A night at the station

October 6, 2004 3:00 PM

Flashmob - The Opera.
There will be something like 200 people on site, including a 62-piece orchestra, a choir of singing policemen and a chorus of football fans... and all while it's 'business as usual' at the station. It's not the first place you'd think of doing a live opera!
Despite some alleged security worries it went ahead at Paddington Station and has been broadcast complete with the flashmob singing Nessun Dorma.
Gloriate!
posted by i_cola (7 comments total)

And while we're talking BBC3, check out The Blobs the channel's loveable ident characters...
posted by i_cola at 3:05 PM on October 6, 2004

It was superb. And my SECOND flashmob for the day!

Am I leet yet?
posted by Pretty_Generic at 3:24 PM on October 6, 2004

I'm happy for people who have found a way to draw attention to themselves as a group because they lack the confidence and creativity to do it on their own.
posted by Mach3avelli at 3:42 PM on October 6, 2004

"themselves as a group"

They're not an organised group. They're randomly selected people who happen to be in the right area. It's not about attention seeking, it's about having the experience. I know I got precisely no attention from my participation in either event.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 3:53 PM on October 6, 2004

Wow, I didn't think it was possible to be less interested in opera but this actually did make me give even less of a damn about opera than I did before.

Maybe I need to find out why Flashmobs are cool?
posted by fenriq at 4:31 PM on October 6, 2004

Personally, I think that the falshmob part was a bit overplayed. Having an opera (about a football fan, his girlfriend and a alluring stranger she met at the station using popular arias with new words) performed around a station worked brilliantly.
posted by i_cola at 1:18 AM on October 7, 2004

This is why I love the BBC. To stage an opera set the middle of a busy working railway station amongst unsuspecting commuters, with a full orchestra and chorus, to let the public join in, and broadcast the whole lot live on telly takes some nous, and I'd like to hug the person who's idea it was. Brilliant.
You also had to love the way the passengers on the tube were resolutely sticking to the rules of the underground by staring straight ahead and refusing to acknowledge that there was a tenor singing La Donna Mobile (otherwise known as The Elephant Song) in their carriage.
Thanks for the heads up i_cola.
posted by chill at 11:13 AM on October 7, 2004