The Mornin' Rush

Its been awhile since I have had the pleasure of crowding myself onto a subway at 8am to join the rest of the miserable people on their way to work. However, this fine, unusually crisp August morning I drug myself back to NYC from my friend's apartment in NJ when he was on his way to work.

Now, many of you might be thinking, what a lazy person this guy Weston must be. Well, sometimes, yes. BUT, when you are rehearsing 6 hours a day and trying to memorize a recital and then at the same time working on upcoming auditions...its a full time job. Someday soon I'm sure I'll start doing that. I have been enjoying the fact that I'm usually called to 2 hrs of rehearsal every 4th day, and that I dont really need to start working on my recital for another week or so. So, yeah...I've been lazy...but a well deserved lazy!

So, yeah, back to the morning rush. My friend and I were talking about how people are just simply not happy. They ride the PATH train or the subway or both and sit/stand there staring at nothing. Silent. So, I found it quite humorous that my friend and I were laughing and talking during our commute this morning. People looked at us like we were weren't doing it right...like there is some set of rules when commuting. Here is how they would read:

Rules for the Morning Commute:
1. Stare straight ahead
2. No talking
3. Do not smile. Ever.
4. If someone does talk, look at them with a very rude look.

Thats pretty much it. Did I tell you that I'm sooooo happy that I live in Texas? heehee.

A Bite of the Big Apple...

Talk about jumping right in! I left the theater in Vienna, VA around midnight on Sunday early morning after an unfortunately short 2 performance run of Wolf Trap Opera Company's Le nozze di Figaro. I had a bite to eat at our favorite Greek diner and then had a short rest before taking my wife to airport. On 3.5 hrs of sleep I drove caravaning (is that how you spell that?) with another colleague up to new york. Upon arrival it was by the grace of God that a woman was leaving her parking spot right in front of my new home on 67th street! So, I got the "front row joe" parking spot and started moving in. Its at this point that I realize moving around really does suck. Ahhh, what we do for our art. Anyway, my buddy Jeff came over to help move things along and by the end of the day I was settled and moved in, groceries in the fridge. (which reminds me, I need more milk) END OF FIRST DAY.

(photo above is of Lincoln Center's New York State Theater, home of NYCO)

After an amazing night's sleep and then a GREAT shower. You see, the water pressure that I have lived with for the last 2 months has been possibly the worst water pressure EVER! Sometimes it would literally not even turn on at all. At best it was washing myself under a dribble. On the contrary here in NYC the water pressure is like being blown away by a jet engine that is connected to my shower head! Wooohooo! This was my first day at NYCO or New York City Opera! We had a meet/greet at 2 where we got to meet all the Administrators and stage managers and directors and so on that are involved with the production, and of course the other cast members. Then we had a music run-thru from 3-5:30 and then started staging that evening from 6-9! By the end of the first day, we had staged and even ran thru more than half of my role!

Today we ran thru the first few scenes that we had staged with the associate director for the head guy and he made a few changes and added some insight with the characters...great stuff. And then they released me for the rest of the day! Pretty cool stuff!

Tonight we are going to see Rigoletto at Central Park put on by the Metropolitan Opera. Should be good.

The End of an Era...

As we prepare for our departure here at Wolf Trap I have many different feelings. I can remember the first time that I auditioned for Kim. I sang for her in Chicago when I was a graduate student at Indiana University. I believe that was the fall of '99. I remember singing 3 arias for her. I started with the Count's aria, then she asked for Pierrot's tanzlied, and then she asked to hear Avant de quitter ces lieux. I remember thinking, "wow!" -- she must really like me. I even made the finals that year. But, alas, I was eventually passed over. The next year they even sent me the application...so, I'm thinking that I'm a shoe-in! This time I sang for Kim in Cincinnati. I dont remember much from that audition other than that I was rejected in the initial round.

