Going to the Opera Increases Chance of Meeting True Love

Since the beginning of time humans have been searching for companionship, someone to share their life with, "the one" they were destined to love. New research suggests that your chance of meeting your true love substantially increases at the most unlikely of places: the opera! Think it's a bunch of bologna? Check out these four films where sparks flew at the opera and main characters fell in love. But if fictional situations are not enough to convince you, read all the way to the end for a surprising TRUE story of love found at the opera.

Pretty Woman - Vivian & Edward

If you mention opera and love stories, almost every single person you talk to is going to name Pretty Woman. And why not? This scene is so unforgettable between the red dress, the snap of the jewelry box, and Vivian's inability to work opera glasses (not to mention how the opera was so good she almost "peed her pants"). But the real beauty is watching the hard façade of Julia Robert's character completely melt away with each aria of Guiseppe Verdi's La Traviata, and whether it's this emotional honesty or the glow of the stage lights, Edward sees Vivian in a whole new light and the two ultimately fall head over heels for each other.

Little Women (1994) - Jo & Friederich

This lovely scene from the 1994 version of Little Women shows the romance and passion of opera, but not from box seats. Instead, Jo (a poor writer from Conchord) and her suitor, Friederich, can only afford spots along the fly rail of the theatre (the overhead walkway along the side of the stage leading to the catwalks and where mechanisms for dropping in and "flying out" backdrops are kept). From this tucked away spot, the couple is intimately close to the performers and each other as Friederich translates the beautiful words of George Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles. Maybe it's the love between the characters, the (not real) threat of danger offstage, or the passion of the story, but Friederich courageously takes Jo's hand, says the words of the duet, not as translation, but as his own confession, and the two share a tender kiss - after first being interupted by a clumsy stage hand with a thunder sheet.

Moonstruck - Loretta & Ronny

You could argue that Moonstruck isn't a movie about love by the light of the moon, but about love by the lights of the opera! The movie opens with the set of Giacomo Puccini's masterpiece La bohème being loaded into the Metropolitan Opera, and shots of the opera continue to appear all the way up till the pivotal scene between Loretta and Ronny when they attend a performance. Loretta has agreed to marry Ronny's brother, Johnny; however, she and Ronny were swept up by their feelings for one another and ended up sleeping together while Johnny was away visiting his dying mother in Sicily. Whoops. So, Loretta tells Ronny she can never see him again, and Ronny tells her that he'll only acquiesce to her wishes if she agrees to go to the opera with him so he can be in the one place he loves most with the woman he loves. Loretta agrees, and all goes according to plan until the scene in the opera when Mimi has to tell her love Rodolfo farewell. Loretta holds back her tears, but Ronny can see she's emotionally distraught. On Mimi's line, "se vuoi" (if you want), Ronny takes Loretta's hand in his and gently kisses it as the singer says "d'amor." The emotional intensity of the opera reflects the emotional intensity Loretta and Ronny feel for each other, and they realize they will never feel this way about anyone else in their lives. 

Life is Beautiful - Guido & Dora

Grab your handkerchiefs, because the love story in Life is Beautiful is as heart warming as the ending is tragic. Darling Guido, a natural storyteller and optimist, has gone to a performance of Jacques Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman at the opera house, but he's the only audience member not looking at the stage. Instead, his gaze is locked on the captivating Dora who is sitting up in a box seat just to the right of his seat on the main floor. With the music of the ‘Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour’ aiding his incantation, he quietly invokes her to "look at me, princess." After a couple of comedic moments with the women sitting next to him, the spell works, and Guido locks eyes with the woman he is going to marry.

Still not quite a believer in the aphrodisiacal power of the opera? Watch this video of a TRUE story about a man meeting his wife at Hydrogen Jukebox, a chamber opera by Philip Glass, then CLICK HERE for ticket's to Puccini Double Bill: Suor Angelica & Gianni Schicchi this Valentine's Day Weekend.