30 June, 2011

home sweet home

Well, I made it to the 2nd round, sang well, and then didn't get chosen to move on.
That's quite alright since I flew home today in time to have dinner with my manager who is in Europe for 2 weeks for numerous meetings with big opera houses...which of course I'm hoping will lead to some nice introductions/auditions/work for me (as a member of the roster who lives abroad and in these people's 'backyard') in the future.

What can I say about competitions? Most of the ones I've been in I have not won. Some I have. The majority of the time, I see clear political/teacher connections with who wins and who is on the jury and who has the most buzz around them that summer or season. Some people win competitions. Some people have steady work.
I'll take steady work, please.

I am home now and hope to NOT have to travel for the next 2 months at least.
Took a shower in my own bathroom, used my nice soft towels, wearing my favorite warm sweatshirt, and relaxing in MY OWN BED.

29 June, 2011

round 1 (well, 2 really)

Since I already made it through, this round is actually considered the "Quarterfinalist" round..even though it's the first one to take place abroad with all of the individual city-finalists.

I went to sleep early, woke up early, had a nice breakfast, warmed up in the shower and in my hotel room (thankfully no knock on the door asking me to stop vocalizing at 10:30 in the morning).
Took two outfits to the theater- my audition outfit (normal black tight knee length dress) and another silver dress (also knee length) that was a bit more dressy.

You really never know with competition, but I was really surprised that almost EVERYONE there decided to wear FULL LENGTH gowns - for the FIRST round! Really? We have three more to go and then a final concert- did you bring 4 gowns with you?
Anyway, that was a bummer. Because I like my 'normal' audition outfit..and while this silver dress is snazzy, it makes me feel more 'cocktail' than 'stage audition' - even though it's very pretty.

My time to sing came and went, and then about 20 minutes later I went onstage, announced my name and my piece, and began.

With competitions, you really just NEVER KNOW. I'm in a German-speaking country, that does a LOT of German opera, and the Intendants and Jury should ALL know Zerbinetta- the high notes, the low notes, what it should sound like, etc.
I didn't start with Queen because of everyone's personal opinions about how dramatic it should sound.
I didn't start with Glitter because although it's a showpiece, it doesn't show a 'beautiful voice'...just a lot of good acting.
I didn't start with Una Voce in F because I assume the mezzos will.
I didn't start with Olympia because it's 2 verses, and I think not as interesting as the Zerb.

So- that leaves me with Zerbinetta.
Of course, the pianist was NOT excited to play it. When I said let's just have fun, she was like, you have fun, I'll be concentrating on the notes.
And so, let's just say I didn't get the strongest support that I could have from her, but still nothing close to a train wreck.

I sang it well, as I would in a normal audition. Felt good about it even though it took the pianist the first half of the page (from so war) to get into a nice rhythm with me.

And now I wait. Until 8pm when they put up the results...will number 25 be on the list?
We shall see.

Either way, I did this competition in 2007 as well, and I already know- it has nothing to do with me or my voice. As usual in most competitions- they are all looking for something... I may not be it that day.

27 June, 2011

newbies

I met a singer today who flew her from SOUTH AFRICA to do her FIRST competition ever!
It was kind of cute how she wasn't really sure which aria to start with- and when I said sing what you sing best or what you have always gotten the best feedback on, she said, well I love all of my arias.
Awww- cuuuuute!
Don't we ALL love all of our arias?
She also was visibly nervous about everything being said in German first, but lucky for her, they repeated everything in English next.
We all picked our numbers (the lottery for the order in which we will sing), and she got number 6- out of 159! So again, nervous and not quite sure what to make of it...
I'm number 25- which I'm happy about because I really wanted to sing on the first day of heats- WERE I to be selected for the next round, it would make a lot of things that have been pre-planned a lot easier.

