I'm really sad because I've felt so uninspired lately in regard to my writing.  I haven't been able to write anything for over a month.  This is depressing.  Sure, I don't have too much time, but that usually isn't a factor.  And I thought being in an opera would be a good, creative atmosphere.  I thought it would spark tons of stuff.  Not so.

I guess this opera isn't very "inspiring" in general.  But still...Music always makes me creative.  *sigh*  Sadness.

In a few days, classes will start again and I'll have the usual 4 seconds of free time.  Aka: no more writing for me!  This is sad, especially considering that I wrote a 50K-word novel last January.  I wanted to write at least PART of a novel.  I have so many ideas but they're just not working on paper.  Maybe they're all too new.  It usually takes a while to get an idea to work out on paper.  I hate waiting, but I'm forced to.  Story of my life.

It's okay, I guess.  At least now I have this convenient little Netbook.  Now I can write in any spare second that I have.  That was one of my major motivations for getting this sort of laptop.  Ultra-portability = more writing for me.  :)  So...we shall see what this year reaps.

Ok, my rant is officially over.  Sorry to you all.

On a happier note: "dress" rehearsals for the opera start Sunday!  I'm excited.  I can't wait to put on my costume!  (In other words: I can't wait to be Peter Pan!)  hahah  Good times.

Alrighty, I have to pay attention now.  Hurray for corrupted Rome...

I haven't posted on here in a while.  Life is crazy with rehearsals.  I pretty much get to school at 9am and leave at 10pm.  I'm so tired right now.  It's a good thing I love music as much as I do.

It's fun running around like a lunatic.  Onstage, I mean.  In real life, I keep it to a brisk walk.  I finally (FINALLY!) nailed my scenes yesterday.  I didn't get any notes!  It's a Christmas miracle!

In other news, I'm writing to you from my very new, very cute Netbook.  It's a 10" screen and 2lbs and I LOVE IT!  I named it Orfeo.  I wanted to name it Little Muse but it didn't work (you have to have no spaces or a hyphen; bleh).  I'm having a bit of trouble setting up my external optical disk drive, but I'll get it eventually (darned software!).  I love taking Orfeo to rehearsal with me.  He's a good pal. :)

My other laptop is practically dead.  I miss him, but what can you do?  I nursed that thing for a year and a half.  Now it's Mommy's; she's going to pay bills on it (how exciting...).

I was over at a Book Roast yesterday and I had much fun hassling a great author (Maggie Stiefvater) with my questions.  I even won a copy of her book!  I'm so excited.  I wanted to buy a copy, but I'm broke so I didn't.  Now I can read it!  Yay!  Maggie was so nice in answering my questions.  She gives me hope. :)

Oh, I have to scadaddle to rehearsal.  See you punks LATA!

I feel so relaxed right now. I just finished my Pilates. I always feel this way afterwards. I'm so stress-free...it should be illegal.

I finished all my staging for the opera today. What fun! I get to run around, kick stuff, chase people, pull on beards, and just act completely juvenile. I LOVE IT! I wish I had more scenes so that I could have more rehearsals. Rehearsals are fun!

I'm sad about missing the run-through tonight. :( I really want to be there, but I have to be in the city. What can you do?

Had breakfast with some lovelies this morning. :) Had rehearsal ulcers but they went away during rehearsal. I actually made pretty music today! Hurray! The music director seemed pleased with me today. That's a very good thing. *nod*

I'm working on revising my book and loving every minute of it. Why is this month so amazing? I don't want it to end!

If you want to keep up with my opera, you can read my blog here. Otherwise, you can go back to whatever it was you were doing before you decided to read my inane ramblings.

We had our costume fitting for the opera. What fun! The best part was seeing all the girls waiting in line and freaking out. I mean, it's only fun because I don't care what my numbers are. I actually couldn't stay and have fun for too long because I had a rehearsal to go to, but it was fun while it lasted.

We have a costumer just for the opera. Her name is Christina and she's so nice! She's making the costumes for us. How cool is that? We're getting custom-made costumes! I'm so excited. I love costumes and getting dressed up. I don't even care what it looks like. I'm not vain in that it has to make me look amazing. I just love dressing in clothes that I normally don't/can't wear. That's the single reason I love Halloween: it's an excuse to dress up and not get labeled as a weirdo.

