more modern music

The score is about 300 pages long. I have to sing approximately 127 of those pages.
Currently I can SORT OF sing 40 of them, LOOKING at the music, counting my @ss off, and HOPING that the notes with 2.5 octaves in between them are coming out correctly.


2.5 months left.

O.
M.
G.

The things that are easy...are easy.

What's hard is:
The INSANE counting and meter changes that happen SO much and in no particular pattern and every time one 'beat' or one tripelet 'off' -ie, different than the last time.
The fact that sometimes it's just a high G to low G jump with a C in the middle, but all the OTHER times it's G to Fsharp to C, Gsharp to G to Eflat, and so on and so forth- just that little TINIEST 'note' off again- like the beast.

Could I ever just get a pattern? How bout some ABA old-school music here? Haendel anyone?


Thank the unicorns it's in English at least. No trouble memorizing text or words. Just have to know what note and beat they all come on!

on the horizon...

Week 3 of 'working mom' and I am getting the hang of it.
There have been no bottle feeding meltdowns yet and we haven't even dipped into freezer storage for milk!
I'm concentrating in rehearsals, and I *know* that everything is fine, instead of *worrying* whether everything is fine.'
So far this is totally handle-able.
Everyone around me is shocked that I'm back to work so early. In Germany most working moms take advantage of the one year to 18 months that they are guaranteed to have 'off' if they so desire, with the ability to be paid a certain percentage of their salary plus a guarantee that their job will be there when they return.
Well- I'm a free lance, guest artist- so no one guarantees whether or not my jobs will be there ever...
I'm glad I'm back 'on' again. I'm looking forward to these performances and another show which will take me through the end of May. Then I get a little time to relax and be 'just' a mommy for the summer (a full time job!) and rehearsals begin once again in mid-August for the next project.

I'm being pulled more and more toward modern music these days. I do have to say that even if I don't particularly 'like' the music of the piece I'm singing, I can appreciate it- the fact that it exists, that someone thought about making it, and that it is a challenge for all musicians involved.
Up next next next is another modern piece, in English, which will hopefully be easier to learn than current-craziness.

For now- I'm just happy that the little one decided that in the last two days he wanted to sleep for 7 consecutive hours during the night. No feeding, no waking, not a PEEP!
I felt like a new woman.

final dress and 2 days off

Hurray! Two days off before the opening on Saturday night.
Final dress in the afternoon was a bit strange just because we have NEVER performed the opera at night~ And all of our performances besides the last matinee are- at night!

So the energy may be different, since we're all used to showing up at 11:30 for our makeup and hair calls...
and now that gets moved to 5:30/6.

I'm feeling good about it.
Let me just reference that old theater saying about no small parts, only small actors, etc. etc...
I think my small part in this show is totally cute! There is a reason for me to be out on stage, I make pretty music for a very short amount of time, but I'm TOTALLY ok with that. I have seriously just about zero pressure, and I can just have a nice time singing and enjoying the music.

In some ways, doing things like Oscar, Olympia and other 'supporting' but possibly scene-stealing roles (I would put Queen in here since it actually IS a short time onstage and you can steal the show easily)...is very much enjoyable for me at certain times.
I can just relax into it and not feel like I need to carry the whole show.
Of course singing Marie or Zerbinetta or Lucia is just as exhilarating, but that's a whole different KIND of pressure (good nervousness) than doing these smaller parts.

So for now, I'm happy that I have 2 days off. I'm excited for opening. I'm excited for the days off I have BETWEEN shows (this stretches over the next 2.5 weeks!), and I'm looking forward to spending some more time with friends and family in the city before returning to Dland.

tech week and career stuff

Today we had our piano tech...called at 12:30 for hair and makeup (1.5 hours before the show), ran the show/teched the show from....2 until SEVEN.
Yyyyeaaaa.... it was a LONG day.
People were having slight breakdowns all around because it's pretty frustrating to think that you're going into a 'run' but then being stopped in the middle. Numerous times. For whatever reason. Also, when your 30 minute break (which is actually during the intermission of the show) has a makeup and wig change...you don't EAT all day...
so, yea, I had THAT going for me.

By the end of the day those that hadn't either burst into tears, inappropriate sarcastic laughter and back-talking onstage, or silent raging in a corner, had also had just about enough when the staging of the BOWS was going to take us past 7pm.
We had 2 minutes left in rehearsal and luckily the stage manager was noticing everyone's... just... exhaustion from the day- and we were released.

