Pink Flamingos - Beauty on the Stage

The past two months have been very busy for me! I have been working very hard in staging rehearsals for two different operas that I am currently singing in. I am a hardworking chorus girl in a young opera company in Boston called Odyssey Opera. Last year, I was very excited to be in the chorus of their last fully staged production and this year I am so honored to be back and singing in two productions! The first, Vaughn Williams', Sir John in Love tells the story of Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor and it's hysterical.

In addition to Sir John, we are also performing Arthur Sullivan (without Gilbert!)'s very charming operetta; The Zoo. It's a pair of classic love stories with constant running commentary from the "British Public". Being that there are no actual animals in the show, the producers have decided that the chorus should be elaborately costumed as members of Victorian British society, but as caricatures of zoo animals. I happen to be cast as Miss Flamingo - she's very pink! And I am so happy to have the opportunity to wear some beautiful pink and fuchsia lip color to go with her gorgeous pink feathers.  I have mixed Bite Beauty's Quince with Palomino. I think the effect is terrific! Bite Beauty is in the opera! She also gets a gorgeous pink flush from Nars Starscape blush - a limited edition neon pink from their Christopher Kane Collection. It looks scary in the pan but it's the perfect flush!!! Get it while you can! 

Letting Go

Every person who spends over a decade perfecting an art has a dream. Whether or not they want to admit it, every painter, every writer, every singer, every dancer and every actor would love to spend all day at their craft and be handsomely rewarded for it. If you have ever watched a talent show, such as The Voice, America's Got Talent or American Idol, you have seen the amount of talent in the world that is unrewarded. Only a select few can really put food on their table solely through the money earned through their art. This is a reality we all know at the core of our hearts, but few of us want to admit.

During the past 6 years that I've been singing professionally after having not sung at all for 7 years, I've been through a lot of transformations. There was a time when I didn't think I was worthy of getting paid for singing and that I should give it up and never open my mouth again. I started to get hired for things...little things and actual good things with great ensembles and big names. I got good reviews. Over the past 16 months, I've felt really great about the work I've done vocally. I am a professional singer and I can say with confidence, that I'm not bad. I'm actually quite good and I'm proud at what I've accomplished.

That being said, I'm all over the place. I have spread myself so thin with all of my hobbies and pursuits that I have not been able to put 100% of my effort into any one thing. I'm teaching here, I'm singing there, I'm organizing here, I'm selling there. Aside from work, there are all of those other things in life like eating, being a friend, love, living and basically trying to enjoy your life. Some people are content to be a Starving Artist. I have decided about three weeks ago, that I am not one of those people.

I want to be able to buy frivolous items, go on vacations and go out to fancy dinners more than I want to excel at my art...and that's okay.

At one point in my life, I may have looked at this crossroads as one path being failure and the other path being a valiant artist, but I really don't think that it is either of those things. There is no failure in wanting to live a certain lifestyle and making sacrifices to get there, as much as there isn't necessarily valor in eating ramen noodles every night and working 6 different jobs so that you can go on thousands of auditions. They are simply paths to be taken. There is neither shame or valor in either one.

Over the last few weeks, I have been struggling with the realization that I cannot "Live The Dream" anymore. I have been grieving as though someone close to me had passed away. I am spending a lot of time struggling financially, going to job to job and losing track of my schedule. I lead an interesting and fascinating life and it is so satisfying and amazing when someone hands me a check for singing. It's actually unbelievable to me. But it is no longer enough for me. Giving up music as a "career" is not a failure when you haven't actually failed. The failure would have been all of those years spent at my office job, passing the time, wondering if I had any talent at all. That would have been the ultimate failure.

Letting go has been one of the hardest things I've ever done. And letting go doesn't mean abandoning my art. In fact, I am more in love with music than ever. I've done great work. I am still a very hire-able soprano. I still am working to perfect my technique. I will still audition. But it is not going to be my primary career, and I'm okay with that. Letting go has made it possible for me to sing more freely. I am not critical of every single sound that leaves my throat, I'm grateful I'm able to produce it. I still have gigs to do and recitals to program, but not depending on these things for my income is freeing. To have music in my life be the sweet dessert instead of being the entree makes singing all the more delicious.

