A Year of Figaro

Fig, we hardly knew ye

2010-02-14T08:57:00.002-06:00

10 1/2 months

5 productions

32 performances (12 of Barber, 20 of Marriage)

104 blog posts

2 colds

1 broken cell phone

This is my final day in my year of Figaro. It has been one crazy ride, and I'm a better person and most certainly a better singer for it. I have had some exceptional colleagues along the way- each production was its own unique experience thanks to these awesome people. I made some great new friends and became reconnected with some old ones. I got to eat crawfish in Louisiana, hike in the green mountains of Vermont, walk around Thomas Jefferson's home in Virginia, and see all my old friends in Milwaukee. Milwaukee- the 2 shows that almost didn't happen- and here I am on the other side of that whole Skylight fiasco, about to close my second Figaro, an experience very few baritones have had. I am one lucky dude. And I am full of gratitude. Thanks friends. Thanks colleagues. Thanks people who were silly enough to hire me. Thanks Mozart. Thanks Beaumarchais. Thanks Erika.

I may have more to say to wrap this business up in the next few days/weeks. Afterwards, who knows? My year of Figaro is over, so I guess the blog is probably over too. I've really come to like ranting though, so I may just have to start a new one.

Now I'm going to seek out some greasy breakfast, finish packing up my car, sing my face off for the last time, and speed home to see my amazing wife and daughter. I'm back to my favorite role- Husband/Daddy. The part I was born to play.

Friends in the arts- peace.

How did I get here from there?

2010-02-12T13:14:00.002-06:00

It's our tenth performance of Marriage tonight. Just three left to go, and then I'm out of here. Out of Milwaukee, out of Figaros, out of blog ideas. I went to dinner with a friend recently who queried, "yeah, but are we really ever out of here?" I'm still trying to figure out exactly what he was talking about, but he may have a point. I'm back home on Sunday night. Who knows what the future will bring- more Figaros, maybe? Maybe not. New friends, new shows with old friends. New and different junk. In any case, this 'year of figaro' has flown by.

We had a pretty great student matinee on Tuesday morning. It was way better than it had any business being at 11 in the morning. What really blew me away though was the Q & A at the end. One kid asked about the key relationships in Figaro, and if they were significant to the characterizations. ???? From a high schooler??? And another one noticed that the protagonists were wearing lighter shades of clothing and the antagonists were wearing darker shades and was that intentional? It was one of the most rewarding Q & As I've ever done. These kids were smart, respectful, and curious. It was very heartening.

I also had a brilliant bit of disaster during Non piu andrai. I realized I was about to go up on a line, and instead of shutting my mouth or repeating a previous line, I sang (with some gusto I might add) a line of complete gibberish. It sounded vaguely like "w-with a hrrm-haww!" (the real line should have been "keep your chin up" - not even close. I then spent the rest of the aria trying to hold it together while my colleagues onstage and in the pit were totally losing it. Delightful.

Wednesday's show felt like we had done a student matinee the day before. The energy was a bit down, but I doubt it was noticeable (at least I hope it wasn't) to the audience. Since Thursday was our last day off, a bunch of us went to the Knick (and a smaller, more dedicated group went to Wolski's)- sort of a pre-closing night party.

Am I sad this is all ending? It's hard to feel sad about saying goodbye to a show for which you've had 12 performances. What I mean is- it's time to let it go. Am I sad that my year of Fig is ending? Yes. No. I'll get back to you on that one. It's probably for the best that Fig and I have some time apart (it's not you, Fig, it's me)- I sort of feel like I'm resting on my laurels too much in this role, and might need a little space to see it afresh. But I will never be tired of singing this opera.

Three left. And I'm going to enjoy them.

Super Bowl Sunday: Skylight plays Mozart....

2010-02-09T08:25:00.003-06:00

.....and Mozart loses.

I kid I kid I kid. Actually, we had a great show Sunday night, and our house sold pretty well- about 2/3 full- way better than any of us would have thought. I managed to remember all my lines this time (I didn't 'approve any messages'), and I think it may have been my strongest show vocally since we started the run. I had a friend in the audience (I could see him sitting right in the front row- jerk :-)) and I found myself playing a lot of the laughs for him. Translation: All of my schtick was amplified by ten to see if I could get a chortle out of him. Shameless? Yes. Tacky? You bet. Fun? Absolutely. My favorite moment in the show was when our Basilio/Don Cruzio yelled "Saints win" to the audience.

We have 5 more performances (longer than the entire run of most houses), starting with a student matinee at 11 this morning. I'm thinking back to the student matinee of Barber and how I was praying for a hurricane on Lake Michigan to cancel our show. Yikes. Mozart's Figaro is wayyyyy more comfy- especially at 11am (as Chaliapin used to say- "I can't even spit at that hour!").

We are definitely in the home stretch here. It's a little sad for me to think about saying goodbye to my old pal Fig. We've had some fun this year. 5 more.

I approve this message

2010-02-07T00:10:00.002-06:00

It could be because it was our sixth show tonight. Or it could be because of the non-sleep I've been getting at the Plazma Hotel. Or I could have just been on Mars. There were definitely more hijinx tonight. Oof.

It started in the first scene (why wouldn't it?) I unroll our mattress onto the floor and say, "Tell me the reason why you refuse the most convenient room in all the palace?" Susanna: "Because I am Susanna, and you're a blockhead!" Where I, just to illustrate her accusation, leap to my feet like a gazelle and nearly kill myself tripping on the mattress. Blockhead indeed.

The real gem happened in the recit before the Act III sextet. Marcellina says, "at last I'll be married to the man I adore." I run to the Count and I am supposed to say, "Your lordship, I appeal this judgment." What comes out is what feels like 5 minutes of stammering. I started to say "Your lordship I approve this message" but I knew that wasn't right. Then it was "Your lordship I disprove...." No, still not there. "Your lordship....." Meanwhile the Count (plus the entire audience) was looking at me like I had ten heads. Finally the line came out, much to my (and everyone's) relief. Not my best moment, but it is hilarious. It seemed like an eternity.

It looks like I may have to run my recits some more before tomorrow night's show.

Tomorrow night, you ask? The night of the Super Bowl? Yes. We, a Wisconsin opera company are going to be performing an opera on Super Bowl Sunday. I have a feeling we might be playing to crickets. Chances are it will be my best performance yet.

PS- it's fun again.

Pity Party Over

2010-02-06T01:21:00.002-06:00

Thanks for all the love, friends. It wasn't my intention to go fishing for good will, but I thank you all.

Some business:

My friend who gave me the idea to take my glasses off is not at fault. She is a total piece of work, but I don't blame her for my foibles.

I had the best show ever tonight. I think it has something to do with the fact that my subtext the whole evening was "F.U." Let's ust say I forgot my 'manners.' ZING!

I kid, I kid. Seriously, you should try the tater tots at the Knick- they're deadly.

Peace+bacon grease

Warning: contains rant

2010-02-03T16:16:00.005-06:00

I had an audition the other day. I had one goal. To experience joy. I've noticed a distinct lack of joy in my singing lately. I think it's because I had a cold right in the midst of this rehearsal process and sort of had to scramble to get everything back to normal. So I thought to my self, 'self, let's have some fun.'

I also tried a new trick a friend of mine told me about. I wore my glasses into the room, and when it was time to sing, I took them off. I'm severely nearsighted, so all I could see were shapes......I'm not sure this was a good thing. It was kind of scary. One on hand, it reigned me in a little bit, so I there was less extraneous movement (mostly because I was afraid if I moved too much I would trip and fall down!), but on the other hand, I may have just looked like someone with unfocused eyes who couldn't see very well because he had taken off his glasses (Bocelli's American cousin, Andy Bocelli?)

Well, dammit, I did have fun. I sang Se vuol ballare and was very pleasantly surprised to have my auditioner ask me for Tarquinius' aria from The Rape of Lucretia. There were a few funny moments, but I totally accomplished my goal. Joy? felt. Fun? had.

Until......

I get a call from my agent. No, no he likes your voice. Seriously. It's just that he thinks you have mannerisms that better suit you for buffo rep. Oh, so he doesn't like my voice. No, he does. Clearly he doesn't! Sure he does. Mannerisms!

My ego took a little hit, sure. Hey, we all want to think that we are the best, and that we have no flaws. I spent 4 years in grad school trying to learn how to sing better so I wouldn't limit myself to a career of only singing buffo rep (not that I think it's below me- I LOVE character rep) I know my singing has flaws. I am trying to turn my flaws into my assets. Whatever. At the end of the day, this has nothing to do with me. It's one dude's opinion, and yes, this one dude may not think my voice is appropriate for certain roles I would like to sing. That's his prerogative. I just have to keep doing my thing, trying to improve- not to meet his ideal, but to meet mine. And if people only want to hire me to sing "La cena è pronta!"- well, that's out of my hands.

I'm off to prepare for performance #5 of our little Figaro skit. And I'm gonna own my mannerisms, by god.

ADDENDUM: I just re-read this and realized what a whiny D-bag I sound like. I just needed to blow of some steam. The truth is I really like feedback- good or bad. Knowing how you are perceived, vocally, personally, and in all other ways, is extremely valuable information.

And more importantly, I feel nothing but intense gratitude for the chance to make a living doing what I love to do. Whether it is a year of Figaro, a day of Antonio, a minute of Scientist #5. I'm extremely lucky. And I know it.

Hijinx ensue

2010-02-03T16:02:00.002-06:00

We had a successful opening weekend by all accounts, and tonight we embark on performance week #2, and performance #4. We've garnered some pretty decent reviews from Tom Strini at Third Coast Digest as well as the Journal Sentinel. There's another decent review from the Shepherd Express. This guy is hilarious. It seems like he likes our show right? But he has to follow every complimentary statement with a somewhat deflating one. Does he think that people will only take him seriously if he throws in a barb here and there? Is he trying to flaunt his intellect, or maybe even manufacture his intellect? His is the sort of self-aggrandizing writing that reminds me of Good old Dominic Papatola from my own St. Paul. I don't even think these guys like theatre or music per se, but they looooove their writing. Hey, look who's talking? Who am I, Mr. Bloggerson, to point fingers.

There are still some scary moments vocally during this show, which is surprising considering how many performances I've done of it this year. It seems to settle a bit each time we do it, and I think we are definitely finding a groove. Sunday's matinee was the strongest performance for me, with a few hilarious exceptions. After singing what was my best 'se vuol ballare' yet in this run, I'm supposed to give a sarcastic bow in the Count's direction, pick up his boots, and storm out of the room. Bow. Boots. Storm. I bowed, knocked over his boots, bent over to pick them up (showing the audience my best side I'm sure), and slinked out of the room. Bow. Knock. Bend. Slink. Ugh.

During the Act IV finale when the Count is supposed to throw me to the ground, I accidentally stepped on the poor guy's foot. I turned to him as I went down and whispered 'sorry,' and as I did so, slipped on the heel of my shoe, did the closest thing to the splits I ever want to achieve, and knocked the crap out of my knee. Graceful, no?

Hey man, live theatre.

Let's have some fun tonight kids. What do you say?

The Final Countdown

2010-01-29T14:32:00.002-06:00

...cue the synthesizer brass.

It's opening night for this, the final chapter in my year of Figaro. Oh, don't get all teary already, I've got twelve, count 'em twelve of these bad boys to do before calling it quits, but it all starts tonight.

I had a moment of panic the other day when I thought, "Holy crap, am I just phoning in this character?" After doing it all year long, it has become quite comfortable, and I was worried that maybe I was mistaking my comfort in the role for listlessness. I don't think that is the case- at least I hope not!

I can tell it is a performance day, because I'm starting to get those pre-show jitters already. It's a good sign. I'm going to savor these twelve performances. Who knows when I'll get a chance to sing this glorious music again? I'm going to let the last 10 months inform my choices on stage and let this run be a celebration- a culmination of all my experiences this year. I couldn't ask for a better place or better colleagues to do it.

Still Crazy After All These Years

2010-01-27T13:16:00.002-06:00

Our final dress rehearsal for Marriage of Figaro is tonight. I'm about to open my 10th production of this opera, my 8th as the title character. This opera has been kicking around my consciousness for going on sixteen years now. For as many times as I've sung it, it still teaches me stuff about my singing. For what should be an 'easy sing' by now, it still presents vocal challenges.

I've ranted and gone on and on about how singing too heavy in the middle voice during the first two acts of Nozze have come back to haunt me in the last act. That is true, and I have made some changes to avoid that. But it still amazes me that there are moments of the Act II finale and especially the Act IV aria and duet with Susanna where D4 and Eb4 seem like high Z's. And this is after I sang 12 performances of Rossini's Figaro that was riddled with G's (not to mention Casanova's Homecoming- G's, Ab's, A's oh my! [sidebar: did you know that Casanova was pals with Lorenzo Da Ponte? Legend has it that he actually wrote part of the Don Giovanni libretto]).

I have lots of theories behind this- please let me speculate for a minute (even if you don't let me, I'm going to anyway- hey, it's my blog). The most compelling theory is that singing in a room with a piano just plain sounds and feels different than singing in a hall with an orchestra. I have worked out a lot of the technical aspects of this role in the practice room, many of them to my satisfaction. But execution in the studio and on stage are two different things, especially if I am listening to myself too much (a bad habit, but I'm guilty of it). It's a big signal to me that I need to focus on sensation more in the studio and try to recreate that on stage instead of listening.

Another theory: Muscle memory. This was one of the very first operas I ever learned and when I learned it I had lots of vocal issues. The body has a funny way of remembering stuff, and it is incredibly difficult to re-learn it.

The last theory: I'd like to think that the character choices I have made have crept into the way I sing this role. In the opera, Figaro goes through a bit of an evolution. He definitely has similarities to stock buffo characters, but Mozart gives him distinctly upper class music to sing. He is given accompanied recits- usually reserved for serious characters. When people claim that all the politics are taken out of the libretto of Figaro in Mozart's opera, I point them to the accompanied recits: The Big Fig is a buffo/servant singing serio/master music. There's your politics, people. But I digress. Fig needs to control his temper and suspicion, and govern his actions with his reason. It is only after he goes through this transformation that he is truly able to enter in an equal partnership with Susanna. As a singer, I need to govern my vocal choices with my reason and with what I know to be true about my voice, and not to give in to vocal fits of rage (i.e. yelling, pushing, singing too damn loud, etc). I fight the good fight- sometimes I win. Sometimes I don't. Who knows, maybe that creeps into the characterization. I hope it does, but I have a feeling I just sing too loud. I've got 12 performances to mess with it.

Basically, this is all a bunch of hullabaloo, because out of every role I've sung, this one probably fits me the best. I love it, and I hope I have many more years of Figaro ahead of me (I recently learned that Francesco Benucci, the guy who originated the role, was 41 when he first sang it). I am blessed to be in a great production of it with a wonderfully talented and generous group of friends.

Tonight is our final dress and our first crack at having an audience.

PS- Here is an article Tom Strini did about me. I'm proud to be an 11-year Skylight veteran!

Tech begins

2010-01-22T20:56:00.002-06:00

He we are at our first spacing rehearsal in the theatre. Man that went by fast! I don't know why I'm always so surprised when tech rolls around, but I always am. All of the sudden it hits you- "oh, we're puttin' on a show here people."

The good news is that we are ready. Or will be ready.

We have a spacing call all night tonight, and are back for a big 10 hour call tomorrow. It's not a super tech-heavy show, so I don't foresee huge problems other than the normal tech tedium. The challenge (for me) is to stay in the game and try to use the rehearsal as much as possible instead of simply going through the motions because it's [only] tech.

Our poor Susanna is ill tonight and not with us, making for a really interesting show. It's kind of the "Das Konzept" version, where Susanna isn't there- just a ghost in the room that everyone still talks to. Don't laugh- it's been done in Germany, I just know it.

Sextet time.

Closing Wolski's

2010-01-21T12:58:00.002-06:00

We had our sitz last night. The band sounded great- we're using piano/wind quintet arrangement, and it's surprising how quickly I accepted the absence of strings. After a few numbers, I didn't even notice. Hats off to our maestro who is also the pianist, and mostly conducting with his head, eyebrows, pony tail, whatever it takes.

Most of us reconnoitered at a place called Cafe Hollander for a post-sitz libation. It is essential to have nights like this once in a while where the cast can just blow off a little steam (the fact that they have Hennepin on tap is also a plus!). Afterwards, I took my Susanetta to go through a true Milwaukee rite of passage: closing Wolski's.

For the uninitiated, Wolski's is a dirty, smoky bar with bad lighting and wood paneling. It's next to impossible to find (which makes going there even more triumphant), and looks more like an old house than a commercial establishment. But once you're there and you're seduced by the free popcorn and the $10 pitchers of Pilsner Urquell, well, my friends, you have ignited a flame that is eternal. And to make public your love, the good people of Wolski's pass out "I closed Wolski's" bumper stickers at closing time. You've got to earn them, but the earning is so delicious.

Tomorrow we start tech, so I'm going to prepare by hanging out with friends and maybe seeing that Crazy Heart movie with Jeff Bridges.

Peace and bacon grease
AW

What killed Mozart?

2010-01-17T00:44:00.002-06:00

This from a blog I found on NPR. I hope the answer isn't tacky baritones.

we're on our feet.

2010-01-16T23:31:00.002-06:00

My hair returned to my zip code today, and we finished staging this crazy beast. There are some really nice moments. We have a lot of work to do, but it is nice to have the skeleton in place. My cold is basically gone and it's nice to finally be able to make a vocal contribution again. We're so fragile as people, and singers. It is hard to have the equilibrium thrown off by anything, even a stupid trivial cold.

Tomorrow we have a big review and our first stumble-through of the whole show. The best thing about a first run-through? You should know by now- I've said it four times. You never have to have the first run-through again.

It's crazy to think that this Figgy ride will be done soon. Still lots of tales to be told. Stay tuned.

as promised

2010-01-15T21:23:00.005-06:00

Am I right? Or......

my hair is.....AWESOME

2010-01-15T20:41:00.002-06:00

We had a photo shoot today with full costume and hair. The costumes, designed by Carol Blanchard, are really stunning late 18th-century clothes. They look like something right out of Masterpiece Theatre. But my hair (all my own, I might add, with the exception of some glued-on sideburns) is something to behold, and should really have its own show (or at least its own aria). As our makeup artist was styling it, I looked in the mirror and thought, "Holy smokes, I look like Tom Baker-era Doctor Who."

Who's that, you ask?

When I get a look at the actual photos, I'll post 'em.

After the shoot, we had a review of Act III, and tonight we forged ahead into Act IV. I'm having a hard time letting go of the R & T translation on my Act IV aria. I actually like the Porter translation better, but heck if that catchy Martin translation isn't stuck to the roof of my brain like a goll dang wad of peanut butter. What's cool, though, is I storm on stage with the Count's hunting rifle during the accompanied recit before my aria. It is pretty badass. I may have to throw it into my bag of tricks to steal for next time (hoping there is a next time....yikes. I keep forgetting this is the last Fig in my 'year').

To try to get rid of the residual gunk from my cold, I paid my first visit to an acupuncturist. She was fantastic. The treatment was wild- needles in my face, the bridge of my nose, my hands and arms, plus some herbal supplements. I felt some instant, well, something as soon as the needles went in. I don't know if it was relief, chi, or what, but it was something. We'll see how it goes. I may go in for a followup. She also told me to try to limit mucus-producing foods, the biggest three being Dairy (not a problem, oh wait, cheese...d'oh!), Sugar (not a problem except for the revolving door of sweets that go through our green room.... d'oh!), and Gluten (pasta, bread, beer, basically everything I love.... D'OH). I'm going to try to go gluten-free (or at least gluten-lite) for a bit and see what happens. Let me know if you know any yummy gluten-free foods.

Tomorrow we finish staging this little skit. heaven help us. It's a long song.

waxing nostalgic, pt. II

2010-01-14T21:02:00.002-06:00

One thing that's different this time around is that I find myself giving my opinion about stuff. And the funny thing is, people have actually been asking for it. In school they pound into your head that it's not your job to worry about what your colleagues are doing, just focus on what you are doing. And that is totally true. But now that I'm doing this for the 8th time, I find myself in the unique position of having some perspective on this show and on this role, for whatever it's worth. And that maybe, just maybe my experience (and the experience of others in the cast who are repeat offenders of Nozze) might help our cause here and there. It's a big step for me. Normally I would shut my mouth and just do my job, but I find myself offering more of my own ideas this time around. I hope it's not annoying. I don't think it is. It sort of reminds me of a Chekhov class I took at CCM. We had this exercise we did for months where started each class by standing in a circle and throwing balls to each other. it was an exercise of focus, openness, and radiating. We sometimes got 5 or 6 going before anyone dropped one. Part of being successful in the exercise was taking care of yourself on one level, but also taking care of the group. You take more responsibility when you take care of the group. That's what I'm finding here. Or maybe I'm just being an ass. Either way, it says a lot about the atmosphere at The Skylight that I can even think about this collaborative spirit.

I've told a few of my Figaro war stories, from playing guitar during the accompanied recit of 'se vuol ballare' (I am a golden god!!) to Opera Workshop way back at UMD (hug & twirl extrodinaire), but this one has got to be my favorite. The reason it comes to mind is that it was sort of the opposite of what I was talking about in the previous paragraph. In this show, I basically only focused on myself because, well, that's all I could do.

It was long about the summer of 1999. I was doing a music/language program in Lucca, Italy in conjunction with CCM, which was where I was going to grad school. We took Italian class every day and put on concerts, operas, etc. I was cast as Figaro in the workshop production of Nozze. 'Workshop' means there was no budget, no set, no costumes, no nuttin. No orchestra either- we used the wind quintet arrangement (which I later repeated in Cleveland, and here again in Milwaukee).

