The sextet was the very first chunk of opera I ever learned. I was 18 years old and in Opera Workshop class at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Needless to say I didn't know shinola from, well, you know, but I had a blast, and the fun I had in that scene was the best intro to opera I ever could have had. I realized that Opera and Musical Theatre were two sides of the same coin, and that Opera could be (and often is) mired in fun and silliness. I still remember rehearsing the Susanna/Figaro hug & twirl at the end of the number about a million times, trying desperately not to make it look lame and stagey, which, ultimately, it did.
I was able to repeat that silliness a few years later in my first full production of Marriage at UMD, and I'm about to do it for the 8th time (10th if you count a stint as Antonio and a Count cover) in Milwaukee.
Have I learned anything in all that time? I'd like to think so. What's different about doing it now as opposed to when I was a teenager? Tons.
Actually, with this stupid cold, there are times when I probably sound like that sucky 18-year-old. Oof.
AW
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