I asked her what the costumes are going to be like (Josephine was wishing for togas). Christina said that they were going to be reminiscent of Ancient Greece (aka togas), but they're going to be more..."modern" I guess. She's going to be raiding thrift shops (hurray thrift shops!) and getting tunic-y things and cutting them up and layering them and such. Sounds good. It will go well with the construction site set. (I heard they made a miniature of the set; I want to see it!)

This is like a legit production. It's so thrilling to be part of it. I just get so excited!

But since we did get measured, I have to make some comments on my measurements (only because I find it amusing). Josephine (Ottavia/amazing person) got measured right before me. She's about 2 inches taller than me but my shoulders are 2 inches bigger (across). Isn't that funny?

Unsurprisingly, I had weird measurements. Christina kept shaking her head and re-measuring. They're just weird. Like the length from my collarbone to my waist is really short and my inseam is really long. My shoulders are pretty big (MAN SHOULDERS, YAY!) and my hands are big (my glove size is ridiculous). This is why I'm playing the pants role! It just makes me laugh how everything in life works out. I happen to have the voice for the pants roles and my body was built for it, too! Those are two things that I have no control over and they work together! The detailed, complex organization of the universe never ceases to amaze me.

I was thinking about this and I started to remember stories. Once, I was outside shoveling some old lady's sidewalk with my brother. I had my big ski jacket on and a hat. When we were done, the lady said, "Thank you boys." My brother automatically replied, "That's my sister."

Story 2: We were at the Bethpage Restoration (cool place, by the way) and again, I was in a winter jacket and hat. The guy in the pub thought I was a boy. He kept staring at me and then he asked my mom how she dealt with three boys. Then I took off my hat and he said, "Oh, you don't look like a boy at all when you're not wearing that silly hat." Granted, the hat was silly, but I'm silly.

I have other stories but they all sound the same after a while.

I can't wait for rehearsals to start for Poppea. Granted, I'm not memorized yet, but I will be. Things might be a little hairy for a while (especially since the Damigellas and I haven't practiced our duet at all because they couldn't come to the coaching that I arranged for us), but it will all work out in the end. It's like that scene from Falstaff: a lot of work but worth it in the end. I think that's the definition of opera in general. A challenge, but one worthy of pursuing.

Well...4 days to Christmas. That makes me one happy camper. :)

P.S. "A Million Parachutes" by Sixpence None the Richer = LOVE

This always happens! I have so much to talk about but then the second I get on here, I can't think of anything to write! UGHHH...

I had three finals today and it's the last day of class. Hallelujah. I survived! I only have a thousand more finals and a project and a paper left. Oh, and two juries. I'll be fine. :)

It's so rainy out. I'm so glad I waterproofed my boots. My feet aren't wet! I'm so glad that that stuff actually worked.

It's really funny how when it's rainy, everyone is so tired. Myself included, unfortunately. I forgot to put makeup on this morning. Whoops. OH WELL. The vocal majors can deal.

So this Germany trip is really starting to fall into place. I have a partner in crime now (HURRAY! x 100000) and we're starting our real planning. I have to sit down and calculate costs (ugh). Loans and much groaning ensues... But I'm SO excited. So excited. Hopefully I won't miss anything important while I'm planning. There's so much I want to do! I really hope it all works out.

It looks like it's going to be 2 weeks in Germany and 2 weeks in Austria. SALZBURG, Austria. MOZARTLAND, Austria. I am PUMPED! I was talking about it to Rachel (the fellow opera-geek who's going with me) and my sister's like, "Why is your face all red?" I had gotten so excited just talking about Salzburg and the Mozarteum (the conservatory built in Mozart's memory) that I was getting all worked up. So funny.

I never thought in a million years that I'd be studying at the Mozarteum already. OMGOSH! I don't know how to convey to you what this means to me. Mozart is my absolute favorite opera composer. Last summer, I read at least 8 books about him and his works. I can't stop! Right now, I'm reading a book about Nannerl, his sister. It's a bit biased, but I'm enjoying it for what it is.

