excuses, excuses

To make a short excuse of my sporadic blogging: my computer at home is still not fixed, as previously thought. And blogging via cell phone is not all it’s cracked up to be, hence the lack of communication. SO – hope everyone is doing well these days –the boss tends to frown upon reading blogs at work – go figure!

I have a few thoughts on this past month of musical activity:

1. Sick singers are miserable, neurotic creatures, and this particular production saw at least half the cast downed with whatever awful bug is making its way around SF this winter. I was solidly sick for about 2.5 weeks. UGH.

2. By the grace of God, my sickness did not include my throat – so I was still able to perform. Singing under the influence of lots of (legal) drugs is trippy. I found, though, that I only had energy enough to focus on performing…I didn't have enough energy to worry about HOW I was performing, which, some would argue, made my performance better.

3. Given #2, though, my second weekend of performances, after recovering, was much better than my first weekend’s. I could actually focus on not just making it through my aria without falling over. Made for a better characterization.

4. I shouldn't read reviews. Good or bad. Good ones can make me too comfortable in my performance, and bad ones can demoralize.

5. Sometimes I wonder if I am more comfortable being a character than I am just being myself. And sometimes the answer to that question is: Most Definitely Yes.
The closer any given role is to my *actual* personality, or if the character responds to a situation like *I* might respond, the harder it is for me to play. But I eventually work through that on stage. It’s weird.



PS for JEN: YES. I am TERRIFIED of ET - it is my phobia. I used to have recurring nightmares...up through Grad School, even. Completely irrational, I can't help it. Ty and Sibling like to tease me about this!