When you're hot...

In which our Diva ponders her sudden apparent popularity, but certainly isn't complaining

Overall, I'd estimate I get asked to audition for about 10% of the projects I submit for.

In the last three days, I've submitted on a dozen or so, and have now been asked to audition for four of them.

I suspect this is because we're getting about a dozen replacement windows installed next week, and need to find time to move a bunch of furniture around, including large bookcases. And people think the Universe doesn't have a sense of humor!

Meanwhile, don't forget the final weekend of Dracula at GreenMan Theatre! Special Halloween curtain time tonight at 9 pm...

Multitasking, Diva-style

In which our Diva does double duty as vampire and opera singer, and hopes the traffic gods will smile upon her

Heads-up to anyone planning to come to Dracula today: I'll be ducking out before curtain call to change like the wind and book it back to Elgin in time to sing at Elgin OPERA's annual benefit dinner.

Count this as my "Thanks for coming!" and a raincheck for hanging out another day...

Vamping it up in Elmhurst - don't miss it!

In which our Diva is opening TOMORROW!

GreenMan Theatre Troupe is set to open “Dracula” at First United Methodist Church in Elmhurst. The production opens Oct 17 and runs for three weekends. Tickets are still available, but seating is limited for this popular show, so make your reservations now. “Dracula” is the first show of GreenMan’s 2008-2009 season. Performances start at 7:30 pm Friday and Saturday, 3 pm on Sunday. There is a special ‘late night’ start time of 9 pm on Fri, Oct 31. The First United Methodist Church is located at 232 S. York Rd. Parking is free. Tickets for “Dracula” are available by calling GreenMan at 630-464-2646 or visiting the theatre’s website at http://www.greenmantheatre.com/. There will be post-show discussion with the actors after the Sunday Oct 26th performance.

“Dracula” is the classic Bram Stoker tale, pitting the lead vampire against Van Helsing, Harker and Dr. Seward, as they attempt to prevent Lucy and Mina from falling prey to the Count. Steven Dietz’s script also includes the lunatic Renfield, a patient of Dr. Seward’s, who finds a way to help the vampire. Fans of the book will be sure to recognize many key scenes from the novel. GreenMan’s production team has transformed the intimate space at the Methodist Church into a flexible stage to take the audience on an exciting journey to London and Transylvania. Due to the nature of the story, the production is not recommended for anyone under 12. For more information about “Dracula” call the theatre box office at 630-464-2646.

Drac's Angels

It started with "What did you bring us from England, Daddy?" and got sillier from there...



Three days to opening -- don't miss it!

"...adequately serpentine but not altogether gorgeous"

In which our Diva is giggling like a giggly thing

Over on LiveJournal, the ever-resourceful angevin2 has posted some notes given by Sir John Gielgud to the cast of his 1964 production of Hamlet.

They make way more sense than many notes I have been given in my time, and are altogether hilarious.

Festival of Singers - LAST CHANCE!

Chicagoland peeps! Come on out to Villa Verone (13 Douglas Avenue in downtown Elgin) from 6-8 TONIGHT, September 28, for the final installment of Elgin Opera's Festival of Singers! Beautiful singing, scrumptious Italian food, a casual atmosphere and no cover -- what more could you want?

LOLfangs!

In which our Diva is having entirely too much fun in her current show

Y'know how I mentioned the other day that this cast has an unusually high geek quotient? Well, we can add Jonathan Harker LOLcapping some of the promo photos to the list of evidence...

(click to embiggen)

Fun with the undead

I just booked a voiceover gig for animated zombies this Saturday. *beat* Err, animated as in cartoon, not as in REanimated. That would be redundant. As I understand it, the overall project is a computer game of some sort, but the scenes are hilarious on their own.

Meanwhile, over in The Land of Vampire Domestic Violence Transylvania, the Vixens are spending far too much time off to the side giggling amongst ourselves. No good can come of this. Mark my words, and watch this space...

