Pre-Hijack 6 Month Update

I seriously haven’t posted since JANUARY????? Yikes.

So I guess I’ll squash 6 months worth of opera and Mars activity into one post before hijacking my own blog to participate in an education chat over the summer.

One topic at a time:

First… The WING is no longer. I’m not sure what happened. So … I’m back on the main stage, as they call it. I’ve performed in two concerts. One was “April in Paris” and it was so much fun!

It was held at a historic mill – basically this large barn-like structure with some antique milling equipment still there. The stage is about 2 steps up from the floor. The floor was set with little round tables, cabaret style. There was a table of food at the back. And as the name suggests, it was all in French. Now, to back up… I had been working on Voi che sapete, then I learned of the theme about a week and a half before the show. French! Hmmm… back when I first began studying voice, I did learn a few songs in French. The easiest one for me to relearn in time to perform was The Tipsy Waltz. There were two Opera Project rehearsals and I had just one voice lesson before the concert.  It’s such a short song that

I sang it through twice. See if you can tell when I spilled the wine all over my dress.

The next month we had another cabaret-style concert at the mill. This time I sang Voi che sapete. The person who recorded this for me probably didn’t realize he was recording it sideways! Here we go:

I still need to work on standing still! Also, breath control. Remember to breathe! But I’m doing so much better with keeping my voice on top of the air.

Now I’m learning this silly aria from Barber of Seville. The maid sings it – it’s about how crazy the house is with everyone being in love with all different people, love is this terrible thing and OH NO SHE FEELS IT TOO. No video yet of ME singing it. Here’s a silly one I like. It doesn’t include the recit, which is a about 30 seconds long.

Then the other day I found a CD I made of accompaniments for songs I was learning with my voice teacher. I sang through them for my current voice teacher and we decided to work on Gretchen am Spinnrade and Vedrai carino. And I’m going into it all with the attitude of DON’T FEAR THE HIGH NOTES!!

So that’s the voice lesson summary. Now, onto the performances I’ve attended.

JOYCE DIDONATO in Princeton! Yes indeed. She is amazing. Had front row balcony in a tiny tiny venue.

Then I saw her AGAIN in May at the Met. La Cenerentola. Went alone. Went to the matinee. Took myself out for lunch at Bar Boloud beforehand. Food and service were fab fab fab. I had the prix-fix 3 course lunch. There was pate with these tiny pickles, quiche and a pear tart.

It was more food than I could eat. Then I went across the street to the Met and made my way to my seat in the orchestra rear. I was about 3 rows from the very back. View from my seat:

The opera itself was FABULOUS. But of course it was. How can any opera with Juan Diego Florez and Joyce DiDonato be anything but? She'll be there again next year. And so will I of course!

Next season I plan to see The Merry Widow and of course La Donna Del Lago. Nathan Gunn, Renee Fleming, Juan Diego Florez, Joyce DiDonato and John Osborn!!! Whoop whoop. Will convince the Huz to come with me to at least one of those.

Finally, in Mars news... not much. Saw Artifact in NYC. Ticket included Q&A and photo with Jared. He saw me and said, "Hey! The opera singer! We have an opera singer here!" And I swooped in for the hug. 

Future Mars news: 2 shows in August, but they're sharing the billing with another band so I have a feeling the crowd won't be the same. We'll see!

And now, the next several posts over the summer will be related to a virtual camp I'm participating in, about school involvement in the community. And maybe opera stuff, if anything happens in the middle of the summer.

Past, Present, Future

I really have no excuse for not blogging in so long. I keep having ideas of things I want to blog about, but I never seem to have them when I'm sitting in front of my computer.

So let's first do an update on Things That Have Already Happened.

Remember that contest I begged for votes for? Not the vintage cherry one. This one, to win a Meet & Greet with 30 Seconds to Mars? Well, like the vintage cherry contest, I won this one too, thanks to everyone's loyal daily voting!

Here we are in the room while Jared Leto thanked us blah blah blah.

Then we had the photos. Tomo, the "thumbs-up" guy in the black leather jacket, is the guitarist. As soon as he saw me he shouted, "OPERA SINGER!" So I gave him a big hug. Chatted with them a little, took this BORING photo...