There was another singer from Australia (living in London) who also seemed to be there for the first time (and with her mom! CUTE PEOPLE, CUTE!) and both were so chatty and wanted to know about the German audition process, etc., so I just shared my 'realistic' stories and views of the business, both in Europe and in the US (as the S.African singer had been accepted to a Master's program in the US, but wasn't given any money and was deciding whether to go or not), and I hope gave them some good advice.

I remember being 'new' to competitions. I never thought of them as nerve-wracking or anything like that, just another audition. But you DO quickly learn that some repertoire works better, some outfits work better, sometimes an ATTITUDE works better (I don't play into that one, but I know a few who do)...

And so, we're off. Tomorrow I have a rehearsal with the pianist, and Wednesday I'll sing around noon.

26 June, 2011

on the road again

Tomorrow morning I have an early morning one-hour flight.
I'll be singing for a competition this time.
And it's one of those where you get there, and have to get through a bunch of rounds before the final- and of course, they only tell you at 9pm every evening who makes it to the next round.
So- I could either be back here on Thursday, OR I could be back here on Friday, OR Saturday, OR Sunday, etc. etc. you get the picture.

That makes packing a little bit stressful.
I have my normal audition outfit (which I most likely will NOT wear for the first heat- I'll go a little more upscale, but still knee-length). I have two knee-length 'fancy' dresses, and I'm contemplating taking a full length gown IF I make it to the end or nearing the end.
Arrghhh..shoving those huge gowns in my bag is just NOT going to make me a happy camper.
DHL? Fedex? Deutsche-Post anyone?

24 June, 2011

24 hours of crazy part 4

ONLY ONE MORE WEEK OF CRAZY LEFT!

I arrived back from London after a rainy/sunny/rainy/cold/warm day and a half.
I had yet again, NOT the best airport ordeal on my flight over-
in short:
1 flight cancellation and missed connection,
2 overbooked standby flights,
and a two hour delay on my actual rebooked flight (6.5 hours in the airport later), and my one hour flight to London arrived.

I guess it was better to fly direct in the end than through copenhagen, but that time in the airport was definitely hectic as I was running from one Lufthansa gate to the next seeing which possible flight would have room for the standby passengers.

Audition was good- sang Rosina and then was asked for Zerb from So War.
The hall was lovely, but they were having issues with the volume of the piano (which was in the pit and under an overhang)- they didn't have whoever is usually backstage to set a monitor level so pretty much all of the singers didn't hear a note of the piano while they were singing, only when there was a musical interlude in the arias.

Anyway- I thought it was fun and I did a good job. As always, we just have to wait and see.

I am really hoping to do as little as possible this weekend.
I'm flying to Vienna on Monday morning for ONE last week/few days of crazy-- a competition and hopefully some coachings if I can fit them in.

22 June, 2011

the wrong side of the street. again.

In a few hrs. I'll be flying to London (via Copenhagen)...to experience about 32 hours of British accents (hopefully this one will be easier to understand than in Glasgow), maybe some fish and chips (after my audition?!), and looking the 'wrong' way down the street before crossing to see if a car is coming.

Until I have to leave the house in approximately 90 minutes, I will be cleaning it, packing, remembering to take my PASSPORT this time (!), and printing out the google maps of where I have to go.

Oh yes, and my 'working session' yesterday was approximately 25 minutes of singing with the conductor in the room, as well as the original two people who were at my stage audition, and a pianist.
Same 2 short excerpts. And then he was like- ok that's all I need to hear.

Uh- ok.

So the purpose of that 2 hour and 45 minute train ride was to stand in a little rehearsal room with you just so you could make sure that I can decrescendo on a high F and crescendo on a high G?
You're welcome :)

I don't know when they'll make a decision or if they have 'working sessions' with any other singers that they liked after me or before me. Either way, I sang it well so that's all I can say about that.

20 June, 2011

working session

Tomorrow I have to get on a train and do a 'kind of' audition.
I already sang one audition for this company, and they were impressed enough to ask me to come do a working session with their asst. conductor/director.
That's never happened to me before, so I don't really know what to expect.
First of all, this is a modern piece, which I have never sung, nor do I have the score to. Just two short excerpts which I learned for the audition last month (and quickly forgot--which is what the train ride is for tomorrow).
Secondly, if you liked me and my high notes enough in the audition- what more is there to test?
Whether I can sing those high note AGAIN? Whether I get the 'musical crazy/modernity' of the piece?
My German?

