Opening night went well. There are already some good reviews from The Vancouver Sun and The Georgia Straight. In my opinion, all of the singers were in good voice and performed well. I love the energy of opening night and think that it always brings a special vibe. There is always a fun party on stage after the opening night performance. A chance for us to mingle with the donors, opera staff, audience members, and each other. Here are some pics from the party (Tris’s again!)

Jim Wright (VO General Director) introducing up the cast

Opening night was also blogger night at the opera.

Photo from Tris Hussey

Check out the blogs of Rebecca, Kimli, Tanya, So Misguided, and my sweetie, Tris. Blogger night started with Carmen and was such a success that they asked the bloggers back for Rigoletto. The bloggers get a backstage tour before the show and then live blog before the opera and during the intermissions. It is very cool to read the different perspectives of the bloggers and they all have great pictures (something that I am lacking right now because my camera got left at a friend’s house…long story. Thanks to Tris for the pics for this post). So, check out their blogs for more info and some cool set pics.

I know that I have not blogged much in the last week. Tech week continued to go well except for a few mishaps on Wednesday night (the second orchestra tech). It was NOT my night. I got stuck in the back of my dress twice trying to get up from kneeling due to some “pockets” in my hem and I got my dress stuck in the trap door and ripped a HUGE hole in it! Thank goodness that it was still a rehearsal without an audience. The big hole in my dress got fixed thanks to the amazing costume department at VO and they also sewed around my dress hem and brought up the back a bit to help me out. I went to the theatre early on Thursday (dress rehearsal night) and made sure that everything was working with my staging on the set. As a result, dress rehearsal went well and subsequently so did opening night.

On Friday, I had to teach all day from 11:15am to 8:00pm. It was a long day of teaching….sigh! I love to teach but 9 hours in a row was a bit much. I spent the day on Saturday getting opening night gifts and cards ready. It is a bit of a tradition for the principals to give each other cards and small gifts. I will post pics of my cards after I get my camera back. Yesterday and today I spent the day with my Mom. I can’t believe that we are into performance number two tomorrow night. I will be ready for a quiet day on Wednesday, just a few students booked.

So, things have been great but busy. I know that I promised pictures and I will post some when I get my camera back. Thanks for stopping by!

This evening and last night, we had our first rehearsals at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre where we will be performing the show. It is hard to believe that opening night is this Saturday! Last night was the rehearsal called the piano tech. At the piano tech, we go through the opera with piano accompaniment in our costumes without wigs and makeup. It is generally a long rehearsal that starts at 6pm and goes until 11pm. The purpose of the rehearsal is for the technical side of the opera (all the stuff that happens backstage and in the lighting booth) to get sorted out. Normally, as a chorister, we are at the rehearsal from 5:30pm to 11:00pm. As Giovanna, I didn’t have to be at the rehearsal until 7:00pm and was released at the break at about 9:30pm – a welcome change! I got to see the set for the first time and it is impressive. I will try to get some pictures to post if I am allowed to…. It is basically a large metal cage that is raised up so that underneath there are “tunnels” that characters enter under. The cage becomes different venues depending on the scene. In my scene, it is Rigoletto’s house. At the back of the cage are several doors (5 or 6, I think…I always go in and out of door 2) and there is a trap door at the front of the stage that Rigoletto enters into from the underbelly area. It is really quite an effective and interesting set. I am not sure what Glynis (the director) wanted the set to represent but I would like to think that it is representing the way in which all of the characters are caged in their roles and their fate.

Tonight was the first orchestra tech rehearsal where the conductor gets a chance to work through the opera with the orchestra and the singers in the theatre while the tech department still works to figure things out. It is quite different to have the full orchestra as opposed to just the piano. It’s nice to have the fullness and the extra support but there are a lot more people to keep together. Plus, in a space as large as the QE, we (the singers) have to anticipate our entrances so that we don’t get behind the orchestra because the orchestra sound reaches the audience first as they are in front of us. So, we have to trust the conductor to keep us all together. Luckily, Les Dala is handling that huge responsibility wonderfully! Les is also the VO Chorusmaster and I am so happy that he is the conductor for this production! It is a relief to know him and be freely able to ask questions. We had lighting, makeup, and wigs for the first time tonight and it already started to feel like a performance instead of a rehearsal. However, I am still glad that we have another orchestra tech tomorrow and the dress rehearsal on Thursday. By opening night, we will be a well-oiled machine! As I mentioned in a previous post, the costume design for this show was described to me as medieval punk. My costume is a brown dress and one of the most conservative in the show, I also wear a white scarf on my head. Most of the costumes are quite colourful or black and white and the wigs are amazing! They are punky colours and styles. For most of us, the makeup is white with black detailing. I forgot my camera tonight but snapped a few shots with my iPhone….sorry for the quality. Here is what my makeup looks like:

