Opera!

Here is the full report from Opera Workshop weekend! Both performances went very well. We were all feeling confident after the Thrusday dress rehearsal, although another rehearsal in Corson would have been a good thing. However, the Nylons were there on Friday night, so we were unable to rehearse then. Corson is the biggest space I've ever sung in, except maybe for the Performing Arts Center (oh I'm sorry, the Arts United Center), but since it was opera, we were not miked. We had a shell around the sets, so the entire stage was not used. Otherwise, I don't think we could have been heard.

This is the inside of Corson, with the stage set for Act IV of La Boheme.

I sang on the Sunday performance. My parents were supposed to have come for it, but a blizzard in Grand Rapids prevented that from happening. I called them on Saturday, the day they were to have arrived, and they said that the highway had been closed and that they were staying in a hotel for the night, and perhaps they could come tomorrow, if Old Man Winter was permitting. However, the conditions did not improve much, and my parents came home the next day without being able to come to my performance. All of were very upset by this, naturally, and they wanted to be there more than anything, but it just was not possible. However, one of the moms taped the performance, so they'll have a copy soon! Another guy made an audio recording as well, which I'll also have to get my hands on.

This is the Sunday cast of Riders to the Sea with Kevin McLaughlin as Bartley, Sarah Powell as Cathleen, Emily Thebaut as Nora, and me as Maurya, with my old woman make-up.

Even though I was upset by my parents's not being at the performance, I was able to channel that emotion into the role. Maurya is an emotional role, similar in some ways to Verdi's Azucena, only not as crazy and much more accepting of the situation at hand. During the opera's final scene, when the body of Bartley is brought into the house, my emotions began to get the better of me, and a few tears were shed. I know this is a BIG no-no in opera, but the tears weren't enough to hurt my voice or my performance. I had plenty of long interludes to swallow and get control of myself, and it was fine. Had I totally broken down and started openly weeping, that would have been a different story. And I wasn't the only one onstage crying either; at the end of the opera, I looked at Sarah and Emily, who were playing my daughters, and we all had tears in our eyes. After the stage went dark and we went backstage, all of the emotion just let loose, especially seeing the other dead sons come onstage and "wake up" Bartley to come and joint them. I think that was one of the most powerful moments in the whole opera, and I'm so glad we got the lighting to do it. As I said before, I think the performance went very well. I was thankful for the compliments that I received, and very glad that people enjoyed it. I even got a hug from Ms. P.(!), which made me have a freak out in my head.

Here's another pic from Riders to the Sea. I once again am Maurya, with Sarah Powell as Cathleen and Emily Thebaut as Nora. Yes, I know I look a little funny, but I had to get the traditional-opera-throw-my-hand-out-to-the-side-for-emphasis gesture. And who really looks good while singing?

Here's the Sunday La Boheme quartet; Paul Wilt as Marcello, Austin Barrett as Rodolfo, Garrett Rubin as Schaunard, and Andrew Bogard as Colline.

Here are the two Collines; Beak San Kang and Andrew Bogard.

Me on my off night ( although all women were in the Riders chorus) with Sarah Powell and Emma Grettenburger, who sang the role of Cathleen on Saturday.

So, even though the disappointment of my parents not being able to see my first big performance at Interlochen, and even though the air feels like Siberia on a bad day, the performances were a huge success! They were very well received, and those who came seemed to enjoy it.