How can I say this next part diplomatically? Let's just say the level of preparation between cast members was, um, uneven. Hey- I get it. We're in Italy, who wants to study a score? But this was scary. I was mortified and to help deal with my stress I studied the crap out of my score. I figured if people didn't know their stuff I would know it extra well. It sort of helped, but my dear friend Tanya told me later that I was a total weirdo all summer long and had a crazy look in my eye. She was right. Did I mention that one of our cast members was mentally challenged? That's not documented, but I'm positive of it. Positive.

Argh. So we trudge through rehearsal. The director is incredibly good-humored and patient. The Maestro is mostly out to lunch. I mean literally- he would show up an hour late to rehearsals sometimes. And, speaking of uneven prep. Yikes! He was all over the place- but that's another blog post (probably not a good career move to trash talk a conductor in your blog). As we inch toward putting this show on, it slowly and miraculously comes together and all parties become more or less comfy with their respective parts. We're ready to open.

We have two scheduled performances. The first is outside of town at Villa Bellosguardo, the estate belonging to the Enrico Caruso family. Meanwhile, we have been rehearsing our show at an outdoor venue inside of Lucca proper. But we get in a bus early in the morning, drive to Bellosguardo, get a tour of the estate, and start talking about the show. It is so surreal, because my Italian is so crappy I can hardly understand what our hosts are telling us. For a few minutes, I wondered if anyone had told them that we were planning to do an opera that night. It seemed when we got there that we were just going to maybe have a tour and some prosciutto and be on our merry way. I mean, it's Italy- these things happen. But no, indeed, we were scheduled to perform.

Our 'stage' for Acts I, II, and III was a grassy hill. There was a stone wall with stone stairs going down to a lower terrace. The staircase was our only entrance on or off 'stage.' PS- there was no stage, only grass. To get back'stage' from the house (where our dressing area was), you had to walk behind the audience, all the way to the bottom of the hill, around the stone wall, and up the stairs. So what I'm saying is that you had to plan for it. Well....we may have had a mishap with that. One or more cast members may have missed an entrance because of that crazy stone wall. One person just chose to creep in through the audience. Not a bad move- pretty smart, actually, especially considering he was the mentally challenged guy. The other entrance was completely missed and our poor Susanna had to sing the "Aprite presto aprite" duet as a solo number.

Basically, our show just completely unraveled before our director's eyes. We made up for it (or tried) in Act IV, which took place in the Bellosguardo gardens. There is not a more perfect place to do Act IV. There were statues, topiaries, trees, and ample hiding places for all the Finale mischief. Act IV hung together really well, and I think we ended strong. And the audience seemed to be really into it (I have no idea who these people were or how they knew we were doing this show).

I forgot to mention the best part!!! Our 'lights' for this outdoor extravaganza was a huge glowing balloon that floated in midair above us. Seriously. Missed entrances, glowing balls, cats and dogs, living together. Mass hysteria!

Speaking of dogs, something they fed us for dinner that evening did NOT sit well with about 70% of the cast. I think (I hope) it was rabbit. Anyway, it was a rough few days for me after that. My stomach was a MESS.

Blah blah- anyway, our director was so disheartened he left town before our second performance. That was a tough blow for us. I mean, what did he expect? We rehearse a show for 4 weeks at one venue, and then travel to a completely new place and try to restage it in an afternoon? When people have only recently memorized their parts? It's a recipe for disaster. And it was. Except for Act IV.

So we get back to Lucca and get ready for our closing show. And it went superbly. I mean, everything that went wrong in the first one went right in the second one, and we were vindicated. It was a great night.

Thanks for sticking with me this far. That was all a preamble for this, the real story. The morning after our closing show, my friend and roomate Brad was leaving town to do some traveling around Europe. I had had a great summer with him and wanted to see him off, so I got up early to walk him to the train station. So here we are, on the cobblestone streets of Tuscany, early on a gorgeous Sunday morning, not a soul in sight except the two of us. Then some random guy on a rickety old bike scoots by us and as he passes he looks at me and says, "Ehi Figaro!"

Brad turns to me and says, "You gotta admit, that's pretty cool."

Pretty cool? Pretty cool? It put an amazingly poignant cap on what was a crazy summer of ups and downs. I felt like all the extra time I spent studying and going through my staging on my own, and worrying about our show, and bitching about it with my colleagues, and stressing were all rewarded by one crazy Italian dude. It was one of the best ovations I've ever gotten.

I can't talk about Lucca without mentioning one other thing. Every day between Italian class and rehearsal, I would walk by a little jewelry shop and look in the window. There was a modest little white gold ring in the window that caught my eye, and kept me coming back. One day I asked my good friend Tanya if she would go there with me to look at it because I was thinking of buying it for my other good friend Erika. Tan had this crazy notion that if the ring fit on her pinky, then it would probably fit on Erika's ring finger- she was totally right! I thought maybe I would buy the ring and propose to Erika at Christmas time or something. Tanya said I would never last that long. She was right about that too. I asked her as soon as I got off the plane.

So that was Lucca for me: Figaro, Figaro, and more Figaro, tiramisu on the wall, studying like a fiend, acting like a weirdo, tearing up my intestines with a rabbit, disappointing directors, winning over audience members, and buying an engagement ring for my best friend, partner, and confidant. Not too shabby.

il chittarino le suonerò

2010-01-13T22:21:00.002-06:00

Finished staging Act III this afternoon and spent most of the evening session reviewing the Act II Finale. Through some sort of miracle, Susanna and I managed to get out of the wedding dance. Blasphemy, you say? Not really. In my experience, the wedding dance can range from really cool, to 'Ography 101 to way overcomplicated. Usually I'm a disaster because I'm trying to count out my vocal line (even after doing it a million times, I still have to count like a fiend since that whole section all sounds the same!!! You hack Mozart!), and so my mad dance skillz get hindered. In our production, Susie and I are enjoying a post-nuptial cuddle while the wedding party dances. It gives us a good vantage point to peep the Count's note business. Also, it's a nice tie-in to last fall's Barber- the wedding party is doing a slo-mo dance - a little homage to our zany and madcap Act I finale.

Some other cool tie-ins include shaving Cherubino (it's my new favorite bit- I've stole it unabashedly ever since the Green Mountain Figaro last July - Ellen, you still never told me who you stole it from?!?!?!), and of course, playing the guitar. I have accompanied my own recit for Se vuol ballare before on guitar (which was a ball!), but this time, I'm just strumming along with the band for a few measures. It's a fun moment- it totally works with the aria, and I don't have to worry about my chops like I did for Barber last fall! Just a couple of chords to punctuate my rage. That's really what power chords are all about no?

In other news, I had a cup of joe at the Plaza Café this morning and saw my favorite waitress Edna. My eyes lit up for a moment when I saw her limping, but, alas, no cast on her foot. I would hate for her to slip and hurt her foot again, but she just doesn't look totally put together without the cast. I may have to go back tomorrow and get some greasy eggs.

In other other news, my mucous has almost completely left the building. I have been persuaded by some cast members to get poked by needles (aka Acupuncture) to help alleviate my remaining symptoms. That should be a gas- I'll let you know how it goes. Maybe I can post a pic w/ needles hanging out of my nose.

All right, enough blather. I'm going to watch Conan stick it to NBC. Cheers, big ears.

Resting on Laurels, Hardily

2010-01-12T22:36:00.003-06:00

Ha! So all that crap I wrote about me learning the Figaro sextet way back when I was a teenager came back to bite me in the butt tonight. As we were staging it, I couldn't get the Ruth & Thomas Martin translation out of my head (I've done the R&T translation 4 times now- it's kind of hard to shake). It was mostly on the line in the recit where Fig tells the story about how he was stolen as a baby and he was wrapped in linens and surrounded by gold and jewels. Here's how our version is supposed to go:

"The gold, the jewels, the rich embroidered blankets in which I was wrapped, they were found by the robbers when they stole me. These are certain proof of my noble lineage."

The Ruth and Thomas version:

"The gold and precious jewels my abductors found near me, the fine embroidered linen I was wearing are confirmation of my noble extraction."

My version tonight:

"The gold, the jewels, the fine embroidered linen...blankets I was...in which...@#$% in which I was wrapped in...the....@#$% Sorry. What is it? They were found, the robbers....@#$%%!!!"

Ah well. This entire show is kind of a highwire act- will I teeter on the R&T side, or over to the Porter side. It's kind of exciting. And terrifying. It is sort of nice- it keeps me on my toes after having sung 3 of these already this season. It adds a new dimension to the character. Sure, that dimension might be fear, but that's interesting to watch, right?

For all I trash talked the R&T translation earlier this season, it definitely gets the job done. Any translation is going to have some klunky moments. Some of my favorites from this one:

"Out you come you imp of Satan, out you come and out you go" (Count to Cherubino)

"Love alone inspired the blow" (Figaro, Bartolo, Marcellina in reference to Susanna)

"O joy to feel you beating me!" (Fig to Susanna)

"I, the Vulcan for our century will catch them in my net" (Fig...channeling Spock?)

Good times. It struck me as we were working tonight that this is my last Figaro in this little run. I need to savor it- who knows when I'll get to do it again?

waxing nostalgic

2010-01-12T17:18:00.002-06:00

We're scheduled to stage the Act III sextet tonight- always a highlight. It's such gorgeous music and it's always a hoot.

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.

I hate singing with a cold

2010-01-10T21:23:00.002-06:00

It's like if you went to the office only to find someone had poured maple syrup all over your computer terminal. Sounds delicious I know, but it makes doing your job tedious and sluggish.

I'm feeling a bit less snotty today (nose, not attitude), so I'm hoping that's a sign I'm improving a little.

There's been a lull in my staging, so I've been able to rest, drink tons of tea, and watch Dexter on Netflix on Demand (holy crap is that addictive!).

Enough about my mucus. Time to have a hot toddy with a Nyquil chaser.

...and we're off!

2010-01-08T15:47:00.002-06:00

Well, it's Friday and we're well into staging Act II and are having a review of all of Act I tonight. It's quick, but it sort of has to be. It's a long song, as they say (do they say that?), and we don't have a ton of extra time.

I somehow decided it would be a good idea to get a cold, and thus spent all of yesterday chugging tea and cold medicine like it was my job. It least it's early in the process and (hopefully!?!?!) will be gone soon, but damn it is it annoying. I'm not sure who to blame- the temperature fluctuation at the Plaza (from 20 to 350 in the course of a day), or my daughter, who was a total snot machine before I left St. Paul. I don't know- I'm leaning toward the Plaza. My daughter is perfect.

So, an Act I review where I can't really sing. Should be a real hoot. At least the new translation is sticking. So far.

PS- we've got another great group of folks for this one, and I this music never gets old. Never!

1st day of school

2010-01-05T18:42:00.002-06:00

Getting started is usually the hardest part of putting a show together. We dove in today though and did good work. It helps that I've worked with this Skylight crew a ton of times and so has my Susanna- plus, the atmosphere here at Skylab is so welcoming it's usually pretty easy to break the ice.

It's great to come back here and tell this story in the context of both operas. There are a few subtle (and not-so-subtle) tie-ins to Barber that are really cool.

I'm still really fried from yesterday's drive and whirlwind rehearsals. Today we staged the first scene and I had an hour-and-a-half costume fitting. Yikes. There's nothing like looking into a mirror for that long to remind you of all the Christmas Calories you just consumed. Oof.

On that note, I think I'll head to the gym....or maybe I'll try to scrounge up a beer.

Cheers, big ears.

Once more into the breach...

2010-01-04T21:47:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm back at Skylab and it feels like I never left. And I'm back to The Marriage of Figaro. Ditto the feeling like I never left. I've said this before, but I never get tired of this music. It always makes me happy.

We had a recit call this afternoon where we tweaked word changes (there are some hilarious lines in this translation- I'll have to make a greatest hits compilation) and talked cuts. Then a company meeting where the designers got a chance to say a few words about the production and the volunteers and staff graciously brought in delicious eats for us.

Then we sang the whole darn opera tonight. Dag blaggit that Mozart knew what he was doing. I am so grateful that my job allows me to show up, take a seat and sing a totally gorgeous piece of music. It makes the hurt of leaving home slightly more manageable (slightly).

Nothing, however makes the hurt of driving 5 hours and singing two rehearsals go away (esp that stretch between Tomah and Madison- yikes).

On that note, readership, I bid you good night. I may have to visit Edna for a Plaza Pleaser tomorrow morning.

AW

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T04:04:00.002-06:00

The Skylight Marriage of Figaro begins rehearsal next week. It made a Top 10 list of shows to see at the Journal-Sentinel.

"Baritone Andrew Wilkowske returns to the Skylight Opera Theatre to polish off a rare double Figaro. Earlier this season, he sang the role of opera's greatest wingman in Rossini's "The Barber of Seville." Now he's back in Mozart's comic opera."

Opera's Greatest Wingman. Indeed. Good way to start the year!

Audition mayhem, fingernails, and why Will Shortz made my audition better

2009-12-16T08:56:00.002-06:00

I'm sitting at MacArthur airport in Islip, Long Island, blissfully using the free wifi and typing with my fingers, not my thumbs. Why Islip, you ask? Well, my faithful readers, the fare was cheaper by nearly half. Trust me it's not because I like taking a crowded shuttle bus (complete with a 900 pound gorilla of a driver)to a 90 minute train ride to Penn Station, to a Subway ride uptown. But, hey, I had the time, so it wasn't so bad. This audition trip is over my friends, and I'm heading home.

Over the past two weeks, I had 8 auditions. 2 were wholly mediocre. I got 1 offer. And the other 5 actually felt....good. I don't know that blogspot can convey the surprise in my typing. I'm not sure why I'm surprised, but I guess I'm not sure why they all felt so good either. Usually auditions are prime nail-biting time for me. But since my chronic nail-biting was cured by the Barber of Seville (see footnote below....or don't), that was no longer an option. But even if it was, I didn't feel as terrified this time around. Now don't get me wrong. I got nervous. I always do. But I wasn't looking for the nearest exit or anything like that.

I started with "Se vuol ballare" at nearly every single audition, so that had to have something to do with my comfort level. Also, there was nothing on my audition list that I really dread. That sounds dumb I know, but it seems like we are always putting things on our list that we think auditioners want to hear instead of doing arias we like to sing. It makes no sense, but hey, neither does Pelleas and Melisande.

I also had the good fortune of running into an old friend, a coach/conductor who, over many glasses of whiskey gave me a life coaching (mostly in the form of yelling) about what makes me special as an artist. You know, what is different about me, what do I have to say? It sort of threw me. What do I have to say? I didn't have an answer for him, and kept stammering. He kept pushing me so finally I yelled back "I'm a lover not a fighter Joe!"

Um. Ok.

It is true, but I don't know if it was the marketing angle/raison d'etre he was looking for. Anyway, fast-forward to my next audition. I'm singing Yeletsky's aria from The Queen of Spades, a gorgeous Russian aria. I love singing it, but because of the tessitura, sometimes it can get a little driven and forced when it should be lush, effortless and beautiful. As I sang it this time I thought, "You're a lover not a fighter. Why are you singing this like a fighter? Sing it like a lover?" This sounds like the thoughts of a crazy man I realize. BUT IT WORKED. It was the best I've sung that aria. Ever. In the world.

And then there's Will Shortz's contribution. One of this week's Sunday Crossword clues was a six-letter-word for intensify. DEEPEN. Whoa. You just blew my mind Will Shortz. You mean intensify doesn't mean 'get louder?' Deepen. Indeed. Deepen the support, deepen the resonance, deepen the breath, deepen the meaning.

I had some specific goals for this audition trip. Now I'm here to tell you that I will never be fully comfortable in an audition. I still feel like the whole process is a bit artificial and I wish there was some other way to do it (like a drunken singalong at Chad Johnson's apartment maybe...just an idea), but I feel like I closed the gap a little between where I am as a performer and where I am as an auditioner. And that's all you can ask for at the end of the day. I'm going to keep thinking about my life coaching and what makes me special. Actually, I know what makes me special already, and when I get back to Saint Paul I'm going to pick her up from day care.

Lover, not a fighter.

FOOTNOTE: Why opera cured my chronic nail-biting.

I had to clip my fingernails the other day. This sounds mundane, but it's kind of a new thing for me. I've never had the need to clip until recently. You see, I'm a nail-biter. 34 years of nail-biting. I tried to quit. It never took. My fingers looked like terrible, jagged, craggy anti-talons. It was kind of embarrassing.

But along came a little opera I like to call "The Barber of Seville." You may have heard of it. I may have blogged at length about it and how I had to play not one, but two guitars, one onstage and one in the pit. Part of my preparation for my guitar playing was to let the fingernails on my right hand grow out so I could have more dexterity and dynamic control. Fine. Well, that was a good 5 weeks or so of guitar playing, and by the time we closed the show, I no longer had the desire to bite. It kind of grosses me out now. So now I have to clip. So I guess what I'm saying is, if I quit singing tomorrow, opera would have enriched me and made me a better person if for no other reason than it cured my nail-biting. Thanks Opera!

Aren't you glad you read the footnote?

and after all that...

2009-12-11T11:20:00.000-06:00

...I didn't end up crashing after all. I was in the middle of an appointment with my manager and by the time we were through, I had missed my window. I felt bad because I was going to meet a friend and sing the opening duet from Nozze with her, but she had already gone. It would have been fun- who gets to sing a duet in an audition right? But alas, it didn't happen. It's ok. I told you before, crashing is not my style and I always feel a little sheepish (I'm so ba-a-a-ad!) doing it.

I ended meeting some friends for coffee and had one of those only-in-Nueva-York moments where I met two old friends whom I hadn't seen in years crossing the street. I guess if you're hanging around Nola you can't throw a dead cat without hitting three or four singers...Still, it was great. Coffee turned into beers. Beers turned into a college basketball game at Madison Square Garden which turned into more beers and a late night sing-a-long at a friend's ridiculousy huge apartment in Midtown. Oof.

So. No crash. But I have been to Nola twice since then. Toxic my friends. Toxic. Ah well- it's kind of like the Christmas fruitcake-no one really likes it, but the season wouldn't be quite the same without it.

In Figaro news, I had a delightful conversation with my friend and conductor of the upcoming Skylight production, Jamie Johns. It's in English and it's a brand new translation for both of us so we chatted about word changes, cuts, cadenzas, credenzas, credentials, well you get the point. This will be the first Non R and T Martin English production I have done and am slightly terrified that I may just launch into the wrong text at any time. Well, it will add urgency to my character if nothing else. "Hmmm- Figaro seemed anxious, as though he was trying to remember something."

All right friends. My thumbs are tired.

AW

Audwatch: Watching auds

2009-12-08T10:35:00.000-06:00

Wordplay.

I mentionerd that I sat in on a few of Minnesota's young artist auditions last Saturday. It is quite educational to be on the other side of the table. Whether the singer is feeling confident, terrified, unprepared or cocky it is instantly telegraphed to the panel. You can almost always tell if they are going to be any good LONG before they open their mouth to start singing. Watching the interplay between singer and the provided pianist was also fascinating.

It has given me some food for thought about my upcoming auditions- how I want to present myself.

Speaking of auditioning, there is a certain time in our lives as singers where we find ourselves, by necessity, in the darkest of the dark, the most toxic, the dankest underbelly of the audition world: NOLA studios (cue Hammond organ glissando and spooky diminished chord).

For the unitiated, NOLA is a small little hallway in midtown with 7 or 8 studios in it, all of them bangy and loud, like you're singing in a racqetball court. The real ugliness of NOLA however is the hallway. It's sort of like a micro-mini singer version of the New York Stock Exchange. Dozens of singers crammed into it, all making (faking) nice, trying to quietly vocalize, finding a place for their coat and boots, angling for information about who else is auditioning this week, buttering up agents, and, most importantly, attempting to CRASH. That is, worm into an audition without an appointment. It happens al the time, and most panels are usually cool with it if things are otherwise running smoothly. But it can be dicey.
I'm going to attempt a NOLA crash today. I think I've maybe crashed one audition ever in my career. It's not my style and I don't like it. But today I'm throwing caution to the wind. I'll keep you posted.

My thumbs are tired. I might need to buy a wifi card.

AW

Audwatch '09

2009-12-06T16:33:00.000-06:00

Hello faithful readership. I have been putting of writing because as of yet I have no internet here in NYC. It seems since the last time I stayed with my Aunt on the upper west side all her neighboors have put passwords on their wireless routers. Thay must have seen that same Today Show expose I saw about open networks and identity theft. So please excuse these entries- I'm blogging on my phone, typing with my thumbs, I have no spellcheck, and my L key is sticky. So if I use a lot of abbreviations or talk about riding in a "yeow taxi" please cut me some sack. Slack. Damn.

I don't want to jinx anything, but I'm off to a great start on this little audition trip. I had two on Friday. I had all the normal neuroses going in- wondering if I would remember my words, wondering if my voice would hold out, if I had drunk enough water, if I had drunk too much beer, if I had warmed up enough/too much et cetera. Also, every year I seem to forget that other singers audition too. What I mean is every time I come here and walk into my first audition I seem shocked to see a dozen people I know in the hallway, preparing for their auds as well. I see them and think 'O crap, HE'S here? I hope he doesn't hear me. And I hope I don't hear him.' Stuff like that. Of course there are also friendly faces that put you at ease too, but before I sing I kind of don't want to talk to anybody.

I did a few things differenty this time too. Aside from the vocal goals (about which I've talked wayyyyy too much here), I had a few other things I wanted to accomplish- namely to close the gap between my normal performance level (good) and my normal audition level (sucky). I went in there with a plan of how I was going to present myself, what I was going to do if my voice felt weird, and I have to say I stuck with it. Not having to focus so much on my voice (cuz I had a plan) freed me up so I felt like I could play a lot more with it thus giving me the feeling that it was more of a performance than an audition.

Going in with a plan helps. I also spent a lot of time beforehnd focusing- something I know should be a matter of course, but requires discipline all the same.

