einspringen

At last night's performance, we had an Einspringer--that means, last minute 'jump in' to the role because someone is sick or had an emergency, etc.
Our new Third Lady joined us in the dressing room about 2 hours before the show, after rehearsing for 2 hours in the afternoon ALL of the blocking with the First and Second Lady.

Now- ok, third lady...no big deal, right?
WRONG! The ladies are ALL over and ALWAYS blocked with plenty of action, choreography, shtick, and other blocking-related requirements.

So- this was a big one.

But our new Dritte Dame could not have been MORE relaxed and fun-loving for the whole process.
They didn't even have a matching costume that fit her, so she had her own black tank top on, with a sheer black wrap, and the costume department tacked big silver stars onto it (to match the other ladies).
No wig fit--she used her own hair.
Shoes- her own black shoes with added stars.

Blocking--she didn't even ask the ladies backstage before each scene--ok, here we do this, right?
Nothing!!! SHe just laughed and joked and said she hoped she would get all the dialogue right...and talked about her family, and her other opera house, and wishing that she was a soprano, and how she sings all the "Hexe" roles (witch parts)..even though she's not one...
I mean, this was one FUNNY lady that added an air of lightness and joy to the room instead of freaking out about what was about to happen on stage!

I guess that's what comes with being completely musically prepared to jump into a role. It doesn't really MATTER what the choreography/blocking is (well, of course it does, but still)...you can DO it because no matter what the MUSIC will be there to back you up..and if you get up or kneel down a second too early or too late, that's ok too!

It was thrilling.

OH. And in the middle of my second aria the audience clapped after the high F's....which was cool, except that they clapped so long they didn't hear the first two:
Verstossen Sei auf ewig, Verlassen Sei auf ewig's.
Fun.
AND I had a total ONE word brain fart in der hoelle rache.
WHAT?
HOW long have I been singing the aria?
So here's How it went:
Fuhlt nicht durch dich Sarastro WIRD ERBLASSEN (which...ARE the correct words from the END of the aria..just not right there), and then immediate recovery: SARASTRO TODES SCHMERZEN...so bist du meine tochter nimmer mehr...etc. etc.. high F's, etc.

Nice.
Glad all that is on descending scales so no one cares about the final words anyway.
But it was SO SO strange to not be in control of the words that came out of my mouth and all of a sudden be like- uhh...huh? that wasn't right. It didn't FEEL right..and NOW here are the right words.
Weird.

Anyway, no one seemed to care or notice since they were all just waiting for the high notes....

A lovely evening. And I still have glitter in my hair. Again.