My life has been such an adventure. Here's where one chapter ends, but let's turn the page. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Catching up!

Remember me!? I'm so sorry for being so behind on posting! Thanks for hanging in there, ladies! Needless to say, there's a lot to catch up on. But first...here's an outfit!

Blouse: Anthropologie Vanilla Bean Blouse 2010, Jeans: JCrew

I wore this to my friend's Madrigals and Beverages Party, which is just as nerdy as it sounds. Bunch of musicians get together, drink wine and sight-read four part Renaissance English Madrigals together. Don't judge, it was hella fun. This was pre- Helios Early Opera rehearsal process time. We put on a GREAT show in January! David et Jonathas was a success for this young opera company.

Cast photo - Photobombed by our Stage Director!!

The Boston Pheonix really liked us! I actually met Mr. Schwartz in the line last weekend to see another opera. He was super nice! I was so honored to be a part of such a neat production with a wildly talented cast. Unlike the last opera I was in, I sang A LOT. Unfortunately, the second day of Tech Week, I was stricken with norovirus. We opened 4 days later and I was okay to perform then, but I really have not been right since. Which leads me to...

...why I've been away. I've been pretty sick. Since getting sick last month, I never really recovered all the way. I lost nearly 18 pounds from my appetite being next to nothing. I was just under 110lbs to begin with, so you can imagine how thin I've gotten. So, I have not been motivated to photograph myself, understandably.  I am scheduled to see a gastroenterologist next week to hopefully get some answers, but that's a long story short. So, THAT'S why I've been away from my blog, quite frankly. I've wanted to go to Anthro and do some reviews for you, but sadly, nothing will fit appropriately right now and I'm afraid the reviews won't be very helpful. Until I get back to a healthy weight, I probably won't be posting any reviews. I may find the courage to post some OOTDs if I feel like I don't look too unhealthy.

I've been keeping up with all of you ladies in the bloggyland! Loving some of the new Anthro Dresses! Especially...

Burgeoning Hypericum Dress

OH...I die. Yes, it's the same shape Girls from Savoy tends to go for, but the pattern is...like, whoa. I need this dress in my life. This may be a rare full-price purchase. Which new arrivals are your faves this season?

Where I've been hiding...

Dear readers...thanks for hanging in there while I've been not blogging. I have not forgotten about you! I have been sort of keeping up with the community but I've mainly been busy with rehearsals. I've been very heavily involved in an opera that was put on by Harvard Early Music Society. I had been cast as a fury in Cavalli's La Calisto. It's a nice opera, but being a baroque opera, it also had dance. I have a dance background, so I decided that it would be totally fun and interesting to learn some baroque dance steps! Well, I'll tell you what, it's been very challenging! I didn't think I would ever get all the steps right, but by the end of the run,  I danced some nearly perfect dances!

I had about 4 costume changes, which was insane to me. I was a dancing Nymph, a dancing Bear (yes...a bear), a singing Fury and a singing Celestial Body. Yeah...a smorgasbord of good silly times! I managed to sneak my Anthro High Prairie Belt into my Nymph Costume :)

Rehearsals were exhausting and my friend and fellow soprano (and fellow Anthro Addict) ended up on the Clover Food Lab Blog because we were so obsessed with their Rosemary Fries (how can you not be obsessed!? Hello! Rosemary Fries!!!!). When you walk in and order them, they scream; "FRY DOWN!!!", so we officially started referring to them as "Fry Down" from that point on. As you can see...I'm sporting my Blooming Lattice Cardigan :)

Between my crazy rehearsal schedule and my start up project (more news later!), there has been no time (or funds) for Anthro. I have purposely not gone onto the website to keep from lusting at what I can't have, but I think I should be able to afford some new pretties soon! Until then, I'll start posting outfits again! Glad to be back and thanks again for hanging in there!