Dracula promo photos and other fun

Ported the selection from GreenMan's Facebook group over to MySpace here. (My profile is set public, so you shouldn't have any trouble.) And the GreenMan website has been updated with some more.

We have a great cast, and are having a great time. Not least because of the unusually high geek quotient: Mina does SF and horror reviews and interviews for online video and radio, Lucy is a LARPer and costumer, Seward and Van Helsing are having an ongoing comic T-shirt duel, and pretty much everyone has participated in breaktime discussions on comics, Star Wars, and LotR topics.

Poor Drac got a quick-and-dirty fang fitting for the photo call -- not what will be worn for the show! -- which led to a forlorn and murky "How are you guys doing that?" when Lucy and I were chatting merrily away because we had each brought our own. I'm sure she's had as much practice as I have with articulating more on the tip of the tongue (not that the suggestion meshes well with the dialect he's still refining), but I also reassured him that he shouldn't have to deal with as much stuff behind his teeth as he had that day. One of those things you don't think about until you have to do it! You'll often run into people who say "Oh, this is how they do it for the movies." Which sounds fine and dandy, until you remember that pretty much all the dialogue you hear when someone is vamped out onscreen was done in ADR. We, er, don't have that option in live theatre. It's a bit more of a challenge! :-)

And another horror classic heard from...

In which our Diva continues to approve of Chicago theatre getting into the Halloween spirit nice and early

Just got an email on this one... Chicago peeps? If I can figure it out around Dracula and opera schedules, this one might have to be a group outing. What say you?

Will Act For Food is frighteningly pleased to announce our upcoming
fall production, Clive Barker's Frankenstein in Love.

Just in time for the Halloween season, Will Act For Food is thrilled and, yes, a little terrified to be bringing this play to Chicago.

Revolution and chaos.
Monsters and mutants.
Good and evil.
Life and death.
Blood and guts.

A heart-wrenching love story.
Literally.

Want the gory details?

Frankenstein in Love by Clive Barker
A Will Act For Food production
Directed by Gregory Gerhard
At Chemically Imbalanced Theater, 1420 W. Irving Park
September 25- November 1
Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30PM
$18 general admission
$15 with nonperishable food donation (you won't have much of an appetite
anyway)
$10 Students/Seniors

For reservations, please call 773-327-9725 or visit http://www.willactforfood.com/
All food raised will benefit Lakeview Pantry, Will Act For Food's partner in community service.

Don't be scared. Come see us.

Dracula Does Chicagoland (now in at least four flavors!)

In which our Diva flies her fang-geek flag

Not that they don't spring up like mushrooms this time every year, but (a) the variety of adaptations on the local theatre scene this year seems unusual, though that may be simply because (b) I have connections to three out of the four I know about.

• The Building Stage (9/18 - 10/18) opens first, and is also the only one to which I have no connection. Original adaptation. I'm always skeptical of the Drac-as-misunderstood-hero angle, but the multimedia approach sounds promising. I've been curious about it since I saw the audition notice a couple months back -- this seems to be another group joining the burgeoning physicality-heavy theatre scene, which has been rapidly gaining traction with the success of companies like the House and Lookingglass. I've been watching the trend with no little interest, and it would not displease me in the least to see it become as identified with Chicago as improv is.
  
• Theatre-Hikes (9/27 - 10/26) is where I did Shrew this summer. It's TheGodawfulHamiltonDeanePlay, but I have faith in Frank's ability to make something watchable out of it, and actually suspect that the hike format will ameliorate some of my structural gripes with that script. Also, there is no such thing as a bad reason to spend a couple hours in the amazingly gorgeous Morton Arboretum.
  
• First Folio Shakespeare Festival (10/1 - 11/2) has opted for The Passion of Dracula, a tongue-in-cheek take that premiered in the late 70s. I've read it once, years ago, but never seen it produced. Tricky script -- either too much camp or too much seriousness will smash it flat. I haven't actually seen anything Alison Vesely has directed, but I've heard good things about how she handles Shakespeare comedy, which implies she knows how to trust the text. So it should be fun. Plus their Mina is a friend of mine from a couple past shows, and they're about ten minutes from Office of Doom (in the opposite direction from the next one on the list).
  