I guess its these hardships that we as singers go through over the years, whether it be in the young artist phase, the education phase, or in the real world that make us who we are. I think that singers pretty much have to have skins that are as thick as my fake pleather / snake-skin looking jacket for act iii of Le nozze! But seriously, rejection is part of this business and makes us stronger for having been rejected! That being said, when I finally did get the golden ticket as it were, it made it all the sweeter! I'll never forget having lunch with the CEO of Wolf Trap last summer and having him tell us that there is something like a 2% acceptance rate for The Wolf Trap Opera Company. I think he said that Harvard University's is 9%! Its quite a special place, the trap.

So, as we wrap up our final performances at the Filene Center tonight and tomorrow night it will be an end of an era for me. Although many of the young artists at Wolf Trap this summer have participated in various other young artist type training programs, for many of us, this will be our last.

I began my young artist training more than 10 years ago. My first program was Opera in the Ozarks during the summer of '95. It was the first time that I had ever sung an opera with an orchestra! It was also the first time I had been around other singers that loved this as much as I did! For 3 months I was an opera singer. I was hooked! The next summer was Des Moines Metro Opera...I was actually getting PAID to be a singer! (granted it was like $125 every 2 weeks) LOL!~ The next year I spent an entire season as a resident artist with The National Opera Company singing leading and supporting roles in a touring company. Tres kuhl! Following summers included 2 seasons with The Santa Fe Opera, and then finally 2 seasons with The Wolf Trap Opera Company. I'm proud of my training and the work that I have been able to accomplish during these years. But, as of tomorrow night at 12am when the curtain closes (well, there really isnt a curtain) but...when we have sung our last "corriam tutti" it will be the close of what has been a significant chapter in my career.

There's nothing like making swift transitions...I start rehearsals for my New York City Opera debut on Monday!

The WORST movie ever!

To take a break from the tunes of Mozart, some of the cast and I went to the movies this evening. A certain MARCELLINA talked us into going to see Pulse. The WORST movie that exists. For cereal, y'all....this was a waste of money, time, brain cells, etc. It was a combination (in the worst way) of like 5 or 6 horror movies. I dont even want to waste any more time talking about this, so I wont.

Tomorrow we are headed into the theater at the Filene Center for Le Nozze di Figaro...should be interesting; first night teching the show. Woohoo! I'm also seriously digging in to Die tote Stadt tomorrow as rehearsals begin August 21. :-o (Thats one week from tomorrow!)

Wish me luck!

Back to school...

Ahhhh, to wake up to the sounds ofthe lawn being mowed. Its actually not THAT annoying. It reminds me of summer when summer was summer. What does that mean you might ask? Remember when you were in 4th or 5th, heck even 9th or 10th grade? Summer was freedom! Summer was swimming at the neighborhood pool and playing with friends and blowing up frogs with firecrackers. Ok, maybe not for everyone...but boys will be boys. Anyway, summer has now turned into work. I guess for those of you with "real" jobs, summer has always been work. Perhaps its that if I dont make any room for vacation, its work work work all the time, and thats what it has been since January. I need a vacation!

I think its interesting what happens in peoples thoughts. For example...I just spent 5 minutes thinking about what shower I should shower in. There is one that is downstairs in the basement. It has 3 shower heads! Pretty cool, right? Well, it also heats up quickly. The shower in my bathroom has crappy water pressure and takes forrever to heat up. Ok, so...maybe its not THAT interesting...but, random nonetheless. I had a dream last night that I was shopping for an exercise bike for my wife and that the car broke down and one of my best friends yelled at me on the phone that he was not going to come pick me up! Weird, huh?

Well, the summer is winding down...and I guess for those 5th graders and 10th and 11th graders and everyone else thats still in school its time to head back to class. Even thats fun though....remember how excited we all used to get to go pick up the school supplies for elementary school? Then there is the first day back where everyone catches up and everything starts fresh and new. Fun times.

Day of rest? ...not in this business!

