Double Cross-Dressing

Once again I find myself apologizing for the huge gap in posting. Last month was a little hectic, but things have finally calmed down enough for me to catch up. And guess what? I sang in a concert and I’m actually not disgusted with my performance! I mean, yeah, of course I hear all the mistakes, but I’m pretty pleased for the most part. Here, decide for yourself.



And yes, as you see, this is my “alternate” youtube account, because once again EMI has made copyright claims on the 30 Seconds to Mars videos I posted. I filed the same response as I did last time. If/when my Luindriel account is reinstated, I’ll quickly change the descriptions on all the Mars videos.

But back to the concert. I played Cherubino in drag in another scene, dressed as a girl from the village bringing flowers to the Countess. That was fun because I got to act, hiding behind other girls while they shoved me to the front, and then they spun me down the line to end the song with me presenting the flowers to the Countess on the last beat of the music.

I also sang in the chorus for scenes from Die Fledermaus, Madame Butterfly, Dido & Aeneas and The Mikado. If videos of any of those scenes show up anywhere, I’ll post links.

An Interlude to my Interlude

Lots going on here! YouTube reinstated my page, hooray! And I'm doing scenes and an aria at an upcoming Opera Project Wing concert. But more on all that later. I'm breaking my (unintentional) posting interlude with something I haven't done in a very long time... A Gunn Interlude.

Here Nathan talks about his top 5 shirtless roles. He seems to be smeared with mud and blood alot.



Note his reversal of barihunk into hunkatone. Somehow "hunkatone" has a slightly different meaning to me than "barihunk," and it actually does seem to more accurately describe him.

And here's another topic on which Mr. Gunn and I agree: His view on Opera vs "Popera." I have had, while not quite arguments, let's call them... heated discussions, with people, on why Andrea Bocelli is not really an opera singer, nor are any of those contestants on the many singing reality shows out there who choose to squawk out an aria when it's their turn to compete. It's not that these people don't have talent. They do! But they couldn't get on stage and sing an opera, without a mic.

So yeah, speaking of getting on stage and singing, I'll be singing Voi che sapete and also doing the Cherubino cross-dressing scene in the upcoming Opera Project "Artist Development Wing" concert. Basically it's me and 15 teenagers. The youngest is I believe 13. We are all singing in the chorus for scenes from Die Fledermaus, The Mikado, Dido & Aeneas and Madam Butterfly. We have actual staging and everything. I'll report more on that... eventually.

From YouTube to You Tomb

I'm out of town but had to make this quickie post to let you all know that YOUTUBE SHUT DOWN MY PAGE!!!! Apparently EMI records doesn't like people posting live concert footage of 30 Seconds To Mars, in spite of the fact that it in no way hurts record sales. So they've been filing copyright claims on youtube for live videos - I'm not the only one affected by this. After 3 claims, YouTube automatically shuts down the page. Nice!!! So there go all the Nathan Gunn vids, my singing vids, the John Osborn videos, I think I had a Christian Van Horn vid... all gone, along with all the comments. Camelot? Bye bye. Magic Flute? Gone, gone, gone. And what's even sadder about all this is, I think I trashed the Romeo, Camelot and Magic Flute vids from my hard drive a few months ago when it was too full. So when I return to home base I'll see if I can file a response or whatever to get my page reinstated, and if that fails, I'll make a new one. Meanwhile, the 4 people a year who access the "My Favorite Baritone" page are going to see a whole lot of "video not found" messages. Sorry, Nathan fans! I'll try to fix it as soon as I can. Meaning, at some point in 2012. Now, my next challenge is to figure out how to send this blog posting from an iPad. Wish me luck...OH! I see a publish button. That was easy! ps anyone know how to add tags?

A Double Dose

First off: This blogging format has me stumped. It adds lines that I'm not inserting. So if there's a gap after the picture, scroll down for more text. I have spent far too much time fiddling with the formatting to no avail...

So here we go!

Having some serious sighing sighing moments here. I’ve been in this position before. It’s all Juan Diego Florez’s fault. You see, I saw him at the Met in L’elisir D’amore on March 9, then I won the weekly Met drawing for the $25 orchestra seat tickets. For the same opera. Juan Diego Florez and Diana Damrau. Again. So of course I went! Two weeks later. And now I’m in that euphoria that only comes from seeing Juan Diego Florez sing, twice in two weeks.

The opera was amazing. Basic plot: Nemorino (Juan Diego Florez) loves Adina (Diana Damrau) but she keeps brushing him off. She reads everyone the story of Tristan and Isolde, how Tristan drinks a potion to make Isolde love him. An army regiment comes to town and Sergeant Belcore (Mariusz Kwiecien) sees Adina and proposes marriage. She finally gives in and accepts. Nemorino is heartbroken. Then a traveling quack doctor comes to town, selling a potion that can cure anything. Nemorino asks about the love potion. Of course the doctor says he makes it. He sells a bottle to Nemorino, telling him that it’ll take a day to work, but once it does, every girl will find him irresistible.

Nemorino is very excited and drinks it at once. Of course it’s actually a bottle of wine and he gets drunk. The best part of the opera: Juan Diego Florez doing a drunken happy dance. Some brave soul recorded it from one of the performances:

If the blogger format cuts off the edge, click through you YouTube. It was HILARIOUS!

Nemorino decides to ignore Adina because he believes that tomorrow she’ll love him, so why bother her now. She notices this, and is upset that he’s suddenly not paying attention to her anymore. He didn’t even come to the banquet to celebrate her upcoming wedding to Belcore. Nemorino decides he needs to buy another bottle, and joins Belcore’s regiment for the sign-on salary so he can afford the elixir.