• Last but of course not least, GreenMan Theatre (10/17 - 11/2) takes on Steven Dietz's 1995 adaptation, which I like more every time I read it. And you'll all be sick of hearing about my Fun With Trying To Eat Jonathan Harker soon enough, so I'll leave it there. *g*

All systems go

In which our Diva loves theatre people who know what they're doing

If this show turns out half as awesome as what the director has in mind? We are gonna knock some serious socks off.

And from what I've seen/heard about their previous shows, and how solid the production staff seems to be, it's gonna be that awesome. I've been in my share of shows where the vision was fabulous but just couldn't be realized because the tech and admin support weren't there. All indications thus far are that these folks do not have that problem. Hallelujah.

Costume designer to Vixens at last night's rehearsal: "You guys are sex." *cackle* Doesn't get much more succinct than that...

Sometimes a girl just has to vamp it up

In which our Diva loves Halloween in theatre-land

Just accepted an offer from GreenMan Theatre Troupe to double as a bride (or, as this particular playwright has dubbed them, "vixen") and sanatorium staffer in their Dracula. Mina or Lucy would have been nice, of course (Mina remains on my short list of all-time favorite literary heroines), but all in all it looks like it's going to be a blast. First off, just from what he said at auditions, I really like how the director thinks. And it's the Steven Dietz adapation, which I've heard pretty much all positive things about -- definitely liked the bits I read, and approve wholeheartedly of how he handles the ending. Vastly superior to TheGodawfulHamiltonDeanePlay (yes, that's been all one word in my head for many years). Throw in fun movement stuff ('cause, y'know, bride) and I think I'm going to enjoy my fall.

Bonus: rehearsals and performances are conveniently about five minutes from Office of Doom. Of course, there's also two hours between the end of the business day and the start of rehearsal, which is just exactly the right amount of time to make it pointless to go home. But I can hang out at Panera or Barnes & Noble with my shiny new wee!baby!laptop and maybe actually get some writing done, so it's all good.

Crossing my fingers that the fall opera benefit on October 26 isn't too early in the evening, as I'll have a 3pm matinee that day. I hated having to miss last year's because of Horror Academy, and Solange wants me to do "This Place Is Mine" as a parody of her. Gotta love an artistic director with a sense of humor. :-D

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!

Chicago Tribune Online video piece on World of Faeries

In which our Diva is briefly visible in a winged purple form

I was going to be all fancy and imbed it, but their code is a bit annoying and I don't want their commercial starting automatically on my main blog page, thanks. So I'll link to it instead.

Hoping to have pictures soon. I had spirit gum in the crevices of my ears for two days, man. And the gig paid, but not that well. I deserve good pictures!

Chopped liver

In which our Diva experiences the occupational hazard of feeling a teensy bit dissed

Well.

Nothing like doing what you think is a pretty darn respectable audition on Saturday...and then seeing what's clearly the same role reposted by the same people on Monday.

Subtle, guys. :-P

Normally I'm good at the "treat it like a performance and let it go" thing, but this makes it a bit of a challenge. Bah.

On a happier note, we were collectively on at Villa Verone last night, and I got some great comments on "How Glory Goes" in particular. I know for a fact that I do not suck. So there.

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!

Villa Verone program for this Sunday

In which our Diva sings out, Louise!

What: Elgin OPERA and Villa Verone's Festival of Singers
When: Sundays through August, 6-8 pm
Where: Villa Verone, 13 Douglas Ave in downtown Elgin
Why: Great food and great music, what more could you want?
Pictured: Paula Mrazek rocks the "Habanera" from Carmen

Music, music, music...

