Sunday, March 9, 2008

One Week!!! Chicago! Barbiere! Lyric! Nathan Gunn! Candy Eggs! And So Much More!

One week until my JDF-less trip to Chicago!!! One week!!! A week and a half until Barbiere at the Lyric!! And hopefully a little visit backstage after the show! C'mon John O, don't forget! Of course a little message on Facebook before I leave won't hurt.

Google maps has a street view with panoramic photos, so I've actually located the stage door on the picture. So now I wonder... what will happen? Assuming John remembers to put me on the list... I'll go there after the show and I assume there'll be someone there with some sort of list that I'll hopefully be on... and then what? I envision a long hallway, lots of doors, people scurrying about... where to go? How to find John? How not to be totally starstruck if I see/meet Nathan Gunn or Joyce D (whose blog I've been reading and commenting on), who I know are just normal people but still... how not to totally pee in my pants? Or in my dress... In a way it's good that JDF isn't going to be there. True, I wouldn't have had the backstage invite (which I'm still not counting on, just in case...) but the whole starstruck thing - I'd probably start crying and then pee in my pants. Charming.

Ok, let's get realistic. Flashback: 1985. Age: 18. I'm crazy for Adam Ant, INXS, Duran Duran. Ok, never met Duran Duran. But I met Adam Ant and did I pee in my pants? No. In fact, I had a little argument with him because he insulted me. Stupid man. What about INXS? Hung out backstage with them. No big deal. Eurogliders? Anyone remember them? They should have been more popular here than they were... so I wrote them letters when I was in high school. Later met them... and they had the letters. Did I pee in my pants? No. The drummer propositioned me. Did I pee in my pants? No, I didn't really understand what he wanted... but that's another story. The point is, I was starstruck yet I was totally cool. Of course that was before I had a baby... damn better start doing kegels.

Another issue... a thank-you gift. Can't show up backstage empty-handed. Flowers are inappropriate and cumbersome. I have this cute book of anecdotes called The Bumper Book of Operatic Disasters. I looked for it online and found two sequels. Ordered both on Feb 13. Where are they? Not here... so if they don't come this week... there goes that idea. Next idea: an Allfathers Egg. It means schlepping a 1 lb chocolate egg to Chicago and then to the opera house. Hmmm. They're good but... is that a good thank-you gift? Worth the schlep? Candy... not sure. Then what do I do with it if he forgets? Give it to Nathan when he leaves the theater? Better not write a note with it... or maybe I can have an alternate note to stick on it... there's an interesting thought. Prepared for any situation. Heh heh. Ok for anyone who doesn't know me, it's a joke, ok? I'm not writing an alternate note. "Hi, I was going to give this to someone else, but... here... enjoy!" Heh heh.

To the 4 people who read this blog... any gift ideas? Leave me a comment...

Ok, off to find my xanax.

6 comments:

Carlos said...

HI Susan, ;) I am sure there are more than 4 people reading your blog. I enjoy it. I wish you a nice trip and days in Chicago. Concerning the gift issue... It is not easy. I have a friend who gave a bottle of wine for her region to Plácido Domingo. I know other people who bring cd live recordings and/or original photos to the singers. I know some singers did show an interest when they saw some pictures of them, asking for to have a copy. Also some other ones like very much to have live recordings and they ask for a copy. But this not walways the case. I think that Anna Netrebko, for instance, does not likes to listen her live recordings. Sometimes I did ask myself about a bouquet of flowers and what they do with the flowers assuming they probably have several ones. But, talking again about Anna, last time in London I saw her and her manager leaving the stage door with 2 bouquet of flowers.

Enjoy your time and the performance in Chicago!

Anonymous said...

Hi Susan,
as Carlos I think there are more than 4 people reading this blog :)
I also thought about the bottle of wine, or another liquor...it's a difficult thing to decide, but whatever it is the gift, I'm sure he will appreciate the thank you meaning.

Enjoy Barbiere and tell us about it when you come back!

Parsifal said...

OMG! The moment i read about a gift i said "Great Operatic disasters"!!! It's hilarious! You can also buy for Nathan a copy of Fassbinder's "Le Querelle" and for Joyce a book about professional photo shooting...

Susan said...

Thanks for the ideas. One of the book sellers informed me that the package came back to them empty! What's that all about?

Lilly said...

Flowers...not a good idea. I can tell you exactly what happens to them! I went to a Ben Heppner recital in Vienna once and went out to dinner with him and his voice teacher from high school afterwards. She gave him a beautiful, HUGE bouquet of flowers and after I walked with him back to his hotel (his voice teacher had already left), he gave ME the flowers! :O

The way to Nathan's heart - GOLF!

Susan said...

LOL Elizabeth you're funny. First of all, the whole gift thing is a token thank-you to John Osborn for putting me on the backstage list. Flowers were never an option, lol. Nice name dropping, btw. ;)

I'm not trying to get to Nathan's heart, lol. I wasn't really planning on giving him a gift. Hey, I've spent tons of cash on his CDs and opera tickets... he should give ME a gift, lol.