Back to normal

Having friends from The Summer here in my home was at once delightful and a little bizarre. I saw immediately that the dynamic at which I lived life this summer doesn’t really fit into the everyday. It’s too big, too loud, too “opera!” It became normal this summer, but when taken out of context, it doesn’t quite fit. Don’t get me wrong; I had a wonderful time, and I love my friends (even though they tease me mercilessly!). But I was made even more aware of the lines and boundaries that exist in my life, separtating my Work from my Home. Introducing my Home friends to my Work friends was fun, and brought out the zanier side in my Home friends, I think. But everyone agreed that it was exhausting! We ate great food, both at home and on the town, drank lots of good wine (and port and Kona coffee at C&I’s after the concert), smoked fantastic cigars (courtesy of SH), and laughed A LOT. And we sang a great concert. Work and Home intermingling…

If you are not a performer, here’s a way to think about how my Work is different: imagine that everyone in your office or company is relocated to another town, where you only have each other to socialize with. No family, except for short visits, and no weekends. You may have one day a week, or so, where you don’t have to be with the group, but most days you are in one location with your coworkers for about ten hours. It gets, how can I say… intense. Every interaction is heightened, exaggerated. I can’t say why, but it’s true. You genuinely like everyone, some you even come to love, but it’s not Home. When I thought, at age 18, that I wanted to be a sociologist, I wanted to study the dynamics of theatre communities. I think now my subject would be summer opera festivals. They are such strange little worlds…

Anyway. The concert! We sang the opening scenes from Don Giovanni, up to Donna Anna and Don Ottavio’s duet. Yeah, that would be ME singing Donna Anna!! It was fun, kind of like playing dress-up. I got to put on my “big girl” voice and sing some fun music in concert that I’ll never get hired to sing in a production. SH was a dashing Giovanni - a role he also thinks isn’t quite right, although he’ll be a fantastic Leoporello – and RA sang Ottavio, a perfect fit. We added my good friend MP to round out the quartet for the Requiem, and it was beautiful.
It was a great feeling to be on the stage with three good friends, doing what we love to do and sounding good doing it! I can’t wait to hear the recording. (And I won another battle in the ongoing war with my hair!)

In other news: my Met audition is set! December 1st is also SSR’s birthday, so I take that to be a good omen. I’ll be subletting an aprtment in Inwood for about ten days after Thanksgiving, hoping to do as many auditions as possible. But obtaining house auditions is harder than YAP auditions, as there is no application or other pre-established way to get your foot in the door. The process is made easier by having a manger set them up for you, but I’m still working on that element. Hopefully I’ll have something to report in a few weeks…