So I asked for another, more creative pose:

This all took place before the concert, so even though we had been in the front of the line, we had no chance of getting on the barrier by the time we got into the theater. Instead we went up to the balcony and joined this row of photographers in the 1st row up there. They left after a few songs so then we had the row to ourselves!!

Next, let's have some singing updates. My last voice lesson was in March. I haven't had one since, and have been to only one coaching. I did perform, though. Here's what I did ... probably the best singing in front of people that I've ever done:



I'm thankful that I did have a chance to show this video to my voice teacher before she died.

There's a memorial for her at the end of the month. It'll be nice, I think. I've had no one really to talk to about her, I've just been mourning sort of on my own, which is very lonely. 

The other thing that's been filling my time and brain is that my son is now going to a special ed school for "smart kids with behavior challenges" ie, autism and adhd. We toured a bunch of schools, it was quite stressful. But we all like where he is now, him included. So things are settling down. I'm still doing a great deal of advocacy on his behalf with the school district over a few things, but things are getting done.

All this and I haven't really had time to sing. I sing a little, here and there, and of course in the car. But I feel like I'm losing my breath control and technique. I need a teacher. I have no idea how to find one, because I want MY teacher back. She didn't require payment up front, she understood that "life happens" and sometimes you have to cancel a lesson. I think I canceled maybe twice in the 4 years I went to her. Funny, my 1st two voice teachers sort of fell into my lap, without me looking for them. So who knows what'll happen next in my explorations.
 
More future stuff is, Met Opera tickets go on sale August 11. I want to see La Cenerentola and Die Fledermaus. It's hard to find someone to go with me though, and I don't have the money to shell out for an extra ticket in the hopes that someone will go. So I have a week to find a companion and convince them to pay now for an opera in April. Otherwise, I'm going alone. Wish me luck. I'll probably be going alone to Joyce DiDonato's recital in Princeton, but that's no big deal... just a 20 minute drive. I can eat pizza for dinner and still make it to the recital. But it's more fun when going to the Met to make it an adventure. So, we'll see!

Professional Advice

I've been bad, bad, bad about writing. I've thought of all sorts of things to write, but haven't gotten my act in gear to sign in and actually write. And I'm still not there yet. I'm here today to embed this video from the lovely Joyce DiDonato, about how she handles nerves when it's time to perform. I'll definitely be following her advice about handling the physiological reactions the next time I'm about to step out in front of people to sing... and that might be next week at the 30 Seconds to Mars meet and greet. More on that later. For now, look at this:

Comte Ory in Multiples of Three

Saturday was packed with opera! I had a rehearsal for an upcoming Opera Project recital at 3. We got there promptly at 3:00 and I'm proud to say I think I sang pretty well! I did the song twice because my teacher arrived halfway through the first time. Then we all chatted briefly with the director. I told him that we were on our way into NYC to see Le Comte Ory, and who was in it. Well. He told me that the O.P. is planning on doing some sort of benefit next year for some sort of vocal award (can't remember the particulars of any of it) and happens to be an award that both Juan Diego Florez and Joyce DiDonato have won. And there's a slight slight infinitesimal chance that they would actually be at the event. I mean, let's be realistic. It's highly unlikely. Highly. But just the idea that there's even the slightest, less-than-1% chance that they could be there… OH.MY.GOD. Just the idea is leaving me floating in my happy place. And then off Husband and I went to see them in NYC.

We drove in and got there an entire hour before our restaurant reservation. We wandered around a little and then ducked into Bar Boulod for drinks.

The pink drink is some fabulous mixture of blood orange and absinthe. The other is kumquat and I don't recall what kind of alcohol. They were both yum.

Then we went to Rosa Mexicana where I had a mango laden drink and Husband had an uber-fancy margarita. Then he had a pear something with cinnamon simple syrup that I drank most of.

He ended with a glass of "sipping" tequila and I had a coffee with Kahlua, tres leches and Kahlua mousse. And that's just the drinks. The food was YUM. We ended up with their famous guac for two, then we shared a bunch of appetizers as our meal. Everything was delicious, PLUS we had room for dessert: The most scrumptious flan ever, with a scoop of absolutely delectable chocolate mole sorbet that was just TO DIE FOR.

We stumbled across the street to the Met where I bought myself a wind-up Nunzilla that spits fire!!! Look! I also got a Magic Flute flipbook, which Alex at first rejected but then later looked through and now loves.

