Lest We Forget...

...in spite of all the silliness, it really is all about the music. Someone pointed out to me that they don't care about singers off stage - it's about how they sing, not how they look or behave. Perhaps my posts have gotten off track with all the stage-door silliness, but it really has been about the music all along.

When I went to Romeo, I had no thoughts of waiting by the stage door to meet Nathan. Of course I was excited to see him perform live. But the whole experience of that evening was what it was all about - I had no thoughts of trying to meet anyone. Here's yet another post about the music.

When I bought my ticket to Chicago, it was to see Nathan Gunn and Juan Diego Florez perform together, not to meet them. I vacillated about waiting at the stage door or not for them, and was leaning towards not... and then the Fishbone happened, and I went to the NJ Opera party and met John. He invited me backstage in Chicago and, well, Nathan and Joyce were there. I'm happy that they were, it was a great experience, but it's not why I went there.

Then getting that picture with Juan Diego last week ... I had no plans of going to the stage door until Denise kept urging me. Then I realized that I had no plans to do, well, anything... I was in no rush to get back on a train... so I figured, sure, why not go? And it sure was an interesting experience, to see the crowd that gathered, and it was great fun to get the picture.

Ever since I was a teenager I felt that if I ever heard a musician whose music had touched me in some way, that I would like to meet them to thank them. I did just that. I think it makes them feel like their hard work is worth it when someone does that.

So again, I don't plan on going far out of my way to meet the performers that I like, but if it's easy to do, like at the Met or with NJ Opera, or if it falls into my lap, like in Chicago, I'm not going to say no. And then, of course, I'll take pictures, write all about it and compare the experiences, because how fun is that???