(For the next 30 minutes of getting out of hair/makeup/costume).

The GOOD thing is at the end of this LONG day, I went to dinner with two of my colleagues and just LAUGHED for three hours straight.

These girls are lucky and talented enough to be at a place in their careers where they don't really have to 'audition' anymore for much of the work that they have (and might I mention they have offers through, oh, 2017ish!). They've made a name for themselves as young and reputable singers from two very notable young artist programs which they were involved with in the past few years...and added to that are managed by two of the 'big name' people in the business.
They are in a place in their lives where things are pretty set for them for the next few years. They're not scrambling to try and find regional auditions or sing for mainstage roles in summer programs where just a few years ago they would have been considered young artists or go to Europe for an audition tour...they are pretty much learning whatever rep. is coming up next and packing for the next gig- which takes them through the next few years.
And besides being some of the funniest AND nicest people I've hung out with on gigs, they have the PIPES to back it up.

What I see around me with where they have come from and the opportunities they now have makes me wonder if I should have stayed in the young artist/resident artist game just a bit longer.
I'm not sure if it was the opportunity to sing small roles and cover big roles in big houses, or the visibility of them having the chance to sing for EVERY manager, EVERY artistic director that came through to see the productions, or the way that their respective programs were really supportive of their 'next' move once they graduated...
But somehow, they landed these top people immediately who backed them 100% and continue to do so--even during dinner the text messages and emails were rolling in about future gigs, calls that were being made on their behalf, and upcoming offers.

I guess I've always thought of myself as a go-getter. I gather as much information as I can about upcoming opportunities or seasons, and if I can do anything about it or find any previous connections or current connection, I'll try to use that information. Whether it's an inquiry email, an 'update' email, or an email passing along the information to the people who are 'more' in the know and can make calls on my behalf. But I do wonder what it would be like just to be on the receiving end of such transactions/calls without having to dig and 'go-get'...and perhaps be on that receiving end precisely because of a certain residency or young artist program that had enough of a 'name' to get the ball rolling.

I can't obviously pinpoint whether it was their residencies, competitions, their voice types, or their current managers who are the main reason that so much work is rolling in. OBVIOUSLY if they didn't have the talent to back it up, none of this would be happening.
But there are MANY talented singers ... some of whom this type of thing happens for, some of whom it does not. And I'm wondering if there is one major factor that contributes to the phenomenon or .. whether it's just - who you know/who the managers know/ timing/ relationships with GD's, etc...

I also can see that I'm starting to make a name for myself across the pond- in a not-so-unknown house at that...and I really wonder whether or when that may lead to a time where, simply based on the level of house and role that I've sung, that would be 'enough' for a 'call to be made'-- and that I could possibly get offers from US houses and houses abroad-- to just 'do' a role..in, say 2014/15 or something like that.

I mean, of course I'm never just going to rest on my laurels. I always WANT to know what future seasons are, whether there is anything for me to sing OR cover, whether I can just do an 'informational' audition or 'reminder' audition and get my voice known out there in opera-land both in the US and abroad.

I'm feeling pretty comfortable with the rest of the work I have through next December, but after that is a big ole' question mark. And of course, being in a gig in November/December this year pretty much cuts out any chances of auditioning for companies that are heading to NYC during that time.

Kind of the same situation as last year. Work is GREAT, but, at some point I also have to be available to get MORE work through auditions, right?
And how much time is TOO much time that has passed without 'reminding' people that I'm still around, and hey, I have some really good work both in Europe AND the US!

I certainly don't have the answers. What I do have is a set of pipes that I believe in, that the companies that have hired me believe in, and the will and want to make this art form and this passion into a hopefully ever-evolving and ever-satisfying career.

moving to the stage

We haven't had an entire room run yet, mostly splitting up detail work on Act I and Act II over the past 4 days or so, but tomorrow we move Act I onto the stage.
I only have a few entrances with minimal stage business, but I'm assuming we shall go forth and 'tweak' until it looks perfect, and then do the same thing with Act II on Wednesday.

it's all in the details

Left hand a little higher, this look comes later, baroque gestures with specificity... I do like getting a more and more detailed and refined look after general staging is complete, and that is exactly what's happening this week.
I'll take it- AND my unexpected day off tomorrow.

staged!

