Ok, officially nervous

The butterflies are here! It’s 8:30, and I’m showered, dressed, and fed. Now what? My rehearsal starts at 11, so I’m going to leave here around 10. It’s a 15 minute walk to the Met (12 if I hustle; I timed it a couple of months ago…), so that should give me plenty of time to check in, get my ID, get lost on my way to the C-Level Stage, find my way again, and get settled before rehearsal starts. MP, who is working with Met Radio these days, might swing by and “pick me up,” since he walks by my door on his way to the house. It would be great to walk in with somebody who knows his way around. Like a big brother on the first day of high school!

(OT: Another way the Met is like high school? The Season Book! I finally went and bought one, and I’ve spent hours looking through the Artist Roster pages in the back. Everybody has a small b&w photo with their name, hometown, house debut, and current season repertory. Even though it’s listed alphabetically, we all know who the upperclassmen are, who the freshmen are, etc.. And just like all of my HS class pictures (minus whatever year it was I wore that plaid shirt and had the big hair), I totally hate my headshot these days, but more on that in another post.)

The cold I had last week sure has stuck around. I’m feeling much better today, but yesterday I was not so sure. I had that fuzzy-head feeling again, and when I tried to sing I could tell that my vocal cords were unhappy. A little swollen, probably, and suffering from the same post-nasal drip that was causing my sore throat. I had about two-thirds of my normal range – and only the middle; for some reason the high and low end go out first – and that was at about half power. Scary! But I rested all day – watching the playoffs, napping, reviewing music – and managed to get to bed fairly early (for me). I woke up this morning and could tell that things were better. Probably not up to 100%, but better enough that I can sing my half-hour coaching this afternoon and be assured that all of the notes will come out!

Ok, I’ve managed to distract myself for half an hour on this post. Time to go do my makeup and pack up some snacks. It’s still a bit to early to sing full out, but I’ll continue my humming and lip trilling (making sure the breath is hooked in).

Oh! Of course you’re all wondering what I decided to wear! (Of course you are.) I realized this weekend that this first rehearsal is an actual working rehearsal, not a musical work-through or discussion of the production, so “dressing up” is kind of out of the question. If I need to stand in for Jano, I can’t run around like a shepherd boy in a cute dress and kitten heels. So, I’m in my favorite black jeans and a green shirt that has some tuxedo-ish detailing (pleating, mostly; no bow-tie). Functional, stylish, comfortable, me.

Here we go!