...so, I made my 'mainstage debut' last week, in Der Rosenkavalier, as one of the three Noble Orphans (the one on the right...and straight on till morning...). Strangely, I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be, in spite of it being my first solo, as it wasn't really a solo--after all, there would have to be TWO orphans for me to be the third, right? ;-)....ironically enough, I found myself comforting one of the other orphans, who had had an anxiety dream about being fired by Shane Gasbarra (artistic administrator at SFO) and was paranoid about her performance....I told her, "Just don't go to any artists' receptions, and you'll be fine!!"* Bear in mind, this was a soprano (and stop that snickering, you there in the cheap seats--'soprano' is NOT necessarily Italian for 'high maintenance') who has done many solos at SFO in the past and has a GLORIOUS voice--no good reason for her to be worried. Still...I guess there is an awful lot of pressure in doing a solo. I dunno...I guess my attitude was (at least subconsciously), "If I ain't doing Octavian....what have I got to worry about?"
As for how I did? Well...I actually felt pretty good about it, vocally, although I DID have a bit of a 'wardrobe malfunction'. We are costumed in gorgeous dark navy blue (almost black) gowns with a train, and during our final bit of singing, we have to curtsey, back up a few paces, curtsey, back up a few paces, then curtsey once more before vanishing into the wings. Not being the girliest girl on the block (yes, I play in the hetero sandbox, but I also throw, bat, and climb trees....sort of like Eddie Izzard's 'executive transvestite' but with REAL tits), I don't have all that much experience with big skirty things, so when I began to back up, sure enough, my heel landed on the hem of my dress, and I began to pull myself backwards with each step as I walked up the back of the dress. So it went something like...
"Gluck und SEGen, aller WEGen....."
(UH-oh.)
"Euer GNADen hohen sinn...."
(fuck. fuck fuckfuckfuckfuckFUCKFUCKFUCKohshitFUCKFUCKFUCKKK!!!!!!!...)
"Ein geGRABen steht er HABen...."
(OK, I'm looking at the ceiling; this isn't good.)
"Er in unserm HERZ-EN----DRIN!"
(AH-HA! I'm FREE!)
WHEW!
A couple of hours later, Ian (the chorus director) sidles up to me backstage and slyly says, grinning, "I hear you stepped on your dress...."
(@%$&#$!)
In case you haven't noticed, word gets around, around here.
Sorry I haven't been very good about posting; I'll try and do a little better. Next up; Iphigenie! Whee fun!
RM
*In case you don't keep up on opera dirt, there was a HUGE kerfuffle a couple weeks ago around here when a soprano, Hope Briggs, was unceremoniously fired from Don Giovanni AFTER the dress rehearsal (Not done. Ever. Well, hardly ever). From what I've heard (I'm not in the show, so I wasn't there for the fireworks), she wasn't right for the role in the first place; but the WAY in which she was fired--she was pulled out of an artists' reception (hence my joke) after the dress rehearsal, with no warning (at least according to her), to receive the bad news--was pretty declasse, especially for a director who prides himself (and actually is generally known for) being artist-friendly.
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