oper (no i didn't forget the a, that's the German word for opera)

It wasn't much of a weekend, since I subbed in Palatine all day Saturday and had my usual church gig on Sunday, but I did manage to have a few fun outings. Friday night my friend Julia invited me to see a show at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. It was a new production of Stephen Sondheim's Passion, his latest composed musical to date (1994), and one with which I was not familiar. Ana Gasteyer played the main role, with various Chicago actors in the suppporting roles. The best part was that it was in their smaller, "upstairs theater", so a very small, intimate setting (and one in which I could bring my beer into the theater, albeit in a coffee to-go cup). I found the story rather odd, but Sondheim's music is always a treat to hear, and the staging was really interesting. Plus the show opened with a topless sex scene, so there's that. I love free tickets to shows, and it had been awhile since I'd been to a live performance. Enjoyable experience had by all! My next live performance will be day after tomorrow when Nick and I have our first opera date of the year -- La Boheme!!! We splurged on season tickets this year, and we are seeing five operas, the first of which is Puccini's masterpiece. I'm trying to remember if I saw it in Vienna, and for the life of me, I can't. I saw so many operas there, only the most phenomenal ones stand out in my mind (I mean, they were all terrific, but some really blew me away, namely this insane production of Roberto Devereux that was much like watching a psychological thriller). Of course, the opera world is rocking with the news of Angela Gheorgiu's firing. Truthfully, I'm sad I won't get to hear her, as I've purchased some of her albums in the past and have admired her singing for some time now. However, her behavior sounds deplorable; truly unprofessional and disrespectful of her colleagues and everyone else who worked their asses off for her benefit. It's good that the opera world doesn't let these people get away with these things. But, as long as there is opera, there will be divas, and as long as there are divas, there will be outlandish behavior. It's the name of the game.
In the world of this diva...I had a fantastic voice lesson today, and I'm feeling more confident about the upcoming auditions. I booked my flight to NYC for the late October audition, and I'm extremely excited. The only fun part about auditioning out of town is visiting with my long lost DePauw friends! They started migrating to New York during the past couple of years, and I'm lucky if I see them once or twice a year. So I will hopefully be drinking and carousing in the Big Apple with Robert and Andrea and Amanda after a successful audition! I'm still waiting to hear from most of my other YAPs. I got an audition with Santa Fe, but I think I'm going to have to cancel it due to out-of-town obligations that weekend. Not that I had a shot in hell at that one anyway. We'll see. Kein Stress, kein Stress.