First dress rehearsal

Tonight's preliminary dress rehearsal for Hoffmann was quite an adventure for me!

First of all, having come to the conclusion that I really needed to be able to see the conductor better than was possible without my glasses, I drug out my old contacts from my senior year of college (10 years ago). I haven't worn them at all since my wedding (7 years ago). I was impressed with how few problems they gave me, considering I previously stopped wearing them because they were fussy. I might have to reconsider the contacts idea.

The other thing that made the evening interesting was that I had some of the worst wardrobe malfunctions I can remember experiencing personally. The hat that I wear as a gondola in Act IV was so tight that we couldn't get it all the way onto my head, and the gals working in the wig room said they knew how to fix it, but would lose their jobs if they did so without express instruction from the head of the department. So, for the short term, we put it on as far as it would go and pinned it on. It didn't feel too bad at first, but it wasn't long before it was giving me a headache.

In Act IV, the first time I had to move off of my rolling staircase, the snap that holds my gondola piece around my middle unsnapped, causing it to fall off. I took the opportunity to step off stage to fix the problem - one-handed, since I had my cane in the other hand - and found myself in an even bigger pickle when my hat fell off, too. The stage hands finally came to my rescue and I made it back onstage for the next staging change. The gondola piece unsnapped again as I got back onto the stairs at the end of the scene, but in a sitting position, it was much easier to be discreet. Hopefully the costuming angels will have everything resolved by tomorrow night. Umm...okay, tonight!

Staging continues...

Another great rehearsal. We reviewed and fine-tuned the first two acts this evening, and I seem to have redeemed myself after my sad dance audition -- I was one of four people the director praised publicly. That made my night!

Staging rehearsals for Hoffmann

Have I ever mentioned that I just love staging rehearsals with Opera Colorado? They are so much fun!

The first thing the stage director said to us at the first full chorus staging rehearsal was, "We begin with a dance audition!" Ugh. All my hopes of making a good first impression went out the window with that opening statement. So, I am not a dancer (duh!), but I still have very busy staging, which makes me happy, and it has given me a chance to redeem myself from the dance audition. Some choristers have had the misfortune to be assigned to stand on the top platform and react to what happens on the floor. I think I would be bored to tears in that situation. Instead, I am happily chasing Arthur, the robot, around the stage for the entire act and operating his right arm (which happens to be made out of an egg beater...). We rarely stop moving - as soon as we reach one position, it is time to move to the next one, so it keeps me on my toes. I think the audience is really going to enjoy it!

Saturday, we added the principals to the mix. They are excellent, and it is truly a privilege to share the stage with them. Pamela Armstrong is particularly impressive, though I might not think so if I didn't know how extremely difficult Olympia's aria is, because she sings it as though it is the easiest thing in the world. And I'm all of three feet away from her when she sings it - sweet!!

Closing performance

It's finished now - we just gave our last performance of The Pearl Fishers. I am going to miss it terribly - the music, the costumes, even the schedule! And most especially, the other choristers. Despite the great demands, I feel that Opera Colorado respects its performers and treats them well, plus it brings together some of the best talent in the region, which keeps things both exciting and challenging. This whole experience has been wonderful.

Today, my husband and his parents were in the audience, so I was especially glad that I felt today was one of my best performances overall. After I got out of my costume, I brought them backstage and showed them around a bit and introduced them to a few people before taking off my makeup, and then we went to dinner at Racine's. I'm glad my husband finally got to see what I've been working so hard at for the last 6 weeks.

Tonight I'm headed to bed early. This crazy schedule has caught up with me. But I will fall asleep with feelings of peace, joy and accomplishment.

Post Review

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_11717586

The Post was harsh on the opera itself, but praised nearly everything that Opera Colorado did with it. This reviewer particularly disagreed with the News reviewer on the quality of the principal singers, which is good. The only downside is that he didn't mention the chorus at all.

We're back in action tonight! Looking forward to it and hoping I feel a little less tired by tonight. An energy boost in my Jamba Juice plus a little stage adrenaline should fix that.

RMN Review

REVIEW: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/16/design-overcomes-opening-night-woes/

"John Baril's chorus sang well, and moved busily under Andrew Sinclair's stage direction." Yay, chorus!