I have no idea what my auditioners thought of me, but it's nice to feel like you've nailed an audition.

I visited my Minnesota Opera friends yesterday afternoon as they were auditioning new Young Artists. What an education that is. I only stayed for a little while, but you see so much from the other side of the table. So much...

But more about that later. My thumbs are tired. Hopefully I can keep this process working!

AW

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

2009-11-20T23:14:00.003-06:00

.....no, I'm not talking about Xmas -the season of light-up, inflatable Santas hooked up to an electric air pump, different colored 'luminarios' made of recycled plastic milk jugs, and the ubiquitous 'doorbuster' run-over-your-grandma-with-a-cart-to-get-to-the-tickle-me-Elmo shopping deals. I'm talking about auditions. Yes, friends, I'm hoping to extend the Year of Figaro. Heck, I'd take a week to 10 days of 3rd soap-boiler if it brought in a decent fee.

The very thought of auditioning fills me with dread. I was just looking at the website of an opera company I will be auditioning for this season- checking out the cast of their current show, and immediately I think, "how am I going to compete with [baritone x] for this part?" Granted, that is terrible line of thinking that will get me nowhere, but stay with me for a minute. [baritone x] is in their current show; he is more than capable than singing [role y] for them next season: QED. He will be hired instead of me.

The situation is complicated by the fact that in this economy I'm competing with people a level above me for the jobs I used to get. Everyone is scrambling to get work, and they are willing to work at smaller companies for smaller fees. Said smaller companies are thrilled to get those singers at those fees: QED. Those singers will be hired, not me.

Do you see a pattern forming here? I mean, other than me whining and making excuses, that is (or misusing: QED!)

You see the thing is, faithful readers, I'm not so good at auditioning. That sounds like a total cop-out, and it probably is. But the fact remains. It is not my strongest skill. I am great at what I do. I am fabulous at rehearsing. I will work my tail off with a director and a conductor to find what will work the best for a production. I am a great colleague, a decent singer, and a shameless stage whore. But walking into a crappy studio and cranking out arias, well, I am kind of sucky at that.

Here's what I wish.

A) Audition with the music staff of an opera company. Set it up like a coaching. Rehearse a section of music for 15 minutes, and then 'perform it.' Let the company see how you work and see if you're a good fit. This would allow a singer to break the ice a little bit. For pete's sake, at least it would give us a second chance at nailing the high note.

B) Set up remote auditioning. In this day and age, don't you think we could do an audition or two by Skype? Granted, I live in Minnesota so I have a vested interest in this. But even if I didn't, there are lots of audition seasons where I've been too busy working to audition (I'm not complaining about it, it's just the way it is). And isn't the sound on the built-in microphone/speakers on my Mac as good as friggin' NOLA studios? Cheesh.

C) Get hired based on your performances. OK, this happens. But it should happen more. People see what you can do on stage, in the moment, in context. Then they ask you to come sing for them in a little box of a studio, in a completely inauthentic environment, with a piano. ?!?!?

D) Just do what everyone wants to do, and have auditions at the bar. I mean come on, right? Sure that other guy can sing really clean coloratura, but can he tell you the difference between a Kölsch and an AltBier? Can he tell you when the Reinheitsgebot went into effect, or even what it is? Where are you priorities?

I know, I know, I know. Auditions are high-pressure situations by design. It separates the wheat from the chaff. After all, a performance is a high-pressure situation, no? Yes. But, cripes, at least you get to rehearse it for a month.

Before you start chastising me about why auditions need to happen the way they do (you know who you are, readership of one) and that I'm just making excuses, rest assured- you're right. I am. They do. I'm just nervous as H-E-Double-Hockeysticks. I only get to New York a few times a year, and I'm not fancy and high-falutin' so I feel like the cards are stacked agin' me sometimes. I love singing, and I'm singing the best I ever have. And I can rehearse the crap out of anything. I just need to bring that to lifeless box of an audition room. Then I'll have something. Plus, it wouldn't hurt if I lost 50 pounds. And had a microphone mounted on my hyoid bone.

See you at the doorbusters.

A year of Figaro, six weeks of Casanova

2009-11-13T16:05:00.003-06:00

It has been a month since I wrote anything at all in this blog.

Every spare second I have had since I got home from the Barber at Skylight has been devoted to preparing the score for Dominick Argento's Casanova's Homecoming, which opens tomorrow night at the Ordway in St. Paul. I have a walk-on role (squeak and fart role, in the parlance of our time), but my main task is covering Casanova. MN Opera needed each role to have a cover because this opera is so rarely performed they can't just call someone up to perform it at the last minute should something happen to one of the cast. There were also several cast members who for one reason or another needed to miss a rehearsal, so to keep things moving along there was a crew of us who prepared the parts.

Let me start by saying this score is brilliant. The libretto is hilarious and incredibly clever. The music is lush and gorgeous in some parts, and very text driven in others. The recits are composed in such a way that they sound like dialogue. I realize how dumb that sounds- of course they sound like dialogue- they're recits, idiot! But seriously, you forget the characters are singing pitches and it just sounds like talking. Then they will launch into music that is at some turns heartbreaking, frantic, exciting, showy- there are nods to everyone from Stravinsky to Britten to Broadway. It will be a great night in the theatre.

Now let me say this. This score is hard. Really hard. I thought it was prohibitively hard when I was just learning it. Those recit sections I was talking about earlier take so much concentration the meaning of the phrases often gets lost as you are trying to swim your way through seemingly random pitch combinations. It takes a lot of repetition and time with the score just to get to a point where you feel comfortable enough with the pitches that you can sing the text with meaning. At least that's what it was like for me. And knowing that I would have to sing some rehearsals, I was petrified. This score kept me up at night. I would lie there thinking "1, 2, 'with dignity' 1, 2, 'with gallantry...'"

Once I got past the initial fear of this score (I was brought on board kind of late in the game and didn't have a ton of prep time), I began to enjoy it more and recognize the genius of the writing. Still, as I learned it, it was a piece of music that assaulted my artistry on every level. That's right- assaulted. Vocal technique, interval training, counting, delivery- every fundamental skill I've been working on for darn near two decades was challenged, chewed up, spit out, and left to rot on the hot pavement. It took sheer will and hours and hours of coaching (thanks to Jeremy and Mary Jo at MN Op!!!) to get past all the challenges inherent in this score.

But after all that, I have to say, it was worth it. And I'm only a cover and (God willing!!!) won't have to go on. It was totally worth it. This score is brilliant and it has rekindled my love of new music (not that new- it's the 25th anniversary of this opera). Casanova's arias are fantastic- definitely audition-worthy. And it's just great to be part of a living composer's work. There are far too few second productions of new operas. There is all kinds of hoopla around an opening, but then these poor pieces are left on the hot pavement along with all my mangled music skills. How are we ever going to have another Nozze di Figaro or Madame Butterfly if these new works don't get revived?

I hope a ton of people come to this show. The cast, orchestra and conductor are awesome and the production looks great. Hopefully this opera will get the life it deserves- it is first rate material, and even though I may have lost some sleep learning it, I think it is a masterpiece and am grateful for the experience.

Oh- why is this on a Figaro blog, you ask? Well, Figaro and Casanova aren't that different. Much like Beaumarchais (ipso facto Figaro), Casanova did many things (besides seduce women, which Beaumarchais did too!) - lawyer, priest, spy, musician. He went in and out of jail, and his finances ran the gamut. The real Casanova was also friends with Lorenzo Da Ponte, Mozart's librettist. I kind of think of the Casanova of this opera as an older Figaro. There is definitely a wistfulness about his character, an acknowledgement of the greatness of his past, and a realization of how much it has waned in his old age.

I also think of him as Obi-Wan Kenobi- and the piazza scene is kind of like the Cantina bar in Mos Eisley. But that's just me.

If you're in the Twin Cities, see this opera!

Why Metallica Rules

2009-10-14T16:51:00.002-05:00

I haven't written in awhile, and I have a lot to talk about the end of the Barber run in Milwaukee. As soon as I got home, however, I landed eyeballs deep into Casanova's Homecoming, an opera by Dominick Argento that the MN Opera is mounting in November. I am covering the lead role, and the music is treacherous. I sort of came on board late in the game, and being on the road until the 4th didn't leave a lot of prep time for it. The music is crazy hard, but it is sort of growing on me. The character is sort of like an older Figaro- at least that's what I'm telling myself to help throw it together. I also did a big benefit concert in my home town last weekend, so that had to be put together as well. Anyhoo, I haven't had a spare second to talk about the Skylight run. And now that I have a spare second, I'm not going to talk about Figaro. I'm going to talk about Metallica.

I was lucky enough to see them play at the Target Center in Minneapolis last night. Not only that, but my cousin Dave scored floor tickets. They play in the round, so we were actually pretty close to the band, and they ran around the whole stage, so we got a lot of 'face time' with James, Kirk, Rudy, and Lars (they rotated the drum kit several times over the course of the night as well). They played a lot of their older catalog as well as some new tunes off their new album Death Magnetic. My ears are still ringing.

These guys rock. Their playing is so tight, so in the pocket, and seemingly effortless. The force and intensity of Lars' drumming was staggering, as was his impeccable timing. Kirk Hammett's lead guitar chops are crazy, and the solos that he and James played in harmony were sweet and melodic. Dave and I totally rocked out the air guitar for their whole set. Afterwards, we had a beer and nerded out talking about the concert. Dave said that these concerts are like staged events- almost like doing an opera or a play- everything is planned out, where the guys stand, which microphone they use, the order of the songs, the pyro, everything. I was thinking the same thing as I watched them rip up the Target Center (which looked like it was completely sold out BTW). And it occurred to me that watching them play is like an opera. Or watching an Ironman Triathalon. Or both. James is like the entire cast, Kirk would be like the string section, Rudy I guess would be the brass, Lars is the conductor.

I've ranted and raved about how I think opera and metal music are related, and this was just another example of that. First of all, the harmonies and structures Metallica use are very classically based (in my opinion). Second of all, it's loud. LOUD. Lastly, it's long. They played for 2 1/2 hours. And it also occurred to me- in the midst of preparing a fiendishly difficult score by a modern composer- that these 4 dudes had 50,000 people singing, rocking out, and shaking their fists to music that had mixed meters, complex harmonies, and songs that probably average about 7-8 minutes long.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that there is an audience for good music, whether it is at Target Center or Lincoln Center. I'm not saying that I think Metallica is the 21st century Shostakovich (although there are parts of Master of Puppets that sort of remind me of him), but for the people in the Target Center last night these anthems were the symphonies of yesterday. Good music is good music. I would love to hear a new symphony that featured electric guitar, or to hear an orchestral piece by a modern composer whose influences include Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen as well as Franz Liszt and Frederic Chopin. Or hear (or perform) a recital of Bon Iver, Joni Mitchell, and Radiohead. These are our Mozarts- why do we not embrace them as such, but cast them off as trite pop stars like Britney Spears?

Wow, I'm on a soapbox now. Pay no attention to my ranting- I still have a sore neck from headbanging, ringing ears, and a sophomoric ideal of how I want my loves of rock music and classical music to merge.

I'll be back on topic next time. Until then, I'll be sleeping with my Argento score under my pillow, hoping that somehow the notes will migrate off the page and into my head.

off to never never land.

Here's how tacky I am....

2009-10-03T15:46:00.002-05:00

Or one example, anyway.

I have a line in the recit before the Act II Quintet and shaving scene where I say "Am I some village barber who must beg for my trade? My time is precious. Go find yourself another." Only when I say "Go find yourself" it comes out "Go FFFFFFFFFind yourself" so the audience thinks I'm about to tell Bartolo to do something nasty and logistically impossible.

That's how tacky I am.

That's what doing 12 shows in a run will do to you. Two more, kids.

Barber final weekend

2009-10-03T12:39:00.000-05:00

Another fun show last night, with an amazing audience. So gratifying. I have no idea how these last shows will end up, but we have packed houses. Hope the cords hold up. More later.

AW

more about Billy

2009-10-01T21:16:00.002-05:00

I don't know what compelled me to write about Caddyshack, Billy Barnard, Edna and the Plaza Cafe in yesternight's blog entry (I suspect the good people at Schlitz might have something to do with it- hey, it's the beer that made Milwaukee famous!), but I realized that my good man Billy might have gotten short shrift to make way for Dame Edna. Well, he's been on my mind now, so no I feel like I have to give him his due.

Because of his mannerisms, looks, and the way he talks, I often referred to him as 'the poor man's Burt Reynolds.' I also heard faculty members describe him as 'the only professor to openly use the F-word while making photocopies in the Music Dept Office.' I took his Jazz Studies class- a big survey class, it was very popular on campus. One of his requirements was for us to see at least two concerts over the course of the quarter and write about them- even if it was a jazz band at a bar and we were writing on a cocktail napkin. But, he said, "make sure you start writin' before you start drinkin' or it won't make no sense at all." I took guitar lessons with him for a year and at every lesson he would say "yeah, man, you get a couple more tunes in order and pretty soon you have a bunch of songs you can play with folks." Songs with folks. I like that concept. I'm going to start thinking of my opera roles that way. Just songs with folks.

Figaro #10 is tomorrow night. The end is near friends.

Milwaukee stories

2009-10-01T01:57:00.002-05:00

Ok, so tonight's show went GREAT. It's amazing how your frame of mind/intent/what you put into it has to do with how you perform. My intent tonight was to enjoy myself. I did. In spades. I also probably had the best show of the run. The audience loved me, as did people in the cast. It's weird. It's all well and good to say that all you want to do is have fun, but when that first G comes out funny it's no longer any fun at all. Tonight, I decided all I wanted to do is have fun and all the Gs came out great and easy. Stupid. Well, I only have three of these left, and I want to enjoy them. So, hell, high water, vocal fatigue, whatever, I'm going to have some fun.

I was so happy tonight I went out for drinks with some of the cast. And afterwards, I realized my internet actually WORKED. It must be because it's so late and no one at the plaza is online. I celebrated by logging onto Netflix and watching the classic flick Caddyshack. Not only did it make me giggle, but it brought back memories of my undergrad guitar professor Billy Barnard. I remember taking his Jazz Studies class and he told the story of how he used to be a studio musician and how he played on the soundtrack for Caddyshack. That was enough to win over every undergrad in my demographic, but he went on to specifically talk about the Baby Ruth scene in the pool and how he was playing the Jaws theme on guitar and looked up at the screen and saw a big candy bar floating in the pool and how he burst out laughing. That's why he is one of the most beloved teachers at UMD folks. Those were golden years. Golden.

I also have to talk about the best waitress in Milwaukee. Her name is Edna. She works at the Cafe at the Plaza Hotel where I am living. She is about six feet tall, 98 pounds, and has curly grey/black hair. She looks like Olive Oyl from old Popeye cartoons. She is AWESOME. I have worked here at the Skylight 7 times in the last 10 years and she has been here THE WHOLE TIME . At least twice I have seen her leg in a cast. No idea what caused the injury. If there are more than 6 people in the cafe she gets really nervous. "Could I have a cup of decaf?" I ask. "Um , yeah, honey, just give me a minute," she says with a strained smile. "It'll be just a minute." 20 minutes later I get my decaf with another strained smile. "Thanks for waiting honey." "No problem," I say. I mean, what else can I say? I don't have an urgent agenda. I don't want to stress out Edna and make her slip and fracture her leg again. Not on my watch. I want to set her at ease. You take your time Edna. I'll take my greasy eggs and toast whenever you can bring them over. Coffee? If you have a second, bring some over. If not, don't sweat it. I can't bear to see your blood pressure rise. Relax, take a breather. I brought the paper with me. If I get a hot cup of joe, I'll count this as a success. If not, I'll chalk it up to the Plaza craziness. In any case, I won't blame you Edna. You have been a constant since I've been coming here. You can't be the blame. You just keep on keeping on. One day, I'll catch you on a good day, order a Plaza Pleaser, and you'll smile, catch your grace and slide it down the bakelite counter with a fresh cup of joe and give me a nervous smile and say, "is that all, honey?" and I'll say, "No, Edna, I'm good. Here's a little something extra for the effort. Watch your step now." and that will be a golden day Edna. Golden. Until then, let's not sweat the small stuff, okay? Let's just say that you'll get all your orders in, and I'll hit all the high notes and everyone will go about their merry way, OK?

Good.

Wow.

Bloggy goodness.

barber # 9 tonight

2009-09-30T19:00:00.000-05:00

We have our ninth performance of Barber tonight. It has been awhile since I've blogged, partially because of the exhaustive nature of this schedule and partially because the #*%$ internet at my hotel has been completey unreliable.
My goal tonight: to enjoy myself. I only have four of these left, and who knows if I'll get the chance to sing this again. So let's have some fun and let the chips fall, shall we?

AW

Hump Day

2009-09-27T16:39:00.003-05:00

Tonight is our seventh, yes SEVENTH performance of Barber, and we will officially be over halfway finished with our run. If this was any other opera company, we would long be finished with our run. But this isn't just any opera company. It's Skylight.

When you do this many performances in a row, your body just sort of gets used to doing it, and you realize that one night you may feel terrific, one night you may feel completely mediocre, and the actual difference in the house is probably imperceptible. That's good info to have (especially when you feel like crap), but also can be humbling (when you think you really crushed it, and get a lukewarm response).

Right now I'm thinking about this as I warm up for our third performance in as many days, completely fried vocally, and really looking forward to a day off tomorrow (and maybe a post show beer).

Being a barber is noble and grand

2009-09-23T16:07:00.003-05:00

Performance # 4 is tonight at the Cabot Theatre. We've all had 2 days' rest and are hopefully shipshape. I'm looking forward to jumping back in it tonight. Especially since I've been spending the last 2 days studying Casanova's Homecoming, a score by Dominick Argento that Opera News recently called one of the most melodically lush scores in the past few decades or something to that effect. Huh. Let's just say it will be nice to hear a little tonality tonight.

Speaking of modern opera, I have some exciting non-Figaro news. I will be reprising the role of Noah in Ricky Ian Gordon's The Grapes of Wrath at Carnegie Hall early next year! The cast list was just released in Playbill News and it's pretty impressive. Should be loads of fun. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Just kidding.

I'm sure I'll have more tales to tell soon. For now, I've got to run recits and warm up, tune two guitars, put on the war paint, etc. Peace.

What doesn't kill you...

2009-09-20T17:25:00.005-05:00

...makes you thirsty for a beer?

Sit back, relax, and I'll tell you the harrowing tale of a foolhardy young baritone who attempted to sing The Barber of Seville three times in one weekend. Now wait, I know what you're thinking. Young? Hardly. Well, in any case here's the story.

As I mentioned before, the opening night performance went very well. I think we were all a bit nervous, but we had a good show and our voices held together nicely. Last night also went well. I was starting to feel a bit tired in the middle of last night's performance, but by the 2nd act I felt better and thought nothing of it. When I got home I took a hot shower, had some tea, took some Simply Sleep and went to bed.

I woke up early this morning to try to get a jump on the day, and feel nice and awake by the time I had to go to the theatre. Everything was going fine until I went in early to warm up. Yikes. I should have tried vocalizing earlier in the morning. It was 12 noon by the time I started warming up at the theatre. It felt a little husky. I kept singing scales, and it got huskier and huskier. I didn't feel sick at all, just swollen cords. The low and high were ok, but the middle was all crackly. I sat there warming up, minute by minute getting closer to curtain and feeling less and less certain that I could get through one phrase of the Largo, let alone the whole damn role.

Panic sets in. I call our director and stage manager. I know it's too late to cancel, I say, but I think you should know that I am a little concerned about today's performance. The conductory is called. An announcement can be made, I'm told, but basically just try to get through it and take it easy if you can. Our conductor reassured me that an any point I can leave out notes, drop down the octave or whatever I needed. The director, stage manager, conductor, and cast all bent over backwards to try to put me at ease. I can tell you, however, I have never felt more nervous or panicky about singing a performance than I did this afternoon.

I went downstairs, got into costume and chugged down mug after mug of tea and hot water, sucking on slippery elm lozenges like it was going out of style. After I got into makeup and wig, tuned my guitars (I play two of them in this show), I just paced in the hallway, away from everyone else, trying to get my head around how I was going to get through the afternoon. I did a little vocalizing and the tea seemed to help. I felt a little stronger. I finally said forget it (or something like that) and resigned myself to whatever was in store for me.

Much more nervous than opening, I strolled out to sing Largo. It actually went ok. All the G's were fine. I took out the big cadenza in the middle with the high A, and just concentrated on technique. Again, the middle was a little crackly, but the end worked very well. The duet with the count proved to be a little more scary. It took me awhile to get my sea legs in the recits, and the unrelenting nature of the duet was a bit more that I could handle. I couldn't bear the sound of my own voice, so I ended up taking the big D natural section ("numero quindici"... etc) down the octave. Other than that and leaving out the optional high note at the end (none of those happened tonight- I 'opted' out of all of them), it worked fine. Same with the Rosina duet. I got a nice little break after that during Bartolo's aria. I started feeling better by the Act I finale. I think the adrenaline (or the ibuprofen I took before curtain) finally kicked in, and I started feeling a bit more stable.

By Act II, my nerves had calmed down, and all the hard stuff was behind me. I drank more hot water, and just tried to enjoy the rest of the show. I went to Mars at one point during a recit (thank god for our genius pianist who somehow saved my ass by making some unholy modulations). I finished the show, everyone lived, and I got through it. Not only did I get through it, but I don't even think it was terrible. Even the A naturals came out easily in the trio. If I hadn't said a word about it to anyone, I don't know that anyone would have really noticed that I was feeling cruddy, or if they did, they may have chalked it up to me having a bad day.

So now that I have had two Lakefront Eastside Dark Lagers (and thus have perspective), I am thinking- what did I learn from all this? Well, first, I learned what I am capable of when push comes to shove. I was forced to concentrate on technique, sing smartly, economize both vocalism and staging. Those aren't bad things. I learned that I can get away with a lot less singing in recits and ensembles. I learned that even though I sounded flat-out horrible in my head, the sound in the house wasn't that bad- was good in fact.