Next, the village girls share the news that Nemorino’s uncle has died, leaving him a pile of money. So naturally he’s suddenly an excellent catch. The next time they see him, they’re all over him, trying to get his attention and win his affection. He hasn’t yet heard the news of his uncle’s death, so he thinks that the potion is working! Adina sees the girls fawning over him and gets very jealous.

Nemorino is packed to join the army, and he sings the famous “Una furtive lagrima” on his way. You could hear a pin drop, that’s how quiet the audience got. Did Adina shed a small tear at the news of his leaving? If so, he can die happy. Meanwhile she bought his contract back from Belcore to keep him there, and blah blah blah happy ending she and Nemorino end up together, her friend ends up with Belcore and the doctor declares another successful outcome of his marvelous potion.

Adventure number 1, March 9
Train to Penn Station:

Walk uptown to Cafe Fiorello. Get seated here:

Yummy food, as always, including this rum-soaked cake topped with meringue.

We got out of there with minutes to spare. We literally ran across the street to the Met and dashed up the stairs as the chimes were ringing. Keeping our momentum, after the usher directed us to our seats (2 rows down and to the left, for row F) we went straight down to Row A (6 rows down and to the right) where as of that morning there were still 2 unsold tickets. The seats were still empty and most of the audience was already in, so we figured we were safe. We settled in, took a “view from our seat” picture and then up went the chandeliers, like, right in front of us. Holy cow! We had upgraded our seats, ninja-style!

During intermission we posed for a few pictures on the outdoor balcony on the Grand Tier level:

And at the end, we all turned on our cameras (and I do mean all, like everyone in my section) to take pics and vids of the curtain call. Here is a zoomed-in shot of the picture I took:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
All in all, a fabulous evening at the opera.
 
Adventure number 2, March 24
 
So like I said, every week the Metropolitan Opera has a drawing for $25 orchestra seats for the upcoming weekend. I enter almost every week, and have never had my name drawn... until last week! Even though it was for the very same opera I had seen 10 days earlier... a chance to see Juan Diego Florez and Diana Damrau again... from the orchestra... for $25... I didn't hesitate.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I grabbed a different friend, one who had never been to the opera before in her life, and off we went. We decided to drive rather than take the train. My very first time driving in New York City! It wasn't a big deal at all, really. We parked in the Lincoln Center garage, grabbed the tickets from the box office and went across the street to find some dinner. Ended up at Fiorello again... but outside. With this view:
 
 

 


Of course we didn't skip dessert ... nom nom nom chocolate mousse!

 

Then we trotted across the street in our heels where there was plenty of time to hit the ladies room. We even did a little shopping at the table they have in the lobby from the gift shop.

 

 

The seats were far back enough that we were under the overhang of the balconies above. But there was no one directly in front of us, so we had a nice view:

Intermission, I dragged my companion to the Grand Tier outdoor balcony for the requisite pictures:

 People caught us taking that picture...



Then as the final chimes were ringing before act 2, two very tall people came and sat directly in front of us! We immediately moved forward to two empty seats about 5 rows up:

 

 

Now we were no longer under the overhand and WOW! What a difference in the sound!

I think the singers were even better the 2^nd time I saw them. Juan Diego Florez sang one legato line the entire opera. Music flows out of him like honey, sweet and luscious and yum. Diana Damrau’s voice moved me to tears at some points. The opera is a comedy and I was sitting there with moist eyes because her voice was just that beautiful. And again, like on the 1st night I was there, for Una Furtiva Lagrima, you could hear a pin drop, the audience was that quiet, until the end, when everyone hooted and hollered. The people we were sitting next to in Act 2 were whooping and yelling like we were at a rock concert. So was I… At the curtain call too. I didn’t take any pictures during the curtain call, but almost everyone around me pulled out their cameras.

The rest of the adventure involved driving around New York City looking for the hidden entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel, driving in the rain and fog on a road that suddenly exited into Newark with no warning, and eventually getting ourselves home safely.

I'm so happy that I got to see this opera again. I am in total Juan Diego Florez mode right now, listening to everything and anything I have. And melting. And wanting to see him perform again. And sad that I'll have a to wait a year for that to happen.  

Old Wish (Hopefully) Coming True!

Waaaaay back near the beginning of this blog I wrote about how totally awesome it would be to see Juan Diego Florez and Nathan Gunn in the same opera. Then, it almost happened, until the infamous fishbone incident. That all worked out for the best in the end… and at the time I thought, eventually, EVENTUALLY, they’ll be in something together at the Met. Well, finally, FINALLY, that eventuality has arrived! Or, it will arrive, a year from now. Look! So, the question is, do I go see Le Comte Ory again? Ok. Dumb question. Nathan Gunn and Juan Diego Florez in the same opera. Of course I do. And I drag along as many people as I can!!! Hopefully neither of them will swallow anything throat-scratching.

Other tasty looking picks, for me, include La Traviata with Diana Damrau, and possibly the holiday performance, which next season will be a shortened, English version of Barber of Seville. What are the chances that I can drag Alex to that? He’ll be 8 ½ then. He’s familiar with the opera. He likes it. Hm. It’s a definite possibility.

Whirlywind

The days are just flying by!