Tuesday Night at the Opera: OOTD

Today was totally awesome. I started out the day with a HUGE cup of coffee from Dunkin Donuts. I don't normally buy coffee (my coffee maker gets a LOT of work. It's MUCH cheaper), but I was out this morning and it was my day off so I decided to treat myself. I played Rune Factory Frontier all day and then decided since it was the closing night of Cardillac at Opera Boston...I would treat myself to that as well! My hubby teaches a college course on Tuesday nights, so I was home alone anyway.

It was SO EXCELLENT! It was a three-act opera by Paul Hindemith and there were no intermissions, but none were needed - it was riveting. Check out the libretto, as you can see it's a very dark-themed story. I was so happy I randomly decided to take my lazy butt down to the Theater District!

The Karelia Coat was screaming; "You're going to the opera?! You have to wear me!". So, I did. It's 31º tonight and I was surprisingly not freezing in this as my coat. I wore elbow length gloves and a scarf underneath since I had to walk a half a mile to train. I was pretty comfortable and feeling sassy.

Coat: Anthropologie Karelia Coat

Dress: Anthropologie Peggy Sue Dress

Cardi: Anthropologie Moth Cardi (thrifted)

Shoes: Anthropologie Glad Rags T-Staps

Scarf: J Crew (2008)

It's a color bonanza!!!! I felt fab in this dress! It's the first time I have worn both of these pieces and the shoes. I walked a half a mile in those shoes! It wasn't bad (although, it wasn't great either).

I also got a love note from Anthropologie saying they had gotten a lot of new pieces in for spring and to come in and make an appointment with the personal shopper. I thought this was a really nice touch for such a big store since it was a handwritten note. I feel bad though, because I really don't have the cash to spend on full price stuff right now because I'm spending most of my money on lessons and coachings. We'll see how solid my resolve is when markdowns happen this week! I am getting a few good gigs, so I'll have a little extra cash soon :)

Good night ladies!

A Tough Couple of Days and OOTD

Happy Saturday, Ladies! I hope everyone is taking it easy today. Thank you so much for your thoughts on my audition outfit choices! It helped a lot!

Well, I have some weird news for you guys. So, after my post on Thursday morning, I was on my way to work and whilst I was in unfortunately involved in an auto accident! There was a State Trooper (quite luckily) on the scene and I didn't even have to deal with the other driver (who was cited). I wasn't hurt really, but my back and neck are a little sore from suddenly tensing up and probably from the impact (my car was struck on the rear side and it spun around, scary!!!). It's the first time that I've been in an accident and I was super shaken up. For some reason, I had the brilliant idea to keep on going to work (I was almost there anyway) and I didn't really have time to emotionally react. I spent 6 hours at work just, yanno...working and then my poor back started to hurt. I'm feeling better today.

I still had to audition for Super Amazing Conductor™ yesterday afternoon. It was kind of hard for me to keep focused since I was super traumatized by...oh, I dunno...being in a freaking car crash! But, I woke up yesterday and sounded decent, so I was ready to go and YES, I did wear the gray Dreamy Drape dress with the Foxy Tights! They looked so good together and that dress is just so soft, it almost makes you feel like you have nothing on, which is cool and creepy at the same time. I was feeling so good!!!! It was kind of rainy and windy but it was HOT! I got to the venue on time and I was ready to go and here's what they had asked me to prepare:

• 2 Arias from the BAROQUE repertoire, at least one of which is in English
• sight reading

Sweet! I was ready! When I singing my first aria, I suddenly became super nervous, but it manifested itself in my left leg shaking out of control! How embarrassing!  Regardless, I thought I sang well. My second aria wasn't as good, but it was decent. At that point, I was given some advice and was told; "Thank you." NO SIGHT-READING. Even though, I could see some stuff on a music stand right to my left.