6 days and the entire show is staged!
We still have a week and a day or two in the room and then we move ON stage- PLENTY of time to explore and expand and really get comfortable.
It seems like this is super fast, but I'm glad to know what I need to be doing this early on so that now only little tweaking and detailing will be done...so for the most part- feeling good about all that!
I EVEN have another day off on Monday- whatever SHALL I do with myself?

the travel post and first day of rehearsal

Ok, 8.5 hour plane ride that began with one of the longest 'check luggage line' that I've ever been in. Amazingly, due to "German efficiency", said line which wrapped around 5 times PLUS had people hanging off the end after the red tape ended, I only waited for 16 minutes (yes, I timed it) before my suitcase was tagged and on its way to the final destination in the US of A.

The plane was sold out and so I was thankful for my aisle seat. HOWEVER- Lufthansa, you have totally failed in entertainment choices on this flight.
FIRST off we didn't have individual tv's. Really? That's something I expected from old United airplanes that fly across the country, but, on an international flight? No tvs in the seats? Really? Come now.
Even if I DON"T get have a touch screen and have to wait every 2 hours for a movie to start on one of the 8 channels available, I've almost ALWAYS have tv in the seat on international flights. Thing is, it's not that I'm a movie junkie or anything..half of the time I've already seen them already, but it makes the time pass SO much more quickly!

Ok, so no tv Lufthansa, PLUS- you decided that for the first TWO hours of the flight the entertainment option on that tiny flip down tv every 10 rows was: FORMULA ONE RACING and a program on SOCCER GOALS.
Really?
I KNOW it's Germany and everyone is all hot and heavy over Sebastian Vettel and their soccer teams...but..realllllly? There ARE women on this flight, you know this, right? I'm PRETTY sure women even outnumber men in the world population. Who thought it was a good idea to have the first two hours be an interspersed map of us flying over the UK and Iceland with our ground speed and temperature, and then man sports?!
Boring.

So THEN the captain came on and announced that our two inflight movies (TWO? It's almost 9 hours in the air! What about the other 6.5 hours?!) would be: Mr. Popper's Penguins and Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Really.
I'm sure ALLLLL of the multitudes of 8-12 year olds on the flight (read: NONE since it was not a holiday weekend or school vacation) enjoyed those!

Ok, bottom line, NOT entertained means I literally watched the minutes ticking by for 8.5 hours.

Secondly, man sitting in the middle seat next to me from Morocco- it's NOT ok to put your pillow, jacket, LEG and half of your SELF onto MY seat when I happen to go use the restroom or get some water from the galley!
I know you cleared it every time I came back, but really?
In addition, you could pay a bit more attention to your personal space generally, since you fell asleep with your head just a bit too close for comfort to both myself and the poor guy sitting in the window, changing your position about every hour and breathing VERY heavily.

Thirdly- Lufthansa airplane food is usually decent. But, your late afternoon snack was a puff pastry filled with paneer and curried vegetables- yea, INDIAN FOOD- spicy, gas-causing Indian food- which made for some interesting final hours around the lavatory areas.

Oh also, but I can't really complain about this because it was too cute- there was a couple with an 11 month old baby 2 rows behind me. If they were sitting, the baby was screaming. So they had to stand up with the baby in a sling the ENTIRE flight and thus we all learned that the baby (Natalya) was just adopted from Russia three days ago and the parents were still 'getting to know her' so didn't know how to really soothe her yet..hence the uncontrollable crying while sitting down. At any rate, it was sweet and a lovely story that had a good ending for the life of a child (we hope!), so I didn't mind it. Plus, babies really aren't THAT loud when compared to the roaring engine of a 747...or whatever kind of NON-TV-BUSTED airbus or Boeing I was on!

OK, fast forward to landing, being picked up by two best friends with balloon that said 'welcome home' and a flag of the US on the background, unpacking, Italian dinner, trying to stay up as late as I could and finally falling asleep at 10pm.

FIRST DAY OF REHEARSAL!
What I was expecting: First call- intro. to the production and first music rehearsal. Second call of the day- start staging- that maybe I wouldn't be called to since my character only sings in Act II and is 'part of the staging' in Act I.

What actually happened: First call- intro. to the production and oh, wait- two of our leads and the director are still not in town, so we will begin STAGING Act II.
Allllrightythen.
So we staged the first scene I'm in!
Then had a break for lunch, and in the afternoon was called to the musical rehearsal with our conductor.
Everything went really smoothly, but it's just odd that we're starting with Act II since that means I'll work very hard for these first few days, and then basically be blocked into the whole show and be doing 'run throughs' from a very early point in the show.

