On a non-singing related note

Jon and I got engaged yesterday! Very exciting.

Not only do I love being around him and living with him, but I also love performing with him. Boheme was the third opera and fifth performance-type thing we've done together. Many singers find that they can't work with their significant others, or can't date a singer or musician, if they don't like to bring their work home with them and talk shop all the time.

Jon and I are not those singers. I love being with someone whom I can share my work and my passion. I have never been good at separating areas of my life. I like everything to blend together into one big awesome experience. And thanks to Jon, that will continue to happen :-)

It's Working

I've figured out how to make myself into a more convincing Musetta.

Two words: mirror work.

I've reverted back to my 10-year-old days where, in an effort to delay bedtime, I'd stand in front of the bathroom mirror making faces at myself. It's funny how uninhibited we are as kids, and how that inhibition creeps up on us as adults, until we can't even make goofy faces at ourselves anymore. So I'm back to doing that, and figuring out how to make a sad face that doesn't look like I'm smiling, and how to make a bitchy, curt gesture when I beckon to Alcindoro.

And it's working.

God Bless Mirrors.

Boheme is upon us

So I'm heading into Tech Week of Boheme, and trying to wrap my mind around Musetta. I always thought it would be easy to play her...she's a crazy sexy girl who just wants to get her way all the time.

But it turns out that I am too "nice" onstage to convey all of the anger that Musetta seems to have. She is very argumentative, VERY pouty and bitchy...all the things I've been told not to be in life. Then I have to remember that it's not ME on stage, but MUSETTA. It is easier after I get my staging, go home, and write it in my score. I try to find sepcific musical moments to coincide with the actions the director gave me. Once I find those musical moments, I plot the actions with them, and then I can stop thinking with my "Sammi" brain and start thinking as Musetta.

There is also a lot of physical comedy in this show, particularly with Alcindoro, the man who plays my lover in Act II. The role, played hilariously by Aaron Hunt, is one of a sugar daddy, who buys me everything I want because I'm hot and presumably give him physical attention when we're alone. Unfortunately, Aaron is SO FUNNY as this nebbish old man that I, Sammi, have a hard time not laughing onstage even though I, Musetta, am supposed to be alternately ordering this guy around and disgusted by him. This is an issue I've had my entire life...I LOVE to laugh. I find humor in almost any situation. So one of the hardest things for me is tamping down that urge when I'm onstage, and getting so into my character that humor doesn't affect me, unless it is supposed to.

Another layer of Musetta surfaces in Act IV. Prior to this final act, we've seen her be a sexpot, a very naughty, ungrateful, bratty girl, and a very angry person. Emotion pours out of Musetta at every turn. The audience may have turned against her and decided she is no good as a person...I think almost all of us can think of someone like that whom we've met in our lives. Musetta is very identifiable as a "character."

BUT

In Act IV, the first time we see her she has found Mimi, who is extremely ill, and brought her back to be with Rodolfo. Then she goes to find Mimi a muff to warm her hands, and sells her earrings to afford medicine and a doctor. She then prays and reassures Rodolfo. Everything Musetta does is inherently GOOD. So we see that she has so much dimension as a person...her emotions run high in all situations, but many of those emotions are empathetic and relatable. She is a very complete character...Puccini made sure of that.

Quite a lot for me to swallow, but I'm loving every minute of this process.

Sorry about the Haitus

I have blogged FAR less frequently this month...here are my excuses:

-I had rehearsals for shows with 2 different opera companies
-I am MOVING tomorrow and that is consuming my life this week
-I haven't had as many coachings and lessons and this makes me far less insightful into my singing and performing. This is a bad trait and I am working on finding my own inspirations...also next month I will work harder to GET those coachings and lessons as audition season is fast approaching :)

poor excuses, I know, but at least they're real. I will be back in a few days with a fresh approach to everything!

now back to...how few boxes will carry my life's possessions?

Too Much, Too Little, Not Enough

So about a month ago I had an arsenal of work lined up ahead of me:

Elgin
Boheme
Eternal Tao
Pirates of Penzance Tour

and now I have the following lined up
Boheme
concert with Vox 3
concert with Kyra Saltman, Cellist
Eternal Tao
Pirates Tour

PLUS auditions, coachings (once my beloved coach Yasuko gets back into town from all of HER summer programs), moving (hopefully at the end of this month), and still freelance babysitting/teaching.

So it would appear that I am TOO busy, and have a lot going on. Which I do. But it is all lined up over the next 5 months. And when I go about my day to day routine, it seems remarkably underwhelming. I am so used to having incredible amounts of stress in my life, and thriving on them. Now that I don't have school to schedule my life for me, I worry that I'm not working out my own timetables/finances/role prep adequately.

I think I have to be more organized, and set aside specific times between jobs for learning specific pieces of music/shows.


Bring on the spreadsheets.

It's been awhile.

My time this past week and a half has been eaten up by DRIVING and Dido and Aeneas.

The show went very well...this whole summer experience has taught me that I CAN in fact learn music at a fast and efficient clip.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, I guess) the music learning won't have time to slow down. I go into Boheme rehearsals in 2 days...I have begun rehearsing for my Guggenheim opera in October...I have a recital with my roommate, Kyra, cellist, in September...and the Pirates of Penzance tour begins rehearsing in a few months as well.

I am discovering more and more the need for a strict Practice schedule on my part. My "real" job as a babysitter/music teacher is somewhat sporadic, so music learning is my top priority. I have become so accustomed to the structure that school provided for learning music in a timely fashion, and need to develop my own similarly structured time table for learning/memorizing/analyzing music on my own.

Tech Week

I am heading into another tech week...this one for Dido. Thankfully, I've had today and half of yesterday off to recover from all the driving! And it was a well used break. I was able to spend time with my friends at several barbecue/parties. The only thing missing was Jon :( today was our 1 year anniversary of dating! And we celebrated with a Skype date. I will see him Wednesday when he flies back to Chicago, thank goodness.

This production should be absolutely wonderful. Amy Hutchison has been one of my favorite directors to date...always prepared, she has many good ideas but is also willing to work with and listen to our own. She has updated the production in some ways and made good use of the Baroque style of music, incorporating it into staging. I feel blessed to have worked with such a fun and talented cast.