How did this happen? I think part of it is the cumulative effect of singing three orchestra dresses and three performances in seven days. There is a lot more rest built into the schedule for the rest of the run. Part of it may be oversinging. I believe this wouldn't have been a problem if we had more of a normal opera schedule, but with this crazy three show weekend, I might have to think about pacing myself and singing less when I can. Part of it is the fact that this was the first time we've ever had an afternoon performance. I thought I was doing myself a favor be getting up early. Next time I think I'll sleep longer and let a little more rest get into my cords. I'm also second guessing my use of ibuprofen- I normally don't take drugs unless I have to. I definitely had that not-so-fresh feeling (vocally speaking), but I don't know that the ibu did anything for me.

I may have overreacted when I was warming up this afternoon, but I was scared. In the end there was no announcement made about me. The director and I decided that we would see how act I went. If it was terrible, we would make an announcement before the 2nd Act and by then I was feeling much better. As my castmate said, panic is as good as a shot of cortizone anyday. he also said a big part of this job is adrenaline management, pure and simple. What do I think? I don't know. I think there are no atheists in a foxhole, and I was praying to God, Jesus, St. Christopher, Sherrill Milnes, the ghost of Tito Gobbi, and Clair Richardson's ashes to help me squeak by today.

I made the right decision today. I was scared, but I could still phonate, get through phrases, and the top still felt pretty easy. It may have been slightly less than pristine, but it went much better than I thought it would. Like I said, I was forced to economize. It's good to be put into that situation every now and again.

And thus ends another verbose, prosaic, random collection of thoughts from a ranting baritone. I'm confident that with a little rest (and maybe another one of these Eastside Dark Lagers) I'll be back to normal in no time. I can see an ENT if I need to, but honestly, I think I'm just tired after a long week. And, I'm a totally tacky shameless whore on stage and tend to overdo it occasionally. Shocked, I know.

Thanks for sticking with me. I'll let you know how the next one goes.

PS- I also learned to save my work. I had to rewrite half of this stupid blog entry because the internet at the plaza is so ramshackle. Ha. Ramshackle. Good word.

A warm hand on your opening

2009-09-19T14:48:00.002-05:00

Thanks for all the well-wishes last night! Very greatly appreciated. We had a great opening night. I felt a little frantic here and there- mostly opening night nerves, I think- but generally felt pretty good about the singing. Largo felt good, especially at the beginning. The opening G's were easy. I was able to just sit back and enjoy them instead of 'driving' them. I'm focusing on spending the exact amount of energy on the high notes as I would on the middle notes - not goosing them or pushing them just because they are high. The result (so far) is easier, more in-tune top notes. It's basically a question of trust in the moment- trust that I don't have to scream for them to come out. It's an ongoing process, but going well. The end was a little scary, but it always is. My breath gets so stacked at the end I just sort of acquiesce and let what's going to happen happen. The final G came out just fine and everybody lived.

I went to Mars during the Count/Figaro duet. We opened a cut early this week to allow more time for the crew to make the scene shift on time. Neither the Count nor I had ever sung the duet uncut, so it was a challenge to put it back in. Anyhoo, I was completely out to lunch during the cut music last night. Ah well- we got back on track and no one was the wiser (I hope). The audience seemed to really enjoy the show and I heard some definite giggling and guffawing in the house.

The challenge is to now sing another one of these bad boys tonight and a matinee tomorrow (did I mention we do three of these in a row on the weekend?). I feel pretty good today- I haven't vocalized yet, but I don't feel fatigued. I have been warming up slowly throughout the afternoon and plan to do so again today. I'm thinking about matinee strategy- is it better to get up super early tomorrow so that I'm fully awake and warmed up but less rested by curtain, or do I sleep later and get more rest but feel less warmed up? HA! Who can know? I have no idea. I'm leaning toward getting up early. I don't know why.

Oof. I love Skylight, but this schedule...It's like the opposite of my Ashlawn schedule. I'll post something after the matinee. I may just have to have a beer after that one.

Barber opens tonight!

2009-09-17T15:25:00.003-05:00

I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be performing this role. It has been so much fun putting this together. Here's to a great run.

...for your reading pleasure

The Journal Sentinel used me for a little pre-press. I obliged.

Tom Strini wrote this nice piece from his new home at 3rd Coast Digest. Apparently, I'm from Chicago.

...for your viewing pleasure

...and more backstage fun

2 blogs in one...plus something fun

2009-09-17T14:50:00.005-05:00

We had our final dress of Barber last night. There was an invited audience of family, friends, and corporate sponsors. It was a total blast. It felt like a show. As I typed that last sentence, I accidentally typed "It felt like a shoe." Well, it did sort of feel like a shoe as well. It was our show, comfy, but still fresh, and we are still finding fun new moments here and there. And the singing isn't too bad either. I know they're not all going to feel that way, but it was a great way to preview our show and get us ready for the opening weekend. The audience seemed to really like it too- there were guffaws galore. Granted, since there were a lot of friends and family in the audience, we were sort of 'playing to the band,' as it were, but even so they seemed to be with us the entire time. It makes such a huge difference to have them out there.

The singing was a lot easier last night as well. That was a good feeling. I don't know if it was just luck or what, but I also warmed up earlier in the day, thinking that way it would be easier to hit the ground running when I go out to do Largo. I also keep finding places to ease up. When I was first putting this role up on its feet, I felt I was singing on 11 the whole time. That's tiring, not much fun, and not very interesting. As we have done more and more runs, there are lots of opportunities to turn down the overdrive a little and just sing. I'm excited for opening, and I'm so very grateful that I finally get to perform this role I've been wanting to do for so long.

So now, the 2nd blog....

Post Mortem of Ashlawn Figaro

I have put off writing this forever. Mostly, because I was bitter at the insane schedule we had there (4 performances with a week off in between each one). With that schedule it was impossible to get any continuity in our show, and I was needlessly away from my family for a long stretch of time. We could have easily done four performances in the span of one week and been done with it....but I digress. This is why I haven't written about the Ashlawn experience- because I didn't want my bitterness to pop to the surface, when what I should really be focusing on is the aspect of my performance, and how this one fits into the whole mess of Figaros I'm doing this year.

Despite all the inherent problems of working at Ashlawn (and there are many....I'll tell you about them sometime when I'm not writing a blog), this was a very important Figaro for me. Why? I felt I had the license to truly say 'forget it' (or some derivation of that) and take risks onstage. I treated each performance as a playground, and I took vocal risks I never would have tried before. Singing pianissimo, holding a note longer, messing with the dynamics, placement, breathing, anything you can think of. And I learned a lot about my voice in the process. So much so, that I think this current Figaro I'm doing has benefitted greatly because of it. All the stuff I was talking about before about finding moments of ease in Barber are a direct result of the process I went through at Ashlawn. I think I really tapped into a more efficient way of singing there, and I'm so glad I did because that's what I need to get through 12 performances of Barber. I also had a blast in Charlottesville, a truly wonderful city.

I guess that's not much of a post-mortem, but there you go.

I hope that Ashlawn is able to continue successfully. It has the potential to be a fantastic opera company. Their new home at the Paramount theatre is a step in the right direction. they are right in the heart of the downtown mall. There is tons of money in the community. They need a strong leader to step up and pull all the loose ends together. I have hope they can find one. This notice gave me some encouragement. It's going to be a big job for whoever they find- anyone out there interested?

All right, enough blather. Here's something fun:

I'm not too proud to steal from Woody Woodpecker.

Honesty Time part deux

2009-09-16T15:01:00.002-05:00

Thanks for all the comments after my last neurotic post. I was definitely a bit panicky after our first dress. As I was reminded, this is just a step in the process. You put a show together, and it falls apart as you add new elements. It is then your job to put it back together. But it you can't get it back all at once. It comes in steps.

Monday night's orchestra dress was great. It was fun, easy, and everything I wanted Sunday's rehearsal to be. It was incredibly encouraging and was exactly what I needed after feeling so down after the first run.

Last night's run was hard work. It was not fun and easy, but it still worked, and at this point in the process that is great information to have. With 12 performances (13 including tonight's final dress), there will be great nights and not-so-great nights, but if I can get through it with some level of consistency then I have done my job. Right?

Tonight there will be an audience, and that should be fun. We have a great cast and it is a funny show, so to have the audience energy will be great.

Despite all my fears and doubts about this opera, I really do love singing it. We have our final dress tonight, and a day off tomorrow.

Honesty Time

2009-09-14T18:24:00.002-05:00

We had our first dress rehearsal last night. It was hard. Really hard. And I didn't even sing, I marked. If I'm this stressed out about a piano dress, how am I going to feel on opening night? Yikes.

Now, I'm not fishing for compliments, soliciting encouraging remarks, or anything like that. I just want to be honest about this moment in the process. I am terrified. And our rehearsal process has been so good. Imagine how I would feel if the rehearsals hadn't been going well.

We have our first orchestra dress tonight. My goal is to say screw it (or some derivation of that) and just try to enjoy it and trust that all the work I did in rehearsal will pay off. Here's hopin'.

The healing power of Wolski's

2009-09-12T21:21:00.003-05:00

So we had a blessed day off on Thursday and now we are deep in the throes of tech. We had our first onstage spacing rehearsal on Friday night, and today we have a mammoth 12-hour tech with all the bells and whistles. Tomorrow is more tech and a piano dress. This is always an interesting juncture in putting together a show. You spend 2 1/2 weeks creating a story, and then you systematically take it apart and put it back together in a new space with lights, set, and props. Even during the smoothest of tech rehearsals, it takes some time to get 'your show' back once you move into the hall. The beautiful thing about the Cabot Theatre is that is very intimate, so the move from rehearsal room to hall isn't quite as dramatic.

On our day off, I went out with two dear friends, Katy (our kick-ass Rosina) and Jamie (our pianist, recit master, and general bottle washer). We had lovely dinner and drinks at a place called The Knick, and Jamie and I continued our evening at an old Milwaukee institution (and one of my favorite bars in the world), Wolski's. For the uninitiated, Wolski's is a true neighborhood bar- homey, friendly, smoky and convivial. A dive, is what I'm saying. One of the best parts of going to Wolski's is that when you shut it down you get a bumper sticker proudly stating "I closed Wolski's." I have several, including a shiny new one.

I have had many a great night with Jamie at Wolski's, and the other night was no exception. We spoke of many things (fools and kings), but the part that is pertinent ("pertinent" is in air quotes of course) to this blog is his impression of how Figaro is going for me. Now I've known JJ for over 10 years, and he has seen me in the whole gamut of roles, from basso buffo to lyric baritone. He is also a beautifully honest person, and had lots of opinions to share with me over pitchers of Schlitz (the proportion of honesty to Schlitz consumption is direct). Although he said that I'm sounding the best I ever have, the part that was most useful to me is how he noticed that the best sound I make in the whole show is when I play drunk in the Count/Figaro duet. It's his theory that it may be because I'm physically so loosey goosey during that moment, and that is allowing me to get more bang for my buck, vocally speaking. I think he is on to something, and that even though I basically feel good about this role, the fact remains that I have a lot of expectations about how this role should sound and I'm sure that manifests itself physically in how I sing it (mostly Largo). I think I 'lock and load' some of the high notes instead of just trusting that they will be there and be magnificent. And Figaro is dude to whom everything comes easy- the high notes need to be easy too....and they are easy. So why do I physically 'set' myself for them? I think I need to let go of my baggage on my journey through this role, and remember that I can pick it back up whenever I want to. But to let go of it and find the ease. The beautiful thing is that I have 12 performances to play around with the vocalism, and I need to give myself permission to play just like I have in the last few Nozze productions I've done.

Our conversation went late into the night with this cherished artist and good friend. Ah, Wolski's....thanks for facilitating such rich dialectic. We were golden with bar light and beer.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes with easing up. But now, back to tech.

PS- Jamie and I may or may not have done a broadway song-and-dance version of 'On Eagle's Wings' while waiting for a light cue to be written.

Jabber Jabber Jabber

2009-09-10T14:37:00.003-05:00

We had our sitzprobe for Barber on stage at the Cabot theatre last night. It went really well, especially since it was the third day in a row I had sung the role full out. I wanted to see what it would be like to sing out three times in a row to get ready for our monster 12-performance run (did I mention we have three shows in a row on the weekend?). And though I felt a little tired and less than pristine, I have to say this role is starting to feel like it's in my voice. I even feel pretty decent today- it kind of makes me think that I'm not singing wrong. I know that's a horribly worded sentence. Back off.

Today is the blessed day off and I am giving my brain a chance to decompress before we enter the craziness of tech. Tomorrow is our first rehearsal on stage. We saw part of the set last night. It's going to be cool, but I realized last night that we do an awful lot of running up and down a flight of stairs. That was easy enough in the rehearsal room when they were just tape marks on the floor. When I saw how high the stairs actually go last night, I got a little concerned. I go up an down those damn stairs 2 or three times in the course of 'Zitti Zitti Piano Piano.' Ah well. It will be good exercise and will keep my mind off the crazy A naturals Rossini wrote for Figaro in that feisty little number.

I also made my debut performance in the pit orchestra last night. I was nervous, but in the end it made no difference because I was barely audible in the house. The AV director is going to work on amplifying me so Greg (our Almaviva) can hear me better on stage. I'm kind of looking forward to starting each performance in the pit. It will keep me from pacing around the dressing room, getting nervous for Largo. I won't have time to get nervous - I'll have to just put my guitar away, run upstairs and go. I think that's a good thing.

I'm going to leave the hotel now and enjoy this gorgeous day. More later.

did I mention....

2009-09-08T15:05:00.002-05:00

....that I am playing the guitar in the pit for 'Ecco Ridente?' Well, I am. Don't get me wrong- I love playing the guitar on stage (I once played the recit and opening of 'Se vuol ballare' on guitar in a production of Nozze). I spent a lot of my youth playing guitar and it's great to get a chance to use it in my current gig. Plus, as some of you know, I'm a bit of a, how shall I say, whore on stage and jump at the chance to do anything cool.

That being said, 'Ecco Ridente' is a challenging chart. I'm not a classical guitarist by any stretch. It's pretty common for the Figaro in Barber to play Almaviva's serenade on guitar- totally manageable. A little a minor, a little E7, badda boom badda bing, you got yourself a serenade. 'Ecco' is another ball of wax altogether. Granted, it's in C major (thank God!), but it's also totally exposed in spots, you are playing with an orchestra, and it requires some actual chops. I had a chance to rehearse with the orchestra yesterday at one of their reads. Beforehand, I asked our esteemed conductor Pasquale, 'they know I'm a singer and not a guitarist right?' I felt a little like an impostor, but it went ok. I'm glad it's in C. If nothing else, it will keep me from biting my nails for a few weeks!

Today it's recits, whole recits, and nothing but the recits. We're doing speed-throughs of all the recits to help the flow feel more conversational. It's a good exercise- we should do it more often. We have another run-through (I've been calling it a fun-through cuz I'm a nerd) tonight. More loud singing, but hopefully a little more control as well.

AW

The best thing about a first run-through...

2009-09-07T19:26:00.003-05:00

...is that you never have to have a first run-through again.

We are currently at the act break in our first 'designer' run-through. That's where the run crew, education department, scenic/set/light designers watch us do our little skit so they can gear up for tech week (rapidly approaching). I have decided to sing out as much as possible for all of our rehearsal room runs, to get a sense of what it's going to be like when we do three of these in a row on the weekend (did I mention that we do three of these in row on the weekend?).

It's going ok. Which is to say, I managed to get through all of it- got all the high notes, got all the jumping around in the Largo, etc. I wouldn't say that it was very graceful, and I'm hoping that if I'm at this stage now, maybe by the time we hit the stage I can add a little vocal nuance to it. As I've said before, I have a bit of psychological baggage when it comes to this role, and just to know that I can get through it has been huge for me. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. People with glass voices shouldn't eat pop rocks.

I think there might be a Lakefront Oktoberfest in my near future. But first, Act II (Gesundheit!). Thank goodness the hard stuff is over for tonight.

AW

PS- if vacationing in Milwaukee (hold for laugh), check out the Sprecher brewery tour. Highly educational and delicious. Afterwards, go down the street and get a butter burger at Solly's. Highly fatty and delicious. After that, have your cholesterol and/or BMI checked.

I'm a ramblin' guy

2009-09-02T14:13:00.002-05:00

Last night's concert/open house at Skylight was a huge success. The bar was jam packed for the cabaret portion of the evening, and Catalano square was jam packed as well for the outdoor concert. And they stayed!!! The concert was long and went on much later than expected, but the crowd basically stayed for the whole night. We all moved into the Cabot theatre to finish off the night (it was pretty amazing to hear Colin Cabot invite everyone into the Cabot theatre). I think we all expected people to go home at this point, but the Cabot was jam packed too! Then the bar was full again after the evening was through. There were tons of fantastic performances, including our cast members Greg Schmidt, Katy Pracht, and Kathy Pyeatt, as well as the glorious Tanya Kruse (she'll be playing the Countess in Figaro here at Skylab later this season), but I think the pinnacle was when Mike Lorenz played the Habanera from Carmen on a tuned set of bicycle horns. It was nothing short of genius, and I hope it ends up on YouTube soon.

As for my little portion of the evening, I did an abridged version of Largo (the fastest Largo ever- Jamie Johns and I were off to the races). It was the first time I've performed it in the English translation [sidebar: we're using the George Mead translation that is published in the Ricordi score. It's the third English translation I have done, having sung Bartolo in the Donald Pippin translation (my favorite line: "Figaro, you're looking healthy, pink and plump"), and the Ruth & Thomas Martin translation (my favorite line: "I am the king of lather and foam"). Luckily, those were all so long ago they have faded from memory, and since this is my first Figaro, it's all new]. It went pretty well I must say- the crowd liked it (thank God- the aria is designed to be a show-off piece after all), and all the G's came out well (I was a little worried after standing outside for the whole Catalano concert). What really worried me, though was that I had lines in the Groucho Marx skit (played by the brilliant Norman Moses, who stayed in costume afterwards in the bar as well!). I had to inroduce the sawing-Groucho-in-half-trick, and that made me more nervous than anything. I was in very good hands with Norman- it makes me want to come back and see the Marx brothers show he is doing here at Skylab later this season.

I was very proud to be a part of last night's concert. The audience, performers, staff were all there celebrating the rich history of Skylight and ushering it into another 50 + years. There was such a feeling of camaraderie, that we're all lucky to be here at this moment, especially after all the maelstrom that was this summer. I hope it did something to start to heal the divide, and maybe sell a few subsricptions as well. There were reports of big $$$ being made in donations last night, and that is hugely encouraging (the figure I heard was upwards of $10 k!!!).

Last night was such a big event (kudos to the SOT staff and volunteers for pulling it off with such panache), that afterwards in the bar I sort of felt like we had opened. Oops. That feeling rapidly went away this morning as I showed up for a full day of reviewing Act I, staging the Act II Quintet, and stumbling through the whole first act. Oof. Ah well, it's a happy tired at least. More later.

AW

Skylight Open House tonight

2009-09-01T13:34:00.000-05:00

I know it's been awhile since I posted, but the internets have been down at the luxurious Plaza Hotel. When I mentioned this before, my Dad said, "Art Deco internet?" You see, it's an old art deco building, and, well, never mind.

Tonight there is a big outdoor concert/fundraiser/open house at Skylight. A bunch of us from the cast are singing some ditties from the show- it will be my first time singing Largo in English in public-yikes. I'm doing an onstage bit with Norman Moses (a brilliant Milwaukee actor who I just saw in 'Around the World in 80 Days' at the Cabot Theatre in Milwaukee) as Groucho Marx, so that will takr some of the pressure off me to be brilliant (shameless-yes, brilliant-not so much today). I'm hoping they bring in tons of dough tonight. If you are in the Milwaukee area and are looking for a fun way to spend the evening, stop on by.

Rehearsals have been a lot of fun so far. I've sort of gotten past the initial freak-out stage and am really enjoying putting the show together. Although it's a character I know well, the Rossini version is definitely a different animal, vocally, physically, and in every other way. I'm sure I'll have more to say about that later.

I still need to do a post-mortem on the Ashlawn experience- I know I know. I'll do it.

For now though, I have to spit out a few pages of recit and review the Act II Quintet.

AW

The Barber gets a shave

2009-08-27T11:49:00.002-05:00

Before I came to Milwaukee to sing Barber of Seville, I wanted to get the genuine barber experience, so I went to a fantastic place in downtown St. Paul called Heimie's. Here's what happened.

For those of you (like myself) who had never had a professional shave before, I highly recommend it. It was indeed smooth as a baby's bottom, and lasted for several days.

I shot this using my digital camera, and the memory card ran out of space before he put the straight blade on me- Sorry! I tried to use the magic of video (and Apple editing software) to tell the story anyway. Enjoy!

Here's what I don't recommend...

2009-08-26T12:20:00.002-05:00

...staging Largo for 2 1/2 hours in the afternoon (PS- this is in no way a 'park and bark' or 'can belto' production of Barber), insisting on singing out for most of it, and then do a whole sing-through of the opera in the evening.

The good news is, I can sing the whole role in not-the-most-ideal circumstances (with 12 performances of this bad boy, that's a good feeling). The bad news is, I feel like a truck hit me today. The cords feel fine, but I could use a good hard slap in the face. I'm sure there are one or two volunteers out there.

More later.

I am the king of lather and foam

2009-08-25T12:03:00.004-05:00

Well folks, it's been awhile hasn't it? I have had the last two weeks off and, being in the throes of domesticity, have honestly had no desire to blog whatsoever. I had a fantastic time at home. My daughter had her 2nd birthday party, we got to spend time with great friends and family, and we went on a trip to Boulder, CO for a dear friend's wedding .

