It's a contest!

Want to win a free ticket?

I have been fortunate to be able to purchase two excellent tickets—front row aisle, center orchestra—to the Friday, December 14 performance of The Queen of Spades, an opera by Pyotr Ilyich Tschaikovsky based on the novella of the same name by Aleksandr Pushkin, to be sung at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, by the famed Kirov Opera of the Mariinsky Theater from St. Petersburg, Russia.

I am so excited!

So, in order to have a perfect evening, I've decided to have a contest for my evening's companion. This contest is open to anyone, male or female, young or old, who might be interested in accompanying me to this event and hearing what promises to be a fantastic and memorable performance. Since it's a Friday evening, some of you who are out of town might want to consider coming in to Washington for the night/weekend.

How to enter? Write me here by midnight Eastern standard time Monday, December 10, and tell me: why you want to go? why should I choose you? I'll pick the winner early next week.

This contest is not limited to blog people, so if you know someone who'd like to go, get their information and make the entry for them. I love meeting new people!

For planning purposes, curtain is at 7:30. I like to get to the Kennedy Center a little early so we can cocktail a bit before going into the Opera House. Depending upon schedules, we might have a light supper beforehand. I'll be wearing a normal suit and tie—this isn't a formal occasion—so you can dress accordingly. The opera is sung in the original Russian, but they project the English translations as surtitles above the stage, so you'll have no trouble understanding what is going on. Afterwards, we'll probably walk over to Georgetown for a little late night snack or dessert.

Don't delay! Do your entry today!