Oh Gianni Schicchi! I am now 3 rehearsals into Gianni Schicchi and I am enjoying it very much. The cast sounds great and they are very fun to sing with. I have been in groups with "The Diva" (or Divo even), "The Backseat Director" and that person that thinks they can sing every part better then the people cast for it and tries to show you how to do it correctly, but there aren't people like that in this cast. They are all very nice and fun. They don't bite of your head when you make mistakes (and boy have I made some whoppers!) but just shrug it off and know that you'll try harder. More information and pictures to come.

We have blocked up through about page 60, minus my aria. I look forward to staging that, as I get to end on top of a chair in the classic Tenor pose, "center stage, elevated, one leg up on something, hand out in the air for some reason and of course, the high note". I am also excited to stage the parts with Lauretta, as those lines are by far my favorite part of the whole show. Very melodic, very Puccini.

All in all, very exciting. August 10th, The Center for Arts in Natick MA. It will be worth it to be there.

- Gregory - ¶ 10:35 AM 0 comments

Best of Broadway Part 2 This past weekend marked the first two concerts for the Lakes Region Opera's Best of Broadway shows. I sang two solo's, "On the Street Where You Live" from My Fair Lady and "Maria" from West Side Story as well as a few chorus parts and group numbers. The two shows were well received by the audience. It was an interesting experience also, as it was the first time I had sung outdoors and with a microphone. I was a little wary at first, but the sound was good and let everyone hear everything that was happening. They were both quite far away, but after driving 2.5 hours each way for rehearsals in Northampton MA last fall, this was not very bad at all. I will be singing 2 more of these shows with this company in August, one being the morning after Gianni Schicchi as well. It will be a very busy 2 months for me.

Pictures of the show will be posted in the Photos section soon. I need to rework the code for the photos section because I do not want to have the site load a new page for each set of pictures. I will hopefully be able to get some time this week to make it a bit more dynamic and allow for more pictures to be added over time without increasing the page loads. I will also be making the pictures available for download if that interests anyone.

This week also means the start of rehearsals for Gianni Schicchi. Thursday is the first read through and a general meeting of the casts for the two shows. I am looking forward to meeting the cast and starting a very intense set of rehearsals to make sure I have everything down before I leave for the wedding. As I will be away for a bit, I will not be posting on rehearsals. Upon my return however, I will have production week and the show to write about. Very busy indeed.

- Gregory - ¶ 8:05 AM 0 comments