(sidebar: I'm trying to figure out if I can write this trip off, since I sang an excerpt from 'Cosi fan tutte' during the ceremony. Is that legit? Oh, also...we almost didn't make it to Boulder because we were following the timeline set for us by former stage manager and current assistant to the Artistic Director of the Guthrie, Katie Koch. The timeline was brilliant- the only problem was it was for a flight that left an hour later than ours in fact did. I told Koch that little tidbit en route to downtown Minneapolis and man, you've never seen three luggage toting people move so fast. As I was frantically checking us in via my Blackberry, we realized that the Twins game had just let out and our brilliant plan of taking mass transit to the Airport was now going to be a complete, well, train wreck. We sprinted to the nearest taxi, and luckily got a cabbie who, when seeing that the highway was a parking lot, took us to the airport via the River Road [all the while hocking loogies into a clear plastic cup]. We got through security and to the gate right as they were boarding. It was brilliant, skin-of-the-teeth episode. I only include it here because it seemed very Figaro-esque, and, oh yeah, I promised Koch I would mention her in the blog. Moral of the story: never trust an off-duty stage manager).

Back to task. I drove in to Milwaukee yesterday morning. It was a 5 hour trip and I had about 20 minutes to check in to my hotel, change my clothes, warm up, and run to rehearsal. I was either so jacked up on caffeine from the drive or so nervous to actually be rehearsing Barber of Seville that I was shaking during the first half of Largo. The beautiful thing about this place, though, is that you're working with friends. After I realized that I was just singing with Pasquale and Jamie, I relaxed and started enjoying it, and actually had a pretty great rehearsal. If I can sing it after driving in the car for 5 hours, I should be able to do this thing. Right?

I probably sound paranoid, and you're going to hear (read) a lot of this. Figaro has always been sort of a pinnacle role for me- that unattainable goal, impossible dream, unreachable star, whatever you want to call it. As a young singer with lots of technical issues but good stage savvy, I ended up singing a lot of basso buffo roles- Don Alfonso, Don Pasquale, and Bartolo in the Barber of Seville. In fact, I sang Bartolo here at the Skylight. 10 YEARS AGO. Now I'm a decade older, singing a role 30 years younger. Call me the Benjamin Button of opera. Anyway, the point is that I always knew I was a baritone at heart, and that if I worked hard enough I would figure out all the technical crap that was hanging me up. In my mind, Figaro was the measuring stick role for me. If I could sing that, well, then I had truly learned something about singing.

Here I am.

Have I learned anything about singing? Well. I'll find out, won't I?

12 performances of a fiendishly difficult role. A company that has national attention right now. Controversy. Contracts pulled and reinstated. To quote my friend Artsy Schmartsy, I had 'better not suck.' Indeed. I couldn't be working on this piece at a more supportive place or with a more supportive team. Yeah, I'm freaked out, but excited. Sing through tonight.

Here's a quote about Beaumarchais (and by proxy Figaro) from his friend Gudin:

Thus it was, that in every circumstance throughout his life he was entirely absorbed in the thing at hand, without worrying about what had gone before or what would follow, so sure he was of his faculties and his presence of mind. He never needed to rehearse. his mind was never diminished in any way, and his principles were so sound that they never failed him.

Here's hoping a little of that rubs off on me.

Year of Figaro resumes tomorrow

2009-08-23T21:09:00.002-05:00

I'll be on the road all morning tomorrow to make it to my first Barber of Seville rehearsal at Skylight. I'm going back and forth between being super excited and completely terrified. This role is hard. I sang through the whole thing every day this week in preparation, and I think I'm in OK shape. We'll find out tomorrow. Stay tuned. Lots to talk about.

I heart travel days

2009-08-08T14:44:00.000-05:00

I'm currently at the Atlanta airport en route home from Charlottesville. We had a good final performance last night. There were a few crazy tempos (I think 'deh vieni' is still going- that's how slow it was), but what are you going to do? Have I mentioned that we had a week off in between performances?

I am planning to do a post-mortem on this one at some point, but for now I'll just say how gratifying it is to work with wonderful people. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that it may in fact be the best part of the job. I hope the Camelot cast has a great final weekend, hope the apprentices can hang on for 2 more days (along with Ashley, Shelby and Adam), hope Magda has a great Carmen, hope that Greg and Maddie have an amazing time at the beach, hope that Maurizio and Liz have a safe drive to Miami, and hope Ash-Lo doesn't get arrested for the all the fun she's going to have in the city. It was a pleasure working with all of you.

OK, back to travel days. First of all, I should be writing this in mid-air because AirTran now offers inflight wi-fi. How cool is that? Not anticipating that little perk, my computer's battery is dead, so I have to thumb-type on my phone.

I started my travel day by driving with Ash-Lo to Reagan Nat'l in DC. It was a fitting end to the summer,as she picked me up when I first flew into town. We had a great chat and some greasy b-fast from the BK Lounge. It was beautiful.

On the first leg of my flight, I sat next to the crankiest old lady in the world. First she got angry at me for having such a big backpack. She said, "what are you going to do with all that crap?"
I said, "I'm going to put it under the seat in front of me."
"Well, you're certainly optimistic. Why do you bring all that crap? People are too lazy to just take it to the waiting room."
...Silence from me. I really have no idea what that last comment is supposed to mean.
"I presume you are going to take your hat off. I AM a lady!"
I swear I am not making this up. Of course the proper response is "well you're not acting like one," but did I sink to her level? No. I took the high road. Why? Well, life is too short to get into fights with old ladies.

And, more importantly, there was also inflight XM radio featuring 'Hair Nation.'. Nothing was going to spoil that for me.

Nearly home. I hope I get another crazy person to sit by on this flight.

AW

blizz-nog

2009-08-07T15:23:00.000-05:00

Well, it's the final performance of Figaro at Ashlawn Opera tonight. I'm writing this on my phone, waiting to go to the 5:00 recit brush-up rehearsal (have I mentioned that there has been a week in between each performance?).

I look forward to tonight, ut not as much as I look forward to going home, seeing my girls, and sleeping in my own bed. This has been a long time on the road, and even though I got to go home for a week (did I mention that there has een a week in between each performance?), I feel like I've been away forever.

With that in mind, it's time to get my game face on and put this one to bed. It's nice to think that this isn't the end of the road for the year of Figaro.

AW

A Year of Figaro remains intact

2009-08-06T00:58:00.004-05:00

As most of you know by now, the news came in yesterday afternoon about Eric Dillner resigning as General Director at Skylight. Former managing directors Joan Lounsbury and Colin Cabot will take over leadership of the company, with Bill Theisen returning as stage director and artistic consultant. My first inclination was to run to my computer and vomit out six weeks' worth of bloggy goodness, but instead I opened up a bottle of wine, enjoyed the company of some of my Ashlawn cast, and caught up with good friends on the phone. There were to many disparate thoughts and emotions swimming around in my head to write down. As it is, this blog entry might be a bit nebulous.

My year of Figaro is back on!

Skylight is still going to have a lot of challenges ahead, figuring out a business model that will lead them into the future. But I think that they have a team of people that can absolutely meet that challenge. Colin, Joan, and Bill have the good will of the community, the context of the history of the company, and the smarts to pull this off. This is how to do a 50th Anniversary season.

I know this doesn't automatically fix all of SOT's problems, but what a victory for the company, the artists, the community! I saw a picture on Tuesdays Blog of a bunch of SOT folk raising a glass in Catalano Square (ground zero for a lot of the protest/forum activity) and my heart went out to my friends. How I wished I could have been there to celebrate. The love and the care they have shown are extraordinary.

I sort of can't believe that it actually turned out this way. When people backed out of their contracts, it was to show support for Bill and to send a message to the board. Who ever would have expected it to actually work? Of course we were all hoping it would, but I had resigned myself to the fact that my year of Figaro would be a half-year of Figaro, not knowing if I'd ever sing Figaro again, that the end of the world, art, and music were at hand (I'm paraphrasing my brilliant manager, who has been watching this story like a hawk and was thrilled when the news broke). And then a true deus ex machina (in the form of Joan and Colin) happens, and the entire debacle is turned around and the season is restored. I hope someone is writing an opera about this. It couldn't be more perfect. I want to play the part of Jamie Johns.

I have only been on the periphery of this story. I don't live in Milwaukee, and I wasn't there to see this unfold first hand. SOT has always welcomed me as one of their own, however, and through the blessing and curse that is social media, I felt like I was there. From my vantage point, there are some true heroes in this story (they should each get an aria in the opera version of this)-

Jamie Johns, who was the most vocal opponent at the beginning, helped get the word out on Facebook, and rallied SOT supporters to make their voices heard, only to get fired in the process.

Jonathan West, Tony Clements, along with Tom Strini, who reported each new bizarre chapter of this twisted tale, gave us the facts behind the rumors, and provided sound, level-headed commentary on what was going on.

The Skylight staff, who soldiered on in what must have been one of the most uncomfortable working environments ever.

Colin Cabot, who dropped everything to save this company.

I want to say a sincere thank you to Eric Dillner. I don't think that he is Darth Vader, and I believe he had good intentions for SOT. This was a catastrophe, though, and he made the right decision by stepping down so that the company could try to heal and move forward. I'm sure it was not an easy decision, as it wasn't an easy decision for any of us who stepped down, but it was the right one. Thanks Eric.

I hope arts organizations all over the country are following this story and being encouraged by it. Yes, I think it is encouraging for arts organizations. Hell, I think it is encouraging for democracy. You can make your voice heard and you can make a difference. I think it is a victory for Milwaukee, but also a victory for the arts. Every arts group is trying to find their way through this mess of an economy. I think the path through it is BEING AN ARTS ORGANIZATION- sticking to your guns, and not running your opera company like a for-profit corporation. Yesterday was a victory for artistic vision and leadership.

I hope that people never forget this chapter in Skylight's history. When people cared so much for a little company that they couldn't watch it slip away and through songs, tears, heartbreak, anger, laughter, and hard work, they saved it.

I can't wait to walk into 158 N Broadway for the first day of Barber rehearsal.

The End (?)

your FORMER blog of the month

2009-08-02T22:32:00.003-05:00

As it is August now, AYOF is officially no longer the Opera America Bloggo The Month. So, instead of the award-winning material you have become accustomed to, I'm going back to the mindless drivel I doled out heretofore.

Last night we had our third performance of Figaro. This schedule is INSANE. Our last performance was a week ago. There is absolutely no momentum to this run of performances. I don't know if I could even call it a run of performances. It's more like a stagger of performances. It is intensely difficult to come back after a week and try to get your show back. Ok, not intensely difficult like neuroscience is intensely difficult, but still....

Anyway, it feels like there are big sections of show that are passing us by- it's feeling a bit like instant opera at this point. However, I do have to say that some of the moment-to-moment interaction does feel really spontaneous and honest. And last night was actually, well....fun, dammit. I think we all have embraced this kooky situation for what it is and have just decided to go out there with our guns blazin'.

For me personally, I had a ball. I have sort of decided to let this show be a bit of a playground for me, vocally speaking. I have decided not to be afraid to sound totally terrible for the sake of being more vocally honest (i.e. singing with integrity vis-a-vis the technique I continue to work on). The result has been more vocal freedom, more interesting singing...and I haven't sounded totally terrible yet (arguable). I'm speaking in singer-y voodoo again. Sorry. It is just very freeing to give yourself permission to fail every now and again. It was probably one of the best-sung Figaros yet, and I felt like I could have sung another one at the end of the night. That ain't bad, kids.

I'm thinking of live blogging my last Figaro (and my last in the year of Figaro). Is that weird? It might be kind of lame, but hey, I'm no longer Bloggo the Month, so what do I care?

In the meantime, here's another clip from the Vermont Figaro that just went up on Youtube; note my shapely calves and the Ritter-esque (I wish!!!) quality of the opening.

Fun times.

I know it's been quiet on the blog lately. Sorry about that. It took me awhile to get over the whole Skylight thing, and I do appreciate all the support I got from all of my readership. Thanks! I'll be back with more tales soon.

Movin' on

2009-07-27T13:49:00.002-05:00

Thank you all so much for the comments and support you have given me this past week. It means a lot to me to have such great colleagues and friends!

Well, our second performance went way better than any of us expected. We hadn't done the show in over a week, and as I said, we had a different conductor than opening night. First of all, let me say that it is extremely challenging to do a show without the benefit of momentum. You have to just jump in headfirst and hope you can get back the show you had. When I heard the overture start up, I started feeling that opening night adrenaline again (it sort of felt like opening all over again in a way, although without a tech week.....weird), but it definitely took the first scene (if not the first act) to feel like I was doing our show again. I think we were all in the same boat (orchestra included) and we all dealt with it well. In a way, it was kind of cool. Some of the scenes felt maybe a little more spontaneous since we barely remembered what the H we were supposed to be doing. Our new conductor took over the reigns exceedingly well. What could have been a scary situation was handled beautifully by him. His stick is very easy to follow and his retention of our tempi was spot-on. I went home to Minnesota last week for fun times up north. Needless to say, between the beer, brats, and playing around in the lake, I felt like I hadn't sung in a year. oof. It went fine, vocally speaking, but I gotta keep up the singing this week!

Our next show is not until next Saturday...This is the weirdest schedule in the world.

There is a great timeline of the entire Skylight debacle here. Thanks again to Tony Clements for all his diligent blogging of the situation.

Here is a fun clip of excerpts from the production of Figaro I did in Vermont. Other than my rotundity and shameless overacting, I think it looks and sounds pretty good. I'm looking forward to seeing the whole thing.

The Marriage of Who?

2009-07-26T09:26:00.000-05:00

We have our second performance of Figaro this afternoon at Ashlawn Opera. We haven't done the show in eight days, and we have a different conductor than we did on opening night.

Film at eleven.

AW

Opera imitating Opera

2009-07-24T10:07:00.003-05:00

As I sit writing this, there is a public forum (Tom Strini billed it as a 'showdown' in his blog) in Catalano Square in Milwaukee. I'm told there are over 100 people there to ask questions and to hear Eric Dillner and the new Board president speak. I have no idea what is being said, but I'm sure it is passionate and emotional, and presumably, not entirely civil.

As I said earlier, yesterday I withdrew from The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro at Skylight, cutting my Year of Figaro in half. This was a really difficult decision to make. I have talked at great length about how I feel about this Skylight situation. I certainly didn't support the initial decision to fire Bill Theisen, but I also didn't see the new director as the villain that he was being made out to be in the press and blogosphere. I thought it was an extremely unfortunate decision, but I was still on board to honor my contract, especially since Bill was slated to return to stage direct both productions. When Bill backed out after the controversial firing of two cast members over Facebook comments, the foundation on which I'd agreed to do these productions was suddenly shaky. Compromised, even. In fact, with each passing day, these productions became more and more compromised. People have commented on my blog and my Facebook congratulating me on being principled and being brave, but I don't know if I agree with that. If anything, it was about survival. I felt like a rat on a sinking ship and had to get out of there.

The fact of the matter is, this kind of crap happens all the time in opera companies. We've all seen it, and it can get ugly. The problem is, Skylight isn't an opera company. It's a community theatre company, and I mean community theatre in the best sense of the word (not Guffman-style!). That's why people love working there, and that's why people have been fighting this decision tooth and nail since it was made last June. This is not supposed to happen at Skylight. Not that SOT is some sort of sacred Utopia- it definitely has its issues. But resorting to Neo-McCarthyism to fire cast members?

Bill definitely made the right decision to back out when he did. I wish I could say that I am principled enough to have made my decision to back out right away, solely in solidarity with Bill. I'm not. I struggled with this decision. I'm not a protester by nature. I'm a lover, not a fighter, so this whole decision was a bit weird.

Fear was a big factor- giving up 3 months of work is daunting (and by daunting, I mean arguably stupid, especially in this economy). Not only because of the money, but because of the huge gaps in my schedule right now. I might be wrong, but I think that having momentum is huge for how people perceive you and your career. By imposing these gaps in my schedule, I am somewhat afraid of losing momentum and further work.

Selfishness was also a factor. Doing Barber and Marriage in a cycle is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Tom Strini even said so! Plus, I've never sung Figaro in Barber of Seville before. This was going to be my first one, and it couldn't have been at a better company. Funnily enough, I have sung Bartolo (the old man) before. 10 years ago. At Skylight.

Plus, I leave dear dear friends in the lurch by pulling out of these shows. Friends who are honoring their contracts and will turn in compelling, top notch performances, and will do so in a completely professional manner. If I have one regret about this, it is that I won't be sharing the stage with those amazing people this year.

After thinking hard about it and having long talks with my own Board of Directors (Me, my amazing sage-like wife, my agent, my parents, my dear Milwaukee artist friends) I decided that if my backing out had some positive impact by way of making a statement to the Board (and I was in extremely good company- I think I was the 24th or 25th person to resign in protest), then great; if the Board chooses to stay the course (and they have- Bill is still out, even after 25+ resignations), then maybe it's not a place I want to spend three months away from my family. With these kinds of decisions, I usually go with my prodigious gut, and it told me I would be happier as an unemployed Dad than I would be working for a company under extreme duress.

I've been commenting about all this Skylight stuff since mid-June when it all hit the fan. Since then, the powers-that-be have had every chance to make things right with the Milwaukee arts community. They have chosen time and again to stay their course, sever ties with the people that have made up the history of the company, and go it alone. I wish them the best. Good game, Skylight. We had some fun, didn't we?

My Dad, who is a brilliant observer of humanity, had this to say about this whole ugly mess: It's a case of opera imitating opera. I concur.

I have a few more weeks of Ashlawn Figaro to go. I didn't anticipate this being my last one, and now I'm going to have to go and change the name of my blog to A Half-Year of Figaro or I'm So Dumb I Backed Out Of Two Contracts. Thanks for all the comments. A man of Principles? Not really. Just tired of doing gigs I don't want to do.

In the meantime, I think I'll call up my friend Jamie Johns and see if he wants to do a recital. I'm thinking...September or early October?

6 months of Figaro?

2009-07-23T15:29:00.002-05:00

I cut my Year of Figaro short today by withdrawing from the Skylight's productions of Barber and Marriage. This was an excruciatingly hard decision to make. Details to follow.

more info about all things Skylight here.

Last night's stats

2009-07-18T09:28:00.000-05:00

Opening: one word slip, otherwise good
Se vuol ballare: better than the dress rehearsal, breath was under me, top F's felt good
Non piu andrai: my shameless cadenza was slightly more shameless than usual, but otherwise was fine
Aprite: not as good as the dress rehearsal
Finale II: funny
Finale IV: funny

0 assists
0 errors

Mozart gets credit for the win (at least I would think so)

It was a pretty tight show, and it was great to finally have an audience. They seemed to be with us for most of the night and they were lots of fun to play to, especially in the act IV aria. I threw in a it where I sing part of the aria to Shelby, our lovely harpsichordist (and by harpsichord I mean electric keyboard-oof). Extra shameless.

Vocally speaking, last night went very smoothly. I think I've either made peace with this English translation or I am just finally learning how to sing this role. I had to do a tv interview before the show (resume) so I didn't quite get to warm up the way I wanted to. There were a few iffy moments, but mostly I felt pretty good about it.

I'm currently sitting in Dulles International Airport waiting to fly home and see my family. More bloggo the month (my new nickname- it's like Jabba the Hutt) to come soon.

AW

Another Openin'

2009-07-17T14:23:00.004-05:00

We open Figaro tonight. I've been sitting around the house, waiting all day. I hate that. I should really get a hobby or something. The nerves are starting already. Just part of the process.

After tonight's performance, we have 9 days until the next one. Crazy, no? Well, at Ashlawn, they used to do 10 performances, all outdoors. Now, since they have moved into the historic Paramount Theatre, they have cut the number of performances, but kept the same basic schedule, leaving us with 4 shows spread out over 3 weeks. Interesting.

I'm looking forward to tonight. A Year of Figaro will be pretty quiet this next week. I'm heading home to see my girls!

Here's something to tide my faithful readership over. My Susanna, Ashley Logan, and I were stopped on the street the other day for the local weekly paper's question of the week. We had some really astute answers. Enjoy!

It's like, how many babies, you know, fit in the tire? You know, that old joke.

2009-07-16T13:27:00.003-05:00

Our final dress was last night. We all took a big step forward, and I think we are poised to take another big step forward on opening night. There were about 20 kids in the audience who couldn't have cared less about what we were doing. They started a coughing competition during 'Deh Vieni' and got annoyed when I started singing to them and pointing at them in 'Aprite.' Note to self: kids don't like being pointed at.

Having sung this role three times in as many months, I've learned a thing or two. Last night I was still a little vocally fried after having sung the whole opera twice on Monday. My approach in these times of crisis has shifted radically as of late. Whereas before I would just continue to bluster and try to vocally act my way through, getting by on charm, this time I brought it all in. What does that mean, you ask? Um....I don't know. I just brought it in. I was a little more contained. My vocal attacks were a little less aggressive, perhaps, but the volume and resonance were not diminished. In fact, they were probably enhanced. In a weird way, it feels like I'm singing in instead of singing out (this isn't inward singing a la Tenacious D- I mastered that years ago!).

I'm rambling and not making sense. The long and short of it is I'm yelling less and singing more. And that ain't a bad thing. At all. It feels good, in fact. And I think it bodes well for my upcoming foray into Rossini's Figaro.

How did we get here?

2009-07-15T11:42:00.003-05:00

How did it get to be the day of the final dress? It never fails to surprise me how the entire rehearsal period gets gobbled up so quickly and we suddenly find ourselves in a dark theatre with an orchestra (who sound great, btw), costumes (very slimming....thank God!), and a set (no comment). One of my favorite people in the world always says (usually during tech week), "well, don't worry, we have six weeks 'til we open." It's sort of a running joke, but it is shocking how the imminent opening night can sneak up on you.

