There is nothing quite like the thrill and terror of opening night. That day when all of the hard work you have been putting in for weeks, and sometimes months, finally comes to fruition. That day when the general public will at last have the chance to see all the wonderful things that you have […]
Category Archives: Opera
In Disguise: A Video Tale of Die Fledermaus
When I did Rigoletto here in Florida last winter, I had a lot of free time on my hands, and so I created a video tribute to the character of Sparfucile, in the style of Bob Dylan. When I returned in the spring, I decided to do another video, since everybody seemed to enjoy the […]
Should I Shave My Head?
I was not considering the question about whether or not to shave my head until very recently, when the director of the company for which I am currently singing asked me to consider it. Now, independently, we have each come to the same conclusion, which is that I am not going to do it. (Sorry […]
The Difference Between Opera and Operetta
The main difference between Opera and Operetta is, obviously, the letters “ett” inserted into the word, giving Operetta an extra syllable. Upon further analysis, we find that having an “ett” towards the end of a word generally makes it female, such as in the case of “Smurfette,” the female Smurf, or in the case of […]
But I Only Want One Shirt!
I was informed yesterday that I was required to provide a white v-neck t-shirt for this opera production. I was at my costume fitting, and I was totally unprepared. I didn’t have my shoes, I didn’t bring any suspenders, and I was certainly not wearing a white v-neck t-shirt. Now, my shoes were at my […]
Angry Black Bird
So here I am, in the midst of rehearsals again and, as usual, there is a lot of down time. It’s unavoidable. The director will be working with another singer on something, and I will be sitting around doing nothing for ten or fifteen minutes. Well, not nothing. There is one thing I can do […]
Lost in Translation
Do you remember the other day, when I was telling you about learning the wrong translation of Die Fledermaus? Well, I just wanted to give you all an update on that situation. As it turns out, the whole new translation I re-learned was also completely wrong. Like, the whole thing. All of the lines I […]
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus (literally, Batman) is an operetta by Johann “The Other” Strauss, which exactly follows the plot of La Rondine, which, as you may recall, has the same plot as La Traviata, which, as we all know, is really just the same story as Pretty Woman. Let me sum up the plots of both Die […]
How Not to Prepare an Opera Role
I am leaving for Florida again in three days. I should, by that time, have memorized my role, one would think. I am close, but thanks to my lack of organization, there have been some challenges. First of all, there is an issue with my score, in that it has different words in it than […]
The Ten Tenors
This past weekend I participated in a concert with the American Bel Canto Association called “The Ten Tenors.” Now, to be clear from the start, this number ten was arrived at in a very loose sense. For one thing, one of the tenors was sick and didn’t come, so already we are down to nine. […]