We got to our seats with plenty of time to hit the restroom.

View from the seats:

And now, the opera itself.

Very loosely, the story line is, the men have gone off to fight in the Crusades. Their wives have vowed to live as widows until they return. The countess isn't married but her brother is one of the crusaders so she decides to live as a widow too. So they're all (allegedly) chaste and in mourning. The Count Ory, who happens to be in love with the countess, but apparently not THAT much, sees this opportunity to help "console" all these lonely women so he runs off with his assistant and comes to the village disguised as an old wise hermit, complete with long hair and a long beard. His assistant totes him as this mystical guy who can grant them blessings, etc. So he comes in and all the women are fawning all over him. Everyone lines up to ask him for blessings. He is all, come back to my hovel with me and I'll comfort and bless you all. Then along comes Isolier, his page. This is a trouser role played by Joyce DiDonato (who tweeted me back during intermission when I tweeted her a photo of my view of the stage!) So of course the hermit/count recognizes the page, but the page doesn't recognize his boss. He too is in love with the countess. The countess has asked for an audience with the hermit because she's so depressed. Isolier suggests that the hermit counsel the countess to fall in love with Isolier to help lift her depression. Isolier also tells the hermit of his idea to sneak into the castle dressed as a nun. So of course the count is all pissed off that Isolier is his rival, and of course he steals his idea. The countess comes, he counsels her, she falls in love with Isolier, there's all this confusion typical of Rossini and then the hermit removes his hair, beard and raggedy shift to reveal that he's actually the count. Everyone is royally pissed off, they chase each other around in circles, etc. End of Act 1.

Zipped out to the balcony for some fresh air:

Act 2 takes place in the Countess' castle. It begins with a terrible thunderstorm, complete with pyrotechnics on stage - they used some sort of arc-creating device like a welding tool to create the lightning, it was really cool. So all the ladies in the castle are freaked by the storm, then there's a knock on the door - it's a bunch of nuns who claim they have been harassed by the count. Except… it IS the count and his knights. We have an absolutely ridiculous scene where the count, dressed as a nun, thanks the countess for saving them… and gets very, very friendly. The countess is like, what the… why is this nun behaving this way… meanwhile… the count's assistant, dressed as a nun, has broken into the wine cellar and brought the nun-knights plenty of bottles. And I have to say that nothing pleased me more than to see Juan Diego Florez dressed in a nun's habit, spinning happily in the middle of the stage, habit flying out. The nuns-knights proceed to get trashed. Every time a woman from the castle came by they pretended to pray, but it was more and more difficult for them the more they had to drink. They sang, they danced, they formed a kick line. It was hilarious.

Then by far the best scene… Isolier gains entrance to the castle. When he learns that a group of nuns is there, he realizes that the count has stolen his idea and it's actually all men. Oh the horror, oh the scandal!! Isolier pledges to protect the Countess. They figure the count will try to sneak into her bed that night so Isolier stays with her. And of course he does, pretending to be the nun and claiming to be scared and unable to sleep. What ensues is confusing and hilarious. He gets into bed with them and somehow (perhaps because he's drunk??) doesn't realize that Isolier is there. So the three of them are pretty much all over each other. Isolier tells the countess (who at this point knows it's the count and not a nun) that if it makes the count happy, why not let him caress her? Yowza baby! It was quite interesting to watch, and watching through binocs gave it an added touch of voyeurism that opera is known for. They were seriously all over each other. Hands on legs, diving under her dress, snarfling each other and so on. It was this bizarre sensual mixture of, are we watching a woman with two guys (Countess, Page and Count) or a guy with two women (Juan Diego, Joyce and Diana)? At the end the husbands return and the count I guess gives up.

The singing was, of course, spectacular. At some points Juan Diego was a bit hard to hear. Diana Damrau… what a treat to hear her sing. Those high notes…WOW!! She seemed to have a little trouble with a few of them but for the most part she was spot on. And Joyce DiDonato…adorable. ADORABLE!

After intermission the people next to us didn't return to their seats so we got to spread out a little. Did they leave or simply move to other empty seats? Who knows…

Here are some videos the Met posted on their YouTube page, taken at the dress rehearsal... including the Menage a trois from act 2. As usual, if the blogger format cuts the video edge, click through to YouTube to see it.