We had our final tech (sort of a misnomer- most of the actual props and set pieces arrived at our dress) on Sunday evening, which was preceded by a fandango rehearsal. Monday we had our sitz, and an orchestra dress. The good news is no one died. We were all pretty wiped after such a marathon, and I don't know that I would choose to ever have that kind of schedule again but, all things considered, it went down pretty well (just like the beer I had post-rehearsal...ba-dum cha!)

The sitz was a blast. The orchestra sounded great, and we were all having a good time. It is such fun music to sing, and by now I'm feeling really comfortable vocally (I better be after all this time, right?). It was fun just making music together- like we were some sort of all-Mozart garage band or something. Our conductor used to play in a rock band, and even though he is a highly trained classical musician, he still brings a relaxed, jam session feel to the rehearsals. I love it. There's a great sense of give and take, and he's totally in the moment and spontaneous. He also plays Foreigner songs on the piano during breaks, so that's pretty cool too.

The dress was, well....we were all tired. All of us. Orch, conductor, cast, ensemble. It went fine, but we were all making amateur mistakes, dropping lines, wandering around the stage like McCain at a debate (sorry- not very topical reference). It was a little rough. It's just not an opera you ever want to do twice in one day. Ever. Again. We have a lot of work to do tonight, but, I think we're in fine shape and well-rested.

I fully meant to mark the dress rehearsal, but damn if it's not hard to sing out when there's an orchestra playing. It just doesn't feel right to mark- it's not natural. Plus there's the fact that I am terrible at marking. I usually feel more tired after marking than when I am singing, and so I ended up singing most of the dress after having sung a full sitz. It wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done, but I'm happy to report that it was actually kind of easy. It was really encouraging, especially since I was feeling fatigued after doing it only once in Lafayette earlier this season.

This is a sort of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants interpretation of Figaro this time around, which, in the world Beaumarchais created (and lived in!!) is totally OK I think.

I'll leave you with a quote from Shakespeare in Love (don't judge me) that couldn't be more appropriate.

Henslowe: Mr. Fennyman, allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster.
Fennyman: So what do we do?
Henslowe: Nothing. Strangely enough, it all turns out well.
Fennyman: How?
Henslowe: I don't know. It's a mystery.

If Mozart were alive today, he would be playing in Metallica

2009-07-14T10:29:00.002-05:00

I'm just sayin'.

Stay tuned for more about the marathon Tech/Sitz/Orch Dress/Photo Shoot.

Survival tip #327

2009-07-13T11:50:00.000-05:00

How does one get through a morning photo shoot, afternoon sitzprobe, and evening orchestra dress, after teching until midnight the night before? After years of research, here is my method:

Ham and cheese omelet
Home fries
Toast (required)
Coffee

Go forth and conquer.

AW

More tech stuff

2009-07-12T14:15:00.005-05:00

Huge comments after my last post! I guess that's what happens when you are the Opera America Blog of the Month (if you haven't noticed, I'm going to be milking that for all its worth....more than its worth actually). God mikes, headsets, and director/actor translation are all worth their weight in gold as far as I am concerned. I don't like yelling. Have I mentioned that? Unless it's being done by Chris Farley, I can do without it.

There's a lot of non-Figaro stuff to talk about. First of all, this Skylight stuff is amazing. Someone should be writing an opera about it, or at the very least, an NBC movie of the week. So on July 9, the Skylight Board announced that they had spoken to Bill Theisen about returning to the Skylight as Artistic Director for next season. Can you imagine? Would you want to go back to a place that had just fired you without warning? And how do they suddenly have the money to re-hire him? Bill released a statement the next day that he couldn't return as AD under the current circumstances, that there has been a breach of trust, and that he doesn't think he could perform his duties as AD the way things are right now. I can't say that I blame him. So now what's going to happen? Are they going to look for a new Artistic Director, or go with their original plan and have no Arts leadership? I encourage you to read Tom Strini's blog, ArtsySchmartsy, and Tony Clements' blog if you are at all interested in this saga. These guys are way more engrained in the Milwaukee arts community, and have done some darn good reporting on it. Plus, on Tony's blog, there's this great letter to the Skylight board from an ex-board member saying that artists only exist because they (i.e. the board and the donors) have hired them to perform a service. In other words we, as artists, are employees, and should just shut up and sing.

Meanwhile, my other artistic home, The Minnesota Opera just put out a statement that, in a nasty fiscal year, they finished the season in the black and their capacity is up 5 1/2% from last year. This is also the season they started their Opera Works project, an initiative to champion new works in the opera house (they are already over halfway to their $7 million goal for Opera Works). Say what you will about Minnesota, but they have a keen artistic vision, and they have stuck with it in hard times. Hell, they have renewed their commitment to their vision, and the audiences and donors have answered in kind.

I'm not saying that Skylight and MN Op are anything alike. They aren't, really. But if you are running an arts organization, I think you have to have an artistic vision, and you have to have arts leadership to see it through. And when times get sucky, you can't just bail on it- the leadership or the vision.

Ok, enough already- I'll get off my soapbox. Running a company is damn hard, and I'm glad it's not my job.

Back to the big Fig....We have another tech tonight. I'm going to try not to look mad. We rehearse until midnight tonight, then have a sitz AND an orchestra dress tomorrow. Whee! I think we are in good shape. There are some eggy moments here and there, but I think they will tighten up at our dresses. The english feels a lot more comfy this time around than it did in Lafayette (still sounds awkward though- that can't be helped I'm afraid).

More award-winning material to come later.

tech-a-doodle-dingbat

2009-07-10T10:33:00.000-05:00

Currently in a tech/spacing rehearsal at the Paramount theatre in downtown Charlottesville. This is the kind of up-to-the-minute live blogging you've come to expect from Opera America's Blog of the Month. Later this afternoon we are fixing some trouble spots and having a costume parade. Yeah, that's right. A costume parade. It sounds so festive, right? Like we should be sitting on a float and throwing hard candies at little kids. I don't remember the last show I was in that had a costume parade.

Ahhhhh, tech rehearsal. You can just feel the good will slowly drift out to a sea of snappy, snarky bitchiness. I usually remain mute during most tech rehearsals because I don't want to add to the general chaos, and am thus perceived to be angry. I also don't deal well with yelling, so when the director tells us to hold, my blood pressure instantly increases. That's where speaking quietly on a god mike can be a godsend. But when there isn't a mike, the yelling makes me go crazy. I know it's only so the director can be heard, but still I can't take it.

Also, the whole "can we take it from..." conversations that take during tech are CRAZY. Invariably, the director will say "I want to take it from where the Count walks around the desk." The rehearsal pianist will say "what measure is that?" And then the conductor will say, "what are the words there?" - or some such exchange. There shoud be a person whose job it is to liase between all parties, translate, and communicate in a clear, light tone just exactly what the $%@& we are supposed to be doing.

It just occurred to me there is such a person. His name is Alex Farino! Where are you alf?

Gotta get ready for the parade. I hope I don't drop my baton!!!

AW

Opera America's Blog of the Month!

2009-07-09T16:40:00.003-05:00

Yes, that's right kids, A Year of Figaro is the BLog of the Month for Opera America's ArtsLink newsletter. Thanks for reading everybody!

Mr. F

2009-07-07T15:27:00.004-05:00

We had a run of Acts I and II today, and I am encouraged. Sometimes getting the traffic patterns and skeleton of a piece put together can be so clinical and non-artistic that you feel like little chess pieces being pushed around for no reason whatsoever. Getting the chance to run big sections not only lets you understand the flow of the piece, but gives you an opportunity to just listen and respond to your scene partners. That happened today. I felt like I was just talking to my compatriots, and that ain't a bad thing. With such little time to get an opera like this on its feet, it was a relief to have a decent run. At least we have a toehold now.

I have been playing Mr. F for nearly three months now (and boy are my arms tired! rim shot). My characterization has definitely evolved, but that could simply be the uniqueness of each production dictating nuances to the character. I have to say, though, it is nice to really get to know Mr. F over this long period of time, and know that each time I play him I will find something new for my bag of tricks (aka: steal stuff for future productions). Or it could be that I've been watching old Three's Company episodes on dvd and have been shamelessly copying John Ritter (at least in my mind).

I'm not usually a huge astrology guy, but I read mine in the weekly C'Ville paper the other day and I wanted to share it, as it is entirely appropriate and awesome:

Nietzsche's dictum might be useful for you to keep in mind right now Leo: "If it doesn't kill you, it'll make you stronger." Since I'm very sure that the turbulent waters through which you're navigating will not kill you, I'm looking forward to all the ways this journey will upgrade your confidence and enhance your power. But there's more to be gained, beyond what Nietzsche formulated. It's also true that if it doesn't kill you (which it won't), it will make you wilder and kinder and smarter and more beautiful.

I sure hope so.

Michael Kaiser, president oh the Kennedy Center, recently wrote a fantastic article in The Huffington Post entitled Arts in Crisis. It's about how arts organizations need to stick to their guns artistically if they want to remain successful through this economic nightmare. I found it posted on ArtsySchmartsy's blog and thought it was really timely, considering all that's going on with the Skylight right now (PS- it felt good de-friend Skylight on Facebook. Am I a bad person?)

Ackamarackus

2009-07-06T14:05:00.002-05:00

Hope my readership had a wonderful Independence Day. I spent the 4th at Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello, where I witnessed the annual naturalization ceremony. 66 people became American citizens on the historic estate. After they took the oath, they were allowed to come up and say what becoming an American meant to them. It was incredibly moving. One little boy who couldn't have been more than about 5 said "I love America. It's the perfect place to be." Anyhow, it's really good to be reminded of all the things we take for granted here in America every day.

Also I couldn't help but be reminded as I was touring Jefferson' home (and wine cellar) that the Declaration of Independence was written a mere 10 years before Le Nozze di Figaro. Context is good.

Speaking of context, I have been able to see my colleagues open the Ashlawn season with Camelot. It's a really nice space, newly renovated, and beautifully ornate. The acoustic is pretty good, especially considering it used to be a movie theater.

We are rapidly closing in on tech week here in C'Ville. It's a bit of a scary notion at this point, but we have a good cast and I think we will pull it together for sure. It is so odd to go back to English after having done it in Italian. I find myself translating the Italian and trying to make a line out of it instead of singing the R & T Martin translation. It's maddening, and I have to laugh because when I was in Lafayette, one of my colleagues was going through the exact same thing.

The Skylight mess has made it to the NY Times. Also, there is a beautifully written piece here about why everyone is so up in arms.

Credit where credit's due

2009-07-03T07:17:00.003-05:00

At the end of my last post, I signed off with 'Peace and bacon grease.' This phrase was coined by the delightful Kathleen Mangiameli, soprano extraordinaire and accomplished jingle composer. When she first used the phrase 'Peace and bacon grease,' I warned her that I was going to appropriate it as my own (which I have- that's what I do- I'm a ripoff artist). Seeing it broadcast publicly to my readership of 8 was jarring for her and to make amends I am humbly asking her forgiveness and properly crediting her turn of phrase.....bossy.

Peace without cease

Peace and Cochise

Peace and Edwin Meese

Peace and Judas Priest

Peace and polar fleece

You may choose a ready guide in some celestial voice

2009-07-02T16:31:00.004-05:00

Well, I'm going on a week here in Charlottesville, and I've made nary a comment about it in the blogosphere. We finally have our full cast contingent (better late than never I guess, eh?), and have staged many key scenes. Just getting started is the hardest thing I think- the first scene always is tricky. We're all still finding our sea legs and getting to know each other, and have to jump in the deep end.

We have another great group of people here, and I look forward to the work. Anyone who has worked here knows the inherent challenges involved with doing so. I don't want this blog to become a forum for those challenges per se, so I will keep them to a mimimum....I'm being cryptic aren't I? I'll tell you all about it after a beer sometime.

My last entry got tons of comments- thanks for reading! One of them hit the mark so well I'd like to repeat it here (hope that's ok!!!! I'll leave it anonymous for now):

After years of reading reviews not only of my productions but other operas, plays, and art exhibitions I've come to the conclusion that there is nothing so wonderful that someone in the world won't hate it and there is nothing so horrible that someone in the world won't love it. That's why I think it is important to trust your own instincts, do your very best, always be true to yourself, and respect your colleagues, the author/composer, and the audience.

I concur. Well said my friend. This is the ideal we should all live by. It's still hard to not get rattled by a bad review, though. Human Nature I guess. When you're dealing with something so personal as your art (especially when your instrument is located inside your body), it's hard not to take each criticism personally.

I have been posting links to stories about the firing of Bill Theisen at Skylight Opera for the last few weeks. I just found out last night that Bill is going to direct most of the season next year (including my final two Figaros....Figari?), and I have to say, I am quite relieved. I have been thinking about this whole situation for weeks now, and it is hard to know what the right thing to do is. I don't agree with the decision that the Board and Mr. Dillner have made, and I have made my opinion known, publicly and privately. But what do I do? Do I withdraw from the 09-10 season as a show of support for Bill? If I do withdraw to make a statement, what statement am I actually making? Is it the right statement? Furthermore, If I withdraw, The Skylight has two months to find another baritone who is willing to sing Barber who has no stake in the recent goings-on at the Skylight (and no doubt there are plenty). Is it a stronger statement to honor my contract? Dedicate my performance to the now-defunct positions of Artistic Director and Company Manager? As a singer who has had contracts dissolve a month before rehearsals were to begin (Hello? Opera Pacific?), is it in bad form to drop a contract so close to the start date? If I quit in protest, what is it that I'm protesting? The firing of Bill or the elimination of the Artistic Director and Company Manager positions? Or both?

These are the questions I've been asking myself. I was leaning toward honoring my contract anyway because, selfishly, when will I ever get the chance to sing Figaro in Barber and Nozze at the same company in the course of one season? I thank Bill for making the decision for me- if he's directing, I'm there. no questions asked. It's still going to be weird though.

For the present, though, it's putting another marriage together in Seville. I don't have a car here in Virginia, so I'm fairly confident I will sweat enough to fit into my costume (even after eating the amazing dumplings at Marco & Luca). It's a great town and a great cast. Completely different than last time, and that's a good thing. There is no point trying to re-create what I had last time. This is a different cast, a different concept, a different set, different costumes (I gushed about the last costume I had, and automatically thought this one wouldn't be as good- WRONG!), and, I guess what I'm trying to say is, a different feel. I would be short-changing this production if I gave a performance from a past one. Does that make sense? I feel what I'm trying to say can best be summed up with a line from Goonies: "Its their time. Their time! Up there. Down here, it's our time. Our time down here."

Peace and bacon grease.

Reviews 101

2009-06-29T17:38:00.011-05:00

If you believe the good ones, you gotta believe the bad ones. That's the rule about reviews. It's best not to put stock in any of them. If you can use one to help sell a ticket or get a job, then great. The sad truth is that half the time the reviewers don't even know what they are listening to, and when they do, it's a matter of personal opinion.

Case in point:

From the Times Argus, June 21, 2009, Jim Lowe:

Despite his occasional but irritating embellishments to Mozart's sublime lines, Wilkowske's singing was full of the ease and warmth that makes this character so lovable.

From the Eagle, Dan Wolfe:

I was so delighted to hear Andrew Wilkowske, the Figaro, ornament the return of the A section of his arias. I had never heard it done in other than the soprano parts in Mozart's operas, and it was wonderful.

....and that's why you don't put stock in reviews.

I had a review in Opera News once (resume,resume) for Papageno in Magic Flute that said I was 'bulky and graceless in brown and white lederhosen' but then went on to say that I was a 'lusty-voiced fellow.' OK, so he was basically reviewing my costume in the first part, and calling me fat, and hey, it's Papageno we're talking about here? Should he be lithe and winsome? I think not. Plus, he left out the fact that the audience thought I was hilarious.

Speaking of reviews, I watched "Amadeus" for the hundredth time the other day. Here is what Peter Shaffer says (via Salieri) about Le Nozze di Figaro, while the gorgeous "Contessa, perdono" scene is playing out on stage:

The restored 3rd act was bold, brilliant. The fourth....was astounding. I saw a woman disguised in her maid's clothes hear her husband speak the first tender words he has offered her in years, simply because he thinks she is someone else. I heard the music of true forgiveness filling the theatre, conferring on all who sat there perfect absolution. God was singing through this little man, to all the world. Unstoppable.

I concur.

Please take a moment and read the latest on the Skylight mess form Milwaukee arts critic Tom Strini's blog. Also take a listen to Charlie Sykes, a local radio personality lambaste the Skylight for their poor decision making. AW.

Virginia is for lovers

2009-06-28T17:01:00.009-05:00

Ok, I guess I lied. No rehearsal today. Just a costume fitting. I heard we are supposed to start rehearsals tomorrow, but as of yet I have seen no schedule. Hey man, I just work here. If you need me, I'll be enjoying the cheese plate at C and O.

On the flight here, I realized that I have to come to terms with something: I love the music of my youth. That is to say, 80's hair metal. I think I just need to embrace it and not apologize for it. The rock writer and Fargoan Chuck Klosterman (author of Fargo Rock City- my brother thinks I should be the Chuck Klosterman of opera) says that writing about 80's metal is better than listening to 80's metal. I am here to disagree with you Chuck. (ok, he was talking specifically about Mötley Crüe, so maybe I'll grant him that).

On my flight, I listened to "Hair Nation" on the in-flight Sirius radio. I've mentioned before how I'm often irritated on travel days and try not to make any calls or emails that I will regret later. "Hair Nation" turned my day around. Not only did I forget how much I enjoy this music, but I forgot how much knowledge I have of the bands. For instance, "Hysteria" by Def Leppard came on, and I immediately named off the members in my head: Joe Elliot (megamullet), Rick Savage (Aqua Net), Phil Collen (not the pop singer), Rick Allen (one arm), and Steve Clark (dead). Steve was replaced by Vivian Campbell, who played rhythm guitar on Whitesnake's eponymous album in the mid 80's (the lead guitarist was Adrian Vandenberg - yes, Whitesnake had two guitarists with girls' names at one point). I also enjoyed some Poison, Kix, King's X, Y & T, Krokus, Ozzy, and Kiss. Thank you Hair Nation. You made one less weary traveler...."cuz I know what it means, to walk along the lonely street of dreams! Here I go again on my own!!!"

My point is this....Ok, I don't know what my point is. All I know is that I never took the time to memorize these guys' names, or the names of the songs, or the album titles. It's just all there. Some people remember baseball stats, some people are opera nuts (It would probably help my career if I was one of those), and some people can track the entire lineup history of Kiss and its subsidiaries including, but not limited to, Frehley's Comet, Vinnie Vincent Invasion, and Slaughter. I've made my peace with my love of this genre. That's why I bought the new Chickenfoot cd today. Joe Satriani, anyone? Come on!!!

I'm having a delightful time in Charlottesville so far. I've done exactly 8 minutes of singing for the company so far, at a donor concert the other night. My host and her gentleman friend are wonderful, thoughtful people and I have enjoyed some great conversations with them already. It is commonplace for Joseph Campbell, Benjamin Britten, and Sartre to pop up in conversation. It is a great place to be. I'm reminded of the famous quote, "It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt."

More madness to follow.

Figaro post-mortem, Green Mountain Opera Festival

2009-06-28T15:31:00.004-05:00

Hello, faithful readership. Performance #2 of Nozze at the Barre Opera House went quite well. I don't know how it happened, but the audience was just as exuberant (if not more so) at the Sunday Matinee then it was at the opening. The artistic director, Taras, said that the audience in the area is very opera savvy, and it was obvious. They followed every silly plot point, laughed at every joke, bravo'd each aria, and generally loved our show. I want this crowd at every show I do. This did not have the feel of a second show. The tempi, the intensity, the hotdish (as my voice teacher, The Cajun, might say) all remained intact. It was a great way to go out.

So, how was this 2nd go-round with the Big Fig? In a word....Awesome. In two words.....Intensely Gratifying. I don't want to take anything away from any of my past Figaro colleagues, because each production has been unique and wonderful in its own way. But the experience in Vermont was, well, special. In a way that you can't predict nor plan for, but just smacks you in the face with its singularity. More about that in a minute. Let's get back to me (enough about me, what did you think of my performance?).

Let's start with the vocal issues. On the last go-round, I talked at length about the vocal challenges I faced during our performances. I felt most of those melt away this time. As I have said, I made a few adjustments in my singing that helped me get more bang for my buck, vocally speaking. It cost me less, I got less vocally tired, I was able to use more vocal colors, and I was able to 'play' more. All I basically did was stop darkening my middle voice. Something I guess I really didn't realize I was doing until I was faced with vocal fatigue during the last run of Figaro. It became apparent to me that that is what was causing the fatigue- darkening. It sounds big and dark and is immediately gratifying, but it definitely comes at a cost. A cost that is totally do-able if you are singing a comprimario role, but as a lead character, I saw my resources dwindling rapidly each night. Anyhow, on out second performance, I tried to ease up a little, especially in the ensembles (something I should do anyway- no one's going to hear me squawk down there, even under the best of circumstances), and I noticed two things. First, I was less tired, and second, the 'steeliness' of my middle voice went away. I tried to incorporate that into the whole of my singing as I prepared for the Vermont gig, and I think I was successful.

I know I was successful. From day one at Green Mountain, I felt a lot more ease in my singing- even through the mucus I was dealing with. That was my first clue that I was on the right path. The top felt easier, the middle felt great, and I was able to get through the whole performance without feeling like I had depleted all my resources. There were still some lingering issues. I believe I mentioned being worried about "Aprite" at the end of the show. Funnily enough, during our second performance, I had an epiphany about that too. I was vocalizing during the intermission and realized I still had a lot of voice left (this was a good feeling. However, I did the same thing on opening, and still felt a little off-kilter during Aprite.). I was bound and determined to get it right this time around. As I was vocalizing, I realized that the reason I was getting into trouble during the aria was because I was just plain-old singing too loud. Um....no doy, Wilkowske. I brought the overdrive down from 11, and instantly felt the buoyancy and breath energy return. I walked out for Act IV and sang an easy "Aprite" and finale, and felt like I had completely turned a corner.

