Wow, Movember has been a busy and FAST month! I can't believe it's November, excuse me, Movember 22 already.
So much happening. I've posted an update of my face's stache, or as is popular nowadays my "mo" (I prefer stache, sounds rougher somehow) and posted a link to the site where you can donate money to Prostate Cancer, which is why I've been growing the thing all month.
I blogged about it earlier, pursuing a Process without worrying about the final Product. I maintain this is a good outlook on life and on trying to become an artist of any sort!
A Movember update on goings on at Opera McGill:
The Turn of the Screw closed late in October. It was a HUGE success and I was so very pleased with the work the student casts did with both the stage director, Tom Diamond, and the conductor, Andrew Bisantz. I look forward to figuring a way for them both to return to Opera McGill for future productions.
The Broadway program "Opera McGill on Broadway" has been coaching this month, as has been Don Giovanni. It's been fun to work on Spamalot "The Song that Goes Like This" with singers who are also singing Don Giovanni and Donna Anna. Such talented students with such RANGE of talent here at McGill!!
The Broadway program is December 3rd at 8pm in Redpath Hall it is free and open to the public. Basically it is a class presentation of a few (okay, a lot) musical theatre numbers we've been working on this month. I think that many of my students' colleagues and professors will be astounded at their ability to sing in the musical theatre repertoire. I'm having to practice, frankly. This is one of the hardest programs I have ever played -- don't knock the rep until you've tried to play the rep!
Also this month, two students and I performed at the annual Viennese Ball here in Montreal. Geoffrey Penar and Hiather Darnel-Kadonaga sang some Fledermaus and some Wiener Lied for a very appreciative audience. I played the accompaniments trying to channel my old mentor Liberace. Lots of fun!
The semester ends with a flourish of concerts - Song Interp don't forget! - and a couple of big sing-thru's of Don Giovanni. These are really important sing-thru's because it will be how the conductor, Gordon Gerrard, and I will decide who sings in which cast. I'm looking forward to finally hearing the singers after casting them way back in September.
I spend December doing some auditions for Janiec Opera Company with David Gately in NYC, and then return to Montreal for the holidays to hunker down and finish the staging of Giovanni. Rehearsals begin January 2nd!!