We'll ignore the fact that they gave the production a "C" overall. Besides, the Rocky Mtn News will probably go under in a month or so, and Opera Colorado will still be going strong! :-p

Opening Night - Pearl Fishers

I had a wonderful time tonight. There was so much positive energy in the theatre tonight, despite the sad fact that our leading soprano was ill and unable to perform. Opera Colorado flew in another soprano on Thursday night - she has been performing this role for years, most recently just three weeks ago. She did an incredible job stepping into the role on short notice. Although she was wonderful, we still hope that Heidi will be well enough to perform on Tuesday.

Make up update

Okay, so I added the blue eye shadow. It doesn't look as realistic up close, but I suspect that the effect from the stage is an improvement.

And here's one to help you see just how dark the make up is.

First Dress Rehearsal

Tonight was fun! Many would say I won the award for being the least recognizeable in costume. At least two people said they had to ask someone who I was. That was neat. I can definitely tell it's me when I look at the pictures, but I had doubts when I looked in the mirror sometimes. I was relieved to find myself still under there at the end of it all!




I have a long braid down my back, though you can't see it in the pictures here. And I'm am debating whether to add some exotic blue eye shadow. I have two more dress rehearsals in which to figure that out. Oddly enough, I am the only female wearing pants and the only female with a hat. It's a unique costume.

The rehearsal was interesting. It was a totally new experience to see it with everyone in their beautiful costumes. Both of my sandals broke in the first scene, which left me barefoot until intermission. Go figure, the first time I go without shoes is the first time someone steps on my foot.

As for my 16-year-old stage boyfriend, we almost didn't recognize each other when we first saw each other on stage. And I had forgotten his costume is little more than a large diaper, so I had to get used to him being practically naked. Hey, they say it gets rather warm in Sri Lanka, and he is supposed to be a pearl diver, after all.

A new trick

Today, we had a pair of three-hour staging rehearsals with an hour lunch break in between. Those seven hours just flew by. I always come home with a story, don't I? Well, today the director asked one of my castmates to drag me upstage as part of our drunken pre-execution revelry. I don't think he knew it, but he couldn't have picked a better person to do the dragging. Bryan is certified in stage fighting (or something like that), so he shared with me some of the basics. There are clever techniques for making it look like you're being jerked around even though you're really in control. So, although I'm not in control of the direction or speed of the dragging, I am in control of the physical contact so that I'm not in any danger of dislocating a shoulder or anything, despite the complaints of the stage manager that she was afraid I was going to get hurt. I guess that just means we're convincing! I enjoyed learning how to pull that off.

Naturally, after a long day of rehearsal like this, I've got Pearl Fishers perpetually stuck in my head. The good news is that every time I notice this, it's a different scene that's running through my mind.

This evening, my family took me to Benihana for my birthday, and I had a great time. I love watching them turn cooking into a spectator sport. :-)

The fun continues

I continue to be amazed by the variety and extent of talent I am surrounded with. And everyone is so friendly and interesting to talk to, too! I am having such a great time working on this production and will be very depressed when it's over, I expect. Fortunately, there will be Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and NATS auditions to take my mind off of it...!

Tonight I was asked to stay late, along with 9 other members of the chorus, to stage an additional scene. It's a very short scene, but as a relatively new member of the chorus, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to do a little something extra.

Also, quite unexpectedly, tonight they announced that they are giving us tomorrow night off, so suddenly I am free on my birthday. The break will give me a chance to rest up for the 6 hours of rehearsal on Saturday.

2nd Staging Rehearsal

The 2nd Pearl Fishers staging rehearsal tonight was another adventure, and I mean that in a good way. Tonight we added the dancers to the picture, and this made all the difference in the world. Not only are the dancers immensely talented, but the choreography is very sensual and exciting and really heightens the excitement of the scenes in which they participate. It's neat to have so many different kinds of talent together in one production. The dancers have expressed their amazement at our singing, and the singers are in awe of the dancers. The principals are also excellent and wonderful to work with. They are all very down to earth, friendly individuals who interact freely with the chorus rather than looking down on us. It's a very collegial environment, which is making the process even more fun than I had anticipated. It is definitely hard work, though, no doubt about it!

Is this legal?

