All I Want for Christmas Is. . .

October 24, 2009 - So rather than wallow in regret over the cancellation of Devils, Demons, and Divas, I've decided to throw myself full-force into planning our upcoming cabaret entitled All I Want for Christmas Is. . . This program has really developed quite a following over the past two years and is as much fun to put together and perform as it is to attend. This year will feature OV favorites Joy Greene, Jennifer Blades, Frédéric Rey, and Christopher Austin singing songs about all sorts of holiday wish lists, running the gamut from silly to sublime. As I'm planning the program, I'd love to hear from our fans what they'd like most for Christmas (or Hanukah or Kwanzaa or Ramadan). So go ahead and post a comment and see you at the cabaret.

Supertenor

October 2, 2009 - Last night, I saw one of the most spectacular displays of vocal technique and artistry I have every encountered. On Monday, Gran Wilson (our Prince Ramiro) was in a bicycling accident in which he sustained a cracked rib, a punctured lung, and several other more minor injuries. Since Ramiro is not exactly a minor or easy role, I frantically scrambled to find someone who could sing the role with the score from the orchestra pit, thinking that the best case scenario would be that Gran would be well enough to walk the role and the worst case scenario would be that I would walk the role in Gran's stead since I know all the blocking and am roughly the same size as Gran and could fit in his costumes. Joseph Shadday (a new student of Gran's) was consequently found, rehearsed, and ready to sing last night. But none of us were ready for Gran's announcement at 2pm yesterday that he felt recovered enough to sing all of the role except Ramiro's stratospheric second act aria. I mean, come on, this role is taxing enough with both lungs - sing it on one lung?!? But sing it he did and it sounded fantastic. In fact, audience members who had heard my pre-performance announcement about the situation told me at intermission that without the announcement they would never have known that anything was amiss. So BRAVISSIMO Gran! You are a beacon and hero to us all.

There are still tickets available for Saturday's performance. Come hear Supertenor for yourselves. He's planning on singing even the stratospheric aria that night.