More AIDA

Just got back from another AIDA staging rehearsal. Well after waiting almost 2 hours, the supers finally got to run-thru the 'Triumphant March' and we changed a bit of the ending. But most importantly during the wait, I got to talk to some of the other supers and some of the women chorus. I think that's the best thing out of this experience, because the work is kinda boring. I love getting to meet new people and reuniting with old friends as well.

I just saw my old coworker, Chuck Winkler, who got me the church job at Holy Rosary. I haven't seen him since he left the bank a couple years ago. He now works at the opera and looks like he is doing well. He is also in the chorus. Talking to him now makes me more anxious to leave the bank. I need to get this thing going for me to leave here in October.

Back to AIDA

I finally went to my first super rehearsal after the first meeting this past Tuesday. I was a little nervous to go back after missing about 4 rehearsals. Well, until I actually got put in. They luckily decided to 'tweak' the staging, and it was simple anyway. After running the new staging a few times, they added the dancers.

The next day we had the first rehearsal with the chorus, dancers and kids and some of the leads. Wow! What a lot of people. I saw the 2 guys that I sing in church with, my friend Gary Navy, and also Carolina Botero, who I did Fiorello! with this past September. Also Nick who I did 'Whorehouse' with last year.

We ran the 'Triumphant March' a couple times and then did the "Ethiopian capture" scene where we have the whitest Ethiopians you've ever seen. Yes, there are a couple of black men and women. But the majority is white.

After those 2 rehearsals, I had second thoughts about auditioning for the HGO chorus. I think it would be great money, but it seemed like a step back because it's even less to do than a chorus of a musical. I think it's still harder to get into than most theatre stuff.

Don Giovanni 2nd Opening

We opened tonight with the Ruby cast. I like all the leads except Don Giovanni. His voice is a bit thin for the role. The guy in the other cast has the voice I would expect from a Don Giovanni. No major screw ups. I learned how to get out of there faster. After setting the table before the 'feast' scene, I take off my peasant shirt and vest, put on my black t-shirt, remove the make up and then head to do the 'voices from hell' part. I was outta there before 11pm.

Don Giovanni Opening

Yay! We finally opened last night. Everything went very well. When I got there, I found out that they cut the dry ice. Thank God! Although, a very cool effect, it the 'fog' never really made it to the stage. It's still a long opera and the chorus hardly does anything. It's all about the leads who are great.

I'm looking forward to getting back to rehearsals for Aida on Sunday. I hope they still remember that I'm in the show.

tick, tick....Boom

I got offered ticket to see this last night. I invited my friend, Kevin, but he had a brush-up rehearsal for Godspell. Loved the show. All 3 actors were great. I had heard bits of songs and seen some video of the original cast off-broadway. So it was nice to see the entire show. I think my favorite moment was the song "Jon" sang about growing up and his friendship with "Michael", practicing music and rehearsing a show and this is what he would want to do all the time. I could truly relate to that.

I remember Kevin saying that I would be good for a role in the show and I'm guessing it's "Michael". He was an actor and took a corporate job because he didn't think he was good enough. I would love to see the show again later in the run.

Two Orchestra Dress Rehearsals

Ok, besides not having A/C on Monday, the Emerald Orchestra dress went well. I got a new duty of using dry ice to have a fog effect onstage. That brings us to last night's rehearsal where me and another guy actually tried doing this. It consisted of getting this pot of boiling water from the kitchen in the basement and pouring it over a pan of dry ice. Well...long story short...there was fog, but it never made it to the stage.

Also, we were so disoriented with that new duty that me and the other guy did not make the set change immediately afterwards. No biggie. Well, unless you talk to the two leads who had a fit about it. All I will say is...chill out! I'm not going to stress out over something at a dress rehearsal that can easily be fixed, but they ranted on like we didn't have a clue. I could tell the other leads were about as annoyed as we were. There are better things to get hyper over than that.

Don Giovanni - 2nd Piano Dress

Ok, well this morning at my church gig, I was a bit stressed because I got there at 9am and no one was there. Fortunately, one of the guys showed up a few minutes later and 2 more guys came in after that. Whew! Everything went well, we didn't have to process in and out - so that was a relief. Afterwards, I went to Tropioca to surf the internet a bit.