Me and Javier Abreu as Count Almaviva and Don Curzio in the Act iii sextet (photo by Kim Witman)

So, here we are on a Sunday with 5 hrs of rehearsal staring us in the face. I guess this factoid of opera world trivia is for the family reading my blog...but, yeah, we dont get weekends off. In fact, here at the "Trap" we get 1 day off each week, which may or may not be on a weekend. Our day off was yesterday, which we spent driving all over the northern VA / MD area. :o)

Today I woke up at 10:30am (didnt get to sleep until 2 or so) and got to have some quality time on the phone with my lady, which was very nice. Because I miss her and our 2 boys very very much. (when I say boys, I mean our 2 kitties) Now its noon and I have 4 hrs until rehearsal. My plan is to get breakfast/lunch, memorize the 2nd half of the act iv finale, and then review acts ii and iii. Hmmm, can it be done in 4 hrs? I hope so!

Have a great day! ...and thanks for stopping by.

Winner...and still Champion!

I seem to remember this quote in a newspaper article about me after I won the Dallas Opera Competition...but, alas, this is not what brings joy to me this evening. I have come back as the underdog, with one hand nonetheless, to defeat not only an Italian earlier in the day in the Maryland State PING PONG Invitational (ok we were invited to have dinner in Maryland with our Italian language coach...but, I did beat her son at ping pong...and his dad at one time was in a ping pong club...so, need i say more?) , but THE Ryan McKinny on my home court under the brite lights tonight!

So...it seems that opera singers do have other things on their plates besides the opera staring at them in the face. Speaking of, we open in less than 2 weeks. Wow. We are getting there, but, we havent even begun to stage act iv yet! I'm just a little nervous...maybe its because I also havent memorized act iv yet! :-O. Oh well, it will come. It always does.

Now we get to the ever-so-witty title of my blog. Juggling is tricky...and with one hand, well, its even trickier! Is that a word? I think it is. Oh well, you get the idea. So, yeah...while we are staging and learning/memorizing Le nozze di Figaro, I must also get started on Die tote Stadt...which is an entirely different opera in German. I start rehearsals for this opera on the 21st of August, just one day after I finish my contract here at Wolf Trap. Thus, the juggling act begins! I'm getting used to it from my insane schedule this past spring. I think that in the future I'd like to have less gigs that paid more rather than many gigs that pay ok. Makes sense to me! But, for now I'll be studying German and performing Italian for the next 2 weeks.

Speaking of...I hear Frank calling my name. Thats the role I'll be making my debut at New York City Opera in Die tote Stadt in September! (I'm pretty excited!)

Tschus!

Its hot in Virginia. I know that this tends to happen every year (the weather heats up), or at least during the summer months...but, wow. Its warm.

So, this is my first posting in my newfound blogging world. I guess that its appropriate that its 2:15am. What better to do when you cant sleep then try to come up with witty and interesting things to write about. Well, perhaps my blog will be different! I'll write about things that people will think are boring and not witty. Is there a word for that? Hmmm. Probably a bad idea...being that the idea of this thing is to somewhat entertain the people who are reading this.

So...to entertain. Isn't that what we as singers do all the time? Quite frankly, I'm getting sick of trying to always make people happy. It seems that we have this idea or quest to please people so far deeply routed in our brains that we cant even stand up for ourselves! I'll explain. I was recently singing with orchestra X (ok, it was The National Symphony but I'm really not bragging - heehee) Well, after the dress rehearsal some guy that I dont even know comes up to me and says, "Were you marking during that rehearsal...because there were some parts that I couldnt even hear you at all." What was MY reaction? Something like, "Oh, yes, because the rehearsal was so early in the morning I was indeed marking so that I wouldnt tire myself out for the performance tonight" (We had the dress reh the day of the performance) -- WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING? What I should have said was, "I'm sorry...did I ask what you thought? Leave me the hell alone, and when I want your opinion, I'll ask you for it, ya old @$#^" But, alas...that came to me many hours later.

I promise, I really am a nice guy, its just that when complete strangers start giving you advice about your profession I think that they should perhaps deserve similar treatment! Ok, enough ranting and raving. I'm off to try to sleep.