Saturday, April 2, 2011

oh sleep, why dost thou leave me!!!!

It's 6am right now. SIX A.M.! I am NEVER up this early. EVER!!!! But I cannot sleep! I'm exhausted, I haven't gotten much sleep over the last two days, I desperately want to sleep, BUT I CAN'T!!!!! So, I decided to write a blog entry and then I'll give it one last shot. (Dear God, I am so TIRED!!!!!)

Anyway, it's been a whirlwind couple of days. We had our dress rehearsals for Boris early in the week and opened last night. I can't help thinking it must be really boring. At least the middle section must be really boring. It just seems not a lot happens for a long time. There were a lot of empty seats last night and the audience gave it a very un enthusiastic reception. Opening night is not our best audience and rumor has it the other performances are selling well so we shall see. I am waiting to find out what idiotic drivel Scott Can't-tell is going to write.

Between the final dress and opening night I hopped on a plane at 7am and went to NYC to audition for St Petersburg Opera. NO, not the one in Russia! The one in Florida. Not nearly as exciting but you do what you gotta do. My audition time was 9pm which struck me as very odd, indeed. I went to an address on west 48th street I wasn't familiar with. It's a very non-descript building in the middle of the block. The "lobby", and I use the word loosely, is just a big, no-frills hallway leading to a VERY industrial-esque elevator. There were "studios" on the second floor that people could rent for rehearsals, lessons or auditions like the one I was there for. Lots of folks were standing around in the hallway all wearing dark suits and ties, the women were wearing their best sunday dresses. There is a sort of banter that singers engage in at these auditions. They act very friendly, and overly effusive with each other but it all seems to be an act and comes off as very fake. I was not wearing a suit, I was not engaging in banter. I found a chair in a corner and just sat quietly playing Scrabble on my phone and trying not to let the adrenalin rush we call nerves get to me.

So finally I went in and sang. There were three people behind the table. I little, mousy fellow who is apparently a bassoonist turned conductor, a rather large, lesbionic woman and a man who was working hard at wanting me to think he was pretty (he wasn't). None of them introduced themselves which isn't uncommon. I sang Recondita Armonia which wasn't bad. The room was very live and I am, by nature, a loud singer so in a way a live room is stacking the deck against me. It's easy to push in such a ringing space but I think I handled it well. I then sang about half of the Flower Song which went well but they stopped me before I got to the hard/high part. The only conversation we had was when the puny guy asked me when I'd been at the Crested Butte Music Festival. Apparently, he was there too but didn't remember our group. Oh, well.

I have no idea if they liked me or not. They had a sort of pokerface response. Maybe I scared them with my lack of a black suit and my nonchalant attitude toward the whole thing. Maybe they thought I wasn't serious? Who knows. I was actually very serious about this audition and while it was expensive to go do it, I'm glad I did. Auditions are such an excellent gage of where one is in one's development and how one does in a high pressure situation. They are always a learning experience.

I have another audition in NYC next week. I'll report on it, as well.

Now I'm going to try to get some sleep. See you soon!

Of course, they were running late