Delight in Sunlight

Today, it was sunny for the first time in about a week. Somewhere around 9 am, the sky became a beautiful winter blue - the blue that isn't as fresh as spring skies or as intense as summer but is just a nice, cool, happy color. I opened my shades and sat in the stream of sunlight for several hours this morning. It was wonderful.

The rest of the day was filled with rehearsal and costume fittings. (My fingers automatically typed "customer" when I went to type "costume." I guess we know what profession I'm more used to...) My costume for the Impresario is amazing. It's a gold-green color, and I think it's made of taffeta. I have a black petticoat underneath with a giant bustle. Then, the outer costume itself is in two pieces - a boned corsetted top and a huge skirt. Have you ever seen the Disney Cinderella? Do you remember the large skirted monstrosities the stepsisters wore to the ball? The ones with the giant bums that look like they are made out of cake icing? The ones with all the bows randomly attached? Well, that's basically my dress.

After I play a diva for the Impresario, I get to switch gears completely and play a secret role for the next production - Suor Angelica. I won't disclose that now since it's probably meant to be a bit of a surprise until after the show, but it's definitely on the opposite side of the spectrum from my flashy first character.

A costume fitting basically entails trying on the costume so that the superhuman seamstresses can figure out what alterations to make in some sort of magic time so that everything fits everybody the way it's supposed to. Some costumes come with "adjustable things" - like several options for eyes that the hooks can fit to make a skirt have multiple possible widths. But still, it's a trick to make sure everything fits and looks good, especially when you're working with an intimate theatre like the black box we have for these productions.

After watching the rehearsal for Impresario (today the other cast performed) and filling in for my super-secret role in Suor Angelica, I took 45 minutes to practice some of my recital music. I'm working on a Russian piece that is a beautiful version of Desdemona's Willow Song with an introductory vocalise. (A vocalise is a song with a vocal line and accompaniment but with no lyrics. So the singer basically sings it on "ah".)

When I got home tonight, I cooked up some veggie lasagna and a batch of pumpkin muffins. I'm hoping that will provide some happy, nutritious food for the next two weeks while I'm running around crazily.

And now it's time to dive back into the to-do list!

~Hope