I'm just not sure.
It's in a room, not onstage, so I'm certainly not dressing up audition-style or anything.
But again, it's like a mix of 'cool' and 'd'oh' at the same time-
Cool that they liked me so much that they want to work with me again---
D'oh that they didn't get the 100% YES impression from my audition to just hire me on the spot for a crazy super modern weirdo piece of music.

And I get that. What I'm HOPING is that they may be bringing in one or two other people that they are SURE are singing the show (probably current fest people)...to maybe do some of the other parts with me? I have no idea.
I also don't know how long this will last.
I mean- a 2 hour high-g singing session, or what?
Will I be on a train for 2.5 hours, sing for one, and then immediately turn around to go home?

Tomorrow will tell.

18 June, 2011

ANOTHER note about queenie and an EINSPRING

Dear Director of Magic Flute from 2003, you aren't at the opera house anymore, but last night I had to learn your blocking and staging for your Queen of the Night from your 'vision-2003' production because I did my first 'real' German Einspring!
That means that I got a call from the theater at 6pm on Thursday with the questions- where am I, and am I available to sing on Friday?

And so, at 11:45 today I had a costume fitting (they requested my measurements from previous-long-term-German-Queen-gig and had already altered the thing for me!), at 12:30 I watched the dvd, and from 13:00-13:30 I had a room rehearsal with the assistant director and the conductor (who was ALSO new that night and had NEVER worked with the orchestra before because he was AUDITIONING himself! To be the conductor next year!).

Ok, so then I get to see the set shortly before the show opens. And, oh dear director o'mine, you decided it would look "TOTALLY AWESOME" if the Queen sang her first aria from BEHIND A BLACK SCRIM ALL THE WAY UPSTAGE IN A PICTURE WINDOW!!

Really? I mean....rrrreeeaalllly?
First of all, I'm fine with singing stuff totally upstage. That wasn't the issue. It IS a bummer when you know you want to make a big splash with the first queen's aria and you're one MILLION meters away from the first row, and so you KNOW that the orchestra will be pounding out that B section no matter how well I support and carry and ping, and .etc.etc.

Secondly, your 'blocking' involved making 'pictures'/still images of a Queen with 'red' in the background. Soooo...I'm wearing a red dress that looks like a blazing half sun and WEIGHS a HALF TON (I could have fit three ME's underneath the span of the skirt). And you want me to simply look right once, look left once, make one hand motion and otherwise look straight forward and be a stone.
Ok then.

Now let's get to my FAVORITE part. The BLACK SCREEN in front of me which made it utterly impossible and I mean this was on the verge of scary-impossible to SEE the conductor. Both in the PIT and on the MONITOR to the top left-- all I could see through the black was a tiny gray/white image of a BODY, but certainly no stick waving or anything like that.
Not something they really prepared me for or told me about...would have been nice to know that I couldn't see anything AND I can't go by sound since I'm a good 50 feet behind the orchestra pit.

So in the first aria I was frozen not because of your genius staging, but because there was literally no way that if I moved I could keep any kind of focus on that gray blob whose body language I was attempting to follow.

PS- I HAVE sung behind scrims before- both for Queen's first aria and in Barber of Seville before Rosina's first aria-- however for some reason, the lighting and, oh, the fact that I had REHEARSED with the maestro numerous times before, made singing and not seeing no problem at all.

Other than that moment of realizing- ok then, I'll be singing the B section in THIS tempo and let's hope he goes with me, because I sure can't go with him--- everything was great and fun and did I mention fun?!

The 2nd aria had extra dialogue that I hadn't had for 2 years plus a few extra lines that I had never had for Queen before. So I had to learn that on the fly. They even had a souffleuse there (prompter), but I didn't need that and I just did my thing and then sang the aria and stormed off to a lot of applause!

