New things a comin'...

Today New York City had a snow storm, so I didn't go to rehearsal. (I am singing the role of a sexy water nymph in a Wagnerian opera, and I am an understudy for a damsel in distress in a REALLY scary Opera by Strauss - it's about bloody murder, insanity and the music sounds like a horror movie). Well even though I didn't get to sing today, this snow storm saved me a ten hour trip (that includes the way home :-) So instead I stayed home and cleaned the house. HAAAA -- yeah right. I stayed home and watched TV. And I ate some junk food. And I chilled.

NICE.

However I have an update. Your crazy friend has gotten herself into a big mess. HAHA. Well it could be a good thing, I suppose ... Remember in my last blog when I said that I was going to sing for the Metropolitan Opera's vocal competition in Pittsburgh (they hear people all over the country first, and then if you make it past first and second rounds, you go to New York City and sing there)? Well I couldn't go because of the snow, and this would have been my last year to compete because they cut the age off at 30. Well I wrote them, telling them that I have been studying for ten years, but because I am a dramatic soprano, my voice has come in quite late, and I am only ready to compete now.

Well they wrote me back and told me that I could come directly to the Met and sing for them in person.

WHAT??? because of my silly email, I get to skip the first and second rounds of the competition and sing for them. Well this could either lead to more wonderful things, or it could be a one time honor that I will remember for ever. Well it's definitely something I'll always remember - unless I die from nerves, which I suppose could happen ... oh and we mustn't forget that this is a great opportunity for my husband Scott. He will probably play for my audition. Who knows what could come from that?

So my adventurous life takes an unexpected turn. Will I ever write a book about this? Memoirs maybe? Eh ... Probably fiction, so all of this can sound more exciting. Maybe I'll add a few Ninjas, or maybe a swashbuckler.

Anyway ... updates soon!!!

Love,

Leah

I am writing on a very snowy day. I think there might be two feet of snow outside. Hmmm ... we had some big plans this weekend that were canceled. Some of them were postponed, and some possibly lost forever ... maybe that's a bit dramatic. But it was pretty disapointing this morning when I woke up to find that we were snowed in. No traveling to Pittsburgh for the competition me. No recital for Scott ... Well at least I have time to write to my friends! I have learned some big lessons in the past couple of weeks, and I would love to share them with you.

I want to write about FEAR. You know there are literally hundreds of things to be afraid of on the performance stage. I mean the very idea of it is anti-evolutionary! Being on display, completely vulnerable with no defenses around you. No camouflage. No weapons. Totally involved in your own emotions, and completely unaware of your surroundings. In the wild, you be dinner before you could sing your high note!

I have always felt this way. And as scary as it is standing up there, there is something else that is even more frightening to me than that. A thing that I used to sweat about. DREAM about. DREAD for weeks before the audition. That fear is walking on to the stage. I always do one of two things. Either creep on, simultaneously dipping my head and smiling sheepishly, or charge on with huge steps over compensating for my discomfort. The second way often ends in missing the piano, walking the wrong direction or simply scaring the day lights out of the judges!

Well last Tuesday I began acting lessons with Ms. Carmen Balthrop (a wonderful soprano with an equally as wonderful career). She recognized my problem immediately before I even mentioned it! She helped me to find my own personal walk. We figured out how to put bounce in my step. Walk with energy and confidence. Walk quickly, energetically but at the same time with cool, calm focus. Put fun in to my little strides. Feel feminine and beautiful when I walk. You know - it has done miracles for me. I found that once I mastered this walk, I became more confident in general. I used this walk everywhere all week. At work, to the store, while excersizing. I learned that just because you feel nervous, sad, tired, sick - it doesn't mean that anyone else has to know about it. I learned how to look confident, no matter how I really feel. And that makes me start to FEEL confident and energetic even when I have every reason not to feel that way. Well - last week, I used it to enter the stage at an audition, and do you know what? It works! I actually GOT the audition. In fact I got a second role that I was not expecting! And, by the way, this will be my Manhattan debut :-)

SO that is why I was so excited to try out my new walking skill at the MET competition this weekend. It's the last time I can compete in it because for some reason they cut the age off at age 30 (not fair for us big voices who take longer to develop!!!)
WELL IT SNOWED AND SNOWED AND SNOWED AND SNOWED so I couldn't go! Boo. The first year I feel confident enough to do such a large competition, I can't do it. I was so sad. Well I decided to put my new found confidence to good use, so I wrote the chair of the regional competition in Pittsburgh. I complained about the age thirty cut off and that the only reason I wasn't competing this year was because of the weather. I was nervous that he would be mad, but you know what? He was sympathetic and is going to appeal to the larger company and ask if I can compete next year due to my current circumstance and the fact that I am a Wagnerian soprano (we finish growing between about age 35 - age 40).

So the moral of the story? SPEAK UP! Work on attaining confidence and start with something simple - like the way you walk! You never know what will happen. The squeaky wheel gets the oil. The brightest star gets remembered longest. And the spunkiest walker gets the gig :-) I love my job - SUCH an adventure. I encourage everyone to follow their own dreams and don't let fear stop you from doing what you want to do. It's so worth the risk!