How I'm feeling- um, exhausted.
It's 9:24. If I can make it to 10pm again and then zonk out in bed without waking up at 4am I THINK I'll be over jet lag tomorrow.

First days are always more draining than usual too- it feels like you're singing for your bosses who hired you over one year ago- and you're hoping they still see and hear in you today what they saw and heard in you last year or whenever the audition was.

Ok, enough musings for this evening.
Where are my PJs?

another opening another show...

NOT in philly, boston, or baltimo'...

But still. Woke up early this morning. Ate a bagel. Drank some OJ.
Warmed up in the dressing room. Got my hair and makeup did.
Went through ALL of my German dialogue and attempted to think about what kind of phrases I could say during the improvised 'heated discussions' that I must have onstage.
Speed-sing through Act I, and then it was time to begin.

I do have to say that I'm SUPER proud of myself for not messing up ONE thing in German! I mean, it really could NOT have gone any better improvisation-wise as well as memorization of NEW dialogue 5 days before opening-wise.

So- YAY for me!
Now I know that I can do crazy German opera on SHORT and REVISED notice.

I didn't make much use out of the 3.5 hour train ride home, but I will soon have to.
Upcoming MODERN-CRAZY opera must be learned WELL before the end of the year so that by that time I'm just 'practicing' for memory sake, and not banging out notes.

Next-Opera is already there.
Now to find some Fall Auditions in Europe!
Here's hoping I have time to fit SOMETHING in.

dress rehearsal...aka..."BO"

On Tuesday we had our piano tech, and wednesday was our orchestra dress for the show that opens on Sunday.
Umm, in the piano tech we pretty much had to tech the whole show, so we skipped the singing unless something was going on.
And in the orchestra dress we pretty much skipped all the dialogue or anything that wasn't musical, so stuff didn't really get 'tech'ed and there was no improvising German dialogue for some final practice for me.

Compared to final dress weeks in the US where the pressure is ON because it's the first time you're in the theater, the first time in costume, the first time in the new 'vocal space', the first time with orchestra, lights, etc...
Well, it was extremely more relaxed (to a surprising level on my part, since I'm used to tech rehearsals taking forever- like 6-11pm or later..until we FINISH), and on both occasions when we were called from 5-8pm, we finished at 6:55.
What?

Yea.

Because that's how they roll in Deutschland when they've already done the show, apparently. The stagehands and tech people know what they're doing and when, the orchestra has played it before, and so, only for the sake of the new people do we 'kind of' run through it to give us a chance to see how it MAY be.

At any rate, it is a pretty cool feeling knowing that I learned this piece and was staged into it in about 5 days. IMPROVISED GERMAN DIALOGUE INCLUDED.
Yea. I'm serious.
I get to IMPROVISE in German. A fight between 2 characters. 4 times. 4 different subjects each time. Thanks.

If I can do that, I can do ANYTHING!

First rehearsal

Just like the first day of school again, except I've been here already!
Umm, remember that time when the theater double-confirmed on the phone which version of the dialogue I'd have to learn for this show? Yea...those 5 pages of memorized dialogue all nice and neat in my head?
Out the window.
This is frustrating for me, obviously, because I can't ad-lib or improvise THAT easily in German (I mean, really not that much at all). I have to know line by line what my entrance is, what word cue to take, etc...and this production seems to revolve around the fact that the previous people who did it didn't follow the dialogue very closely.
So the souffleuse (that's the prompter) has three versions of what to prompt, and most often the tenor will say whatever he wants anyway.
AWESOME.
I'll be sitting with my score out this evening until tomorrow's evening rehearsal.

Otherwise, it's one of those shows again..where I'm being 'plugged' into a production that has been done before, dvd and all.
So yes, I have the dvd. And yes, once I get the RIGHT version of the dialogue I will get to figure out how to make it my own.

I sure hope all that happens within the next 15 days.

reassured

For the super-contemporary-sounding-and-composed opera that I have upcoming, I broke down and bought a recording made in 2003. I think it's actually the only one that has been made. I usually NEVER buy recordings until I'm finished learning and memorizing a role-- then just to see how other people did it stylistically, etc. But this time, when I received the score about a month ago, I knew I would have to listen to it to 'see' how it sounded.
The way the score is composed, it's pretty much impossible for me to play anything in the orchestra, just my vocal line (since there are, oh, about 20 notes being played at the same time EVERY BEAT), and the WAY the score is composed is also modern (ie, sometimes there are not 5 lines to the staff...awesome).