Then I got to hang around, as usual, for the anti-climactic last death-quintet, take my bow, and head home on the train.

It was a really fun day. I don't know whether I'd like to do this type of thing with a LONGER role where you really have to make sure that you remember EVERY thing new about the new staging that is being thrown at you...but it's so easy when Queen is only onstage 3 times.

And so I say- bring it on! This month has been totally awesome in terms of last minute things coming up. And even though I'm completely exhausted, I have the weekend, I'm relaxing, and will be as good as new for next week's travels!

16 June, 2011

ps a note about queenie

Hey there Mr. Opera Casting Person!

You got to judge me yesterday, but now I shall judge you, ok?

When the feedback I get is "sang it amazingly, her queen didn't seem 'evil' enough", you, my friend, lose 2 points.

If you think that ANY director in their right mind would ever tell a queen "you're angry/evil" in EITHER the 2nd or the first aria, you are wrong.
Yes, the COMMON FOLK who think of the opera characters as 'good' or 'evil' can say that yes, Sarastro is 'good', and queen is 'evil'. Therefore when they hear the aria, they think 'mean', 'angry', 'evil'.

But if you'd stop and pay two quick seconds to the WORDS and the DRAMA of the piece, you would realize that the queen is just about anything BUT that.
She is SAD, defeated, SOMEWHAT vengeful, longing for a daughter whose capture has broken her heart and made her vow never to be in the company of a CERTAIN man ever again. She is actually power-LESS (as her power was taken away by her OWN HUSBAND and given to SARASTRO). She is mustering every last strength she has and HOPING that her pleas and sighs will convince a. Tamino to go on a mission FOR her, and in the 2nd aria she feels BETRAYED and sure, is 'angry' at her daughter, but is also trying to get her to DO something to her arch-nemesis.

So, ANGRY? EVIL? No.

Minus two for you there, my friend. But thanks for liking my high notes anyway.

15 June, 2011

24 hours of crazy, part 3

Today's post is brought to you by the letters: K, L, and M--
Since I've spent a better part of the past 18 hours in airplanes flown by KLM.

Firstly, who came up with the name Fokker for an airplane? Because hearing our pilot say that we'll be flying this City Hopper flight in a Fokker 700 in a "Netherland" accent (ie, Swedish Chef to me) definitely brought out the giggles.

Ok, so yesterday I had to fly to Glasgow for an audition. I booked my flight last week, and since everything this month seems to be happening last minute, I paid a pretty penny for it.
Except that there are no direct flights to Glasgow, so I had to fly to Amsterdam first.

First flight was 7-8pm, next flight was 9:05-10:30pm...
Except that APPARENTLY I have the worst airplane taxi karma EVER---
Because even though our first flight (the fokker) landed at approximately 8:05, we took a little tour of runways A through Z, to get a lay of the land, see the scenic winding rivers of the countryside, THEN park a million miles away from the gate, THEN have some fool forget a SPY novel on the plane, so that the bus to the terminal couldn't leave until someone had claimed it, and THEN arrive at the terminal-- the terminal that was MOST far away from my CONNECTING flight which was now clearly into LATE BOARDING.

As I'm running through Schippol Airport at 8:42pm, I am thinking:
a. I'm not amused as this horrible layout of one 'choke' point and then breaking off in every direction for different terminals.

b. WHY THE HECK do I have to go through ANOTHER passport check AND SECURITY SCREENING?!?! I JUST GOT OFF OF AN AIRPLANE! Have I somehow acquired bomb-making materials in the past 52 minutes since being screened in Germany? Was THEIR metal detector not good enough?

c. Running sucks.

d. Usually Asian business men are my go-to people to stand behind in the security line, but this time, really? WHO DOESN"T KNOW that you have to take the laptop OUT of your bag, OUT of it's case and put it BY ITSELF in a bin through the Xray machine by now? Really? WHO?

