It's Fun to Have Fun!

The Cat in the Hat says, "It's fun to have fun BUT you have to know how."

So rather than sit here all mopey because I know that the Summer season at my local opera company is starting next week and I won't be a part of it... ok well in addition to sitting here all mopey... I'm suddenly getting very excited about my June adventures!

First - Studio recital - me and the teenagers! I love it! I never know if I should hang out with them since we're all students, or with their moms since we're the same age. Ok, yes, I end up with the moms, mostly because I don't know any of the pop-culture references so important to my fellow students. Actually the adventure starts the day before the recital. The day before the recital is Alex's 5th birthday and of course we're having a party. It'll be small. A few people are coming from about 90 minutes away so I'll drag a friend and possibly my sis-in-law to the run-through which happens to be smack dab in the middle of the birthday afternoon. My teacher is letting me go first for the run-through so I can arrive, sing and then run home to catch up with the gin-and-tonic crowd in my backyard. It's really mainly an opportunity to practice with the accompanist. So she handed out a permission slip (ha!) that said that only parents are allowed to attend the run-through. Since my parents live in Florida and I can sign my own permission slip, thankyouverymuch, I'll have my girlfriends be my substitute parents. Then the recital is the next evening. I think my teacher said I'm near the end. Of course I'll get Husband to record it. Heck I'll get my surrogate parent (who happens to be younger than me!!) to record the run-through the day before. If it's halfway decent I'll post it!

Then the following week I'm meeting regular reader and commenter, Banawoman, in the flesh!!!! I am so excited! Now what's totally cool about that is, not only are we meeting, but we are going to Rape of Lucretia together. Banawoman and I "met" when she joined Nathan Gunn's Yahoo fan page. I'm one of the moderators there so the membership approval emails come to me. (And just to clarify, my blog is in no way, shape or form affiliated with that group. Totally... Separate...Entity.) So she made some silly comment in her approval request and I replied with an email directly to her, which is odd because most of the time I just approve the memberships without emailing the person, or maybe I'll email a short, "You're approved" note. But I sent her a real reply, and she replied, and suddenly we were emailing and chatting every day. After she went to see Pearl Fishers we started talking on the phone regularly. No, we don't discuss Mr. Gunn. I mean, occasionally, but he is not the main topic of our conversations. Anymore. He was the catalyst and then BOOM it all took off without him. She and I are great friends - we talk about everything. We support each other through annoyances, tough times, joys, happy times and so on, and trust me, both our lives have been full of all of that in the past several months. So I'm super-excited to finally meet her in person, and then to go with her to see the guy who, if it weren't for him, we never would have become friends. I have a few friends thanks to him, actually. So maybe, just maybe, if Banawoman and I do hang out at the stage door afterwards ... unless by some freak of circumstance we get onto the backstage list! That's June 12, in case anyone with the Power to do that checks in... Just leave me an anon comment and I won't approve it, or email me luindriel@gmail.com! Yes, this is me NOT asking to get backstage. Right. So where was I? Yeah so if we do hang out at the stage door, I suppose we could thank the man for "introducing" us. And don't worry, Dear Readers, I won't disappoint you - no doubt I'll say/do something stupid and embarrassing for you all to laugh over and be thankful that it wasn't you. And if asked, I will pose for a photo. Maybe it'll have all of everyone's heads. Wouldn't that be novel?

So let's see... I haven't really looked beyond the Philadelphia Opera Nathan Gunn thing, since that would mean thinking about how I'm not supering and wondering how the rehearsals are going. However, a very talented, nice, considerate opera singer/blogger/all-around-wild-and-crazy-gal whose life should one day be portrayed as a comedy series on HBO (but who ever would play her???) and who I think I now owe about 36 drinks has graciously and generously offered me a comp (that means FREE!))) ticket to the final dress of one of the summer's operas because she's IN IT!!! So of course I'll go.

Hmm maybe I can get comps for the other final dresses. I mean, seriously, I was ready and willing to volunteer my time and sweat again this summer. Ok that's totally unrelated to me getting free dress rehearsal tickets but it sounds so dramatic, doesn't it? Anyway, I do know at least one of the supers who DID get in, as well as a few of the singers. I'd gladly donate money to the opera co if I had it. However, I don't have it, so I'm limited to volunteering...even if they don't need me... and of course I'd gladly accept free tickets to the other two final dress rehearsals. Ohh wait a sec can I go to the dress for the production I didn't get into? Hmm... Have to think about that one.

Ah once again opera and it's accouterments are keeping me awake.

The Older, The Louder

The studio class was tonight. What fun! The anon poster on my other entry was right - everyone was so supportive and nice. Of course I had more in common with the parents...

The students were ages 12, 13, 17, 18 and me, 41. One of the mothers was younger than me. All the parents thought I was a college student.

We drew numbers for the order and I got to go first. That was fine with me, I was going to volunteer to anyway.

So here I am explaining my character, her background, her motivation, her feelings and so on. Interestingly, I was also the only one who described the character without using that "upspeak" questiony voice. Obviously I've had a lot more practice speaking in public - and not just because of my advanced age - I was a teacher before I had Alex. Explain something to a group of people? No problem.



And here I am singing. Do I look like I'm so distraught that I want to die? Um... that's in the music, it's not how I felt about my performance.



So I sang through it once, then my teacher came up and said that by holding my arms up like that I was lifting the breath from down deep where it needed to be. She had me really press my hands towards the floor and WOW what a difference! Like, an immediate improvement. It was unbelievable. We went over a few other bits and bars of music and then I sang through it again. Well I tried to but the first time I dissolved into giggles and had to start over. And I know why - I could hear the improvement and sometimes I get so astonished that I'm able to produce a pretty sound that I just start laughing. But then I managed to sing it pretty well, I thought. (although not as well as I can do it home alone of course...) I wasn't as unhappy with my performance as I was after the eval. Everyone applauded, which was really nice. They all commented on the instant improvement.

After me, the kids sang. Their biggest obstacle is their lack of self-confidence and their concern with what others are thinking about them. That bled into their singing and caused them to be timid and flat. By flat I don't mean the notes, I mean the affect or demeanor. So with them after they sang their piece, the teacher worked on drawing more emotion of out them so they could better convey what the character was feeling. Two of the students did it pretty well - the 12 year old and the one boy who I think was 17. The 13 year old was tall and gorgeous with a beautiful figure that she was obviously ashamed of because, well, she's 13. She tended to slouch and was sooo quiet. Once she relaxed and stopped giggling she produced some really beautiful sounds. She has a lot of potential once she gets older. Afterwards I told her that I often giggle uncontrollably during lessons and sometimes have to raise the music stand so I don't see the teacher's face, just so she knows she's not the only one. The age/confidence factor definitely made a difference - I sang the loudest and I threw myself into the character. My teacher gave me advice on technique only, while she focused on meaning and emotion with everyone else.

Afterwards we had some snacks and then I had to make a choice: In one corner, the students sat together chatting... in the other, the parents. Of course I ended up with the parents. After everyone else left (they had homework!!!) I stayed behind to help clean up and chat with my teacher. We decided that we will go see La Sonnambula together at the Met next season so I'll be getting tickets when they go on sale to the public.

I have two lessons left, both make-up lessons. One is Saturday the 21st, the other is as of yet unscheduled. My homework is to translate that French aria the Evaluators recommended. I wonder where I put it...

Until then... Alex turns 4 tomorrow!!! And rehearsals for La Traviata start next week. I guess eventually someone will let me know when and where...