I was getting really sleepy, so I decided to head home and take a nap before rehearsal at 5pm. I woke up at 4:36pm, and barely realizing that I needed to leave ASAP. Luckily, I got there almost on time and put my costume on just in time to enter onstage to pick up the dead body. Oh, sorry, I also have to enter and act surprised and act while the soprano and tenor are singing something I have no clue. Then we pick up the dead body. '

Everything went well, and one of the women asked me to take her spot in lifting up the chair during the one and only full chorus number in the show. I'm guessing she just didn't want to lift it...cause it was actual work. When I was lifting the chair, I noticed that the women didn't really lift it as just doing the motion of lifting - while me and the other guy took the brunt of the weight. Ah well.

It's still a long opera. I got to sit in the house to see parts of it because I will not get to see any of it during performances. We have the Emerald cast's orchestra dress on Monday, then the Ruby cast's on Tuesday. Then we take a day off on Wednesday and then Emerald opens on Thursday. Yeah, this is so much different than theatre. I would never think of taking a day off before opening. Most theatre's are still painting sets and choreographing numbers on opening day. But it's kinda nice actually. We get a day off before opening in Aida at HGO too.

Godspell/Don Giovanni - Piano Dress

Well, I saw etc's production of Godspell and it was very well done. My friend Kevin and Penny were in the show and they did a great job as always. Kevin's voice has much improved since I first met him. He has quit smoking and that has helped a lot. And Penny's singing is so great. She has more confidence and it shows. I always knew she had it in her. Oh and of course, my friend Kelley was great as usual.

I got to see them before and after the show and during intermission. I talked to Kevin and rubbed beards. This is the first time he's grown out his beard. After the show, I saw him again and the subject of moving to NYC came up. I told him that I was planning to do it later this year and he said that he wanted to go to! That would be so great to go up with someone. Cool, maybe this plan will all come together!

I stayed the night at my parents while my mom spent the night at my dad's hospital room. I visited them the next morning before my Don Giovanni rehearsal. My dad is doing great. They were just waiting on getting released from the hospital. I guess it takes a while to do that. He was all dressed and everything. I left there went to the gym and then headed to rehearsal.

I got caught in traffic and was a few minutes late, but luckily they started late and the chorus did not have to get into costume for this run. Ok, this opera is very long and the chorus does very little. The leads do all the work and both casts are doing a great job. And even better - it's a nice bunch of people. I just say it's because they have more baritones and basses more than tenors. But actually, the two tenors are very personable.

We had a pot luck dinner after this run. The food was provided by the Guild. Of course as is the tradition, the cast and crew introduced themselves and had to answer a question. This time, the question was. What is your greatest desire? The first person answered it as a joke - so that was the tone of most of the answers to follow. My answer was " my greatest desire is to finding ways to keep it interesting backstage for 2 1/2 hours with the rest of the chorus" or something to that effect.

First AIDA Super Rehearsal

So, yesterday was my first super rehearsal. First thing was a costume and wig fitting at 7pm and I was dreading it so much. Ugh! At least I have a couple weeks to lean down more. Next was a staging rehearsal at 8:30pm - so I had a LOT of time in between. Especially because the ID machine was broken - so none of the supers could get their ID badge processed yesterday. So, back I went up to the break room on the 6th floor. I befriended a fellow super, Aaron, who is a chemist and his wife is a HGO chorus member. He has never done anything, but his wife convinced him to do it and it gives them more time together.

Also, met Bryan, a sales manager from Cypress. We had a lot of time to get to know each other and chat before we were called in at 8:30. I think I've seen some of these people before like Daniel Padilla. I hung around him and Aaron because we had similar body types and height. Well, first thing we did was sit in around in a circle and introduce ourselves to the director, Jo Davies, and the choreographer. Then they had all the men stand in a line so they could pick who was going to be carrying the lead tenor on the "elephant".

They decided to go with the tall guys. Whew! Although, after it was all set up, it wouldn't have been that hard anyway. Sometimes, it pays to be short! Then they picked 4 guys for guards and then more guys and a couple women for banner carriers. I didn't get any, just a Thiopian (?) who turns into an Ethiopian slave during the grand parade. That's ok, because since I'm going to have to miss the next 4 rehearsals, it might be better to not have too much to do anyway.

I had a bit of a scare this morning, when my sister called me to say my dad had a heart attack. After calling my mom, my sister called again and told me that he was ok and it was NOT a heart attack. Thank God!

Another Day Off!

Well, I was going to rehearsal for Don Giovanni tonight, but I noticed a missed call from the stage manager. Well, because of all the rain, some people are flooded out and can't make it to rehearsal. So, we'll have a rehearsal tomorrow. We already had Tuesday off and now another.