I sang in the first Opera Project Wing performance last week. I sang two songs – Nel cor piu non mi sento and Voi che sapete. I did ok, but would you believe I actually FORGOT THE WORDS at one point? I fudged it and no one seemed to notice. People who know Voi che sapete will know where I made up a word. Hey at least the vowel was the same. And a few people actually approached me afterwards to compliment my voice and say how much they liked my performance. That was nice! I'm always so surprised when that happens. All I hear are mistakes, so I always assume that people are just being nice. But I also know they wouldn't approach me and say that just to be nice. So it's pretty cool!

The voice lesson following that recital I was lucky enough to have two teachers at once. Sometimes they talked about me like I wasn’t there. I was fine with that. I learned a lot about breath and legato line and how to really incorporate the two. Like my voice teacher says, sometimes you just need a different person to explain the concept to you a different way in order for you to get it. So I’ll see her today for a lesson, then I’ll be seeing the other teacher later in the week.

Then… on Friday. FINALLY! L’Elisir D’amore at the Met!! Juan Diego Florez. Ahhhh. And then on Sunday, another recital, where I plan to tackle Ombra mai fu. Then I'll write all about both adventures, hopefully while they're still both fresh in my mind.

Random

Let’s start with voice lessons and singing.

I can hear and feel myself improving every week. Slowly, slowly, I am incorporating and blending together the different techniques that together help me to produce beautiful rounded notes on top of my air. I’m currently working on many many songs, but focusing mainly on Voi che sapete and Deh vieni non tardar. Because why not sing two different character’s arias from the same opera? Also working on El Majo Discreto, I Love all Graceful Things, O mio babbino caro, and keeping fresh and updated on the songs I’ve already performed. Upcoming concert will be in April, I think in a local library.

Speaking of April, I’ve planned a trip to see the parents. Last time I was there they told me and Alex to stop singing around the house. Oh joy. Then if for some reason they do ask me to sing, my mother will interrupt and ask why I’m not singing in English. Oh joy. My dad will make some snarky comment about the crystal breaking, or when will I be onstage at the Met. Oh joy. So they’ll be snarky to me, but I will learn later from the relatives that they brag about me when I’m not there. What’s up with that? I wanted to plan the visit to coincide with Rigoletto at Florida Grand Opera so I could take my mom, but I just couldn't work it out.

Next random. For a giggle. Jared Leto has a photo blog. He has been asking people to send self-portraits that he makes into a collage and posts on his blog. He gets thousands of entries and uses about 20. He chose my picture for the first one. Look! Guess which one is me. Go ahead, look for me there.

Another random: Fun with the blog tracker! There was a period of time where I was getting hits from a search on “spider with striped legs,” mainly from people in Ohio. That’s weird, right? I often get hits from google searches about the Grand Tier in the Met Opera. And now I wonder if Nathan Gunn isn’t up to something, as I’m suddenly getting many hits from searches about him… including people looking for naked pics!! Uh… no. I realize that simply by putting this in a blog entry I’m going to get more hits. It’s a loop. It’s loopy. I’ve also got people googling him and my blog together. Like they're looking for him here. More than once. So now if they do it again they’ll know that I know they’re looking. I know that they know that I know…and so on, and so on, and so on.

Final random: My next operatic adventure is in March! It seemed like it would never get here when I bought the tickets back in August. But finally, soon, I'll be seeing Juan Diego Florez and Diana Damrau in Elixir of Love. Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside, thinking about it.

The MARS 300 Song!

I finally had the house to myself the other day. I put my R2 shirt on, warmed up the pipes and then recorded myself singing this about 50 times until I got a version I wasn't too embarrassed to share. So this is how I wanted to sing it on the 7th. I've tweeted the link to the band a few times but they get so many tweets that it's unlikely that they'll see it... but I wanted to get it out there. So, without further ado, here we have, the MARS300 SONG!

Mars 300 Serenade!

Had another AMAZING 30 Seconds to Mars adventure!

Last week they celebrated the end of their 2 year world tour with a record-breaking show at an old opera house in NYC, the Hammerstein Ballroom. The moment tickets went on sale I got myself one of the “more expensive than opera” tickets to include early entry, a meet & greet with the band and a few bits and baubles of swag.

So rumor had it that they had sold about 200 of these early entry tickets.  I knew that there wouldn’t be space for 200 people on the barrier, so I got to the venue at about 1:30 pm. Did I mention it was pouring rain? It was pouring rain. And crowded with umbrellas. And while that may all sound miserable, it was actually ok. I mean, yeah, it was miserable to be standing out in the pouring rain, shivering. BUT it was great fun to be hanging out chatting with my friends and making new friends! And meeting people with whom I’ve only interacted with online. That was awesome. So anyway we are eventually let in, and then between dropping off our soaking wet stuff and so on, the line order from outside was completely lost. We lined up in a room that only vaguely resembled the order we were in outside. So when we went into the venue, the entire barrier was taken by the time I got up there. I ended up being 2nd from the barrier, which in theory is good. Here’s a picture of my view.

Here’s a video I took of the opening song.



However, once the concert started, the people on the barrier pushed back to hold their spots, while pretty much everyone else in the venue pushed forward to get closer. Like agitated molecules, the temperature rose very quickly. Now, I’m only 5 feet tall. I could see nothing except the elbows that were coming toward my face as my body was pushed simultaneously in several directions. I could barely hold the camera. I was terrified. I asked the woman in front of me to call the security guard over. He pulled me out at the end of the next song. He lifted me over the barrier like I was a feather. I went around the side and made my way to the  middle of the crowd, near the soundboard. Why the soundboard, you ask? Because during almost every 30 Seconds to Mars show, Jared does an acoustic set from there. Plus someone had tipped me off that he had done it from there the night before. So I was ready and waiting when he appeared. Here are the videos and pictures I took from there. I just love how you can hear everyone singing along.