My friend Barb Towell is playing the part of the page, here she is in her makeup and wig:

I will post some more pictures of the coulourful wigs and costumes soon. I have to remember my camera for tomorrow…will put it in my bag tonight.

I have to mention one more thing about the last two rehearsals and that is that the Vancouver Opera Guild (a group of volunteers) feed us on Monday and Tuesday. It is SO nice and as a principal, we get a lovely dinner all boxed up and delivered right to us. They are an amazing group of people and I just had to send out a cyber thanks to them – THANKS!!! Here is a pic of my dinner and “menu”. Nom, nom, nom, as Tris would say .

Mmmm…..

Better than what I make at home….check out my dressing room reading

Thanks for stopping by! If you haven’t bought your tickets yet….hurry up!!! You’ll love it, I promise!

Sheila on stage by Tris Hussey

My third Rigoletto rehearsal was on Saturday afternoon, Valentine’s Day.  I was originally called in the morning and my boyfriend had planned this lovely picnic for Valentine’s Day and then the schedule got changed so, we went for a lovely brunch instead. We went to Crave on Main Street and I had an omelet – it was delicious! I would highly recommend their brunch.

With the VO Chorus, we get a rehearsal schedule weeks in advance and are only called in the evenings, so it is easy to plan my three additional jobs around the schedule. I am still getting used to finding out the night before what my schedule will be. We do get a weekly schedule but it is tentative and subject to change. I am the type of person that plans her days in 15 minutes increments and I am definitely finding this an adjustment. I have a feeling that it is good for me though!

We worked more on the first scene that I am involved in in Act One with Gilda and Rigoletto, tweaking the staging a bit and developing the relationships further. I was only there for an hour and a half – a pretty easy afternoon!

Tomorrow I am called to do the next part of the act with just Gilda and I before she sings Caro nome. After that – I will be completely staged. It is hard to believe that we still have two more weeks before tech week. It feels like a lot of time but I know better!

Sheila Christie by Tris Hussey

Well, that’s all for tonight – I should get to bed – just looked at the time (1:30am…oops!).

BTW for those of you following my shopping escapades – I have been behaving and, after a sober second thought, I even returned the leather jacket.

I met Eglise (Gilda), Donnie-Ray (Rigoletto), and Bruce (the Duke) yesterday. They are all really nice and amazingly talented. After rehearsal, I took Eglise and Adrianne (company manager for VO) to the bank so that Eglise could get some Canadian money and afterward Eglise and I went for lunch. I had to wait a bit while they were at the bank, and to thank me, she bought me lunch! It was so sweet and generous and completely unexpected!

This morning we had a meet n’ greet at the rehearsal hall and I got to meet the rest of the cast and many people from the administrative staff at VO that I hadn’t met before. I had a good chat with Christopher Libby, managing director, and Ling Chan, his assistant, about blogging a social media. I learned that there is a link to my blog on Vancouver Opera’s blog and realized that I better get blogging more!

After the meet n’ greet, we had a music rehearsal of some of the Act One music and I got to really hear Eglise, Donnie-Ray, and Bruce sing. It was so exciting! Eglise sang through “Caro nome” (Gilda’s big aria) and it was stunning – I am in love with her voice! Bruce’s Duke is gorgeous and Donnie-Ray’s voice is so powerful it makes my spine tingle (in a very good way!). I was released after the music rehearsal and made my way to my costume fitting. The style of the costumes was described to me as “medieval punk” so, I was looking forward to seeing what I will be wearing. Unfortunately, my costume was not in it’s finished state, so I just had a fitting and will have to wait to see the finished product.