The good news- the notes that I thought I would previously have to pull out of thin air- DO have a mild support beneath them, and most likely won't be that hard to figure out in the 'sound-wave' of that particular beat.
The not-so-good-news- the actual entrances (beat-wise) are totally random and I can't (yet) hear a pickup or a 'cue' per se).
All of a sudden- OH, that sounds like a super high soprano, oooops, aaaaand there was the entrance. (2 measures ago).

I don't think I'll be listening to it much before doing a full score breakdown, notes, beats, how many PAGES I have to learn(!), but at least I'm a bit reassured that (hopefully) my brain won't hurt toooo much from learning it all.

show #2 and about reviews

Tonight went really really well again! I think since we all had a few days off everyone was SUPER aware of entrances and timing and the like. I, for one, found myself 'fast forwarding' my head...after every time I finished singing, I had a split second of, omg what comes next when I come in next time?
That lasted for about the first 10 minutes of act I, and then I was ok for the rest of the show.
It felt fresh and exciting tonight...a bit more settled, as the 2nd show usually tends to be.
Now we have a Friday which will hopefully draw a bigger crowd, and a Sunday matinee-- which, even though it's a matinee and no one particularly loves those mid-afternoon performances, we will all be excited for anyway since it's the LAST ONE.

Such a big difference between doing 4 performances in the US and 12-30 in Europe.
The 'pressure' is on, you could say.

Now to reviews---
It would be nice to get a review from someone who KNOWS how to use musical vocabulary correctly.
As soon as a writer begins to postulate about Norina being a soubrette role (as reported in the NYTimes this week), I mostly stop paying attention.
No matter what, it's an opinion...and even though MANY people do know what they are talking about...JUST as many...don't. I mean, yes, they can have a feeling of liking or not liking someone as a character.
They can comment on whether the characters are believable. On whether the sets/costume/design worked. Tempi of the orchestra..balance, ...Even on whether they LIKED the opera...
But as soon as you get some choice adjectives to describe the voice that just don't make sense...I just wonder why they even went there and also, what they MEANT!
Soaring coloratura? check..lyrically thin? Are you talking about DICTION? The WORDS that the composer made me sing? What lyric? Lyric LINES? I never even have lyric singing! I ONLY have coloratura!?
Ok, I just googled "lyrically thin"...and every time it shows up in a review, it's talking about the words (text) that the character had to sing or speak...NOT the VOCAL quality of the character..so, yea..now I feel like THAT's what you meant, except that it SEEMS like you say my VOICE is thin, lyrically. Which would SEEM like not that positive of a thing to say..except that you say it right after SOARING COLORATURA!!!

You got some 'splainin' to do please...

final room run

Everything went really really well last night...
I think I only made three mistakes which NO ONE would know about (counting), except for, of course, the composer- who happened to be sitting 15 feet away from me.
Tomorrow is our sitzprobe, and then we're off- tech, piano dress, orchestra dress, opening!

A very special guest is arriving from very far away this week...and so I'm planning major 'Texas cowboy' activities during the DAYS (before my evening dress rehearsals).
I am assuming that since the actual sing isn't that tough that I'll be fine for the rehearsals at night...although my backside might be sore from trail-riding, hiking, jumping into waterfalls and playing cowboys and indians ;)

blocked

Hurray! The whole show has been blocked in the rehearsal room.
Double hurray because today I made ZERO mistakes in counting my crazy entrances and interjections for the entirety of Act II-- although Act III coming up tonight for review still have a few metered measures that could cause mayhem...so here's hoping it all just keeps going smoothly.
I'd say fingers crossed- except that I use them to count. All the time.

Umm, seriously, I have come home from rehearsal EVERY night to do 'homework' which is review counting. And as such, I have found that I am sleeping badly, my eyelid has been twitching since last night, and I'm generally on-edge...
Simply because I feel like I can't relax yet.

Interestingly enough, it has not been a 'review the blocking in my head before bed' kind of show...(which, usually, that's the ONLY thing I have to worry about...ie, the singing, the right notes, rhythms, pitches, etc are already there easily).
The notes are 'normal', it's just their insane placement - ie, come in on the 3.5 beat of an 11/8 measure, followed by an entrance at 1.5 of a 6/8 bar - that is making me double and triple check my score every night and every morning.