Everyone in the back was just as into it and excited as the people up front, but it was much much SAFER back there. I had plenty of room to jump around and go nuts. I definitely had more fun back there than I would have if I had stayed up front. And the place wasn't that large... here's a pic I took from the back, of the stage:

And then you hear me, saying OHMYGOD over and over because they played this song:

So after the show we had the meet & greet. All 200 or so people jammed into this little curtained off area of a room. They had people line up all around the wall, then another row of people facing the wall people, with a path in between. We could have done a Virginia Reel dance. Then they had ANOTHER set of people facing each other, in the middle.

This time around I decided not to make bracelets for them. Instead, I would prepare a song. So I took a verse of Caro Nome (the melody that starts here) and changed the words, although the last part is sort of a real translation of the aria:

This is your 300th show
In support of This is War
The record keepers say it’s so
And you keep on playing more
Thirty Seconds to Mars
You will always have a part….. of my heart…
You will always have my heart.

The words sound hokey spoken but are fine when sung. I’ll eventually make of video of me singing it. So anyway I printed up two copies and glued them to a card. One the back of one I wrote, “Thank you for inspiring me to follow my dreams,” and the other was for them to autograph.

So Shannon got to me first. I showed him the card and told him I sing and that I … he cut me off. “Oh yeah I remember. You sang opera for me.” Uh… yeah! So I told him I have this short song, he said, sing it when we get the picture taken. Next, Jared came over. I said, “My gift for you is a song…” and he said, “Yeah, I remember, you sing opera.” ZOINKS went my brain, again. I showed him the card, which he tried to keep after he signed! I explained that Shannon has the original. Like Shannon, he said I should sing the song when we get the picture taken. A little bit later, here comes Tomo. Before I could say hello, he said, “HI OPERA SINGER!”  so inside I’m like HOLY xxxx THEY ALL REMEMBER ME and to him I said I have a song, etc. Sing it at the picture. Yep.

Eventually we lined up for the photos. Plenty of time for me to get nnneerrrvvvoouusss. The photo taking is really really quick, because they have so many to do. So you hand your stuff to one person who hands it to someone else behind the photog as you pose for the pic, then you collect your stuff from that other person and run out. Yeah anyway so I hand my stuff and they say “WAIT! Let’s hear the song!” So … I sang. I started way too low, to the point that I had to switch to chest voice for the bottom notes. And I was nervous at first, until one of my friends said SING LOUDER, which made me relax, because it made me smile. Meanwhile, Jared, Shannon and Tomo are looking at me with the most amazing expressions of wonder and delight. I looked from one to the next as I sang, right into their eyes. It was amazing. I don't think I'll ever forget how they were looking at me. Then when I was done everyone applauded and someone shouted “BRAVO!” Jared and Shannon put their arms out and Jared said in the sweetest voice, “Come ‘ere” so I trotted over to be squeezed for the photo. This photo. Where Jared is SMILING. Because I sang to him.

If you google “30 seconds to Mars meet & greet photo” you will see that he makes silly faces but he rarely smiles. He was all smiley and amazed while I was singing. I mean I could see it, they LOVED the words, I could see that it moved them. It.Was.Awesome.  Afterwards all these people were like, how did you have the nerve to sing for them? You’re so brave! And one of my friends said, “Of course they loved it! How many people serenade them?”  I hadn’t thought of it as a serenade but yeah I guess it was!

The next day I actually cried a little, walking around the streets of NYC with my friends. I couldn’t believe it… they inspire me so much, and have helped me get through some nasty experiences… and to be able to sing to them how I feel was just the most amazing experience.

That night I saw them play a small, acoustic show at a beautiful old church. There were probably more people at the meet & greet the night before than there were in the entire church.

When I stood up to leave, Shannon was on stage with the mic. I waved and he said, "Bye Opera Singer!"

Remember when I saw them in Feb and guessed that they'd remember me?

I was right.

Remember when I said I loved my life?

I still do.

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:

Duran Duran and Duran Duran

In another flashback to my youth, I saw Duran Duran twice over the past 10 days. Yes, Duran Duran. These two shows were my 5^th & 6^th time seeing them. I saw them 3 times in March of 1984, twice at Madison Square Garden and once at The Meadowlands in NJ, and once about 10 years ago. Way back at the 2^nd MSG show in 1984, I had friends who had 4^th row tickets. They went back and forth with the ticket stubs until about 10 of us were jammed into 4 seats in the 4th row. The moment the band came on we all surged forward over the seats and ended up in about the 2^nd row. Why they even had seats there I have no idea… anyway… this time around I had seats off to the side, but very close. Close enough to make eye contact when Simon came to the side of the stage. But I must back up because I saw them in Philadelphia last week, before the recent MSG show.

I’d like to thank Google Maps for giving me very wacky directions that entailed weaving around inner Philadelphia in a zig-zaggy square… eventually I found my way to the parking garage adjacent to the theater.