More Reasons to Love the Internet

Confession time!!! I was a teenager, temporarily. Here's how it all happened.

Alex is pretty much obsessed with Star Wars. Eventually I learned the names of the actors in the "new" prequels, googled them, (because I live under a rock ... apparently I was the only female on the face of the planet who hadn't ever heard of Hayden Christensen, the guy who portrayed Anakin Skywalker, you know, Darth Vader before he turned to the dark side) and then looked at their other stuff. And because I'm a teenager at heart, I ended up watching this Canadian tv series about troubled teens at a boarding school in the mountains, called Higher Ground, starring the same Mr Christensen when he was a teenager. That of course led me to watch other angsty high-school tv shows, specifically, Freaks and Geeks (loved it then, still love it!) and My So Called Life (loved it then, still love it!). Then I googled all those people to get the "where are they now" update and found out that the guy everyone wanted to make out with in the boiler room on MSCL, Jared Leto, has been in this sort of progressive rock band for the past several years called 30 Seconds to Mars. It's not opera. No.... way.... but it's compelling. And or course most of their fans are, you know, young enough to be my kids, but... whatever. They have this almost cult following - catch phrases, clothing, war paint, screaming fans, etc. I would have loved these guys had they been around when I was a teenager. I mean, they've got the looks, makeup and fashion of Adam Ant and Duran Duran but they have actual musical talent. I love the drums. So here I am, watching, or trying to watch, a livestream of a chat with the band. It's insane. It was insane... it's already over due to technical difficulties... So the band was on a webcam and there was a live chat window that flew by at the speed of light. Then it all crashed... and thanks to Twitter updates I know that they lost internet access at their hotel in Tel Aviv ... But the cult members, uh, I mean, fans, I'm sure, were shrieking to see their leaders uh I mean, idols, live on the screen for those few minutes. It got me thinking, I can't even imagine what my life would have been like had the internet existed when I was a teenager. It's truly unfathomable. Meanwhile, there I was, listing to Alex play Mario Cart Wii, saying goodbye to Husband as he left to see a baseball game, wondering if maybe I should shut down the computer and feed my child... nah, he knows where the food is.

So as I stated early on in the life of this blog, I love the internet. I love how on Twitter you can follow "famous" people and sort of communicate with them, and know from the time of their updates exactly when they are doing something. So I guess I love the legitimate stalking aspect of it. It's not really stalking - after all, if you use twitter you are giving the world permission to see whatever is it you post there. Also I love how, on the internet you can make friends with people you never would have met before, how you can trade information and how a band can try to hold a live chat with their fans. I mean, how COOL is that? Are opera singers doing that? I don't mean voice lessons on Skype. I think live opera via one of those live video chat feeds is in order.

In a sort of related post, Joyce DiDonato has started a Vlog on YouTube. I hope that doesn't mean she'll slow down her writing, because I love reading her blog. And I can't wait to see her at the Met!!! Next April. It'll be here before I know it. Together with JDF and Diana Damrau. Seems unreal. And my plan is to stay healthy... no backstage acupuncture this time, if only because I can't be guaranteed another view from the wings.

Had a voice lesson yesterday. Will post about that later ... however I do want to mention that the next Opera Project recital is September 26. In fact, I think I'll call the Guy In Charge right now to remind him that I'm interested in performing. And then, perhaps I should feed my child...

...and one more thing...

Don't think I've forgotten that I'm seeing Nathan Gunn from the 4th row later this month at Carnegie in Grapes of Wrath, cuz I haven't. There's just so much other stuff going on in Real Life that it has sort of slipped to the back of my mind. It's coming forward again and I'm getting excited. I'm starting to plan that adventure, including, of course, what to wear. Going with a good friend who has been wanting to see him perform forever. Can't wait!!

And then I'm seeing him yet again in early April, with Banawoman, at the Met. Grand Tier Rear, that's us. I mean, that's where we'll be sitting. We are busy planning that event as well. One thing that's not in the plan is me getting sick. Not that I planned it last time, but you know what I mean. Not that I don't like a little backstage action, mind you, just... not at that price. And not really that type of backstage action. Wait a sec, that sounds wrong. Ha! What I mean by action is, I don't want to develop acupuncture track-marks, thankyouverymuch, plus I'd probably be banned from the Met forever or something if it happened twice in a season.

