Okay, I can't come up with a satisfactory "J" topic either, so I'm posting more journal extracts about my experiences at the Houston Grand Opera--this time, from entries written in January, June, and July.
20 July 1991 Here I am, recording the events of the past few days!
Annie Get Your Gun going well; good reviews.
Lohengrin preparation going very slowly; late start.
Hoffmann preparation not going at all.
Jean Mallandaine officially ousted from her postition as Head of Music Staff--and from HGO altogether--replaced by Richard Bado.
John DeMain officially resigned, but will do some shows over the next 2 years. Smitten with his new daughter.
Shauna Bowman Unger brand new mother of brand new boy.
28 May 1993 Frida is a mess and everyone who's seen a run of it says it's boring and too episodic. Ward is ready to kill both the accordian player and the guitarist. X, who plays a few of the smaller roles, has been a pain-in-the-ass diva. The production meetings have gone on till 1 or 1.30 in the morning. All in all, a pleasant and relaxing experience in the world of Musical Theater.
And tonight we do it in front of an audience, Lord help us.
The only really good thing that's come out of this is that my working relationship with Ward has gotten much easier and more comfortable. He really is a nice guy. He's incredibly tense and nervous about this show, which is perfectly understandable, and he's reached the point where Robert Rodriguez (the composer) seems more of a nag than a help to him.
There are definite advantages and disadvantages in having the composer in on the rehearsal process. One of the advantages is that he tells you how the piece should go. One of the disadvantages is that he tells you how the piece should go.
There have been several little scena's during this production period, one of which occurred between Richard and X (pain-in-the-ass diva). Richard is conducting all the off-stage singing. Now unless I'm wrong, and please correct me if I am, the off-stage singers are supposed to watch Richard, who is watching Ward on a monitor (the reasoning behind which is that a monitor can mysteriously go out, but a live backstage conductor can peek through he set if need be). X, however, chose not to watch Richard, and he, after conducting to the back of her head several times, told her, "If you continue not to look at me, I'll have the sound man turn off your vega (body mic)." He related this incident to me and Pat Houk and Jim Ireland. In the meeting following that rehearsal, Jim informed the director, "Please make it clear to X that regardless of what she's used to doing, as long as she's working in this house, she'll do as she's told. We'll replace her if we have to; that's never a problem." In that same rehearsal, X had bitched at one point about singing in the dark (the lighting was by no means set yet) and when we repeated the scene, she walked on stage holding a flashlight to her face.
18 June 1993 Production threw a party for Jim Ireland to celebrate his 50th birthday. I played for Ward and Richard; they sang a parody of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" ("When Irelands Eyes Are Flashing"), after which, I ate half of the available amount of guacamole, then left. I hate parties.
3 June 1996 I love coming here to Panini. I sit here eating my mezzo sei or mezz'otto or mezzo nove (those ae my favorites), and when I'm done, Ellie or Vittorio brings me my doppio macchiato, and they either yell to me from behind the counter, or if there are no more customers, they sit with me and chat. Facciamo quattro chiacchiere. Around 1.00 Ellie brings her soup to my table and eats, while Vittorio stays behind the counter. Or if he's not there she sits with me till a customer walks in, then she mutters under her breath, "Accidenti!" ("Damn!") and gets up to attend to him. When it's very busy, Ellie works the register and Vittorio takes the orders and hands out the sandwiches as they're ready, callng out in his sing-song Caprese accent, "Number twaynty-sayven! Oo ees number twaynty-sayven?"
30 July 1996, (in New York performing our production of Four Saints in Three Acts for the Lincoln Center Festival) In the morning, went strolling along the water with Sandy Campbell, Barbie Brandon, and Audrey Vallance. Then to Little Italy for lunch and browsing with them, plus Kathy Manley, Brett Scharf, John-the-Acrobat, Pat Houk, Kim Orr and Kimberly Lane. Afterward, Brett, Kathy, Sandy, K. Lane, John, Barbie, and I wandered around Greenwich Village. After an hour or so of very hot walking, Brett, Sandy, John, and I went on to Lincoln Center, stopping for a rest in the park before rehearsal. There was a woman on the next bench, must have been around 150 years old, with an unbelievable cartoon profile and a shock of white hair. Four or five dogs ran round her playing, their leashes trailing free behind them. Every two minutes or so, she would call out, "Donny!" and make this extremely penetrating whooping sound. "Has anyone seen a black dog on a leash?" she would call out at the top of her lungs to the park at large. We left her still calling for Donny, and went to rehearsal. On being released early, Nathan Wight, Kevin Moody, Mark Swindler, Susan Stone, and I went up the Empire State Building. Incredible--the lights of New York beneath a full moon.
Monday, cast free day. Went with Jonita to play for her Sarasota audition, took her to lunch at Sarabeth's, then to Patelson's. In the p. m. to dinner at Carmine's Bar (W44th) with Richard, Barbie, Mark S., Kevin, and Denise Thorson. Fabulous meal; the chicken cacciatore was top-notch. All of us but Richard went on to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with the extraordinary Nathan Lane. Wildly funny--at least, we thought so; but the family in front of us, obviously tourists from some podunk Bible Belt town, sat frozen as statues through the whole show; not one of them cracked a smile.
Tuesday--two sitzes, morning and afternoon, then with Eric Edlund and Derek Henry to some beer joint run by Trappist monks (or were E and D pulling my leg?); then tried to get tickets for Blue Man Group, waited for returns, but no luck; so down the street for a wonderful dinner at Time. A nice evening, despite the Blue Man disappointment.
1 August 1996 (still in New York) Very early dinner at Pasta d'Oro, then the opening of Four Saints, which was highly successful. Afterwards (the show only runs about an hour and a half), Nathan Wight and I went to see Cold Comfort Farm. We laughed and laughed and laughed.
28 January 2002 Another relatively light day at work. We had a Mice and Men notes session over which Cesca Zambello presided (the original director of this production, but she just came in for the final orchestra stagings). It is a well-known fact that Cesca hates prompters, and she tried her damndest to get rid of the prompter (me) in this production, but Patrick was adamant. So today, with her sitting but three feet away from me, I bellowed out cues in my most authoritative manner, revelling in the knowledge that I was annoying the crap out of her. I can be ornery. When the situation warrants it.
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