Ok, so I make it to gate B24 and-- surprise surprise!!! We have to go through ANOTHER security machine! Yep, xrays and all...(that's three times in less than an hour and a half).
I'm the last person to board the plane, but since I don't have a roll-on carry on it's fine- no need to fight for overhead storage.

Flight to Glasgow is fine- oh, and let me mention (TAKE NOTE, AMERICA and your CRAPPY NO SERVICE DOMESTIC AIRLINES) that on BOTH of these flights, one of which lasted UNDER one hour, I was PLEASANTLY offered TWO free snacks (savory and sweet), and had drink service AND duty free cart choices (had I wanted to spend 8 euros on a Toblerone).

Arrive in Glasgow, and hey Toto, we're not in a EU country anymore.
I actually had to fill out on of those forms saying why I'm here and where I'm staying...and stand in the FOREIGNER line!

It has happened to me now both in Glasgow and London at immigration-- I'm asked why I'm there, and I say for an audition with xyz opera house, and of COURSE I look like crap. I mean, I'm wearing ripped jeans, sneakers, a university hoodie, hair in a busted up high bun so that I can lean my head back on the airplane seat without getting a headache, bright orange backpack stuffed with audition clothes and my music..looking a MESS, and I have to tell them I'm singing an audition at this prestigious opera house.
The double take is kind of priceless.
But they let me into their country.

A 22 pound cab ride later (I don't want to think about how many Euros that actually is to drive 14 kilometers), and I'm checked into my hotel by 11pm.

Next morning- wake up early but stay in bed watching BBC in ENGLISH! Eventually take a shower, do some lip trills, check out, walk 4 blocks to the audition location (I'm there super early since I had to check out by noon, but the audition wasn't until 2:30).
However, due to scheduling, I'm asked to sing earlier- and FIRST!
Hurray- at 1pm I sing Queen2 aria, then asked for Queen1 aria.
Both of which I rocked.

NOTE to ... whoever cares to read this and is in a position on the 'other' side of the table.
Umm, when scheduling an audition for an opera company in a big hall with a grand piano- you MIIIIIGHT want to make sure that the piano is TUNED properly from TOP to BOTTOM- because...when an auditioner is singing Queen of the Night and has to hit High F's as WELL as low F's in the span of about 2 measures, and suddenly the left hand of the piano comes trouncing in halfway through a cadenza which you are otherwise ON PITCH for with the RIGHT hand of the piano...yea...that's not a good sign.

So, I finish my audition, get in another cab and 20 pounds later, I'm enjoying a 10 pound lunch of chicken and chips (I couldn't do fish 'n chips...too risky for an airport restaurant plus having to fly on 2 flights immediately after that).

The rest of my flights were uneventful, as I had plenty of time for my lay-over in Amsterdam this time (except that I'm an idiot and forgot that I had to go through one million security checks again and I bought a bottle of WATER which I had to CHUG half of and pour out the other half of in order to get to my gate).

I arrived home around 11pm, tired but glad to be home.
HOME for 5 more days before another round of travel.

09 June, 2011

24 hours of crazy part 2.2

We last met at midnight on Tuesday night, as I was attempting to quickly fall asleep so that I could wake up 5 hours later and drive to city B for an 11am show.

Woke up at 5am after not really sleeping (come on, this is obvious now...if I have to wake up early/with an alarm and there is stress involved, I will NOT SLEEP at all).
It was POURING rain.

So from 5:20-7:20 my better half drove and I tried to doze, from 7:20-9:15 I drove.
We arrived at the OperWohnung, I took a quick shower, got dressed and HOPED that I was still warmed up from the night before as I left for my makeup call.

Picked up a bagel with shmear on the way (the ONE city I DON"T live in that has a GREAT US style bagel place..ugh..although, I guess it's a good thing otherwise I'd be many kilos overweight from eating bagels everyday).

Arrived to my makeup call bleary-eyed and with last night's eyeliner still on.

Finished makeup, attempted a warm up, notes were still there, so I waited backstage for my entrance, did my thing, and then raced back to the apartment.