Did I mention next season yet? Did I mention Nathan in Cosi in the fall and Magic Flute in English at the holidays? And then there's Le Comte Ory in April 2011, with Juan Diego, Diana D and Joyce D???? How fast will those tickets sell out? I guess I know where I'll be at noon on August 15.

Bidding for Good

Just came across this site, Bidding for Good. A quick search for "opera" brought up this auction. Yes, that's an opening bid of $150 for TWO orchestra seats for Barber of Seville in LA.



As usual, click through to YouTube to see the entire video frame.

And getting back to the Bidding for Good site, there are all sorts of auctions there, for every organization you can think of. Also of interest to me is this one, which I'd consider bidding on if I weren't waiting to find out about supering in it. I'm laughing because I'm thinking, Wait, aren't I busy that day? And that's because I have the performance dates in the back of my mind, just in case.

In case you don't feel like following the links, here are the descriptions:

LA Opera:

Estimated Value $446.00

Two Orchestra Seats at the LA Opera for The Barber of Seville. Dec. 19th, 8PM perf. Value $223 each. For this effervescent comic opera, LA Opera has assembled an all-star cast featuring two celebrated artists. The New York Times commented that the "dashing Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez was a vocally brilliant and charming Count Almaviva...and the perky, rich-toned and vocally brilliant young American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato had a triumph as Rosina." Principals include audience favorite Nathan Gunn as Figaro, who brings to the role "unmistakable star power"

Carmen:

You and 5 friends will enjoy VIP treatment at NJPAC’s presentation of Bizet’s Carmen performed by Opera New Jersey and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra on February 12, 2010. This package includes 6 premium seats in the President’s box, pre-performance and intermission use of a salon complete with refreshments of wine and fruit, and a backstage tour!

Sounds good to me. The opening bid on that is $177. The value listed there is "priceless." But it wouldn't be priceless for me, because I don't know of 5 people who'd want to come with me. I'd have to pay them to come. That, on top of the winning bid... I guess I'll keep my bidding card down for that one.

Break a Leg?

I know I'm a little late in posting this "breaking" news, but post it I will.

Superwoman mezzo Joyce Didonato fell in the middle of a production of Barbiere in London this weekend. She continued on to finish the performance with a cane before heading out to the ER. Turns out she broke her leg. Yes. She broke her leg in Act 1, grabbed a cane and kept on going.

Wow!!!

Read more here. See pictures here.

Get well soon Joyce!!!!

For All You Mezzos Out There

Joyce DiDonato has a recent blog entry outlining her take on a bunch of different "trouser" roles. It's pretty interesting - check it out!

Another Take on Romeo

How beautiful is this???!!!



Thanks to the person who alerted me to this video!

My Alternate Blog Life

Rehearsals for La Traviata start next week. The super captain send an email saying that once again the opera company is looking for guest bloggers so I whipped up an entry and emailed it to the woman in charge. It hasn't shown up on the blog yet but I think it will. Last year's social dynamics thing went a little too far, publicity-wise, so I decided to tone it down a bit and submit more user-friendly entries. This one was inspired by a comment I left on one of Joyce DiDonato's recent blog entries. It sort of reads like a high school essay. Don't worry, my entries here will not be affected, I promise.

June 9, 2008

A Super Summer - What to Wear?

I'm very excited to be a part of my <>'s summer season. This year I'll be a supernumerary, or, "super," in La Traviata. The supers perform the non-speaking, non-singing roles in operas. I haven't had the first rehearsal yet so I don't know exactly what part I'll be playing, but I've already had to submit a form with all my measurements for the costume department.

It amazes me that someone can look at this list of measurements and sew together a costume to fit. Last year as a monk my costume seemed simple – a monk's robe – but each person is a different height, with different length arms, so the costume department had to make many last minute adjustments so we all looked exactly the same. Then they label the costumes so you don't grab the wrong one when it's time to get dressed.

The costume department does more than make all the costumes from scratch. During the production one costume person was in the dressing room before the show helping anyone who needed assistance. Several costume people were backstage checking each person prior to going on stage. They were busy for most of the performance, fixing hems, repairing tears and doing whatever else needed to be done to ensure that we all looked perfect. I'm not sure but I think each lead in the production had a dedicated costume person who helped them change between scenes. In spite of all this crazy activity just before and during the show, they always had a friendly smile and were always ready to help.