Now, normally, like most people, I suffer through the opening act in anticipation of seeing the main group I’ve paid to see. However, I knew that the opening act, Neon Trees, had opened for 30 Seconds to Mars, and that many Mars fans liked them, so I made a point of checking them out. I was not disappointed! They were so much fun. The lead singer is a maniac – jumping and dancing all over the place, running into the audience, telling wacky stories, getting the audience to sing along. I even knew one of their songs! Here it is, I found it on Youtube, from that night:

I was jumping around, punching the air with my fistful of glowsticks. I probably looked like an idiot but I don’t care. Remember the Blondie show? Oh yeah. I can dance while surrounded by seated people, no problem! And does he sound classically trained? Maybe a little: http://twitter.com/#!/tylerinacoma/status/128222171322515457

In between acts, Duran Duran had a screen on stage where they were displaying tweets with the hashtag, #duranlive. So much fun so see my own tweets up there, saying hi to people I knew in other parts of the audience and so on. Shrieking like a girl. Etc. OH yeah. Look. http://twitter.com/#!/duranduran/statuses/126078204703277056

Finally, finally, Duran Duran came on! I’m happy to report that I love them now as much as I did back in the 80s. They were so good! And now they are much more relaxed and polished. They were so relaxed, obviously enjoying themselves, really connecting with the audience. They made fun of themselves constantly. Simon leBon is now in his 50s, how strange is that? As strange as me being in my 40s. Ok. Simon is just so charismatic. His voice – beautiful. So much better live than on the recordings. Their show was great. They had these giant head things up over the stage – you can see it in the videos I took, here and here:

Yeah. You can hear me singing along, in my fantasy job of backup singer with them.

The crowd was great. Everyone was pretty much my age. Everyone sang along. I love hearing the crowd sing at concerts – so cool. When they played Rio I thought people would riot with happiness. A Rio Riot!!!

They had a female backup singer, she was amazing and she also oozed charisma. Like I said. My fantasy job, to sing backup for Duran Duran. Sigh… I didn’t want to video too much – I just wanted to relax and enjoy. And my way of relaxing at a concert is go to insane. Jumping, dancing, fist pumping. Completely losing myself. In this case, I was mostly standing on the seat so I could see, with my knees pressed into the seat back in front of me. Yes, I came home from the concert with bruised knees.

Ok so then I saw them again this week at Madison Square Garden. Perspective: The Tower Theater in Philly holds about 3100 people, and I saw plenty of empty seats. MSG holds I think between 18,000 – 20,000 people. There were some empty seats so let’s say there were 15,000 people there. Compared to under 3,000. They did the same set yet it was a totally different show. They were definitely still relaxed and happy, but the energy – WOW. Seriously. You can feel it in the air when that many people are excited and when the band is excited. It’s a physical feeling. I met an old friend, someone with whom I went to see INXS, Adam Ant and Duran Duran back in the 80s. We had so much fun, and really great seats. Here’s my view:

And yes, there was a point where I thought, "OHMYGOD. Simon LeBon is RIGHT THERE." And my 16 year old self got very, very excited. Especially when he went onto that box thing you can see at the right side of the picture. Be still my teenaged heart! Our seats were in the section where the management and friends of the band get tickets. There were women in our section in ballgowns, seriously! Maybe they had somewhere to go afterwards? There were also people who looked vaguely familiar. When I left my row to visit the ladies room, there were two older men sitting near the aisle. Rather than make them stand up, I climbed up one row… We chatted about that a little…about still being able to climb over seats… and I swear, I knew these two guys. I don’t know how, I just did. Then in that next row, this guy asked me to take a picture of him and his daughter. I swear he looked so familiar. But as I’ve said before, I live under a rock. Unless I actually work with or went to school with these people, I’m pretty sure they were some sort of famous. Who were they? I don’t know. Who knows. Maybe I’m just old enough that I’ve met enough people, and now everyone looks like someone I already know.

There are tons of videos from that night up on Youtube. Again, I didn’t bother taking any because I didn’t want to worry about it. But you can see the happiness emanating off John Taylor – look!

And … my fantasy moment… happened to someone else of course… Simon jumped in the crowd and asked if there were any singers in the audience. He picked someone from the front row to help him sing The Reflex. Of course they were a little flat… drove me nuts…

PICK ME SIMON PICK ME!!! I CAN SING IT ON PITCH!!! Ah well. There go my chances of getting hired as a “backup” backup singer.

So. The people next to us. OHMYGOD. They were drinking. One woman was a little bit beyond tipsy. She was all over the place. On the floor with her feet on the barrier. On her friend’s lap, facing her friend. Leaning backwards over the railing. At one point I was holding her head to keep it off the floor. Yes, she was that drunk. Then… she lifted her shirt to flash the band. Was she wearing a bra? Of course not. Did they see? I doubt it. I saw. I didn’t necessarily want to see, but I had no choice. She was quite entertaining. I hope she didn’t wake up the next day with any regrets. Or a headache.

So they're playing again tomorrow night at the same place I saw Blondie. A tiny, tiny place. So...tempting... but... I can't. However, I am going to see Don Giovanni in HD tomorrow, and I'm bringing an Opera Virgin with me. Converting my Mars friends, one at a time.

Plenty to post about voice lessons and singing... next time.

From Singer to Winger

Well, it was good while it lasted. The peeps in charge of the Opera Project have changed the focus of the group, to a more professional type of group, featuring people who have or are on their way to a career in opera. Makes sense - this way they can get more donations, more patrons, etc. I’ve known all along that I’m not in that league. The good news is, they’re creating a “wing” program for people like me – people with a halfway decent voice who want experience performing. They’re planning on holding 1 or 2 concerts a year. So eventually I will get to perform again… just not any time soon. It is sort of a kick in the gut when I get the press release emails about upcoming concerts … but I know it’s not a personal kick. To add a twist of irony to all this… Due to a miscommunication, I wasn’t informed that I wouldn’t be performing in the September concert, so I showed up for the rehearsal. Awkward… yeah. So anyway I got there at 2. A photographer from a local newspaper was there to take a picture to accompany the print version of this article. The people who actually were performing, including the accompanist, hadn’t arrived yet. The photographer had to leave, so I ended up singing while one of the founders/teachers sort of accompanied me. I say sort of, because I’m singing a different version of Nel Cor than the one in the Italian Aria book, but he knew the one from the book, so that’s the one he played. I plugged along singing the version I know while the photographer snapped away. Luckily you can’t hear in a photograph. So…I got my picture in the paper as a singer for the Opera Project…







...when actually I’ve been moved (let’s not say “lowered” ok?) to the Wing program. Story of my life. From Singer to Winger. My teacher told me of some other local, amateur performance groups in the area so I might check them out. The more confident I get, the more likely the chance that I’ll eventually maybe be back on the regular roster.