Drank some water, went immediately to sleep.
Woke up at 4:30 in the afternoon feeling awful and dehydrated.
Slept another hour.
Chugged water, ate an apple, packed up my things to move to a good friend's apartment for the evening (since I had to STAY in current-city because of: a MAINSTAGE audition on THURSDAY! Even though they already hired me for Queen, they needed to hear me for something else specific in the near-future)
So- walk to my friend's apartment and get some air, feeling a bit more relaxed but still exhausted.
From 6:30-8:30pm, sit on couch and drink water and read a David Sedaris book to chill out.
8:30- pasta and veggie dinner
10pm- SLEEP
7am- drilling outside the window wakes me up but I feel totally rested.
7-10am stay in bed and relaaaax and drink more water.
10-11:30- shower, get ready, do a few lip trills

12- show up to the opera, warm up for 30 min. feeling GOOD.
Check into KBB, rehearse briefly with the pianist, sing the audition (zerb/oscar), get on my train HOME!

LET ME JUST MENTION that the CRAZY of other singers definitely tried to RUB OFF onto me today.
There was an American baritone there for an audition. Clearly trying to be calm cool and collected, and clearly nervous.
Mentioned backstage that his throat feels dry.
I offer him a ricola- he's like can I take two? You're so nice..that's exactly how I would be in the US, not everyone is like that.
He continues to freak about his music and try to shake everyone's hand that passes him by and introduce himself (even though they are all stagehands--and I know this because I worked with them this past week).
He is first and sings some big baritone thing that I don't know.
Walks offstage and is like- that felt good. it was good, right? I mean, did YOU think it was good? I thought it was good. did you hear my voice shaking at all? could you tell? and i'm like- DUDE, first of all the 2nd person is SINGING RIGHT NOW. 2nd of all I"M ABOUT TO SING! Let me do my little stretches and silent lip trills and stop freaking out about what you JUST DID!

So yea, the crazy tried to overtake me...but I would not have it.
I was just quiet, nodded my head in agreement, and did my thing.

24 hours of crazy part 3 includes MORE AIR TRAVEL on Monday and Tuesday.

07 June, 2011

24 hours of crazy part 2.1

Tuesday 9am (after a crappy night's sleep in a foreign bed in an OperWohnung): Get up and get ready for an 11 am performance. Realize around 9am that I have forgotten my passport. And that I have a FLIGHT from German city A to German city B at 2:45. Call Lufthansa. Get assurance that if I have a COPY of my passport and a German driver's license (which thankfully I DO have), I SHOULD be ok.
11am-12:20-show.
12:20- starts POURING rain in city A. I get on a train for the airport.
1pm-2:45pm FREAKING out at the airport because if my flight does NOT leave at 2:45 and arrive at 3:40, after which I have to get in a car, drive for another hour to reach city 2, I will NOT make my makeup call.

Freak out includes:
Think about renting a CAR and driving for 4.5 hours through the pouring rain. BUT, I had time at the airport...do I just GET in the car NOW and maybe make it even though I have to drive through horrid weather, OR do I take the chance that it will clear up and NOT rent a car, but WAIT for the plane? If the plane is late, it's already too late to rent a car.

OK so as I'm watching the rain PELT the runway..I'm waiting and waiting...and FINALLY- the SUN!!! here comes the sun! doot 'n doo doo!!!

Plane arrives, gets emptied, gets cleaned, we BOARD it AND leave ON TIME!
And we LAND! ON TIME! Except for taking that SILLY bus from the plane to the terminal- why do I always have to be on the flight that parks at the FARTHEST possible spot away from the terminal? Thanks.

Get picked up by the husband and his family who are coming to see the show tonight in city B for the first time (no pressure or anything!), AND get to the theater in PLENTY of time to re-warm up, eat a sandwich, get into makeup, feel totally exhausted, and still rock out my last queen of the night in city B.