I'm looking forward to finding out what kind of costume I'll be wearing this year!


*******
Is that ending dorky enough? Wow, it's true, I really am a geek. Well, that doesn't surprise me. It also doesn't surprise me that no matter what I do, I can't get this section to go flush to the left like the top section.

Back on Track

Voice lesson coming up this Thursday. In the airport and on the plane on the way to Chicago I read through the music, tapped out the beat, matched the words to the beat and sang it in my head to get the tune. It's cool because I'm really learning to read music. Then last week Alex was playing with Husband's electric guitar tuner. Guess what? It has an audio input mic and a little screen with a frequency meter, and lights that come up for sharp and flat- it's awesome! So now I'm testing myself for pitch. I'll think, ok, let's sing a B. And I'll try to hear it in my head, and then sing it. The meter tells me if I'm close. It's great! I'm getting better with practice.

I clipped out a few arias, duets and ensembles from the recent Barbiere. I can't stop listening to Dunque Io Son. I think I have a girl crush on Joyce... or at least on her voice! It's soooooo beautiful. So I emailed the song to my voice teacher with a message saying that THIS is what I want to sound like... can we do it? I was kidding of course. But a girl can dream, no?

Fun With Captions

I didn't come up with this - I'm posting it with permission of the "author."

Fantasy vs Reality

At the bar with John, at one point I was taking something out of my purse and out fell the insert to Nathan's CD. I never did ask him for an autograph - it just seemed so, I don't know, like a strange thing to do. John insisted that if I left it with him, he'd get Nathan to sign it and would send it back to me. I gave him my address. I kept saying, "I'm never going to see that again, am I?" and he kept laughing and insisting that he would send it back.

I wonder if I'll ever see it again...

Joyce DiDonato posted a cute portrait of Nathan in her latest blog entry. She didn't publish my comment on one of her other photos though. My comment was about what she wrote more than about the picture. Trying not to come across as the stalking opera freak so I'll lay low on the comments.

Edited to Add: She did post it and comment back. :)

I keep rereading my previous post. I need to be hit with a reality stick. But not yet, please let me enjoy these last few moments of fantasy...

How I Saw Nathan Gunn In His Underwear

I realize that there's just too much to write about to put it all in one long post, so as the events of the past week seep from my short term to my long term memory I'll try to get them down.

I decided that there's no reason I have to write about the trip in chronological order, so let's just jump right in. And I'll try to keep it semi-professional and mature, but once I get going I can't make any promises...

So the opera... I had the concierge at the hotel take my picture:

He even gave me fashion advice: Hair down, not pulled back in a barrette.


So down I went, trying not to slip on the marble floor in my heels. Took a cab to the opera house to save my feet as well as my shoes.

There were two signs inside the front door of the opera house, one warning that there will be gunshots during the performance, and this one:

So put on your disco shoes and try not to have a seizure...









Got to my seat and had to take a few more, all time time expecting some official to tell me to stop. The opera house is gorgeous.













The opera was FABULOUS!!! The scenery was amazing - bright colors and clouds, and the costumes matched the scenes. Everyone looked wonderful.

John was great as Almaviva. There were times, of course, when I was sitting there in my 14th row seat wondering what it would have been like to have Juan Diego that close, but that doesn't mean I was disappointed. I just... wondered.

And then Nathan. Oh. My. God. Figaro's Largo aria... they wheel out the "shop" and he's asleep on a cot on a loft. One leg is out the window. The other I think is on the floor. And he's wearing nothing but underwear. Gulp. I had my binocs focused! He pops out singing and gets dressed. Sticks his hand down his pants to arrange the business as he hits the high notes. The audience loved it. I almost fell out of my seat. (and just think, I shook hands with him later that evening.)
His singing and acting were perfect. That voice like melting chocolate just washes over you. It oozes out all sweet and rich and yummy. Ok stopping myself now... He was the perfect Figaro. He ran through those coloraturas and made them look easy. Like a piece of cake. Chocolate cake with a gooey warm chocolate center. Oh wait I said I would stop...