In A Different Universe

The Blondie concert was SO MUCH FUN!!!

Husband and I got to Atlantic City at about 6:30, plenty of time for drinks, dinner and for him to win $80 in the 5 cent slot machines!

Dinner was yum. Sangria! Martini! And look, oysters! And little cheeseburgers that look like muppets!

Not a frequent visitor to casinos, I was amazed and entertained by the variety of slot machines out there.

Even the bathroom was cool:

Finally it was time for the show. The venue was tiny!! The view from our seats:

On our way in I noticed the guy in front of us looked really slick. Like, short spiky hair, expensive suit. And he was wearing a laminated backstage pass. I still had that note from my voice teacher, and I was still wondering how to deliver it, so I filed Mr. Backstage Pass in the back(stage) of my mind.

Then, the concert started. WOWOWOW!!! Now here's where, if I ever wondered if I was from a different universe from other people, this concert may have proven it. I was the ONLY PERSON DANCING. Ok that's not entirely true. There were a couple of people right up front, and occasionally some people above me to my right... and also... Mr. Spikyhair BackstagePass, a little behind and to my left. This was BLONDIE, people!!!! Not a string quartet. I was on my feet the entire time, dancing and singing, jumping and fistpumping and having a blast. Every now and then I peeked around and saw the rest of the audience just... sitting there. Once the woman next to me stood up to dance. Someone behind us yelled, "Down in front!" and she sat. I turned around and yelled, "STAND UP AND DANCE! THIS IS A ROCK CONCERT, NOT AN OPERA!" The people right behind us were grumbling too, sort of under their breath but loud enough for me to hear, "I can't believe this. I didn't pay for this. I can't see." I very nicely URGED them to get up and dance. What was WRONG with everyone???? I wasn't going to just sit there like I was singing kumbaya around a campfire. Seriously. It wasn't until they played One Way or Another, about two-thirds of the way through, that people got to their feet.

Hey look!! It's Debbie Harry!!!

That's pretty much the only good photograph I got. However there are lots of fabulous photos here on the Artskooldamage blog.

And now... Here's my fangirl moment, because you know I had to have one. At one point, I don't remember what song, I could SWEAR she was copying my dance moves. I'd do something, then she would. Then I'd think, who did that first? Me or her? Then it'd happen again. So there. My fangirl moment. I danced with Debbie Harry, while everyone else (except for those few I mentioned) sat around me.

Here's a playlist of videos I took. I should post a warning - if you're prone to seasickness, don't watch. I was dancing the entire time. Also, they're not in order of performance. If the blogger format cuts off the YouTube window, you can find the playlist here.

After it ended, I realized I had one last chance to get my voice teacher's note backstage. You guessed it: Mr. Backstagepass man. I timed getting to the stairs when he did, and said, "I think you and I were the only ones dancing for this entire show." We chatted about that, and I asked if that was a backstage pass. I pulled out the note and explained to him that I study voice with the same woman Debbie studied with in the 70s, and this was a note from my teacher to Debbie, could he possibly deliver it? Well. He thought it was awesome, and he said he'd love to. I introduced myself, then he told me his first name, then repeated his full name in a sort of upspeak, as if to say, "You've probably heard of me?" Besides the fact that it was too loud to really hear, we all know I basically live under a rock. So even if I had heard his name, I doubt I'd have heard of him. Maybe he was a fashion designer, or a photographer? Doesn't matter. He was super sweet and took the note back for me. He even apologized that he couldn't take me backstage with him. How sweet is that? I'm really so happy to be able to tell my voice teacher that her note was delivered.

As we left the theater lobby, two tall, glamorous women approached me to thank me for dancing! They said they loved my energy, that it was contagious and inspiring. Then 2 minutes later another pair of young women came over to say that my enthusiasm inspired them to dance. So you all can imagine, I was dancing like a dancing fool. I loved the music, I sang along. They did old stuff, they did new stuff, they did... The Beastie Boys!! Fight for your Right to PAAARRRTAAAYYY! I think everyone was already standing up by then. I mean, can you IMAGINE sitting through that?

So the person sitting in front me recorded almost the entire concert on her iPhone, in between texting and posting to Facebook. Her videos are no doubt smooth and steady. And I bet you can hear me singing in all of them. Heh heh.

Blondie Tomorrow!

