If I had a million dollars

In which our Diva displays her preference for experiences over stuff, though stuff is nice too

If I had a spare few hundred bucks lying around:

When I designed costumes for Barnum a few years back, I got to participate in one of the circus workshops arranged for the cast at The Actor's Gymasium. A. Maze. Ing. I've wanted ever since to do a full session of their aerial class. I'm still determined to get the knack of wrapping my feet in the Spanish web so I can actually climb up to the loop and play. I did have a great time on the lyra, though, and also discovered that I do in fact still have my 180-degree split -- by being hoisted seven feet off the floor that way!  They're also affiliated with Lookingglass Theatre, one of the companies at the vanguard of physical theatre in Chicago.

If I had a spare grand or so lying around for airfare and lodging, I'd be headed to London in October for the UK premiere of Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer at the Gorezone Film Festival. (Despite the topless promo photo of one of the emcees at the top of their webpage.) I love a good horror weekend anyway, it'd be all kinds of fun to do the whole red carpet thing, and I could visit with friends in the UK. My role in that is, of course, too minor for them to send me anywhere, but I'm still holding out hope that there will be some kind of event Stateside that I could go to. Apparently it's already out on DVD in Australia (a couple blog reviews have popped up on my Google Alert), and I'm hoping to get a copy of it soon.

If I had a spare three or four grand, and the ability to take a month off besides, I'd finally go to Shakespeare & Company's full Intensive program. I learned so much just in the couple weekends of theirs I've done -- one in 1995 and another in 2001 -- that's still very much at the core of my actor's toolbox.

Of course, spare cash lying around is, as for pretty much everyone else these days, not so much something I have. I'll just have to make do with playing one of my dream roles in an exciting production with a brand-new theatre company. Darn. ;-)

Song for today: Been running through my head, and inspired this post. Which, considering I've been neglecting this blog for a couple weeks for lack of inspiration, is a darn good thing.

Gotta say, though, I have several real green dresses, and I don't think there's anything cruel about them. ;-)

Mozart and Yeston and Strauss, oh my!

In which our Diva had a marvelously operatic weekend

Die Flederflöte... okay, "Love & Fairy Tales" had three smashingly successful performances, plus one delightful school matinee of our abridged version of The Magic Flute, all capped off with singing for a wonderful crowd at Villa Verone, most of them fresh from either our Sunday matinee or the Elgin Symphony's Bernstein concert.

Even the surprise insertion of "This Place Is Mine" into the zany midst of our standalone adaption of Act 2 of Die Fledermaus went over well. I can say now that I was a little worried about it -- what were they going to think of me randomly busting out this crazy opera-parody number from the Maury Yeston version of Phantom? Sure, it was a big hit at the Halloween benefit, but that's one thing and shoehorning it into a full-fledged stage production quite another. Luckily, Lady Diva (sort of Solange's alter ego, dating back to one of the company's early semi-dramatized concerts -- that's the persona I'm sending up with this number) knows our audience, and I got enough compliments on it that my head might have swelled to fill up my big pile o' hair if I didn't watch it! (And it was a big pile o' hair, especially Sunday. Nothing beats good old-fashioned foam rollers.) As it turned out, it fit into the craziness just fine. Which I guess makes sense, because that Phantom is a very champagne-operetta score anyway.

Soooooo tired yesterday, pretty much back to normal today. Just in time to restart voice lessons (on hold for a few weeks due to both Solange's and my rehearsal schedule) and swing right back into honing the rep I'm hoping to have ready in time for the vocal competition in June. (Not to mention switching mental gears from German and English to Italian and French. Which isn't just about diction -- there are subtle but important differences in technique too.) Musical theatre? Not a problem. Aria and art song? I have some serious work cut out for me. The art song -- I'm probably going to do a Fauré one called "Adieu" -- is way harder on Planet Val, which makes most classical singers I know look at me funny. I guess opera just makes more sense to my brain because it has a clearer acting component.

My aria will most likely be "Senza mamma" from Suor Angelica. I'm so happy that my voice has shaped up in the last couple years to be suited to Puccini, because he just makes sense to me, musically and dramatically. Sometimes I wonder if it has anything to do with growing up on Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals. I've lost count of the number of times I've heard/read someone comparing him to Puccini (or just flat-out accusing him of ripping Puccini off), and I can hear where they're coming from. They appeal to me as a singer for a lot of the same reasons. One of those is one of my primary challenges with "Senza mamma" -- tempi and dynamics and such are constantly in flux, but you can't just randomly speed up and slow down or get louder and softer or whatever. To some extent it's marked on the score, but there's a lot of it that just has to feel right. (Try that after weeks of Mozart!) I have that sense internalized almost to the point of instinct for musical theatre, and especially for certain composers (ALW, Frank Wildhorn, Stephen Schwartz), but I'm still developing it for opera.

