The next few months will definitely be filled with a lot of rehearsal time. I know that the time in Berkeley helped me to hear and feel my voice and where it's going. I now move ahead with confidence to the next level...whatever that might be! Who knows? I'll just do the work, do the auditions and see what the next thing is! 

I am celebrating with a glass of wine, and then to bed!!!!

Not so much tonight. I was inches away from thrusting my head into the conductor's keyboard. I caught myself with my foot and unbeknownst to me, most of the cast onstage had lunged toward me until I was also caught! Scary and it ended up being pretty funny! At least I didn't end up on You Tube with all the crazy "falling off stage" videos!!! 

We drove into the hills with a poor map and and worse directions to find Inspiration Point. These winding roads turn into other roads as you drive, and the names change constantly.We drove higher and higher and finally got out at one point, because it would've been a waste not to enjoy this view. The view was absolutely unreal! We could see the Golden Gate bridge and over near Marin. The only thing that could spoil this view was excessive PDA. That's right people, EXCESSIVE Public Displays of Affection. Yikes! Early afternoon PDA at a scenic overlook was not the best, but soon they made their way back to their vehicle and we could enjoy the actual view.

We did finally make our way to Inspiration Point and went for a lovely walk. At every turn the landscape changed from prairie grasses to Redwood groves. We were also able to pick and eat some black berries and eat them. They should be ready quite soon, there were a few teasers that were ripe. 

We even saw some great critters. We first saw a cute lizard that scurried across the trail and then over a hill we saw 3 huge wild turkeys. On the way back to the car we then spotted something else moving up the hill, it was a snake, a black and white striped snake. It was great!

A perfect afternoon before the Wednesday evening show!

We got to the tour and the guide was funny and sweet, and I think that she was a bunny rabbit in another life. She twitched her non-existent whiskers the entire time, which made her even more endearing. We learned about and saw the whole process, and of course, tasted some chocolate. The amazing testings left us in a drunken haze. We were drunk on chocolate, people, that's right! Unreal...

It was a great day!!!!  

I got on the train around 7:40am and arrived at Fremont around 9:00am or so. A taxi was waiting for me, hooray, and brought  me right to the venue for the audition. I arrived and was the first there. Soon after I arrived, some of the volunteers arrived. It was so lovely to meet them! I met Joan and Art. Joan told me that her father was an incredibly huge supporter of the arts and that she and her husband had built a room in their home specifically for that use. Last year they held rehearsals for "La Boheme" for the the Fremont Opera in their home. It was great to meet such people!

I also spoke with the accompanist who was absolutely lovely! He had been a coach at San Francisco Conservatory for several years and we are very much of like mind. I hope to see him again soon. He was great.

Once all the rooms were opened up, I helped carry tea and such into the check-in room. It was like being at a family event and was nice to be able to chat with people that are involved in this new endeavor. I was soon able to get into a practice room and warm up and as soon as I was in there, it seemed that it was time for the audition. 

Of course I was nervous, but it was nice to break the ice and know that both the conductor David Sloss and his wife the general director Barbara Sloss were coming to "Figaro" and were both excited to see the show. Thank goodness! It was a good thing to chat about while I fumbled nervously for my head shots and resumes for the audition. 

I went down to the bottom of the recital hall and got ready to sing. I chose the first song and sang an aria from Carmen. They then were wondering about my choice of arias. It was a mix of mezzo soprano and soprano arias.  I told them that I was still finding my full voice, and being on tour was not expecting to do auditions and only had 2 books of music with me. They laughed and then asked me to sing one verse of one more aria, "L'altra notte in fondo al mre" from Boito's "Mefistofele". It wasn't perfect or even NEARLY as good as I rehearsed it, but that's alright. I was happy to get through it and not feel like I wanted to be sick! I will only get better at auditioning, and I hope that they heard glimpses of the unique quality of sound that I have to offer and the connection that I have with an audience. We'll see!

 

The company that I am auditioning for, the Fremont Opera Company, sounds really exciting to me. It's a brand new company as of last year and they do semi-staged performances as of right now. The great thing is that it is a husband and wife team. Barbara Sloss is a singer and is the managing director of the company. Her husband David Sloss has been conducting the Fremont Symphony for 25 years. It just seems like their mission statement really lines up with what I want to be involved. They want to do interesting and dramatically engaging works and performances through opera, chamber opera, recitals..etc. It just sounds like a good fit! I am really excited!

Now, off to a show!

Then this morning I got an e-mail....I got an audition with an Opera Company in Fremont, CA. Why NOT!??? If I can do 12 things at a time at home, why not 12 things at a time here? I have to have 4-5 arias prepared, which I sort of do, and get my resume and rep. list. Umm....we'll see how that gets put together. Prayers are needed for focus and stamina right now! My audition is on Saturday morning at 10am, and is over an hour away on public transit. THen I come back and do 2 shows on Saturday and two shows on Sunday.