After my costume fitting, I ran a few errands and then did a little shopping. Having the extra time downtown is proving a little dangerous to my pocketbook! Part of the problem is that we got our final cheque from Carmen on Thursday and then I got a cheque for Rigoletto yesterday and it is burning a hole in my little shopaholic pocket! I treated myself to a new pair of shoes yesterday and today….I bought a leather jacket. In my defense, both items were on sale (my two favourite words in the English language) AND the shoes are Fluevogs AND the jacket fits like a glove. I have tried on A LOT of ill-fitting leather jackets and when this one just slid on like butter….it was meant to be! Just because I like to share…here are some pics:

Thanks for stopping by, come back more of shopping opera adventures!

Here is my dressing room table – a tad messy!

The wig area and the lovely ladies who put on our wigs

What we do when we’re not onstage

Heidi Krutzen’s harp case – it lives backstage with us. I LOVE seeing this!

Melody, Raphael and I in our gypsy costumes

Act One chorus tableau

Act Two chorus tableau

Thanks for stopping by! I will be blogging about my experiences doing a role in Rigoletto over the next month. Opening night of Rigoletto happens on March 7.

I am singing in the chorus and have been in awe of the cast. Rinat Shaham as Carmen is truly amazing. This women is Carmen – onstage and off. She brings a warm honey vocal tone with flashes of raw chest voice and brilliant coloratura. Here are some tastes from youtube of other Carmen’s she has performed:

Rinat Shaham sings the Habanera

Rinat Shaham sings the Seguidilla

The tenor, David Pomeroy, is from Newfoundland and has a lovely voice and plays the part of Don Jose beautifully. Mariateresa Magisano and Daniel Okulitch, two more Canadian singers, play Micaela and Escamillo respectively.  The rest of the cast works together brilliantly and, of course, the chorus is great ! So, if you want tickets – hurry up, they are selling fast! Check out the website here. Stay tuned for backstage pics from the chorus.

Some of you may ask: “What have you been have been doing, Sheila? or “Where have you been, Sheila? However, since I believe that the only people that read this blog are Tris and possibly my Mom, most of you, understandably, will not have been pondering those questions. But….I feel that I owe myself, Tris and my Mom an explanation, so, if you are reading this, I beg your indulgence.

In short, working, singing, teaching, rehearsing, stamping, making jewelry, and occasionally sleeping. In truth, the last few months have whizzed by. Beethoven’s Ninth with the Vancouver Philharmonic went well despite the fact that I felt like I was screaming my head off (what was Beethoven thinking when he wrote the soprano line in that Symphony?!?). Then, I went to Florida for Christmas and got to catch up with my Mom and Dad and brother and sister-in-law as well as ride some awesome rides at Universal Studios and say hi to Mickey Mouse at Disneyworld, all in balmy temperatures ranging from 25-30 degrees celsius. Here are some pics from the time featuring my family, some Who’s from Whoville, Cinderella’s castle with a billion little twinkle lights on it (SO PRETTY!!!), and the Wii that I got for Christmas (EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!).

My brother, Mom, sister-in-law and Dad at Seuss Landing at Universal

My Mom and Dad with a Who

Me dancing with the Who’s

Cinderella’s Castle

Me and my Wii!!!!

The Fam on Christmas morning (see the shorts?)

Of course, I came home to ridiculous amounts of snow and freezing temperatures here in Vancouver and had to fight through knee high snow to get to work and opera rehearsals.

Vancouver or Alaska?

Rehearsals for Carmen started on December 29 this year. This is unusual as we usually don’t start until after the New Year. However, Carmen is a big, busy show with a lot of music and the extra rehearsal time was definitely needed! In addition to work, teaching, and opera, Tris (my boyfriend) came home from Ontario on December 30 and ended up in the ER at St. Paul’s Hospital for almost the entire night and day on December 31. He was admitted with severe shoulder pain and is better but the doctors still don’t know what’s wrong with him. So, since December 29, I have been balancing opera rehearsals, my office job, teaching at home and in Richmond, and life in general. BUT, I AM BACK NOW! AND, I will try to blog more regularly than once every two months!