I’m sitting here giggling with excitement because I’m going to see Blondie tomorrow. It never really occurred to me to post about it, until Husband asked if the only reason I’m going to see them is because my voice teacher was Debbie Harry’s voice teacher way back in the day. Of course not! He has no idea how influential Blondie has been on my singing, and I actually never really thought about it much, but looking back, I realized I learned a lot from listening and singing along. And sing along I did – I learned all the words to every Blondie song. This was back when I was a certified “alto” and didn’t believe I could hit the high notes, so some of the songs were especially challenging for me. Picture This was the most challenging of all for me. The chorus went on with no room for taking a breath, and it was at the cusp of how high I could sing below that flip in my voice. Now, of course, it’s a piece of cake. But then… I practiced that for hours and hours, trying to have enough breath to finish the line. What else? Sunday Girl. Also, just at that point of my (then) highest notes. Then other songs I just had so much fun with. Fade Away and Radiate. All sort of dreamy verging on dramatic. Hanging on the Telephone. Hell yeah. Rip Her to Shreds – the ultimate mean girl song!! In the Flesh. Swaying back and forth and flirting with myself in the mirror, then getting pouty. Call Me – loved the end “call me for your lover’s lover’s alibi.” I’d get mad when it was on the radio and they cut the ending before that line. And “roll me in designer sheets,” what a great line!!! Atomic. “Toniiiiiight…” “Oh… your hair is beautiful…. Ahhhhhh tonight!” And then there was a video for Dreaming that used to come on USA’s “Night Flight” and maybe the Kenny Everette Video Show (that link isn't for that video - I can't seem to find it on Youtube). I’d jump and sing along. Rapture. The first rap song? Maybe! Men from Mars? Sounds good to me. Now to give you a better picture of what this was like, I must add that I did most of this singing in front of my bedroom mirror, using either a baton or a hairbrush as my microphone. I’d pretend that I was Debbie Harry. And yes I did this with Queen songs too, where I loved that I could choose basically any line in the harmony to sing along with. But I never pretended to be Freddy Mercury like I pretended to be Debbie Harry. And speaking of baton twirling, two girls in our baton twirling group had this awesome duet set to Heart of Glass. What else? College - singing The Tide is High at a party, somewhere... I don't really remember...but I was hanging out with this guy who knew how to play it on guitar, so I sang it. Haha I wonder what my parents thought of me singing all these lyrics at age 12.

So to answer husband’s question, while I am thrilled at the idea that I was doing all that singing in the mirror while Debbie Harry was studying voice with the woman who now teaches me… hell YEAH I’d be going anyway.

Of course my voice teacher knows I’m going, and she gave me a note and a gift of handmade notecards to pass along to Debbie. How? I have no idea. I’ve emailed Chris Stein on facebook, commented on a picture on his public fan page and tweeted both him and BlondieOfficial… but I don’t really expect him to see it or reply. But who knows. Will tomorrow be another of my crazy rock/opera adventures? Either way, I’ll post about it.

Channeling Eliza Bennett

"My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me..."

So says Elizabeth Bennett, in Jane Austen's famous book Pride and Prejudice. And so I must have been channeling Elizabeth Bennett yesterday at my voice lesson.

Let me clarify. I was in no way and have never ever felt intimidated by or because of a voice lesson. However, as usual, my own gremliny brain was playing tricks on me.

The Opera Project's next concert is at the end of September. Last week the director sent the email out asking if we're interested, what we'd like to sing, and when and where the rehearsals are. I replied immediately because of course I am always interested. Then a few days later the official press release came out about the event, and my name wasn't listed. Now, this has happened before, and a text message and email straightened out the mix-up. So I inquired if I was on the roster since my name wasn't listed, and I was told that they didn't know yet. So of course those gremlins took the opportunity to slip into the crack that opened in my confidence. Remember them?

Then at my voice lesson I learned that they were thinking of having the less experienced singers perform in daytime performances until they felt confident enough to sing alongside some of the really experienced, wildly-talented singers that always steal the show in the evening performances... that it can be intimidating to have to sing before/after some of them. The singers themselves are the sweetest, most loving and giving people ever - they do not contribute personally in any way, shape or form to any of this intimidation. It's all internal. I've posted about this only about a thousand times before... So anyway I also learned that they haven't totally decided who'll be singing at the upcoming concert, and that it's at a new venue so they want to impress the people so they'll invite us back. Makes sense to me. So I got to thinking, I can't go and sabotage myself by letting those "I'm not good enough" gremlins get back in my head. So I let loose and let go. After each song my teacher said that it was the best she'd ever heard me sing, and maybe a little adversity was what I needed to get it all out. Y'see, for a lot of my life I have been not quite good enough. I've gotten small parts in the high school plays, but never a lead. I auditioned for the special chorus, was made an alternate but ended up performing with them at all but 1 performance. I auditioned for the town's competitive baton twirling team in the 7th grade, was made an alternate and put onto a "junior" squad for a year. It's the story of my performing life. Almost good enough, but not quite. And each episode left me with that feeling of, "I know I can do better!" So when I heard about this potential afternoon "squad" my courage rose and I showed my teacher what I can really do. So here's hoping that I can show the director the same thing at the rehearsal, which in a way is I guess like another audition. However, I refuse to think of it as an audition because that imbues it with pressure that shouldn't exist. I'm already in the group. It's time for me to show them what I can really do. I will, of course, report back.

Thrifty, Nifty, Beethoven's Wig

Y'all know how much we love Beethoven's Wig around here. A lot. So of course we're excited to report that they're coming out with a new CD next month! Finally!!! Perhaps Alex and I will pull our acting, directing and editing skills out of the closet for a few new videos. Meanwhile, until then, go and enter this contest at Thrifty Nifty Mommy, to win your own brand-spanking-new copy of the CD.

