Postcards!

So the big plan for today was to mail the seven postcards I bought (I couldn't just pick one!) so I had to go to the post office, which luckily I ran across yesterday.  There was one woman in line who basically said that the Canadian post is a waste and was a little rude to the attendant haha, but then I got up and said "well I need seven stamps" and so she's like "okay that'll be 6 dollars" uhm WHAT!!! Stamps are 1.03 EACH in Canada...wtf!! So expensive! But I sucked it up and sent out the postcards.

Afterward I went to the campus to practice a bit of Cherubino and then go to a rehearsal for a work-through of the Epilogue where I get to say my FABULOUS one line which is "Hoffmann? Endormi?" and I get to be fabulous, and I will get to wear a big fancy hat.  But it was a fun time and watching the final scene between Nicklause and Hoffmann is always a treat.

Then I went back to the dorm to rest for a little bit before walking back to the campus for a masterclass taught by Nina Scott-Stoddart and Tara Scott (the director and music director for Hoffmann).  The selections done were:

In uomini in soldati - Cosi Fan Tutte
Miei rampolli femminini - La Cenerentola
My Heart Leaps Up with Joy - Albert Herring
Piangero la sorte mia - Giulio Cesare
Que fais-tu blanche tourterelle - Romeo et Juliette
Porgi amor - Le Nozze di Figaro
Nothing More Than This - Candide

This workshop really helped the singers a lot ESPECIALLY with character development and making their characters read better on stage.  Some good points brought up were things like, what is your character?  This really helped with the Rossini because the old man needs to read on stage that it is a funny song and by having intense emotional changes it reads better on stage, and it's Rossini...go big or go home!  It also can help to change the emotional context entirely.  When they worked on "in uomini" it really helped to go from violently angry at the beginning to sexy at the end, even though the "violently angry" may not work in the context of the show, it's a great way to experiment with the piece and loosen up a bit (which will only make the piece easier to sing!).

All and all a good day but I'm still recovering from yesterdays expedition which means I will (hopefully) sleep like a baby tonight.  Tomorrow we'll work through Act 1 and start working through Act 2 and then there with be a masterclass with Tony Radford.

Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the most screwed up things with.

Not sure...but these girls live with me so they certainly see me doing more screwed up things than those who don't live with me.