Joyce was great too. She played Rosina as a sort of petulant teenager. And her voice - WOW. It reverberates through your entire body. That's one of the things I love about live opera - how visceral it is, the sound washes through you and you feel it as well as hear it. It's why it can move me to tears sometimes. Although at Barber they were tears of laughter.

John was great as Almaviva - so funny. As the music teacher he sounded just like a sheep or goat, and he did this ridiculous little jump in between some of the lines. It was hilarious. And of course he did Cessa like it was nothing. Made it look easy. Beautiful light tone, rippled through all the trills, coloraturas and whatever they're officially called like he was out for a stroll.

Everyone left the theater with a smile on their face.

Then... in true teenager fashion I felt pretty smug squishing past the people at the stage door because I was "on the list." Very juvenile, I know. Heh heh.

I was hovering in the hallway by the dressing rooms when Nathan came out to leave. He turned to go the other way from where I was in the hallway so I called out to him, told him who I was and that I was Ricardo's friend and he came right over. Ricardo, if you recall, is one of Nathan's students, and he had emailed me earlier that week to tell me that he told Nathan I was coming all the way from NJ to see him. I couldn't let him leave so I said, "I just HAVE to get a picture with you, is that ok?" And he was like, Sure, let's find a spot, and we went into John's dressing room. John took the pictures. Well first he pushed the wrong button on the phone, then one shot was blurry so we had to do another, then of course I wanted one with the real camera and luckily he noticed that the setting was for landscape so he had to change that... and the whole time I'm there with Nathan's arm around me, holding me pretty darn tight. Like pressed into his side. I was like, holy sh!t I'm standing here with Nathan Gunn and his arm is around me and mine is around him and I can't think. He was talking to me about Ricardo and I was just all smiley and, "Uh huh... oh yes, Ricardo, he's great, uh huh...."

Seriously he was so cute that I was a bit star-struck and couldn't do much more than smile and try not to giggle. He just kept smiling right back and making the most wonderfully intense eye contact. I seriously felt like I was 15. If he had asked me to come on tour with him to do his laundry I would have said, "Do you want me to separate the colors? Maybe iron your underwear?" Then his wife sent him a text message to come home so off he went. Oh well. I gave him the CD of those live recordings from all over the place and told him that there were lots of live recordings online. I wrote a little note with it too, a dorky stupid note because, well, that's me, and I mentioned all the live stuff online and that I can tell him how to find it if he wants. Of course I gave him no way to contact me... even though technically he already has my email because we've already exchanged a couple, as well as a message or two on MySpace. He seemed really thrilled when he saw it was a CD of himself.

I gave John the book and a CD of Barbiere from San Fran opera that he did with Nathan. He was funny, he said, "You were much more outgoing last time, you seem so shy today." I was totally making fun of myself - "I'm just a little star-struck... you know... just met Nathan... it'll pass..." Must be tough being one of the stars and having everyone go ga-ga over the other guy.

I met Joyce too, and she was really nice. Her niece and nephew were there, I'm guessing he's about 5 or 6 and she's about 3 or 4. They were upset that she and John kissed at the end and she was explaining to them that they didn't really, it just looked like they did, and the boy kept saying, "But you're married," and she kept saying, "So is John - it's all pretend, it's ok." It was very cute. I gave her a recording of a recent Cenerentola she did. She also seemed thrilled to have it. Plus I gave her the earrings I made for her. I posted pictures of them a few posts back. She said that the timing was perfect because recently all her jewelry was stolen. How awful is that???? I happened to have a pair of "backup" earrings in my bag because I couldn't decide which ones to wear that night, so I gave those to her too, explaining that I have all the beads and can make them again, so she wouldn't feel bad. She was wearing a really nice, chic looking dress - I should've asked her where she got it. Joyce, if you read this, I loved that little dress you had on!

Then John, his friend Larry and I went out for a drink. The nearby pub was closed, and Larry and I happened to be staying at the same hotel, so we walked there. Yes, I ended up walking in those shoes all the way back to the hotel. We had fun just talking and joking - I won't go into details here because I really just want to get this post up.

There will be more posts about this as more details pop into my head. Like how when Nathan was leaving and he put his hand out and I took it and he sort of slid his hand out as he walked away... yeah John there's a reason I couldn't talk after that. I'm surprised I could still stand.

Seriously, how old am I?

Let's repost that picture.

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.