Tonight was the first staging rehearsal for The Pearl Fishers. It was a lot of fun. As one of the younger-looking women in the chorus, I have been assigned to play the role of the girlfriend of one of the rookie pearl fishers who is to be blessed at the opening ceremony. The supernumerary who is playing this particualar pearl fisher happens to be 16 years old. I have found it surprisingly challenging to play a giddy girl and spend a whole scene flirting with a teenager little more than half my age, but Eric reminds me that this is an indication that I have a long career ahead of me...! It's funny...age 16 doesn't seem all that long ago until you're standing next to a 16-year-old realizing how little you have in common with him. But I'm too focussed on myself, huh? I mean, this poor kid has to flirt with someone nearly twice his age. Imagine the conversation he had with his mom when he got home!

Rehearsals start next week

Rehearsals for Opera Colorado's The Pearl Fishers begin Monday. We'll rehearse 4-6 days a week until the show opens on Valentine's Day. I've been looking over the music, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun. Evening shows are Feb 14, 17 & 20, and there is a matinee performance on Feb. 22nd, in case anyone is interested in coming.

Catching up

Okay, it finally happened... I joined FaceBook. Within three days, I had 100 friends. Unreal. You never realize just how many people you know until you start listing them all! (I'm now up to 163 or something.) It's a very addicting program.

Been a busy time. I am feeling out of touch. I am behind in my email, and the sad thing is that it's the personal emails from good friends that I am behind on. Studio email always gets taken care of, but then I'm too sick of typing and communicating in general to reply to anything else.

Studio recital is this weekend, then a full day of normal teaching on Monday, followed by group lessons in the evening. Then the rest of the week off! I sooo need the break! It will be good to get refreshed so I can be fresh and effective again starting in December.

Oh, good news... I was cast in the chorus of Opera Colorado's upcoming production of The Pearl Fishers. This will be an interesting one to be in because it is not performed very often. It will also be my first fully-staged production with OC. The Flying Dutchman was a concert version, but they still owned me for two solid weeks. This time they will own me almost every evening and weekend for six weeks! It will be intense! In order to do it, I have had to request a 6-week leave of absence from Clare Choir, which (thankfully) I was granted.

Trisket has a cold. He's had it about 6 days now. We tried to wait it out, but today he sneezed up a blood clot. On one hand, Eric says he's got the same stuff coming out of his own nose this week (he has a cold, too), but on the other hand, I've never seen a cat do that, and he's clearly not feeling well, so we'll go get him checked out tomorrow and maybe get him some medicine to make him well. (Oh yes! Cat and medicine! Won't that be fun?) Poor kitty.

And my mom is having neck surgery in a couple of weeks. Not going to offer a lot of details on that for a variety of reasons, but she is having her neck fused to relieve the pressure her four herniated discs are putting on her spinal cord. I welcome prayers for her safety and quick recovery.

Okay, that's probably enough catching up for now. If I don't write much in December, it's because I have at least a dozen holiday singing gigs. And if I don't write much in January or February, it's because I'm living at the DCPA, eating, sleeping and breathing The Pearl Fishers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The fall music-making shake-out

It's been a whirlwind last 24 hours. I received an email early yesterday with casting for the upcoming Opera Colorado production of Madama Butterfly. It listed first names only, and I didn't see my name, so I was confused as to why I received an email telling me that scores were ready to be picked up and contracts ready to be signed. I replied and found out that they had erroneously listed me as "Elizabeth." They had cast me after all.

Thus began the craziness of seeing whether or not it would work. I was surprised to have been cast since I had already notified them I would be out of town the weekend before the show opens. I think they had forgotten, though. I emailed back a list of my conflicts, including two misses in the first week for the Loveland Opera Theatre gala and three the weekend before the show when I am speaking at the NATS regional conference in Nebraska. They replied that it was too many rehearsals to miss, but that they would keep me in mind for the spring productions.

So, I am disappointed because I was excited to make the first cut this time around and I was excited to sing with them again - it was so much fun when I sang with them in April - it was also great to be surrounded by musicians of my caliber or better. But I was also nervous because it would require withdrawing from my choir because the performances overlapped. (Yes, this sounds like a no-brainer, but it's complicated.) I was prepared to do this, but it wasn't going to be pleasant.

So, it's all shaken out and the fall will find me singing with Loveland Opera Theatre and two choirs. The spring is still totally up in the air on all fronts, but it will work itself out in its own time.

Opening Night

Last night was opening night of The Flying Dutchman, and it was awesome! It’s ridiculous that they pay me to have this much fun. I enjoyed it even more last night than at the sitzprobe. It helped that Hasmik Papian (Senta) was singing full voice this time so I could hear her better – gave me goosebumps! I was grinning from ear to ear when we got offstage for the intermission after Act II. Three of my good friends from high school came to the show, which also made it more exciting for me. When the show was over, I caught Maestro Stephen Lord as he was walking through the chorus area and asked him to pose for a picture with me.