And if you think you can just 'hear it' in the music...um, yea, No.
There are no clues to your entrance and no clues to your melody line in its own 'special' meter (in contrast to the other 9 singers who have other stuff going on at the same time).

I have worked on contemporary music before and have honestly never been this challenged. Even with crazy-current-piece-that-i-love-and-one-day-want-to-sing which has CRAZY and I mean CRAZY note clusters that SEEM to make no sense and rhythms that are all over the place, arpeggios that change by one note or one minor or one sharp or some displacement... EVEN that piece is a piece of CAKE compared to this.

ONE WEEK and a few days until opening. And although my 'execution' of the role is accurate and correct right now, it would really be nice if I could take a deep breath and RELAX at some point before opening night.
That, or grow 17 more fingers on my hands so I can count better.

blog much?

Yes, I've been THAT busy.
In a good way.
The way that this show is being staged (in order, thank goodness) requires all of the 10 person cast to be there at pretty much all times. Even if you're not singing for 10 pages, you're still on stage doing something- whether that mirrors what is going on, or is your own wordless and note-less story to tell.
That means I've had two rehearsal blocks filled every day (either 10am-6pm or 2pm-10pm), and mostly my time spent NOT in rehearsal has been spent reviewing music and double, triple, quadruple checking that I know my 'counts', that is, the count that I come in on for my entrance, how many beats are in between that and my next interjection, and so on and so forth.

This show is not a vocally challenging sing at.all.
Yes, there is a high F, a bunch of Es, some awesome crazy coloratura and even a long sweeping arc of sustained high legato...but the main challenge is rhythm, and the fact that the meter is changing every other measure. And you can't really 'hear' it in the orchestra below you. So you just have to 'know' (ie, count).
I'm hoping that by opening night I will 'feel' some things more rather than have to move my fingers really fast against whatever part of the stage or part of my body they happen to be leaning.

Other than that, it's a piece of cake! The cast is very nice, we all take lunch breaks mostly together (including trying out the over 100 flavors of snow cones that are sold next door), and last night we had a post-rehearsal margarita chips 'n dip kind of evening to unwind.

Now is my day off- the next one will be ONE day before our sitz and into the final week of tech.

Um, less than two weeks til opening?
Wow.
We've staged act I and II. Three will be done in the next two days. And then it's run-throughs.
Giddy-up.

day 1 of school

WOW I had a long day today.
After a long flight yesterday.

I'm totally exhausted and jet-lagged (it's 4:40 am 'my time' and only 10:40pm here)...
but here are some tidbits from the last 24 hours.

A. make sure you know whether you will have to go through customs in the FIRST airport (the transit stop before the final destination), and whether you will have to WAIT for your checked bag to come out, collect it, re-check it, go through SECURITY AGAIN!!!! (because of that knife you picked up while you were on the FIRST plane for 9 hours)...and do that all within a one hour period of time before your connecting flight leaves. Check.

B. If the above occurs and you should happen to be sitting in the LAST row of the airplane (my total bad for not requesting to be booked on Delta for this flight, where I have many miles to prevent such horrible seat assignments), find a nice looking stewardess and ask if there are ANY free seats toward the front of the plane that you can sit in for the last 30 minutes before landing so that you can SPRINT off of the plane and through said lines.

C. Why did a small, un-chilled Naked Juice drink cost 4.99 at the airport?

D. It is SO much better to stay in a HOUSE with FAMILY for a month than in a hotel.
Full kitchen, awesome people, free wireless that does not kick you off at the hotel, dogs to play with, bikes to borrow, and generally a more relaxed and home-y feeling. Love.

OK and now to the first day of rehearsal!!!!!!!
Very quickly- it will be awesome.
I mean- super awesome.
The singers are all great, and the productions sounds super cool.

Thankfully even though this music HAS been absolutely challenging to learn, I feel PRETTY comfortable after our first musical rehearsal today. There was one section that I had to re-do twice before I got it right because of a different conducting pattern than the beats that I had learned it.
I also learned that I will be on stage the ENTIRE opera...even though I don't sing a lot of the ensembles, I just comment on them physically.
Soooo-- yea, there will be no knitting backstage. Or chocolate-eating for that matter.

And now, sleep.