We had a meeting for Poppea (the full-length opera) yesterday. I'm really excited for where things are going. The director, Isabel, talked a little bit about what she's doing conceptually in this production. I was expecting something weird/different so I wasn't surprised when I heard that our set is going to be a construction site. The opera's supposed to take place in Ancient Rome, but what the heck? She mentioned WWII...I don't know. You can't really have a sky-scraper being built in Ancient Rome. Somehow that just doesn't work. WHATEVER.

This opera is going to interesting, if nothing else. I can tell you THAT.

Ok, I have to go to my jury rehearsal now. Too-ta-loo!

Here's my opera news, as promised.

I got two (!) roles in Poppea.  I'm playing Fortuna (Fortune), a goddess and Valletto, the empress' page.  I shall elaborate.

It's going to be fun playing a goddess; especially an annoying one like Fortune.  I get to annoy the heck out of Virtue.  This seems rather ironic to be because to my friends (aka Rachel), I'm a "saint."  Technically, I would side with Virtue in this opera.  Sometimes they play her really straight-laced and obnoxious, but what else is new?  Everyone always assumes that just because you're virtuous that means that you're boring.  Not so!  Anyway--  Fortune is only in the Prologue.  She has a long duet (with lots of solo lines) with Virtue.  Then Cupid comes in and is like, "I'm going to beat you both!  Love conquers all.  Whahah!"  And then Fortune leaves, never to return.  ...  Unless the director decides to keep the goddesses on stage.  Sometimes they have the goddesses watching down over the action.  I think that's kind of annoying for the singers because they have to stand for the entire show reacting and not singing.  Very annoying.

When I first saw Poppea (on DVD), I said to Mom: "Watch.  I'll get that part.  I'll sing one scene and then stand around for another three and a half hours."  Famous last words.

However, I don't think that will happen because I also have to play Valletto.  Can't be two people at once!  Whahaha! to Isabel.

Another note: Fortune is often portrayed as a bald woman.  Hurray.  Typical casting decision for me.  Why do I always get cast as the characters that are 1. most unlike me and 2. weird?  I don't understand this.

I'm sharing this role with someone else.  That means that I'll either sing it Friday/Sunday or just on Saturday.  I don't really care either way because I get to sing Valletto all three nights.

Now, about Valletto.  This character makes me super-psyched.  Valletto is in about 4 scenes.  I have one duet and a bunch of recit (speaking-singing).  I'm the comic relief.  In an opera about revenge and seduction and murder and Der Will zu Macht, a little comic relief is needed.

Side note: I always seem to be the comic relief.  I guess that's a compliment.  I was Sarah Good in The Crucible.  We all know how heavy THAT show is.  I guess it's funny when a crazy lady gets dragged away.  

So, Valletto.  He's a boy.  Yessss.  I'm playing my first "pants role."  I shall explain:

In opera, young boys are played by women because a young boy would have a high voice.  The typical pants role is Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro or Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier.  It's pretty much what the bulk of my (projected) career is going to be, so this is a big and exciting step for me.  I don't have to share this role (as far as I know), so that makes me even more happy. :)

I get to be in my first opera!  And I have a decent part.  I'm so excited.

The Big Three (aka the voice teachers - Beck, Donna, and Tammy) were all proud of me.  Beck said that I "hit it out of the park."

I just think that it's kind of ironic that I spent the entire summer growing out my hair for the opera and now I'm playing a bald woman and a boy.  Go figure.

So, happy happy joy joy.  I can't wait to get started. :)

I really don't have time to post right now (maybe tomorrow), but I just wanted to say that I got a decent-sized part in the opera.  :)  I'm super-thrilled.  I just can't wait to dive into the score!  Monteverdi, here I come!

I will have more details soon.  I'm going to pass out from exhaustion right now.  You should be glad that you're getting anything.  haha just kidding

I LOVE YOU ALL!


Oh, for the n00bs:

The name of the opera = L'incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea)
Composer = Monteverdi
Plot = Nero exiles his wife because he's seduced by a power-hungry woman named Poppea
Pros = There are tons of parts
Cons = It's rather melodramatic (welcome to Baroque opera!)
Fun Fact = This is one of the first operas ever written!  Hurray!