star Wars, Among Others

One afternoon at the opera, my boss asked me to drive around the Slavic conductor for Mozart's Don Giovanni. (Picture the Nightfox from Ocean's Twelve).

Suzanne: "Uh, sure. Okay." Suzanne picks herself up from staring into the recesses of the copy machine. Subtly wipes her ink-stained hands off on a paper in her in-box. "Nice to meet you." They shake hands. Suzanne and Maestro leave office and wait at elevator door.

Suzanne: "So where do you want to go?"

Maestro: (with a shrug and very European curled lip) "Hmph?" polite laugh. Elevator doors open, and we walk in. "Vhat is that modern-uh-looking building by the reever?"

Suzanne: "Oh that. That's Exploration Place. It's a, uh, science museum for kids. You wanna go there? You can make shadows of yourself on the wall or rubbings from real fossils!" Maestro furrows brow and shakes head no. Elevator doors open again to basement garage. "So, uh, you been conducting long?"

Maestro: "Vell, vhat's long really?" Silence as we exit elevator and begin walking toward my car.

Suzanne: "Right, uh ... Do you have a favorite opera?"

Maestro: "There are just so many ... Mozart, Puccini, Rossini, Wagner, Beethoven, Verdi ... how can I-uh pick-uh?"

Suzanne: "Well, yes. I see your point." Silence. "Sorry about my car. It's a mess." My remote unlocks the doors, and he begins to get in. "What kind of music do you listen to?" Maestro stops and looks at his seat.

Maestro: "Uh, classical ... and John Villiams." Internationally-acclaimed Maestro picks up the remains of my breakfast along with my cds from the passenger seat. Among these, The Best of Queen, Radiohead OK Computer, a sausage biscuit, and Bridget Jones: Beyond the Edge of Reason soundtrack.

Suzanne: "Oh right, Star Wars!"