As for the character of Figaro, I think I made some strides and discoveries, but mostly I felt like I was allowed and encouraged to do my best- by Taras, by our director and conductor, and especially by the cast. On day one, at our first sing-through, I realized the caliber of the cast and immediately had to step up my game. I think everybody had that reaction. My father-in-law likes to make this analogy: a log can only burn so well on its own. To burn to its fullest, it has to be leaning up against another. This was a group of highly flammable people who, when leaning on each other, made an extraordinary inferno. It was an honor to be a part of this cast. It was one of those experiences I will take with me forever, one that will help me through the shows that maybe aren't so artistically fulfilling (we all have them; you know which ones I mean). Thanks go to Ellen, Jacques, and especially Taras who brought us all together and I think brought out the best in us. At the risk of being maudlin, I'd like to share something our director told us after we closed (Ellen, I hope that this is ok!!)

I'll say it again - during the last "Corriam tutti" you 10 onstage looked at each other as friends - friends who had discovered something easy and wonderfully human here in Vermont. It was a wonderful thing to watch.

I concur.

Thank you all for an amazing experience on stage and off stage. I love you all!

But for now, it's back to Figaro. Back to English. Back to Ruth and Thomas Martin. Back to technique. Back to new cuts. Back to the Future (is there enough road to hit 88? Where we're going, we don't need roads!). Rehearsal #1 is tomorrow.

On the passing of a king...

2009-06-26T08:19:00.000-05:00

"Thriller" was one of the first albums I ever listened to (that and Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler" in my parents' silver Oldsmobile - the only tape deck we had). I remember watching the "Thriller" video at my cousin Dave's birthday party and being scared of the dark for the next two years. The first time I heard Eddie Van Halen play guitar was on the solo for "Beat it." And of course, wirthout MJ there would be no Weird Al, one of my greatest influences! RIP Michael you crazy bastard. I hope you, Elvis, Jim Morrison and Tupac are all somwhere enjoying fried banana sandwiches, a bottle of whiskey, a spliff, and the bones of the Elephant Man.

Coffee & Cuts in Coach

2009-06-26T06:07:00.000-05:00

I'm about to board my flight to DC, en route to Charlottesville, VA for my third Figaro in as many months. As I sit here looking over the latest version of cuts (of which there are many- this could qualify as diet Figaro), I am both sad (sad to go back to English after doing it in the original Italian) and excited (new company, new cast, new maestro). I have a few old friends from grad school in the cast, and I'm really looking forward to that. I'm also looking forward to reconnecting with some old friends and colleagues who are already at Ashlawn working on 'Camelot.'.

I plan on doing a post-mortem on the Green Mountain Figaro, but I will save that for when I have more time and don't have to type it with my thumbs on my phone (my NEW phone- my old one, after a Lazarus-like return from the dead, reverted back to a lifeless pile of silicone and plastic).

My time at home, although much too brief, was magical. There are few things as fulfilling as having a family (not even singing Mozart!), and I will hold this past week in my heart as I travel to Virginia.
Last night Rikki and I cut out a map of Virginia and pasted a picture of me singing on it, right over Charlottesville. Not that Nikki will understand where I am exactly, but now when she asks where I am, her mommy can point to the map and say that I'm singing in Virginia. Plus, she can give me a night-night kiss too.

But I digest...For now, it's DC (via Milwaukee- I'll wave, friends) where my new Susanna has very graciously offered to pick me up, and then the charming Charlottesville. Here's to the new production, safe travels, and good times.

Cheers!

AW

The Figaro overture: not just a timer for cooking an egg!

2009-06-20T17:55:00.005-05:00

We opened last night at the Barre Opera House to what had to have been the most incredible audience ever. I want to take them with me for every performance I do. They laughed at every joke, they were energetic, they were with us the whole show. The quality of the supertitles definitely ups the yuk-yuk factor, but I think that this group of people genuinely were into what we were doing on the stage (not just reading about it!). That makes such a difference for us! I wonder if the audience had any inkling that they directly contributed to the quality of the performance with all the energy they gave us. I guess that would assume that the audience had some sort of collective consciousness, and, well, that's a conversation for a different blog. I'll just say that it a gratifying experience to be re-introduced to a piece through the eyes of a fresh and engaging audience. It reminds you of the genius of the piece- that there is a reason it is still being performed after all these years. In Nozze's case, the overwhelming humanity of the opera is what lasts.

I was so grateful for Mr. Mozart last night. My faith in humanity has been on the low side this week.

First, there is the saga of my phone. Last Sunday, on my day off, I went to Burlington with some friends for the day. When I got back, I could not find my phone. I checked the car, checked my bag, my room, tore the whole inn apart, tore the car apart, and found nothing. Cut to 24 hours later: i have driven 2 hours round trip up and down a mountain to the Barre Opera House in the pouring down rain. I asked a friend to help me search the car again, and as I walked outside, I saw my phone sitting on the roof of my car. Where it had been for 24 hours. In the rain. On a moving car.

It was soaking wet, of course, so I took it apart and set it out to dry for a few days. Much to my surprise, it started right up. I was in utter shock and disbelief. This is a miracle phone, right? Unfortunately, the next day the 'p' button and the speaker phone button stopped working, and the day after that, all the buttons stopped working. So I basically have a high-tech hockey puck. Whatever- I have insurance on the phone, so no biggie, just incredibly annoying. Mostly it just made my angry with myself.

Next, I have had the worst week in customer service that I have ever had in my life, and have found myself yelling at lots of people over the phone, making demands and threats. That's not my preferred modus operandi, and I have found it most unpleasant.

Lastly, and most importantly, this business in Milwaukee has really been hard to deal with this week. It's great that we have the technology to be connected across great distances, and it has enabled me to feel somewhat present, but it has also filled me with helplessness, watching my friends and colleagues go through this painful journey while I can only read about it on Facebook and the blogosphere. I love the Skylight so much, and this whole situation has been weighing heavy on my mind and my heart. I mean, I'm slated to spend three months of my life there in the next year, and I don't know what company I'm going to be working for. It's like you went away to college and when you come back for Christmas your Mom and Dad have split up, Mom is dating some graphic designer named Kip, your brother is in jail and your room has been rented out. Oh yeah, and your house is on fire too.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll have more to say about that later, but what I'm getting at is this: This stupid little job I have is a wonderful gift. When I got into costume last night, I left my dressing room and walked the stage. When the overture started, something strange happened: a smile formed on my lips and my heart lightened. The anger, frustration, and sadness that was in my heart was replaced with this overwhelming sense of gratitude that I get to sing this opera with these people for this company at this time. For three hours, I can be someone else. Someone who can instantly cook up a solution to the snags he gets into. Someone who sings amazing music. Someone who is awesome. It was nice to be slapped in the face with a reminder of what a gift this whole dang thing is. And I accepted the gift last night. And I pictured my friend Jamie in the audience with his ridiculous ponytail laughing at all my stupid jokes.

We have one more shot tomorrow afternoon, then I'm coming home to my girls.

PS- have you noticed the "currently drinking" sidebar on my blog homepage? Thanks for the idea Mazer.

It's the day of the show, y'all....

2009-06-19T11:52:00.006-05:00

Tonight's the big night. We are opening Nozze tonight at the Barre Opera House in Barre, Vermont with the Green Mountain Opera Festival.

It has been a fun journey putting this together, and I look forward to telling this story this weekend. The action takes place over the course of one day, but it is a lot of life to live in three hours.

So who is this guy Figaro? What does he want? Does he get it? These are questions I ask every time I start rehearsing a new production, and I ask them again as we put it together, and yet again when I am putting on my costume. I'm not sure I know the answers completely (I mean how could I? Do any of us really know that info about ourselves? Maybe you do. I don't). What I do know is that the Big Fig spends an awful lot of the opera just trying to get married. In every appearance up to the wedding scene he unveils a new scheme to accomplish this goal. He is madly in love with Susanna. He has to be, right? She is the only one in the opera who is smarter than he is, and she is his partner in every way. I feel like the conflict he faces in the opera is reconciling the two sides of his nature; the one that loves and cares for Susanna unequivocally (the sensitive-new-age Figaro), and the hot-headed guy who sees deception everywhere, even in his bride-to-be (frat boy Figaro?). The former side is an alternative to the Count, and the latter is his doppelgänger. I think in a lot of ways this opera (at least for Fig) is about his evolution and self-realization; when he puts his doubts aside and unequivocally accepts Susanna as his partner, he becomes ready to be her husband, and he is redeemed by her love. The virtue of forgiveness and the redemption of the men in this opera by the women in this opera is an overarching theme. I think it eclipses the class conflict theme (more dominant in the play) by about a zillion percent.

In acting class you talk about where your character's center is- their head, heart, lower, etc. I picture Figaro's center is in Susanna, and the opera is about how he finds his center.

And the music is pretty good too. But I digest....

This has been a very gratifying experience as an artist. I didn't expect this tiny, tucked-away company in the middle of Vermont to be such a rich environment, with the kind of artistic give and take that at once energizes and recharges our spirits. I guess that's high-falutin' blogspeak for awesomeness. Hats off to the artistic director Taras Kulish, our director Ellen Schlaefer, the Maestro Jacques LaCombe, and the intensely talented cast and crew.

My heart is in Milwaukee this morning celebrating 50 years of the Skylight. Let's hope it has 50 more.

2009-06-18T14:50:00.005-05:00

Our final dress was last night. We had a small student audience, which was nice. It's great to get some energy back from the audience (especially when I'm singing directly to them during my act IV aria). I think we are in good shape. This has been a really special experience for me, and I am full of gratitude for this cast, this company, this production. I'm looking forward to making some good music and some good komedy laughs this weekend. On the technical tip, I felt much better about last night than our first orchestra dress. I've come to realize (and embrace) the fact that I'm just plain tired in Act IV and Aprite is a damn hard aria to sing. I will keep fighting the good fight, but I'm going to stop obsessing about it and just enjoy it. I've learned a few things during this process, and that's a good thing. More on that later.

Here is a fun video about our production from a local arts blog. This is where I first heard the "opera singers as mythical creatures" idea. Also, my friend Adriana invokes the great Jack Tripper (reinforcing my "what would John Ritter do?" character-building technique).

PS- I look like Chris Farley. Time to go back to the gym I guess. Or maybe lay off the Vermont maple syrup.

The media firestorm in Milwaukee continues over the firing of Bill Theisen. There is some intelligent discourse happening here:

Artsy Schmartsy

Tom Strini's blog

I'm proud of my friends in Milwaukee who are taking ownership of their theatre community and making their voices heard, especially Jamie Johns. The Skylight has been an artistic home for me for the last 10 years, and they have always welcomed me into the fold as though I were a local artist. I sincerely hope they can work through this debacle.

Un scandolo, un disordine....

2009-06-17T10:58:00.005-05:00

After our orchestra dress last night, I tuned into Facebook to learn some depressing news. The Artistic Director of Skylight, the stage director of two of my Year-of-Figaro productions, and my friend, Bill Theisen was suddenly ousted from the Skylight Opera. Details are sketchy right now, but this is a potentially self-destructive and definitely short-sighted move by the Skylight board and managing director. I am deeply concerned for the future of this beloved company. You can read more about it here . I look forward to learning more about the circumstances surrounding this decision. If you are a friend of Skylight, please make your opinion known.

In these rough economic times, it is hard to keep a toehold as an employed artist. Personally, I think sticking to your guns as an artist is the only way to get through this mess. That goes for organizations as well as individuals, and I think chucking your artistic vision, and your artistic visionary, are not reasonable compromises. I hope that as we learn more about the situation at Skylight, we find that their decision making process was grounded by the artistic vision that has defined that company for so long, and not by temporary financial setbacks.

As for current Figaro activities, our first dress was, well, a first dress. There were a lot of new things thrown into the mix; costumes, new acoustic, orchestra. It takes awhile to find your sea legs. I was concerned mainly about getting through the piece vocally, using the Lafayette dress rehearsals and run as a measuring stick. I am happy to say that generally speaking I am singing this role with more ease and finesse than last time, but there are still some lingering issues. I sort of peter out in Act IV, right where I need to have the most gas. I'm going to try some different things tonight. The good news is that, all troubles aside, I don't feel fatigued at the end of the opera. This tells me that I can fix it. Here's hoping.

The show held together pretty well with all the new elements in place. This music never gets old for me. Orch dress # 2 tonight. I'll be back with more (and less politically charged) rantings later.

Sitzproben und Geleegehirne

2009-06-16T11:54:00.004-05:00

We had our Sitz yesterday at the historic Round Barn. It was great to finally be with the orchestra- they are really good players, and our Maestro really commands this piece in a wonderful way. It's great to work with a conductor who is so easy to read- tempi, articulation, phrasing are all communicated beautifully in his stick technique. It was a good rehearsal. I generally felt pretty good about my singing. I felt like I sang it well, was able to deliver the text the way I wanted to, and it didn't cost me a lot vocally (at least compared to the last time I did it). There are still a few funny moments- like a stupid D natural on an open E vowel- that trip me up here and there. I think it's still the whole middle voice thing coming back to haunt me. Having said that, it all feels a lot easier to sing and it makes me happy. It's such a physical role, and it's amazing how much easier it is to sing when you're note running around the stage, sharpening a sword, shaving Cherubino, moving furniture, etc. It was nice to get a chance to remind myself how I want to sing this music as we move onto stage and deal with all kinds of other issues.

...Which brings me to our piano tech. All things considered, it was a pretty smooth and painless tech. When I am in tech, I get into some weird zone. I just want to get through it with as little mess as possible (don't we all?), and I think some people think I'm pissed off (last night a few people asked me if I was ok because of the concerned look on my face. I was just trying to assimilate into our new surroundings). About halfway through the rehearsal, my brain turned to jelly, and I started to get a little slap-happy. This is pretty normal for a tech, and especially after we had sung a sitz already, it was no big deal. Then Act IV rolls around, and my brain is completely off. In my recit with Barbarina, I was supposed to say "avea gusto d'udir come il padrone ti die la commissione," and I said, "avea gusto doo deer la commissione tee dah doo blah blah blah blah...." Poor Barabarina looked at me like, "What the @#$% was that?" I just said, "I'm sorry. I have no idea what my line is." That set the tone for the whole act. And then I told Susanna that I was full of burning sky (ho pieno il ciel di foco). Ah, well. That's what techs are for, right? On the bright side, it's a beautiful little theatre, and the set looks great. I think we'll have some fun this week.

PS- I had lots of great suggestions as to what to call myself as a Mythical Creature. I really liked Baritonius (thank you Koch), but I think the winner has got to be bass-peryton, which would be a creature combining the characteristics of a stag and a bird, and a lower-voiced male. I'm assuming that would also include a mane of freshly coiffed hair and vast knowledge of beer. Hailing from the lost continent of Atlantis, this large winged creature casts the shadow of a man.

Tutto è tranquillo e placido

2009-06-13T11:43:00.004-05:00

We had our final rehearsal room run-through last night. After a short notes session this morning, we have the rest of the day and tomorrow off. It's good we're getting a little break. It's sort of the calm before the storm, because starting Monday we're going to have some late nights. The opera house is located in a town called Barre (pronounced "Barry") about 45 minutes away. There's a sitz + tech on Monday, and orchestra dresses Tues and Wed. So it's good we will start the week rested (actually, we will probably take this time off to stay up way too late, drink too much beer and play too much pool. At least I know I will. Hey, it's science).

I think we are in good shape with the show. It is a total joy to sing this piece with such a seasoned group of colleagues. I feel like I'm in a pretty decent place vocally as well- better off than last time. We'll see once we get in the actual house with the orchestra, but I think I've made a few adjustments that will allow me to sing this role at less cost than last time. The challenge I'm encountering is that I have the sensation of less local control when I sing. That's tricky to get used to. It's much less micro-managerial (and probably more rewarding to the listener) and also much easier, but when you're used to controlling and manipulating to a certain degree, it's tough to let go. There are a few coordination issues. The role lives so much in the middle voice, that suddenly an E flat is a high note (at least in the grand scheme of things), and feels like what an F would feel like in a more baritonal tessitura. So that's weird. The plus side is that I'm not darkening the lower middle anymore, so it's about a zillion times easier to sing down there and I don't get super tired halfway through the piece. Plus, the Dalai Lama told me that when I die, on my deathbed, I will receive total consciousness. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

I've also noticed that I'm a tremendous slouch. Even while wearing my rehearsal shoes (they are really cool period shoes with a chunky heel), I stand like I'm a standing-in-front-of-the-QuickStop-slacker, and not an 18th century valet to a Count. I'm looking forward to being in costume and the inevitable change in character and posture that will take place. I'm pretty confident all the earthy, goofy, stupid Ritter-esque crap I am doing will still come through, but it will be filtered through a period costume and stance.

Yesterday, I gave a short little interview for a local video arts blog. I'll post it as soon as it is available. She asked me what did I think Mozart would think of us if he stopped by rehearsal. The first thing that came to mind was, "well, he would probably say, 'holy crap! what are all those shiny metal boxes careening down the street at an alarming rate?'" That's the kind of highly articulate commentary I bring to the industry. She also said that one of the local Vermonters (Vermont-ites? Vermont-ians?) said that he thought opera singers are like mythical creatures. That we are seemingly normal beings, but then unleash these big crazy voices on everyone. I like that. Andrew Wilkowske, mythical creature. It may have to go on my resume. Hey, it's better than the whole baritone/bass-baritone conundrum.

Cloak and Swagger

2009-06-11T16:04:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I mentioned having the Figaro Act III march played as the processional at our wedding, but I slyly left out the recessional. This is going to substantially up the nerd factor. It was "The Throne Room" march from the end of the original Star Wars. You know, there's a long fanfare with the brass and percussion, and then the full symphony orchestra comes in, punctuating the theme. It then develops into a sweetly Elgar-ian section before Luke, Han (and NOT Chewie!!!) get their medals and the closing credits begin.

Erika is a very special woman to allow me this sort of frivolity, but let me tell you, it was awesome! we had a string quartet, organ, timpani, and crash cymbals (and a conductor!). Nerdy, I know.

We have finished staging the opera and had our first run-through yesterday. We've spent the last few days working on the end of the opera, and I have to say, I really enjoy wearing a long flowing cape. I think I need to start wearing one in real life. It's very slimming, and you can totally use it as a prop as well. I'm telling you, the cape is coming back.

One of my favorite moments is in the Act IV finale when Figaro realized that Susanna is impersonating the Count and he has been duped. It's awesome music, and there's lots of potential for stage antics. It's also when Susanna hauls off and (lovingly) slaps Figaro around. That can often be an eggy moment, but I'm happy to report that we have taken the time to carefully choreograph it into a really funny slap-around. It should be a funny moment, and it rarely is. She slaps me, punches me, steps on my foot, tugs my ear, and shoves me off a bench onto the floor. It's Komedy with a K and it's tons o' fun.

Figaro can be a tough comedy to play because the humor comes out of the situation, and if you add stuff on top of it, it can get totally schtick-y and lose the humanity that has made it the masterpiece that it is. But if you go too far in the other direction, it can turn into daytime television. Striking the balance is the key. I'm having a blast in this production because we have lots of really great, silly, fun schtick, but all the characters are still real. I was telling someone the other day that my mantra is usually "What would John Ritter do?," then I trip over a couch and do a spit take at the audience. I don't see why I can't have it both ways- Three's Company meets Mozart/ Da Ponte. Why not?

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart vs. Wolfgang Van Halen

2009-06-06T17:21:00.004-05:00

My brother told me I should have metal-themed titles to increase my readership (he also asked me if my readership of one was named Mel).

Eddie Van Halen was actually a major musical influence on me. 1984 was the first album I ever bought (It was either that or Weird Al in 3-D), and listening to Van Halen as a kid had as much to do with me becoming a musician as anything else, including my 8 years of university training. Listening to Van Halen made me want to play guitar, playing guitar made me want to become a 'serious' musician, and being a 'serious' musician made me want to become an opera singer. Plus, David Lee Roth? If there's an 80's frontman equivalent of Farinelli, it's got to me him, right?

I've always thought that Opera and hair metal are close relatives: Heavily costumed, lots of makeup and hair, melodramatic, and of course, the soaring vocals, with lots of gratuitous screams (modern day cadenzas). I may have even gone so far as to perform a medley of metal power ballads for a very select audience (not to be missed- I go seamlessly from "Love Bites" by Def Leppard to "Avant de quitter ces lieux" from Faust).

There are definitely some metal moments in Nozze. The one that immediately comes to mind is Antonio's scene in the Act II finale. One of my favorite parts of the whole show, if you listen to the low strings, they have this rapid-fire triplet figure that could be something directly out of a Metallica song. Also, the opening riff (!?) of the Count's aria? To me it sounds like the 18th century version of a pick slide. It's from a different opera, but I've always thought "Un aura amorosa" sounded like a total power ballad. I add a cadenza in "non più andrai" that is completely gratuitous and might just as well be from a Skid Row song. It's ok to quote Sebastian Bach in Mozart, right?

groan.

MucusWatch '09: Standoff Continues

2009-06-05T17:42:00.002-05:00

Ahh, I really gotta stop talking about this phlegm someday, but it is fun to come up with Mucus-y titles. I promise, it is getting better each day, so the post-nasal talk will stop soon.

Our little concert last night went reasonably well. The Largo. Hmm....It is a tough nut to crack, that one. There are times when it goes great and is so much fun to sing, and then there are times when I can't catch my breath and I feel like a snake is going to crawl out of my larynx and spit venom on my face. Last night was one of those times. I got through it, though, and was able to throw in all my hammy goodness and hit all the high notes, but I'm looking for a little more ease. Is that too much to ask? It is? Damn.

