Why did the redheaded soprano cross the road?

To get away from Larry's emcee jokes. But we love him anyway. ;-)

From this past Sunday at Villa Verone...

Moonfall (978K mp3)

This Place Is Mine (1.5M mp3)

How Glory Goes (1.4M mp3)

I won't be there this coming Sunday because I'm going to see Shrew that day -- really need to do it once before going on as understudy next weekend, and Saturday is out due to an audition. Next up for me is September 7. But don't let that stop you from enjoying great music and great Italian food, every Sunday evening through September!

Singing for my supper

I bolluxed the recording on "My True Love" this past Sunday, which is a shame, because it was probably the best I've ever done it. Plus the new arrangement of the restaurant has reduced the background noise a lot (although there is still the occasional "Ah, they're shaking something with ice at the bar" -- gonna see if I can find a quieter corner this week). Ah, well. I did get the other two, with the usual So Not A Professional Recording caveats...

How Could I Ever Know (1.1MB mp3)
The Simple Joys of Maidenhood (1.7MB mp3)

Program for this Sunday (August 17):

• Annamarie Schutt (South Elgin)
  Once Upon a Dream (from Sleeping Beauty) - Lawrence
  
• Valerie Meachum (Elgin)
  Moonfall (from The Mystery of Edwin Drood) - Holmes
  
• Meghan Smeenge (Elgin)
  Memory (from Cats) - Webber
  
• Paula Mrazek (Cary)
  Why Can't You Behave? (from Kiss Me, Kate) - Porter
  
• Dave Carmona (Roselle)
  Canta pe' me - De Curtis
  
• Anne Dolik (Arlington Heights)
  Dank sei Dir, Herr - Ochs
  
• Laura Doherty (Roselle)
  How Could I Ever Know? (from The Secret Garden) - Simon
  
• Sofia Fuentes (Chicago)
  Batti batti o bel masetto (from Don Giovanni) - Mozart
  
• Victoria Narayan (Elgin)
  Without You (from My Fair Lady) - Loewe
  
• Larry Brook (Elgin)
  'O sole mio! - Capua
  
• Meghan Smeenge
  I Don't Know How To Love Him (from Jesus Christ Superstar) - Webber
  
• Annamarie Schutt
  Tomorrow (from Annie) - Strouse
  
• Dave Carmona
  Vesti la giubba (from I Pagliacci) - Leoncavallo
  
• Valerie Meachum
  This Place is Mine (from Phantom) - Yeston
  
• Paula Mrazek
  Habanera (from Carmen) - Bizet
  
• Sofia Fuentes
  Poor Wand'ring One (from The Pirates of Penzance) - Sullivan
  
• Laura Doherty
  Vanilla Ice Cream (from She Loves Me) - Bock
  
• Anne Dolik
  So In Love (from Kiss Me, Kate) - Porter
  
• Victoria Narayan
  Intorno all'idol mio - Cesti
  
• Valerie Meachum
  How Glory Goes (from Floyd Collins) - Guettel
  
• Sofia Fuentes
  Se tu ma'mi - Paristossi
  
• Annamarie Schutt
  You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile (from Annie) - Strouse
  
• Dave Carmona
  E lucevan le stele (from Tosca) - Puccini
  
• Larry Brook & Paula Mrazek
  People will Say We're in Love (from Oklahoma!) - Rogers

I would be remiss in my shameless plugging if I didn't draw attention to two of the young singers on this week's roster. Annamarie is nine, and won the youngest division of our voice competition in the spring, but she's probably more excited about being a finalist in the Cubs "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" contest. Way. Too. Cute.

Victoria, meanwhile, is all of seventeen and already quite the artist, and was one of the singers selected from among the Opera Institute for Young Singers participants to perform on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center in July. You can even watch the performance on their website -- it's listed under July 14 at their archive.

Come on out to Villa Verone from 6-8 this Sunday to enjoy great Italian food and the voices of Elgin OPERA!