Yes, yes, I know. You thought I had forgotten about you. Well, I haven't! I have no excuses for abandoning my blog...well, other than the fact that I planned a wedding, got married, went to Hawaii, and played Valencienne in "The Merry Widow." Other than that, I've just been twiddling my thumbs and procrastinating my next blog post. Here goes!


Playing Valencienne in "The Merry Widow" was a fantastic experience from the start of rehearsals to closing night. To this day, Valencienne, or as we called her during the production, Val, will go down in the books as my favorite character I have ever played. Throughout the show, she has times of being flirty, sad, perplexed, showy, and best of all, she's a pretty funny gal. 


Everyone in the cast was a delight to work with, so full of talent and all so kind. Plus, they even shared their delicious holiday treats and chocolates with us. (I'll let you know that none of us were ever in lack of something sweet to eat during production.) As you can assume, the castmate I worked with the most was the talented tenor who played Camille, Bill Dwyer. I'm so grateful we got to work together. Valencienne and Camille are constantly embracing and breaking away and twirling and crossing. The staging is almost like a dance. In blocking like this, you not only need to know your own staging, but you need to know your partners as well. When we had down time in rehearsal, Bill and I would run our scenes over and over again until we both knew exactly where we needed to be...and then, we would run our scenes again. I'm very grateful for his patience and diligence as we brought these characters to life. 

And! Let me tell you about the costumes! Wow! Jane and Jesus did a fantastic job as usual. I had four costume changes throughout the show, and every costume was beautifully and creatively made. I don't think I could pick a favorite if I had to. The costumes against Adam Veness's well designed sets made me believe in the lavish, rich culture of Pontevedro. 

I'm very grateful that I had another opportunity to perform on Light Opera Work's stage. As usual, it was a beautiful and rewarding experience. 

I am so excited to announce that I will be performing in the Gershwin's Greatest Hits concert with Light Opera work in October! See my home page for ticket information. 

So, everyone has been asking me what I've been doing in between H.M.S. Pinafore and the next gig. The answer is, a whole lot! I feel like this is the first time I've relaxed in weeks, and that's only because I have the dreaded summer cold. So many things in my life are changing or are new to me this summer. Getting my Masters diploma in the mail the other day made me think of just how much has changed. 
The first thing is obvious, I finished school! Shortly after, I did my first professional show. I moved from Edgewater to Old Town. I have two new, great roommates! I started a new day job that is somewhat flexible. (I know! I'm extremely lucky.) And I just sold my car on Sunday. It's almost happened too fast. I find myself a little displaced at times. 
I think the hardest part so far was going from being so busy with H.M.S. Pinafore to having almost nothing to do directly after. There I was, unemployed with nothing to do. Everyday seemed a little monotonous and boring. I watched that extra show or two...or five on Netfix and slept in for way too long, because I no longer had something to wake up for. What did I have to do that day? Nothing, and the nothingness was staring me in the face. It took me a while to bounce back from this funk I was in. I feel a need to share this because no one warned me about the post show funk. I was was talking to a few of my colleagues about how I felt. Apparently, it's  a common thing, and it's not very fun. 
I believe I am now out of said funk. With this new job, I have fallen into a new pattern of life. I work out in the morning, go to work from 10-3:30 and practice right after. I am learning new arias and preparing for audition season, and I'm excited again. 
I'm also having fun. I am running a color run on Saturday. I have a wedding gig at the end of the month, and I have a fun trip to Michigan in August! If I've learned anything this summer, it's that, for me, music is an expression of life. Life without music is sad. Music without life is uninspired. When the balance is skewed either way, I feel deprived. At times it will be unbalanced. That's that nature of this business; however, I now know that but I need both life experiences and music to be a good artist. 

Doing this show has been such a great experience! Wow! Where do I even begin? I met so many talented and kind people. They all challenged and inspired me by their work, and to make a cheesy quote from Wicked, “I have been changed for good.” So, if anyone from Pinafore is reading this, thank you!

Opening night:

At the beginning of that day, I was feeling pretty mellow. To me, it seemed like just another dress rehearsal. I would show up at 6pm, do my base make-up, walk over to put on my microphone, put my wig cap on, have Tatiana put my wig and hat on, put that dang corset on, followed by my lovely costume, remind myself how to breath in the corset, do a few warm-ups, and do the show. After a week of tech rehearsals, this had become my ritual. At about 11am that morning, that was what I was prepared to do. I had no nervous or anxious feelings.

