Pictures!

Okay, folks, here are just a few pics of opening night:



Sarah Lawrence (the other soprano in the Voices in Residence), me, and Tara Cowherd (my friend from college who works for Opera Omaha as the Community Programs Coordinator and sings in the Opera chorus). Aren't these costumes so pretty?



With the other voices in residence: Darren Perry (as Sam) and Joe Palarca (as another pirate).



With the Pirate King, Patrick Ryan Sullivan.



With the gorgeous Maureen Francis, who plays the ingenue, Mabel. We're trying to show off our bustles here.



Stage director Francis Cullinan and conductor Joe Illick, both so lovely! Really, this experience was so wonderful, in no small part to these two men.



And the lovely ladies of the chorus! Francis says that when we walk out on stage, we look like a bunch of beautiful bon bons. I don't know about bon bons, but they really are gorgeous costumes. I'll try to get more pirate photos tomorrow!

A day off!

Well, it's Monday, and we have finally been given a day off. Our weekend was very busy with lots of work: rehearsals, meetings, costume fittings, and more rehearsal. Tomorrow we will start rehearsing in the theater (the Orpheum, if you know Omaha). So far, our rehearsals have been split between the OO offices and a large space in the Scottish Rite Temple, which is a block or two away.

Our costumes are beautiful! We are wearing brand new costumes for this show, which also means that they were built to our exact measurements. Our wonderful director, Francis Cullinan, decided to move the action forward 20 years from when this show is usually set, so the women will be wearing Gibson Girl type outfits circa 1900. We all have big puffy shoulders and lace and bustles and cameos and big hats and parasols - I'll definitely post some photos once we get into dress rehearsals! The pirates' costumes have lots of gold braid and buttons and burgundy velvet and big hats - basically, what you might imagine for pirates, but probably quite a bit nicer.

So far the rehearsal process has been painless. Our cast is full of wonderful people, and the stage director and conductor get along extremely well (this is definitely not always the case between conductors and stage directors!). I'm totally impressed with the chorus and how quickly they are picking up the very precise staging.

For my day off, I'm trying to be quiet this morning, as yesterday was full of talking and singing. After rehearsal, we had a meet-and-greet with members of the OO board, and then dinner and a little party with the cast. It's been great getting to know all these wonderful people, but I have plenty of other music to learn (and laundry and email and grocery shopping to catch up with!) today. If you're reading this, please leave some comments, or send me an email or message on Facebook! I miss hearing the news from each of your lives!