Part 2.1 continues RIGHT NOW- as I have to get back to CITY A tomorrow before 9:30am.
I am back at home, and will have to get on the road at 5am.
Yea, it's 11:40pm right now.
Wish me luck with that whole energy thing tomorrow please.

04 June, 2011

24hrs of crazy part 1

This segment will be continued this week and next--but for now:

Last night- Koenigin performance until 9:59. Run off stage, wait (im)patiently for the wig to come off, having already half stripped in the makeup/wig room but holding everything up around me to remain decent, get the costume off, get the street clothes on, RUN to the hauptbahnhof and make a train at 10:10PM so that I can be home by MIDNIGHT.
Why midnight? Well, from 12-12:09am, pack my music for audition tomorrow, find my audition outfit and heels, get my bag ready and my water bottle filled, so that I can SLEEP from 12:10-5am.

Sleep like crap (obviously, because I have to wake up early, and whenever I have an alarm set for super early I never sleep well), wake up at 5am in the middle of a horrible dream that I was at the audition and they asked for pieces of music that I didn't know.
Take a shower, DRY MY HAIR (this takes a longer time these days since it's so LONG and I haven't had TIME to get it cut in like...8 months..awesome). 5:26 out the door, 5:30- tram to the hauptbahnhof, 5:44 walk to the platform, 6am, catch a TGV train for an audition 2 hours away.

Can't sleep on the train because it smells like ... it's not ladylike to say, but...the bathroom...in a BAD way, and a kid is crying in my train car but I'm too tired to go find another seat even though I'm sure if I walked for about 30 seconds I could have some peace and quiet.

8am- arrive at audition hauptbahnhof. Still too early to check into the audition, and I'm exhausted- where to sit indoors and kill and hour? McCafe.
Order a tea, review this new insane music that I've been requested to bring to the audition (modern piece that has like some cowbell and chimes and then I have to find my note out of thin air), attempt to do some lip trills. Fail- it's too early and I'm too tired.

9am- start walking through the city to the opera house. 9:20- arrive at the opera house, check in at the artist entrance, get directed to the KBB office (stop in the bathroom first to put my audition clothes on so I don't walk in there in my sweatpants and University sweatshirt which is my favored travel outfit), check in at the KBB- I'm first, surprise, surprise.
List my arias, go warm up. FINALLY in the warmup room my voice and body decide to wake up a little.
25 min. later I got to rehearse with the pianist who also just got this modern music yesterday...
One hour later- I'm the first audition.
I know they need to hear a high F and a high G, so I just flat out say- I have Queen aria, or modern-aria, or I can start with Zerbinetta as I usually do.
They say start with Zerb.
Then I get a break and the next singer goes on. After her, I'm asked for modern-crazy aria (that I have brought, not the one I was required to learn).
And immediately after modern-crazy aria they ask for the excerpt.
I rock that as well, and then they say thanks and ask me what note I 'warm up' to when I warm up...
I mean....When I am really messing around and trying to see how high I actually can still squeak out, it's a B above high C. So, that one.
Although I think it's just fine if the highest that I sing is the interpolated Aflat in the Doll Song.

11:29- end of my audition, there is a train at 11:49 back at the Hauptbahnhof -- IF I run, and don't change out of my audition outfit and just put my sneaks back on, I can most likely make it.

And so, I run.
I even had a minute to get some apple juice for the train ride home (it was a local train with no on-board snack shop), and FINALLY, after falling asleep and then being woken up by the announcements for 3 hours worth of a train ride, a station exchange and a quick walk back to the apartment, I"M HOME.

Exhausted, but home.
24 hours of crazy part 2 begins on Tuesday.

01 June, 2011

busy busy busy

I would write more, but I'm too busy.
These next two and a half weeks through just about the first few days of July COULD be some of the most music-filled OUTSIDE of being in one show that I've had in a LONG time...
outside of a show, meaning, I have to travel from city to city, country to country, warm up, sing, turn around, and on to the next one.

In a good way, but still-- travel is always stressful especially if it involves last minute airplane tickets.