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I
PAGLIACCI
SEGUES
INTO
THE
STRANGERS TALE
aka
"How I somehow managed not
to get the flu while doing these shows"
 Well,
there I was at First Coast
Opera having a
wonderful time. They updated I Pagliacci
all the way to 2005 and since it's
only a one act (or did you know that
already?), it
was coupled with a new opera written by our
conductor Curt Tucker and
Nelson Sheely
entitled A Strangers
Tale. Also set
it in 2005. Also set in Central Park. All of
us segued with our characters from one opera
to another. It was great! Everyone sang
full-out at all the rehearsals and everyone
was soooooo nice..., Everyone was brought in
from everywhere
THEN....one
of the principals went off to a wedding in
Miami and when he returned-- yes, tis was a
"he"--it became a bedlam of flu
and lost but regained voices and coughs into
arms.
When
the chorus and children joined up with us,
oh boy, lots of dealing with continual
coughing and
sneezes and sniffles and believe me
it was not allergies. It became a bit of a
mess, but with no understudy or stand-by for
ANYONE, we pulled thru with determination
and dedication. And I happily (the most
scantily dressed of all) did my best--my
utmost--not to stand or sit at rehearsals and backstage near those that coughed or sneezed. |
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Annie
with Jamison Walker who portrayed Canto the
lead |
...I
sanitized EVEYTHING!!! I TOUCHED, including
myself, and took at least two to four Cold-eeze
a day just for protection!... I could do a
commercial for them, but they got me thru it.
Such
a great concept a homeless man who knew
everything. Actor Lou Agresta, who had a
very tricky role in A Strangers
Tale, spoke
when the music stopped. Imagine
that.... The music was like if
Sondheim had written an opera, this would be
it--major/minor--very hard to follow for a
non-operatic talent, but he did it and it
was tough. |
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So, what did I do? Well in the clip (below) you
will see a little bit of it. I was "the streetwalker" for both operas. It was great fun. I got a knife drawn on
me when I am with my Opera Singer pimp Wilford
Kelly,
I was assaulted by Sean Stork (let me mention this was only
onstage) who caught, I don't know if it was the flu, I think it was right towards the end of
rehearsal and of course he was the one that touches me all
over, drags me to a park bench and jumps on top of me--he is a bad bad
boy.
And I was a wicked wicked girl (so wicked that on the first day of
rehearsal I wore my "Wicked T-shirt" to get me into
character). Yet his performance was so strong and
energetic. Amazing what mind over matter can do.
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With Sarah Beckham-Turner who portrayed Nedda in Pagliacci
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I also had to get up close and personal with
Gregory Gerbrandt who also gets quite nasty to my character whose only trying to make a living.
He has amazing stage presence and reminds me so much of
Rodney Gilfrey. Well, he lost his voice completely during the last final
rehearsals and that never happened to him before in all of his twenty yeas
performing, but by g-d, it came back...and just in time.
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| Front
of my Dressing Table in Lewis Auditorium |
With
Orlando Make-up Artiste Supreme Jana Henry |
But as
Sonny and Cher once sang
in "The Beat Goes On" and so it did. Because of prior commitments with the performance
auditorium, we had dress rehearsal and final dress in two different church halls. We only got to walk our spaces for a couple of hours the afternoon prior to the show.
Sooooo when we heard the orchestra surrounded by carpeting and upholstered seats for the first time in the auditorium in front of the opening night audience,
it sounded like an entirely different score. I could hardly tell when I was suppose to come on and the scuttle-butt was that the opera singers followed the conductors baton because the music seemed so
different and you can imagine what it was like for the non-opera techs calling
cues. But the audience liked it LOTS. And the second day these union musicians must have had emergency
rehearsals with themselves because they were so right
on!
A Strangers Tale was
completely done in English, and is so unique and special I hope it gets a chance to be heard by younger audiences because it was so now and hip and relatable.
Pagliacci in Central Park
--with a raised stage for the performers--it worked out great.
Wish you could have been
there...you would have enjoyed yourself. Lewis Auditorium
is simply a beautiful theatre,
so take a peek at the video. The day apr�s the opera you would have thought I sang in it.
I was like sooooo exhausted. It's not easy being
bad...but is sure is fun!! |