But I am not at that rehearsal tomorrow because I will be getting a costume fitting and first staging rehearsal as a super in Verdi's Aida. I'm kinda excited to start this.

More Don Giovanni Rehearsal

We had more staging rehearsal for the last couple days. There were just some ensemble scenes that needed more focus on and tweaking. By the way, I was appointed dance captain by the director for the minuet scene for the chorus. Also, I now have to do the chair lift during the 'jolly chorus number' early in Act one. The guy that usually does it is not going to be back until Thursday - so I was just filling in for him at rehearsal. Well, I have since taken his spot since I'm there and he won't be there for 3 rehearsals.

We have tonight off. Yay! Because we only have one Leporello, since the other guy got fired on the first day for not knowing his music. It's nice that some ensemble members are eager to act as extras in scenes. Some avoid it like the plague. I guess I'm somewhere in between - but it does make the scenes more interesting - especially for an opera.

AIDA and Voice Lesson

Well, I finally went by Houston Grand Opera yesterday and had my informal meeting with the rehearsal coordinator. I pretty much was already cast, but I guess this was a formality. She even told me my contract was in the mail (and I got it last night as well). I wasn't really sure what to expect because I knew they were looking for fit guys and I just feel soooooo out of shape right now. I haven't been keeping up with my cardio or my diet. But it was fine, I didn't have to go shirtless or anything. I'm guessing they will have to make due with what they have at the time.

I got a tour of the rehearsal space (which I remember from auditions and rehearsal for Alice in Wonderland years ago. And that was it. Afterwards, I drove down to my voice teacher's place in Friendswood. First thing she wanted me to do was to give her all my contact info. I guess she wants to get more organized with that. Then we went over my music for Don Giovanni which I needed help with the Italian text. We then worked on one of my audition pieces for HGO in May. Everytime it gets better and better and the high notes come out with ease now. We just have to get it consistent now.

Afterwards, her brood and I sat around a fire her husband made in the back patio. Was very nice. I told her of my plans to move to NYC and she is all for it!

Back to Opera-land

Ok, well I tried to post something the other day, but I couldn't submit it and so now that's off to cyberland. We had a staging rehearsal of Act 2 of Don Giovanni on Monday for the "Angry Mob" scene. Yay! Since I've worked with the director before in Fiorello!, she puts me in most of the scenes. Last night, we staged the picking up the dead body of Commendatore. The guy is tall - so we have 4 guys picking him up. It only took a few minutes to figure it out and do it a couple times and then we were done.

Austin Vernon is assistant stage managing and also a super for this one and he is one of the guys picking up the dead body. After rehearsal, I went straight to the gym and did about 40 minutes of cardio in preparation for AIDA at HGO. I then woke up this morning and did 40 more minutes before work. I'm meeting with the rehearsal coodinator, Cindy Jones, later today for my informal meeting. I'm not feeling very in shape right now and hopefully that won't hurt my chances. But since she is desperate for men, I might get by.

Oh, and I did get in contact with my voice teacher. Have a lesson tonight!

Opened and Closed Side Show this weekend

It was a long Saturday afternoon, but we had two great performances of Side Show this weekend. Everything just gelled as it usually does in theatre. The audiences loved the show. I can't wait for the rehearsal for the full production on June 18th. I'm getting the power back in my voice. I've been trying to get in contact with my voice teacher, but have been unsuccessful.

After today's show, I said hi to friends in the audience and then went straight to a staging rehearsal for Don Giovanni for Opera in the Heights. I got there late, but just in time to be put in a couple scenes. And I'm also a minuet-er. One of the peasants who does a dance in one scene late in Act One. I haven't learned the ensemble numbers yet...hopefully I will get the music soon.

03/01/07 Two Days Before We Open

We now have a new musical director as of last night. And guess what? I know him. He was the musical director for the Galveston Island Outdoor Musicals, Art Yelton. I saw his name as musical director for the Bayou City Concert Musical Benefit. He's great! Such a classy guy and so infomative with theatre and music.

We had a run thru last night and getting Art up to speed. Overall, the director was pleased, but we do have things to work on - of course. We had a couple people invited to see the rough run-thru, Jimmy Phillips, who I just finished doing Urinetown with and Roy Hamlin of Theatre Under the Stars. Jimmy left after the first act (probably because he has to wake up early to teach school), but Roy stayed and enjoyed it. He told me later (as he was trying to find his car afterwards), that he thought the show was well cast.

Tonight we are fixing the problems from last night and running the show again. Whew! Glad things worked out. It's sad that our first musical director had to go - but I understand the circumstances for her not coming back.