This girl will never change!!!! (I think I take after my Mom! )

Anyway, I spent most of the weekend having dreams about the arias and many camera shots that involved with this character. The show is very multi media and my dreams came to me that way. I saw the Italian words on a HUGE screen, but it was in the form of Mad Libs. (They are fun games that have a story with certain words missing, and in the blank it will say "noun" or "verb" etc.) Well imagine my surprise when that is how the arias would appear and I had to try to fill in the blanks of the words of the aria I didn't know. I had a few sleepless nights, to say the least!

The day I was asked, I went right to work and wrote out all the pieces just to help with memorization. I know how the melodies go, I just never learned the words. It's been pretty fun to test my memorization abilities. 

I am still unsure what all this means. I am not sure if i will go on for sure or if it's just in an emergency situation or what. I DO know that if and when I perform, I will have the most RIDICULOUS costume and make up changes EVER! I will start off the show as a young boy with a small mustache, and then change for the last part of Act 1 and the first part of Act 2 to an extremely old lady with a wig, and wrinkly make up and go and sit in a wheel chair. i'll have no time to worry about anything, THAT'S for sure!

Tonight went off without any hitches. After the rehearsal for an understudy and some grueling music notes earlier today, it went better tonight. The understudy did a great job in rehearsal and will do a great performance on Sunday. He is so very talented and it is difficult to imagine doing the large role that he is doing with very little rehearsal time. Pretty amazing if you ask me. And it's not just the role and the memorization, but there are so many specifics of where to stand and not to stand for camera shots; where do props and different pieces of the set needs to be moved in certain places for other parts of the show and for other cast members....SO MUCH, and he is doing really well! 

I need to sleep and get up and walk in the morning before the 2 show day...really, a Thursday matinee? Huh...

All day Monday and during the day Tuesday were spent in recovery mode for most. I was able to get out and about a bit on Monday to the Piedmont Hills area. YIKES! It's right outside of Oakland, and the homes built in the hill are absolutely unreal! It's difficult to explain. It's not just your ordinary hoity toity area of homes, it's different. There are several different kinds of homes; from beautiful brick colonials to 70's experimental. The best was when I looked up at one point and saw a huge, pink, "beach side" motel-like home built into the mountain. What?!?!?! It was absolutely hilarious! One of these things is doing its own thing...

Anyway, back to the grindstone again today. We had rehearsal and we are on to an early show tonight. 

WEEEE!!!!!!!!

Cheers, until next time!

That's right! The apartment complex that most of the cast of "Figaro" is in, was evacuated at around 1am with blaring sounds, a sound that nearly drew blood from my ear while they were plugged. Wow, now that's a fire alarm. It was funny, too, each one of us in the cast thought that we had set off our smoke alarms. They are really sensitive and we all thought that we had set them off somehow.

Luckily, no one was hurt and it was simply 20 - 30 minutes of being outside. There was one cast member not present...I wonder if he'll believe what happened????

NOW it's night night time!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/30/DDRB108F7A.DTL&feed=rss.entertainment

Tonight was a bit interesting. It was a tough crowd, but again when greeted in the lobby it seemed as though people loved it. It will be a great run, I just know that we need to get solid with all of the variables we're working with. It will be great!

Sleepy night night time now, because as I thought....we have rehearsal tomorrow. 

I keep forgetting that most companies don't go out into the lobby after performances. It's one of the small things that I think really makes an impact on an audience and is really helpful to get feedback. Sometimes very honest feedback, which can be good, but sometimes is interesting. The latest was an audience member that really loved the show and then said something really interesting, "So, do you all ACTUALLY sing opera?" The receiving line of extroverted actors and singers was SILENT! (That is a rarity) Frozen in fake smiles and through teeth the reply was, "Why yes, we do..." You just never know!

I had my lives collide last night in a very strange way. I was in the receiving line and saw someone from my distant past coming through from MN. I was a Wells Fargo employee for 12 years up until This last January. I saw one of my customers that I waited on and saw for nearly 8 years of my career there! He is an actor and is doing Cal Shakespeare. It was bizarre! I called him by name in line and said, "I bet you didn't think that you would see your teller here in CA!", knowing FULL WELL especially in my make-up that he wold have no idea who I was. Just like I thought he gave me the polite "YEAH!" I was happy to see him at the party so that I could re-introduce myself in my real face. It was hilarious! He said, "I didn't know that you sang!"

You just never know how you will reconnect with people! What a trip!

The show had gotten too light. It is about revolution and the brutality in the story that leads to it. Of course there are funny moments, but the stakes are high. That was what we were missing in the singing. The singers were not portraying the stakes being high, it was lighter than the actors. That didn't work when we have younger versions of the characters that are supposed to become the characters that are in the midst of the French Revolution. Some scenes were really worked and I think are making a huge difference.

I was wondering, if I enjoy the process of rehearsal or the performing more. I think rehearsals...unless the show keps evolving each night, which it will. It's quite exciting!