Tonight was the first performance of our run. It went pretty well overall with one big exception. Our wonderful accompanist and coach slammed his finger in the garage door a couple nights ago. He has a large part that involves acting (as the "new opera company's rehearsal pianist") as well as actually doing the accompanying for us. Luckily, we have another amazing coach who was able to step in last minute to do the playing. Tonight was my cast's first night singing with him. Thank heavens he's so talented at following! It's really hard to step in last minute like that and pick up everything. Our original coach still does the acting bits, and he now has some line about how a soprano bit his finger when he tried to cue her.
Our audience this evening was comprised of the donors to the voice and opera department. They are a truly warm and lovely group of people who were very respectful and polite. There were more gentle chuckles than guffaws in the audience tonight, a fact that threw a couple of our performers who are used to hearing the loud laughter from the cast members who watch during rehearsal. This is one tip if you ever go to see a comedy: it's okay to laugh. Really. Even if the rest of the audience isn't. Sometimes it just takes the one person who's willing to laugh out loud for the release button to be hit for the rest of the audience. And performers love it when you laugh.
In any case, it was a very warm atmosphere. You could feel the pride emanating from the audience members who take a very familial sense towards the students. It's like singing for happy relatives.
My dress is still poofy as ever. Tonight, though, they added a ton of purple flowers to my hat. I look like I'm wearing a garden. And my fan changed back to a cousin of the plastic one I'd been using in rehearsals. I enjoyed the new prop I had Tuesday, but it's comforting to have something for which I hold more kinetic memory.
Now, it's time to crash into bed and hope that my pillow doesn't eat any makeup I may have missed wiping off.
~Hope
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1 comment:
Oh, how wonderful. I'm so impressed someone can step in last-minute like that and make it work. That's just remarkable. And I'm glad your audience was such an endearing crowd. Wish I was there! Amanda
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