Driving up to the Tacoma Art Museum brought a beautiful sight to my eyes: people, all around Pacific Avenue, throngs of them, crossing to the TAM to take part in the Dia de los Muertos community event that’s becoming a seasonal must-do on par with a Christmas viewing of the "Nutcracker."

The wee one wasn’t much interested in the events on stage, though I wanted to stop and listen to traditional music. Instead, she grabbed me by the hand and dragged me up the stairs to the very crowded second level.  In one room, treats like Pan Muerto begged to be nibbles, while the altars by many groups invited large groups to view them.  My own favorite was the altar tribute to a mother; I became teary as people, invited to jot down the names of mothers they would like remembered, did just that, and added those names to the altar.

I wanted to stop and look at the altars longer, but the kid had an agenda, and it was all about sugar.

We joined the crush in the art room and ran into friends Chiara, Kate, and Asa; we stopped to decorate a sugar skull, inspired by the sparkling, glittering, festive skulls around us, and then wandered the gallery spaces.

It was the kind of fun afternoon I’d have liked to stay longer for, but more death beckoned, French opera style.

Dropping the wee one off at Grandma’s, I headed to the Rialto to see the Tacoma Opera staging of Offenbach’s "Orpheus in the Underworld," and had the time of my life.

I didn’t expect the opera to be the place where I’d laugh so hard tears would stream, or that I’d have random acts of smiling happening faster than I could count. 

Sure, the music was delightful, and impressive given that nearly half of the characters were making their Tacoma Opera debut.  More, it was the costuming that gave me the giggles, with Pluto (an impressive Jared Rogers, coiffed similarly to Disney’s version of Pluto in Hercules,) and his mini-dress stealing the show, largely due to the red Converse high tops he wore.  Mercury’s impressively silver Cons were equally scene-stealing, but I think the real gut buster and end of all pretense of operatic decorum for me was the transformation of Jupiter (Barry Johnson) into a fly; black tights and black ballet slippers were effective enough, given Johnson’s more operatic than athletic physique, but when you added the tight fitting black cap and glittery eyes that looked like the bra head-dresses in Weird Science, it made for a delightfully funny appearance.  Enhanced by the buzz-buzz song performed with Eurydice (Holly Boaz), the whole scene was the inspiration for much laughter all around the theater.

I got the wee one and headed home with a good feeling, the tired but happy equivalent to a belly full of good food.

Mmmm, Tacoma: you make the topic of death fun! â€" Jessica Corey-Butler