If I Can Trill It, It Will Come

I’ve been bad bad bad about posting here. But I’m back!!! My voice lessons have been going swimmingly. We started Voi che sapete a few weeks ago. It was sort of a relief to learn a song that I already know the melody of. Also we’ve been working on different kinds of exercises. My teacher had me lip trilling up pretty high... then she pointed out that if I can trill it, I can sing it. And wouldn’t ya know, that knocked down some sort of psychological block - maybe one of those pesky gremlins- and there I was, ringing out these gorgeous high notes. Like, higher than I ever imagined I’d be able to hit. All this music, this voice, has been inside me all this time, and finally with the help of my teacher I am finding it and letting it out. She keeps giving me pep talks about what a gorgeous instrument I have, and how great I sound and all that. She tells me enough, I’m almost starting to believe her. Almost.

If I can figure out how to chop out a piece of the recording, I’ll post a section of the lesson where I’m singing these crazy notes. Meanwhile, I'll be singing along to all these high arias I used to think were out of my reach. Queen of the Night? Never say never!

Yeah, I know

Ahaha I have to laugh at the title of this post because a few years ago I wrote one called, "um... I don't know." My post today may have an opposite title, however it is not opposite, or even related to, the "I don't know" post.

That said... What is it I DO know?

Well, I've said several times that I love the internet, for how it connects people who otherwise would never have the opportunity to interact. And a few days ago, I received a really nice message on YouTube from some singer/teacher in France... I'll paste the email in here:

Just a suggestion... from another singer

Hello, Luindriel. You are musical. Your voice has real potential, but you're missing the level of relaxation & breath control that permits the tone to float. It's clear you want to sing, and you can teach yourself to sing in a way that will bring you great beauty, by going out to www.archive.org, and doing a search, texts only, on 'voice culture' and you can also get things from 'singing', but texts only. You will find a host of books written more than 100 years ago that will show you how to sing the way you obviously want to. At the moment, your vowels are poorly formed, but that's normal if no one has shown you how to do them so that they ring without pushing. Take your future into your own hands. I teach in France or I would offer to help in person. What you want is a beautiful free easy sound, and you can get it more quickly by relaxing your jaw, your tongue, your face even. That's just a smidgen of the kinds of great solutions you can find. I used these books to reset my own technique recently, and they work, as now I am singing better than ever. A good book to begin with is How to Breathe, Speak and Sing, which gets into the old Italian school, the secret of great singing. There's also a new book out by Denes Striny called 'Head First, the Language of the Head Voice' that talks about the same things but in simpler terms. Just skip through the secions on anatomy if you don't like them - they're not crucial. I guarantee you results, and it's free (Striny's book isn't, of course), and all the old books on singing can be downloaded. Great summer reading for a singer. Good luck, and I hope you keep singing.
Robin Hendrix, Perpignan, France

I replied, thanking her for taking the time to write and recommend things, and gave her a brief account of my singing history and background.

Her email really pointed out to me things I already knew but needed to hear - especially the very 2nd line - that I’m missing the level of relaxation and breath control that permits the tone to float. That’s exactly what I’ve been working on! A few weeks ago my teacher pointed out that I seem to always have fun... except when I’m on stage... So I’ll probably peek at some of the books she recommends. But the reason I’m sharing this is, how nice is it that some random person came across my videos and took the time to compose such a nice message? A change from some of the comments I’ve gotten on the videos, my favorite being, “stop sing!!!!!!!!!!!! you destroyed this beautiful peace!” on If Music Be the Food of Love. That may be, but please, if you're going to criticize, at least offer some suggestions for improvement?

What also stood out to me in the message, "Take your future into your own hands." Yes! I agree!! I have always believed that. It's good to hear it from someone else.

So I have a voice lesson today. I’ll have to remember to tell my teacher that I’m going to see Blondie in September!! Debbie Harry was her student back in the early 80s, back when I was singing along to Blondie into my hairbrush microphone in front of my bedroom mirror at the time. Yeah, that makes me giggle.

A Paying Gig!

Whew. Finally I'm not totally embarrassed by a performance. I say not TOTALLY because of course there's always something that makes me cringe. Like in this past performance, finally, finally, I didn't crack and I kept my voice on top of the air, for the most part. But then…why was I channeling Stevie Wonder? I mean, he's blind…he doesn't know that people don't usually waggle back and forth when they sing. I have no excuse. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.

There was no rehearsal with the accompanist before this concert, and I was singing something that we hadn't practiced before, so I actually took a photo of the music and emailed it to the accompanist. Then I went up an hour and a half early to run through it with him before the show.

I wore the same cocktail dress and hot pink feather hairband that I wore to the last concert:

But I waited until I got to the venue to pull on the restrictive, flesh-squashing underwear. Wouldn't you?

Before the concert began, one of the guys gave me a pep talk. He said he wanted to work on me with my self-esteem - that I'm just as good as everyone else in the group and to just get out there and have fun. He kept telling me how far I've come in just a year and how gutsy that is. It doesn't FEEL gutsy. It just is what it is. But he was right, as I watched the other performers that night I realized that I was on par with them.

Before I sang I invoked the presence of all my dead, opera-loving relatives - my grandfather, an aunt and an uncle. I was focusing on my aunt mostly, but I swear I felt like my grandfather bumped into my right side. It sounds crazy. Probably just wishful thinking. I mean, I was thinking actively about them, and then it felt like he was there, to my left. I don't have that feeling now. I'm trying to feel it as I type this. It's not there. So who knows. I'm the biggest skeptic there is so I don't even believe myself.

So here we go, Sento nel Core, by Donaudy:

So my next goal is to work on STANDING STILL!!!

After we all sang, the owner of the winery gave us each two bottles of wine! My first paid gig. Paid in wine... that works for me.

Then I got in the car, pulled off the flesh-compressing underwear and drove home.

Now I have the whole summer to build up a little rep... maybe I'll be able to sing TWO pieces at a concert next season.