Also, floating that pianissimo high A at the end is kicking my ass.

Check out the queen of pianissimo, Montserrat Caballé, showing how it's done:

No rest for the wicked

In which our Diva has a few irons in the fire

Three-day weekend FTW! Will no doubt want another when it's finished, as I will be using it to Get Stuff Done, but at least I have it do that in.

Stuff to Get Done includes as many costume renderings for Shrew as possible. I was hoping to have them all done by now, but the real drop-dead date is the first rehearsal in mid-June. Will probably be sketching madly away while socializing with company today.

Tomorrow will be all about studying new scene for acting class, brushing up on audition monologues and songs (everyone and their dog has general season auditions in the next couple weeks -- also need to put in for slots for those!), and getting mailings together for agent queries and a couple auditions that require snail mail instead of electronic submissions. Also need to order prints of new headshots.

Search for better-fitting day job continues apace, with sod all to show for it. Suspect at least some of them are getting filed in the "overqualified" (i.e. "she's going to want too much money, isn't she?") category, while others are looking at my rather eclectic work experience and going "Bzuh?" Sent a snail mail resume for one last week that I would really love to get; not saying any more 'cause I don't want to jinx it.

Dear AEA: Your Contract Associate job sounds faboo. Whywhywhy do you have to say "Employees of Actors' Equity Association are not permitted to perform in or stage manage any Equity or non-Equity production"??? [emphasis mine] I do not love you. (Not that this is particularly news.)

Monday is for housecleaning and car shopping. Car shopping is a necessity because (a) the one-car household thing is getting OLD; (b) the one functioning car does not have functioning air conditioning, and I'm so not doing that another summer; (c) better mileage plz!!; and (d) need new car before driving to Toronto in July for reasons (a) through (c). Have been looking very seriously at the smart car now that they're finally available in the U.S. If you've ever parked in the North Side neighborhoods where most of Chicago's storefront theatres are, you will immediately understand the appeal.

Evenings are for writing. Was writing an action scene yesterday (um, yeah, for the Lizzie project. Sure. *sheepish g*), and getting up to walk through the moves (to make sure they made sense in real space as well as in my head) made me realize how much I miss fight work. Good thing there's a Babes workshop coming up in a couple weeks. (For which registration is another thing on my to-do list this lovely holiday weekend.)

So, still lots going on, but all of it worth the doing.

Still alive (despite the weather)

Okay, who stole spring? I object. Strenuously.

Acting class continues to be Of The Awesome. Pre-class chitchat revealed an unusually high geek quotient in the room, which I always appreciate. There are never as many fannish types in theatre as you (or at least I) think there should be. Also, I appear to have been permanently dubbed "Red" by our coach, which is fine but amusing. Last week I was Red for the first hour and Victoria a couple of times, then he settled into Valerie for the rest of the evening, so I know he does in fact know my name.

Scenework is proving to be a great push for figurative muscles I haven't been working nearly enough lately. Once my scene partner got hold of the out-of-print play we were assigned a scene from, that is. Some things really aren't just getting in your own way! %-} It's A Cry of Players, which, now that I've read it, I'm kind of amazed I'd never heard of. There are thoughts formulating in my head that I want to blog about in addition to the stuff going directly into the scenework itself, but I'm not sure yet what form that'll take. Except a glancing amusement that I would be given Anne Hathaway Shakespeare as my first assignment, after my recent babble touching on the playing-a-historical-person thing. Scene partner is awesome and open to pushing himself and risking. Not to mention willing to alternate coming out to the burbs on Metra with me going into the city to get together and work.

In the area where Actor Val intersects with Fannish Val, beginnings of an interesting discussion this morning on the LiveJournal Slings and Arrows discussion comm. (Spoilers galore for all three seasons.) I really need to rewatch that whole series. Y'know, in my copious free time...

I am actress, hear me snore

First class at Chicago Actors Studio last night. Like the coach, like the atmosphere, like the other members, and think it will be just the right kick in my slightly stagnant pants for this moment in time.

It's a good sign that I didn't realize until I was in my car that the ostensibly 7:00 - 10:30 class had run past midnight. Really it is. Getting up this morning, however... *YAAAAAAAWN*

If they continue to have 17 people attending the Monday night class, it's going to be an interesting 10 weeks.