At about 12pm, my boyfriend gave me a call asking me if I was excited. I told him that I felt like it was another rehearsal. He said, “Really? This is your big night! This is your professional debut, your first time getting reviewed.” I tried to shush him before all of that got out of his mouth, but alas, it no longer felt like another rehearsal. It was opening night! I was nervous but excited!

After I did my ritual of getting ready that night, I was sitting with a few cast members, making a few jokes here and there, as is the norm. (Why do gorillas have big nostrils? They have big fingers! ba-dum-chhhhhh) Then, the orchestra started playing. I was so excited! Why did my first aria not start until halfway through the Act I?! I wanted to go on right then.

The time came for me to go on for “Sorry her lot.” I sang the aria as I usually did. During rehearsals, I was used to silence after my aria and immediately going on to the next dialogue, but on opening night, I will never forget what happened after I sang. I got a huge applause and a “Bravo!” I was surprised by their response. I thought, “They like me?!” Suddenly all my fears of the audience not responding well were alleviated. My first time singing as a professional was over, and I could now have a blast with the rest of the show. It was a great night, a night I will never forget!

I am so lucky to have this as my first professional show. The audience was enthusiastic and responsive that night. My cast members and the stage crew were so fun to work with and supportive.

The rest of the run presented a few challenges here and there, but nothing that we couldn’t handle while still having fun in the process. Spring shows would not be complete without many of us suffering from allergies, finding ourselves running for tissues right before dawning the stage. Doing a show is exhausting, and sometimes, it felt like I was a robot programmed to do the show. The last two days were my favorite, though. The reviews were over. I’d gotten over a lot of the nerves that come with being on stage. I decided to go for it, and man, was it fun!

Speaking of reviews, I have mixed feelings about getting reviewed. People can say whatever you want about you in mass media, and you can’t do anything about it. Most of them were good reviews. One was not so fun to read, but constructive at least. It’s hard not to let them get in your head, both the good and the bad. I’ve learned over time to accept criticism and compliments from professors and judges, but from the media, nope! That was an interesting experience. I have now developed a new layer of thick skin. It was, however, fun to see the reviewers writing creative things about the cast and I. If you care to read them, I’ve put a few links below. Warning: there are also fun pictures. 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-06-12/entertainment/ct-ent-0612-pinafore-review-20130612_1_sir-joseph-porter-james-cameron-light-opera-works

http://chicagotheaterbeat.com/2013/06/12/review-h-m-s-pinafore-light-opera-works/

http://chicagocritic.com/h-m-s-pinafore/

All in all, it was a great experience. I learned a lot and am ready for the next thing. There’s one in the works, but I’m waiting for the contract before I announce it. Stay tuned!

I'd like to start my blog where every singer gets his or her chance to perform, the audition, duh duh duhhhhh! As many singers know, auditions are not the most delightful experience. There are so many nerves going. You can hear the person before you flawlessly singing the aria you're starting with (Yikes!) or tanking their audition (wah wahhhh). It's hard not to get caught up in the mind game of it all. 

"Do I go in expecting the part, or will that make me over confident causing me to make a mistake?" 
"Am I even good enough to be here? That girl sang at the at such and such Young Artist Program!" 
"What if I forget my words?" 
"Sniff, sniff...Whoa, I need need to dry clean my dress"
"Oh yeah, what's the name of my piece again?" 
"What if the room is dry?"
"Sniff...Erg! Allergies!"
"Hello, my name is _______, and I will be singing_______.  Hello, my name is _______, and I will be singing______." 
"What if they say my name first?"
"Hello, I would like to start with_______"
"Okay, backup plan is ago!"

So, all of those thoughts can go through my head within seconds, sometimes on an endless cycle. It's.....exhausting....zzzzz..... 

At my last audition, though, I beat the mind game! I became the friendly, talkative auditionee, and I had fun...at an audition. WHAT?! I sat down in the waiting room and made a little small talk with the people around me. What was great was we didn't really talk about what we've sung, what we're singing, and who we've sung with.  (Well, maybe a little of that) Mostly, though, we talked about Chicago, restaurants, and cool apps to download. It was delightful, and I didn't have that inner dialogue cycling through my head the whole time. 

The audition went like most of them do. I still got a little bit of nerves right before I sang.  I stated my name and sang. They said "thank you," I was done. What was different about this audition was that I wasn't exhausted after that audition. I felt energized. I enjoyed it, and I think it was because of the delightful people in that waiting room. 

The highlight of that audition was a friendly note waiting on my chair when I got out of the audition room. That day was a breath of fresh air. So, if you see me at an audition, sit down for a chat. Tell me about your cat or dog or the new couch you just got. I'd love to hear about it!