Today it's back to Nozze. I feel better enough to actually want to practice, so I worked on the fourth act aria. It was cut when we did Figaro in Louisiana, so it's been awhile since I performed "Aprite." It is such a dense aria. I forgot how much good stuff is crammed in there. The balancing act will be to bring enough variety and color to it without letting the 'voice acting' upend the singing. I've had that happen before, and then all of the sudden the E flats seem like Gs- not a fun feeling.

It's a great scene. It's the one time where Figaro speaks directly to the audience. I love this moment. Barbarina tells him that she was supposed to return the pin to Susanna. Susanna? For all that has gone wrong this day, the one person that has been on Fig's side was Susanna. And now this? His whole world gets turned upside-down in an instant. I know some people think that Mozart did a disservice to Beaumarchais in this scene by removing the politics out of Figaro's monologue (Act V in the play). He launches into a diatribe about how all the Count had to do to get his rank and position was to choose his parents carefully. Figaro, on the other hand, has had to show more skill and brainpower just to stay alive. It's a scathing speech, and makes perfect sense in the play. I don't miss it in the opera. Maybe at the end of all these Figaros I will change my mind, but I feel like what is interesting about this opera is the relationships between Fig and Susanna, The Countess and Count, and of course the Count and Susanna. Figaro's hatred for the Count at that moment is implicit, as is his wit and skill. He lives it on stage. I don't think he needs to sing about it. Am I wrong? Probably.

Gotta run. I'm rehearsing getting married tonight. No one likes wedding rehearsals. Rikki and I actually had the Act III Marcia played as the processional at our Nozze. Yes, I'm a big nerd.

A Year of Mucus?

2009-06-04T11:47:00.005-05:00

This blog seems to be more about the state of my post-nasal drip than my brilliant insights into the psyche of Figaro. I am definitely on the mend, but still have a little crud. Just as I started to feel better, I got hit with a fresh wave of Vermont pollen and it started all over again. Now half the cast and the Maestro have the sniffles and are coughing up junk. Delightful. At least it's happening now and not the day we open, right?

I have a little preview of Rossini's Figaro tonight. We are giving a gala concert to open the season here at Green Mountain Opera, and I'm singing the Largo as well as "Dunque io son." I was mildly terrified to have to sing these with phlegmy cords, but I figure if I can do it feeling crummy, then I can do it anytime. Bring on the ham and eggs (is there such a thing as negative subtlety? If so, I think it's highly appropriate for Figaro).

Figaro. I have been doing some reading up on the Big Fig and Beaumarchais, hoping to impress my readership of one (I've been informed that it is really a readership of three now! Progress), and I have found that the name Figaro may mean 'son of Caron' (fils- Caron), as in Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. Now the name simply means barber in french, having taken on the iconic character's profession.

Speaking of being a barber, I love allusions to The Barber of Seville while doing Nozze. I have often sung the big Act II recit while prettying up the Countess' hair, but in this production I get to give Cherubino a shave during "Non più andrai," which is not only a lot of fun, but helps fill out what can be a challenging moment. It's easy to be Johnny one-note during that aria, manhandling Cherubino over and over and indicating the laundry list of things he will encounter in the military. The whole shaving scene adds a new shape and a lot of fun. Plus I get to play Figaro as Sweeney Todd for a brief moment. "Finalmente! Il mio braccio destro è completo ancora!!!!!"

Here is a picture from our photo shoot. I love this costume- Robina D'Arcy Fox did a beautiful job on all of our clothes. And they feel like clothes, not a costume. I'm sorry to gush about it, but it is pretty amazing.

I'm going to close with one of my new favorite quotes as I've been re-reading

the play of The Marriage of Figaro.

Figaro: You have no idea how much I love you.

Suzanne: When are you going to stop bothering me by going on about it from morning to night?

Figaro: [winking] When I can prove it to you from night until morning.

Figgy pudding for your soul (?)

2009-05-29T13:36:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was a full day. Meet and Greet, sing-though of the whole opera, and then an evening staging session for Susanna and I. I feel like I've been here for a week already.

It is gorgeous here in Vermont. I've never been here before and the scenery is breathtaking. It was been rainy, so the mist on the mountains combined with the green pastures looks like something out of a movie. Did I mention there is no cell phone service here? Thank goodness for wifi and Skype.

The cast all are top notch, and the maestro is adelight to work with. This is such a different piece every time you do it. Different tempi, different line readings, different phrasings- I felt like I was re-learning this piece from scratch listening to my colleagues yesterday, and that I had to step up my game just to keep up. That's a good feeling.

On the technique front, I'm glad to report that despite feeling a little residual throat nastiness, I made it through the whole show with no problems and felt really good about the vocalism. Usually by the end I'm ready to cash in my chips, but I still felt pretty fresh. I even threw in a tasteless cadenza up to a high G in "Non più andrai." I think I'm back on the right track in how I'm thinking about singing this role. Concentrate on quality of sound, not quantity. Beauty, not steel. Be the ball, Danny.

We staged the first scene through "Se vuol ballare" last night. It's easy to do a paint by numbers staging of Figaro, but what is difficult is finding all the moment-to-moment, um, moments. There is so much that happens in that first scene. Introduce the characters, set up the idea of the wedding and the new room, find out about the Count's designs on Susanna, have a marital dispute, and come up with a scheme to turn the tables on the count.

The transitions (as usual) are the tricky bits. How do go from nice-guy Figaro to the ranting, jealous rager full of doubts and suspicions, and then go back again? I've always seen Figaro as the alternative to Count, so I hesitate to fly off the handle as he does again and again later in the show. But it is clear that the Big Fig is hot-headed and certainly not a pushover. So how do you play that? I'll let you know if I figure it out.

Susanna and I had a costume fitting and photo shoot this morning. I know I said that this blog was going to be about me and my experiences, not about my colleagues, but I just want to say that this is the most handsome, most comfortable, and best-fitting costume I've ever had as Figaro. I want to buy it and take it with my everywhere. The designer is a genius- her name is Robina D'Arcy Fox.

Thanks for reading. In my next entry I'll discuss how Beaumarchais' running guns to the U.S. during the Revolutionary War fits into my interpretation of the Act II finale. No I won't.

Here I Go Again On My Own

2009-05-27T20:23:00.004-05:00

I am sitting in the Detroit Int'l Airport, having just walked through the trippy, flashback-inducing light tunnel to find my connecting flight, having tried in vain to connect to the the internet on my BlackBerry, and having refused to pay the ridiculous $7.95 Boingo fee to connect to the airport wireless. So I'm typing this on a Sticky Note on my Mac, knowing full well that I'll have to retype the damn thing into Blogspot, because for some reason, it won't allow me to cut and paste test into a new post.

Please excuse the ranting and raving. I often find myself out of sorts on a travel day, and today is no different. I've come to the conclusion that I shouldn't write any emails, make any calls, or say anything to anyone on a travel day (that should probably extend to making blog posts), because I am probably going to overreact to everything, and will no doubt regret any thoughtless complaints I make. Today's grumblings are amplified by the fact that I am coming off a fantastic staycation with my family in the Twin Cities- so I have vacation brain on top of travel attitude, and am finding that the combo can be mildly unpleasant. Sitting on the runway in St. Paul and having my leather shoulder bag fall apart didn't help matters any, but on the plus side I narrowly escaped paying an overweight baggage fee, coming in at exactly 50 lbs. After all the brats and beer this weekend, It's amazing I didn't have to pay an overweight passenger fee, but seriously, folks...

It's been awhile since my last posting, and I'm sure my readership of one wants to know how my mucus situation has progressed. I went to an allergist, and the test confirmed that I am allergic to Birch pollen and nothing else. It makes sense now that the phlegm hit me so soon after getting back to MN, as it was the peak of the Birch pollen season (this is terribly fascinating, no?). She also told me that the reason it escalated into such a nasty and lingering cough is because I am having a recurrence of asthma, which I haven't had since I was about two. Apparently, allergies can trigger it. So now I'm en route to Vermont with a whole cadre of different pills, elixirs, and inhalants (looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue!), hoping that I can get through the first rehearsal without coughing up a lung on one of my castmates. I normally don't take any medications (whiskey not included), so this will be interesting.

I'm looking forward with great anticipation to this next experience in Figaroland. A new cast, new cuts, new director & conductor, a new chance to sing this fantastic music and try to do it justice and abide by my ideals, vocal and otherwise. After this vacation, I'm rested and ready to go, but having been laid up with the plague for the last few weeks, I haven't kept up much of a singing regimen. I'm hoping to get back in shape within a few days, and that this stupid asthma will clear up so I can give it my all.

I'm also excited to implement a few tweaks in my technique on this job (techtweak?). As you may recall, in some of my previous rantings, I expressed some disappointment in parts of my singing on the last go-round. Before the mucus brigade hit me full force, I worked on making some of the improvements I mentioned (i.e. supporting the middle voice, taking the 'edge' off the sound), made some small adjustments that I think will yield some big results. I'll keep my readership of one posted about that. For now, I'm just going to try to get through it.

Vermont should be beautiful this time of year, all that snow....I was told that I should keep an eye out for General Waverly and the Haynes sisters while I'm there. Do Vermonters (? Vermont-ites?) get annoyed by people identifying them with White Christmas, as Minnesotans do when people quote Fargo at us? Then again, Bing Crosby didn't end up running Danny Kaye through a wood chipper at the end of the show. That would put a nice twist on it, though, no? Maybe it can be added to the theater version?

OK, I need to stop blogging on travel days. I'm too deranged.

My little daughter summed up how I feel this morning when she refused to get out of her crib, shouting, "NO shoes! NO pants! NO shirt! MY nook!" I feel your pain little miss pie. I really do.

PS- As I retype this (like I said I would have to!), I'm struck by how petty my rantings sound. Wow.

Insane in the Mucus Membrane

2009-05-13T11:46:00.000-05:00

After reading the mushy ending to my last post, my readership of one mistook my initials for the word Aw, which he was thinking after reading said mushy ending. That made me laugh out loud- it's a good thing my nomme de blog isn't Farley Unger!

Well, since returning from Louisiana, I've been hit with some nasty allergies. There's a lovely layer of mucus sitting on my cords, and every time I take a breath to sing, I end up hacking up a rainbow of phlegmy flavors. Can you have a smoker's cough if you don't smoke?

Anyhoo, I've been focusing on reviewing my Italian. I'm really looking forward to singing Figaro in the original language. Before my mucus attack hit, I got some good practice sessions in, and it feels great. Especially since I am being mindful of how I sing in the middle voice (I'm calling this Operation: Don't Sing Like An Idiot), I'm really looking forward to round two of Figaro. This bout with mucus is making me very impatient!

It's given me a little time to do some reading though. Modes and Manners, Beaumarchais in Seville, The Opera News book of Figaro (hilarious- I found it at a used book store in Eugene, OR). It's nice to have a refresher on the context of this opera, although every time I sit down to read I think of an old grad school friend who always chastised me when he saw me researching a role. "Oh, look at you, reading the source material for next year's opera. Looks like you'll land a nice big role in that one, huh?" Ah well.

Here's hoping this allergy crap is over soon. Until then...

AW - F.U.

Figaro post-mortem, Acadiana

2009-05-08T15:26:00.000-05:00

Hello, all. A Year Of Figaro is now posting on Facebook as well as blogspot, so it's just a little easier to keep up with my madman rantings. I'll have to start referring to my readership of one as my readership of three.

Well, performance #2 of Figaro went pretty well, although it definitely felt like a second show. None of us quite had the focus we had on opening night, and I started singing heavy again, particularly in "Non piu andrai" (rank amateur). It was not a bad show by any means, and I think we all felt good about it in the end. The professional cast all went to support the student cast on Sunday afternoon. They all performed admirably- Bravi tutti!

WARNING - this is a long entry. Read at your own risk!

Ok, so the 1st installment of Figaro is done. How was it? Um....good? This was a challenging production for me for many reasons, the first of which was getting this part back into my voice. I sang Figaro most recently in 2007, but the last time I sang it auf English was in 2000! I think I underestimated how long it was going to take to get this role back in a comfy zone for me. Either that or there is so much baggage attached to the English version of this role because of how I sang it back then, and trying to reconcile muscle memory with new technique can be difficult. As I mentioned in previous entries, I felt (especially at the dress) that I was singing way too heavily. I should be able to sing Figaro without feeling so vocally tired. It shouldn't cost me that much (it was a lot better during the performances, but still). I sort of got insight into why more baritones don't sing both Figaros. The tessitura sits very much in the middle voice, probably about C to C. It's on the middle to low end for most lyric baritones. Even for me (bar-basitone? who knows?), it can creep to the lower edge of where I typically like to sing. It sounds like this should make Figaro an easy role to sing- you can go for pages without having to even worry about a not in the passaggio, let alone a truly high note. However, since it's possible to get away with murder in the middle voice, I oversang a lot of the middle/low stuff in this role. Why? God knows? Probably in a severely misguided attempt to make a big sound (repugnant, no?). I know, I know, amateur mistake. In an effort to feel like I was present, I honked and snarled through a lot of the low stuff. However, the upper middle/high stuff all seemed pretty good, and "Se vuol ballare" was probably the best I have ever sung it. I think that's because I have to pay attention and sing those passages with care, and I can't get away with murder like I can with the low stuff.

Another challenge was the sheer velocity at which we staged. It was definitely instant opera, just add water. I don't mind working fast, and this was my 5th Figaro, so I was able to fill in a lot of the moments, but we basically had just enough time to stage each scene and revisit it once before we started running the show. This isn't a criticism of the company- just a fact. It's tough to stage a big opera in that amount of time! The plus side of this was that I was only away from Rikki and Nikki for 2 1/2 weeks!

I don't mean to be ranting...Ok, yes I do. I don't mean to be a negative nellie though. There were also a lot of rewarding things about this first Figaro. First of all, the music. Damn. I never get tired of this opera. The characters are so complex- we spent many hours (and many beers!) talking about who these people are and what they mean to us. And I know that next month, that conversation will be different. It will be different each time, because these are real, living people. I love it.

Doing this production in collaboration with a University was rewarding as well. It was actually like Deja Vu. The first time I sang Figaro it was in the Ruth & Thomas translation when I was a junior at UMD, a school not unlike ULL in size and skill level. When these kids weren't rehearsing, they were building sets, doing makeup, or cleaning up the theatre. It was cool and it really brought me back to the salad days, as they say....do they say that? Also, my first voice teacher, Paul Sahuc, grew up in Lafayette and it was a total trip to see his old stomping ground. I feel like I have new insight into his whole persona!

I would be remiss if I didn't also mention the food. Boiled crawfish, etoufee, po' boys, beignets....OK, maybe it would have been better if we had been doing Falstaff. These people know how to eat.

I'm not trying to be overly critical of this experience at all. I'm just trying to be honest about what I did well and what could be better. I think I sing and act this role well, but I've got some things to work on for next time; Take the steel out of the voice, and sing smart. Get the Italian back in the voice. Get my butt on a treadmill and work off some of those beignets! I look forward to it. Next stop, Green Mountain Opera, Vermont.

Oh this is cheesy, but what the hell. I have been listening to The Hold Steady a lot lately. They are my current favorite band. Partly because some of them grew up in Minneapolis, but partly because they are just plain awesome. Anyway, the lead singer, Craig Finn, always ends the show by saying, "There is SO MUCH JOY in what we do up here. Thank you for sharing that joy with us."

I think of that speech every time I sing this music.

Figaro # 2 tonight.

2009-05-02T16:35:00.000-05:00

Well, I followed my opening night schedule pretty much to the letter on Thursday. The show went quite well- everyone in the cast bumped it up a notch and we had a very energetic performance. I felt quite good about the way I sang it, having oversung the dress. In a misguided effort to make an overly big sound, I used up a lot of my vocal resources in the first act and was tired for the rest of the show. At opening, however, I managed to sing well within my means the whole night and was MUCH happier with the result. I think I sang 'se vuol ballare' better than I ever have before, but there were still moments of 'non piu andrai' that were too heavy. Hopefully I can keep the mojo for tonight's show.

It's the day of the show, y'all....

2009-04-30T15:24:00.000-05:00

We open tonight in Lafayette. We had a good dress rehearsal last night, and I think it should be lots of fun tonight. Here's a rundown of my schedule:

4:00 early dinner

4:30 pace around the house

5:00 continue pacing/vocalizing

6:30 arrive at the theatre for wig/makeup call

7:00 get nervous

7:10 get really nervous

7:20 wonder why I thought this was a a good career idea

7:30 curtain - remember why it was a good idea

10:30 Miller Time

This was a crazy, intense 2 weeks. I don't necessarily recommend trying to do Figaro in such a short amount of time, but I think we have a good show on our hands. There's nothing to do now but enjoy it.

...So would you call yourself a baritone or a bass-baritone? Episode I

2009-04-29T16:31:00.000-05:00

It's been six days since my last post- sorry to disappoint my readership of one, but this gig has been a little nutso.

So, baritone vs. bass-baritone is a question I've been asked numerous times over the course of my career, and it has no clear answer, as I sing repertoire in both areas. I'm surely going to make things even more confusing after this stint of doing both Rossini's and Mozart's Figaro. Even though plenty of baritones have had both roles in their repertoire (Thomas Allen and Hermann Prey come to mind), it seems that these days the voice types are so compartmentalized there is no room for overlap.

Mostly when people ask me what kind of rep I sing I respond "whatever people are foolish enough to hire me to sing" and leave it at that, but it can cause some problems. For instance, walking into an audition with "Se vuol ballare" and "Largo al factotum" on my list probably won't impress the auditioners. It will probably make them think I have no idea what voice type I am. I'd like to think that versatility in this regard is an asset- I mean, did the term bass-baritone even exist when Mozart and Rossini wrote these pieces? I think not.

But I digress- the reason I'm ranting about this is because as we approach opening of Nozze, I'm reminded why Mozart Figaros tend to lean a little more on the basso side. Being that most of the role lays in my middle voice, it is easy to get away with murder. For instance- not fully supporting, or trying to sing it without warming up. I realized that the hard way halfway through our Wandelprobe the other night. We were in the big E-flat battle royale in the Act II finale, and I realized that was the first time I had properly supported a tone all evening. And by that time, I was vocally tired from not supporting my middle, and, well there you go. Mozart shouldn't be or sound heavy, and that's how I was singing it. Shame on me.

So, kids, guess the moral of the story is: warm up and support your middle voice! You will be much happier. Oh, and don't do drugs.

I had a little moment of panic when I was warming up the other day. I was practicing the E naturals in "Non piu andrai" (of which there are several), and was thinking that they seemed awfully difficult. I was starting to think I wouldn't be able to get through the show when I realized my cheap pitch pipe was broken and was I was trying to sing the whole aria up a step. Dumb.

So until I figure out what voice type I truly am (who knows? bassitone, maybe? as long as I'm not a bare-ass!),

i

2009-04-23T20:31:00.000-05:00

We are in a work-through of acts I and II right now. Although the whole opera has been staged, it is all in 'roughed in' mode, and we (I) have a lot of work to do to fill in all the moment to moment stuff. The last time I did Figaro in English, my director was fond of saying 'blocking doesn't tell the story.' That has stuck with me over the years. The only way to tell the story is to be clear about your character's intentions and thoughts.

Blah blah. Mostly what I'm feeling tonight is the fact that we haven't had a day off since we got here and my brain has turned into mush (or, more appropriately, grits).

Amazingly, however, I managed to remember about 80 percent of my dance moves when we rehearsed Act III this afternoon. Not that I brought any grace to it, but hey, we've got six weeks 'til we open, right?

I love this music. Gotta go to make my Act II Finale entrance!

AW

I'm the Dance Captain

2009-04-21T21:02:00.000-05:00

...DC for short.

It has been an intense week here in Lafayette. We are in the midst of a two-week staging process, which is dangerously short for Figaro. Add crawfish into the mix, and, well, you've got a busy week.

Tonight we are learning the Act III wedding dance. The dance is always challenging, and this one seems to be more complex than I am used to...or, I'm getting older. It is going pretty well, but every time I get to my line 'un biglietto amoroso' all I can do is stand like an oaf and try to come in on time- my suave dancing skills (that's right) go right out the window. Ah well, it's a good thing we have six weeks of staging- ha!

Gotta get back to staging more later...

I'll try to be better about entries- I don't want to disappoint my readership of one!

AW

First Day of School

2009-04-15T21:41:00.000-05:00

We had our first rehearsals today. It was great to dive back into the score. The Maestro paying special attention to the dynamics. He said that opera is too often done with a "mezzo nothing" dynamic. I love this- a generic dynamic makes both crescendi and decrescendi less effective. Granted, I think the reason a lot of us are used to singing everything mezzo nothing is because we have to be heard in a huge house over a big orchestra, and the dynamic nuance goes into the toilet. We are in a small house (800 seats or so) and have a small band, and I have no doubts that the Maestro can keep everything down to a dull roar so we can actually sing the dynamics Mozart wrote. It will be a challenge not to sing everything loudly out of habit, but I think there is a lot of great stuff to be found by paying closer attention to the dynamics. Already it has shown new facets to the character I wouldn't have otherwise discovered. For instance, we are working at keeping the entire A section of 'se vuol ballare' at a piano, even the top F. While it is tremendously difficult to sing it that way, it brings out the quiet sarcasm that is at a slow rolling boil in Figaro at this moment. If he blows his top in the first scene, where do we go? I think there's a lot to be said for the smaller dynamic. It's just hard as hell to sing it that way!

Since our Countess is still en route to Louisiana, we jumped into staging the first scenes this evening. We have a very short rehearsal process, so there is no time to lose. We covered a lot of ground tonight, and I look to tomorrow's musical rehearsals and the amazing Act II finale!

The first cut is the deepest, according to Cat Stevens, anyway. It's good to have broken the ice. Onward.

PS- the food here is amazing.