Opera Colorado - excerpts from my diary

The sitzprobe went well and I found the Ellie Caulkins Opera House to be a fascinating place. They call it “The Ellie” for short [as you saw in my previous posting], and they even shorten that to just “Ellie” in many cases, so all of the trash cans and music stands have “Ellie” stenciled on them. It’s funny to see my name stenciled on a trash can. And there are signs that say “Ellie Stage Door,” like they are there specifically to tell me where to go. And they have a marvelous PA system to corral all the performers – “gentlemen of the chorus, stage right in five minutes, please.” “ladies and gentlemen of the orchestra to the stage, please.” “Maestro Lord, stage right, please.” “The rehearsal will begin in 30 minutes.” Etc. It’s so FORMAL!

I had been in the theater before in the audience. It is really a beautiful hall. As the women are not in the first act, I was able to enjoy the first act from the first balcony of the audience, and in doing so, I got a much better view of the hall than I had from the floor when I saw Carmen there with Denyce Graves at the beginning of The Ellie’s opening season. I really enjoyed the first act – it’s such a fine opera [The Flying Dutchman].

I spent the second act on stage. The women sing a little in the beginning of the 2nd act, and then sit there for an hour. This would have been marvelous if we were in front of the soloists and able to hear them better. In any case, it was a very different view of the theater, equally breathtaking, with its three balconies. And I was constantly enjoying the swell of emotions I always feel with a full orchestra, choir & soloists in collaboration with a world-class conductor (here, Stephen Lord). It is a magical scenario to me. The music was so dramatic and emotional and, well, there’s just no way to describe it really – it’s just magical to me – I love it. And this was just a dress rehearsal! Friday night we’ll all be in concert black and the hall will be full of people. While I have been in situations like this a number of times as an adult, it particularly reminded me of the concert-version operas in which I participated while singing in the Columbus Symphony Orchestra Children’s Chorus [in the late 80s and early 90s].

Sometimes I feel a little sheepish being so enthralled with this stuff. I’ve been around it all for more than two decades, but I marvel at it as though it is my first time. A small part of me thinks it’s probably more “cool” to be ambivalent, but the never-ending magic reminds me why I became a musician to begin with and makes me thankful for the line of work I have chosen and been privileged to pursue.

The third act is quite short and has the most chorus music. It is the only time both the men’s and women’s choruses are on stage together. I am particularly fond of the men’s chorus music in this opera. I get a thrill listening to them sing it. It has a magical quality of its own, especially the way they sing it. I also love it whenever the men’s chorus applauds the women’s chorus – I don’t know why. I like thinking they are impressed by us and proud of us. Must be that “words of affirmation” love language thing again.

What the world is coming to

So, they've had this giant sign up at the Denver Performing Arts Center for several months... maybe longer... and I have always found it amusing. Today I finally took my camera and got some pictures of it.





Have I mentioned that I LOVE sharing my name with an opera house?

Rehearsals, by the way, are going well - I'm having a great time with it.

First rehearsal

Today was my first rehearsal with Opera Colorado. I left in time to be early, but the traffic by the performing arts center was terrible, barely a crawl. I was so upset to be running late to my first rehearsal! I finally found a lot, paid an astronomical $15.00 to park there (it would have taken another 20-30 minutes to get into the DPAC garage) and sprinted the two blocks to the Tramway building for rehearsal. As it turned out, they delayed the start of rehearsal because so many choristers got caught in the traffic. Whew!

The rehearsal was fun and the time passed quickly, but it was not at all like I expected. The atmosphere was very casual and lighthearted, the group was smaller than I expected – about 60 total – 25 women, 40 men, and oddly enough, overall, they were not very good sight-readers. The music is really not that difficult, and I’m singing the harmony (soprano 2), but the rest of my section, in particular, was a little slow catching it, I thought, and wanted/needed a lot of it played for them. In that regard, Clare Choir is much more sophisticated. However, here I can sing fully and operatically, which I cannot do in Clare Choir, despite how often our director says she wants us to sing fully. She is constantly toning me down, it seems. It’s a different style of music, though. This should make for an interesting two weeks.