• Jim Hinton (Elgin)
  Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja (From Die Zauberflöte) - Mozart
  
• Solange Sior (Elgin)
  Ebben? Ne andrò lontana (From La Wally) - Catalani
  
• Valerie Meachum (Elgin)
  My True Love (From Phantom) - Yeston
  
• Kimberly Albrecht (Barrington)
  Quando m'en vo (From La Bohème) - Puccini
  
• Anne Dolik (Arlington Heights)
  Dank sei Dir, Herr - Ochs
  
• Paula Mrazek (Cary)
  Why Can't You Behave? (From Kiss Me, Kate) - Porter
  
• Annamarie Schutt (South Elgin)
  Once Upon a Dream (From Sleeping Beauty) - Lawrence
  
• Larry Brook (Elgin) & Paula Mrazek
  People will Say We're in Love (From Oklahoma!) - Rodgers
  
• Solange Sior
  Regnava nel Silenzio From Lucia di Lammermoor) - Donizetti
  
• Jim Hinton
  Old Man River (From Show Boat) - Kern
  
• Valerie Meachum
  The Simple Joys of Maidenhood (From Camelot) - Loewe
  
• Kimberly Albrecht
  Mercè, dilette amiche (From I Vespri siciliani) - Verdi
  
• Paula Mrazek
  Habanera (From Carmen) - Bizet
  
• Anne Dolik
  So In Love (From Kiss Me, Kate) - Porter
  
• Annamarie Schutt
  My Favorite Things (From The Sound of Music) - Rodgers
  
• Marilyn Maurer (Winfield) & Paula Mrazek
  Sous le dome épais (From Lakmé) - Delibes
  
• Jim Hinton
  Bella siccome un angelo (From Don Pasquale) - Donizetti
  
• Valerie Meachum
  How Could I Ever Know? (From The Secret Garden) - Simon
  
• Solange Sior
  Caro nome (From Rigoletto) - Verdi
  
• Larry Brook & Kimberly Albrecht
  Time to Say Goodbye - Sartori

Well met by sunlight

In which our Diva has a full weekend ahead, outdoors and close to home

Friday: I'll be joining other singers from Elgin OPERA on the main stage at FoxFireFest on the banks of the scenic Fox River in downtown Elgin at 6 pm tomorrow evening.

Saturday and Sunday: What with Shrew taking up all my time and brain, I've barely mentioned it this year, but I am performing again this weekend at the World of Faeries festival in South Elgin. This is their fourth year, and it's shaping up into a fun outing. Quite an eclectic array of vendors, good music on the stage, and the street cast has tripled in size from last year with some fun and entertaining stuff planned. Yours truly is Larkspur, the flower-faery village crier and gossip-monger ('cause I gotta have news, even if it means making it up!).

Check out last year's highlights video, in which I wander through a couple times as the blonde lorelei blowing bubbles or playing my bamboo flute:



Local folks take note!

They like me! They really like me!

In which our Diva wins a metric heap of stuff 'cause she likes to make pretty clothes

I'll probably pay for it in sleep over the next week in order to get everything done for Shrew, but taking a few days to drive over to the lovely city of Toronto for Polaris was well worth it for many reasons, not least to show off the "clockdroid" (based on the Doctor Who episode "The Girl in the Fireplace") in a major competition. Not that I wasn't happy with the Best in Shows from two previous, much smaller events, but it's vaguely embarrassing when you're the only one in the Master division. In a jawdroppingly-well-run masquerade (kudos to Barbara Schofield and her crack organizational team!) that always attracts at least three or four Master-level competitors as well as the best and brightest of up-and-comers, it's a whole different ballgame.

So I was pretty stunned to walk away with Best in Show for workmanship and Best Master for the on-stage presentation, as well as one of two special awards from the International Costumer's Guild with an attending membership to next year's Costume-Con. I've been to one CC before, and picked up all kinds of nifty new techniques in various seminars, so I'm all kinds of stoked.

And now it's back to Padua.

(For those interested, my much more geeky-fangirl overview of the weekend is on my Livejournal here and here.)