I made the assumption that this meant, it wasn't even worth their time to see how well I sightread and I proceeded to have a full-on, emotional, opera-diva breakdown. I kept my composure until I was outside the building and then I let loose! I cried in front of the building, I cried on the train on the way home, I cried in the street and I cried back at my apartment! I think I had a delayed reaction from the car accident or maybe I had some pent-up frustration, but let me tell you ladies, I was inconsolable for about 3 hours.

After I got back to reality, I saw more clearly. As a musician or any performing artist, you never know WHAT to takeaway from an audition, until you get the results about the gig. The ones you think you rocked, you don't get the gig and they never want to hear you again and the ones you feel like were kind of sucky, you get the gig. You cannot predict whether or not you get hired from what you experience at the audition because it's a weird situation. I definitely over-reacted. I will patiently wait for either a "Thank you, but no" letter or a contract. Either way, it's not the end of the world. This was my first full on Diva Breakdown™. I think I'm fully inducted into my field now...wearing Anthro and all.

Anyway, I needed to be with my best friends last night, so I went to my good friend's performance and afterward, we went to dinner and cocktails! I of course was wearing Anthro! Here's what a post-breakdown, post-car crash, Anthropologie addict looks like at midnight!

Anthro: Dagmar Shirtdress, Anthro: High Prairie Belt (The Black colorway has quietly disappeared from the wesbite?), Nine West Boots (old)

Boo, there's some smooge on the camera lens. I LOVE the Dagmar Shirtdress! It's so flattering and the pattern is so bold and feminine at the same time. It was fine for this cool autumn evening and I got lots of compliments on it! I hope to get some Anthro therapy today and I'll be back with some reviews! I hope you all are having a great and safe weekend!!!

Help me choose an outfit, please!

Hi Ladies! I have a big, big, big audition tomorrow afternoon and as well as sounding totally hot, I need to look cute too so that I "make an impression". Here are some ideas I had for outfits with things I already had. Which one do you like the best? It's going to be rainy and cruddy tomorrow, but I guess I don't care.

 

 

 

I'm leaning towards the Dreamy Drape outfit. The dress is so elegant, but the Foxy Tights would be a fun touch! What do you guys think?! I'm so stressed!!!

A Botanical Stroll at WaterFire!

Good evening readers! Okay...let me begin with the fact that I was so excited to wear the Botanical Stroll Dress to my gig tonight. Every year, Opera Providence invites 30 or so opera singers to sing at WaterFire in Providence, RI. All of the singers spread out in groups of two and sing opera arias to canned accompaniment, lit by one or two torchbearers (people holding a lit torch). This is my 3rd year doing it since being involved in Opera Providence's production of Treemonisha a few years ago. Of course, I was wearing Anthro! I got a Botanical Stroll Dress for a steal ($66 due to slight damage to the left strap).

Anthro: Botanical Stroll Dress ($89.99 on sale)
Anthro: Necklace ($9.99 on sale!)
JCrew: Scarf

I HATE looking at photos of me while I'm singing, I find them quite unflattering, but this is the only photo of the dress and this photo was snapped seconds before an ember from one of the torches flew into my hair!!!!! This happened RIGHT at the beginning of the aria ("Ach, ich Fuhl's - Mozart).

The other torchbearer saw it, and snuffed it out by patting my head and saying; "Oh my God, I'm sorry..."

WHAT?!?! How was I supposed to know that ALL MY HAIR didn't just burn off!? I smelled the familiar smell of hair burning and I was horrified. WHAT IF ALL MY HAIR HAD JUST BURNED OFF?!?!?

So, I'm singing this beautiful Mozart aria, whilst thinking: "Will I need to get extensions? Will I need to cut it all off to make a cute short style until it all grows out? Are all these people looking at me and feeling bad because I'm now bald?!?!"

5 minutes of Mozart and horrified thoughts. TORTURE.

Quite luckily, nothing had really happened to my hair except a slight singe. I don't think I've ever been so relieved in my life...or so afraid of a torch. But at least I looked cute. I received many compliments on the Botanical Stroll Dress and rocked it out at the concert this year! I wonder which Anthro dress I'll work next year!?