2014 Greater
Colorado Tour – day 10
Disclaimer –
busy day, LOTS to blog about.
The human
brain is a funny thing. Sometimes the mere suggestion of something makes the
brain construct a reality based on that suggestion. You know like when someone
like Taylor Baldwin tells you that the hotel you’re staying in is haunted? Your
brain will then spend the night in ghost hunter mode, waiting for something to
happen. It’s a psychological fact. At least it is if you have my brain. After spending
most of last night listening with my eyes (not a typo), I did manage to get a
few hours of sleep. I say good morning to Colleen and Louise and then begin to
get ready. By the time Jared and Brett knock on my door to go downstairs for
breakfast, I’m almost fully-functioning. I ask the gents if they had anything
strange happen in the night and it turns out, we did have some odd occurrences.
Nothing scary – just laughter in the hallway, knocking on their walls, their
bathroom door got locked from the other side and my shoe (that was under the
other one) fell off the dresser onto the floor. Paranormal? Not sure. Possibly
Baldwin related.
At
breakfast, Ben and Taylor pop up looking oddly tired. Seems that they were up
later than they anticipated last night. Hmmm… After further investigation,
their lack of energy is due to a late night at a local hang out, not trickery
or hauntings. Ben, Taylor and Louise went out after the rest of us turned in
and played pool, chatted and made a new friend who was born in South America
but considers himself Ukrainian. He apparently liked Louise a lot – he thought
she looked well fed. This comment caused Taylor to self-appointed himself as
her brother. Their new friend wasn’t such a big fan of Ben’s attire however and
thought his western shirt made him look constipated. Now, mind you, I am
getting all of this information second hand, at breakfast. Part of me believes
it’s all an elaborate ruse to get me off the scent of their part in my
sleepless night; the other part of me is too busy laughing.
After breakfast,
we walk around the main floor of the hotel and stop to look in the gift shop.
They have some neat items. Brett is particularly fond of an artisan soap; the
scent is called “Grumpy Old Man.” Not quite sure how one goes about capturing
that aroma, but apparently this company has figured it out. Brett decides to
head up to his room to get ready and Jared and I decide to walk into town and
look around. It’s another beautiful day and the red mountain against the blue
sky is stunning.
We make our
way into a store to look around and I lock on to something that I know Jared
has been wanting for some time. A very stylish fedora. I make him try it on and
it’s a perfect fit.
It’s a
pretty quick drive and other than a conversation about sandwich spreads, it is
fairly uneventful. Taylor, Brett and Jared were discussing food and their
various likes and dislikes. The subject of sandwich spreads came up. Taylor said
something about liking hamas on his. Brett questioned this, asked for
clarification as to whether he meant hummus (a spread concocted from chickpeas)
or Hamas (a Sunni Muslim Palestinian extremist group). It’s an important
educational moment for Taylor. It’s also a really good thing that Jared is
driving this morning. After post-haunting fatigue and now this, I’m not sure I
could have kept us on the road. We arrive in Carbondale and make our way to the
hotel so we can check-in.
We get into
our rooms and get settled. It’s lunch time, so Brett and Jared want to head to
the mainstreet area and check it out, while the other’s want to rest for a bit
and get something to eat later. Since this is the first time Opera Colorado has
ever been to Carbondale, I’m eager to look around and learn more about the
community; I decide to join Brett and Jared. We hop in the beasty and head into
town. It’s not far and we know immediately that we’re in our kind of place. The
mainstreet area is small, but full of restaurants, shops and… art. There are
signs of an artistic community everywhere. Sculptures, chalk art, public art
installations; really interesting and eclectic. We grab something to eat and
then take a little time to look around. Brett and Jared force me to go into a
lovely antique store. Brett and Jared are not allowed to make me go into stores
any more. I pack my purchases into the car and just as we leave to get back to
the hotel, it starts to rain.
We collect
the other members of our group and then head over the performing arts center
where we’ll be performing and holding the workshop. We meet up with our
contacts (who are all amazing and welcome us with open arms) and we’re led to
the performance space. While Taylor figures out the piano situation (they
weren’t aware we needed one…), the Young Artists begin load-in. I go to meet
the youth theater director and get set up in the workshop space. I’ll be
leading a workshop for students ages 8-18 on performance skills. This group of
students had to sign up to be able to attend so they’re all kids that love
theater and music. I find out as I’m talking to their director that the
workshop is completely full – hooray! I go back to get the rest of our group.
They’ve completed set up and we’re ready for the workshop.
We’ve got
every age in the spectrum represented, even one that is younger than the 8
year-old cut off; she’s 6. I talk with her mom and tell her they’re welcome to
stay and play a few of the games, but that as class goes on, it may get too
intense for her. I begin the workshop with introductions and then we play an
ice-breaker to help the students get to know each other and us. I want them to
take risks today, so it’s important to make time for this kind of activity at
the beginning of the class. We go around the room and each person says their
name and does a movement that represents something that they like. We have
students who like to sing, dance, read and play sports. I encourage each of
them and cheer them on. The Young Artists and Taylor are participating too and
the students are already laughing at their antics. It’s going well... until we
get to a young man named Tyler. Tyler is very bright. He’s a theater kid and,
for anyone who has been in theater, you know what that means. Tyler says his
name, then stops. I ask him what he likes to do and he says, “sleep.” In
encourage him to do a movement to show us that. Tyler proceeds to fall to the
floor and “sleep.” Readers… I consider myself to be an articulate, moderately
intelligent, fairly expressive person. What follows next will not back any of
this up… There he is, Tyler, lying on the floor and I open my mouth and say,
very enthusiastically… “OK – let’s all sleep with Tyler!” I didn’t mean it that
way. I certainly didn’t hear it that way. It’s a very good thing I was focused
on the students and didn’t look back at the Young Artists. Jared, Taylor and
Brett almost needed medical attention from holding back their laughter.
Blissfully oblivious,
I continue on with the workshop. We do warm up exercises and move to playing
improv games. I ask for three of the Young Artists to do a game with me so that
the students understand what I’m asking for. The game is called
“Sculptor/Sculpture,” Taylor and Brett are statues and Ben is the sculptor.
They act out a scene but can only move when Ben puts them into different
positions. I’d admit, I was a little nervous about where this might go, but
what they did was spectacular. They morphed seamlessly from ballet dancers to
monkey impersonators to people who like warm hugs. The students are now
completely open to what I ask them to do and having a blast. Before I know it,
we’re more than halfway through our time. I move on to Shakespeare. Some of the
students are involved in an upcoming production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
and I believe that you can learn things from studying Shakespeare that you
can’t learn in other forms of theater. I have cards with Shakespearian insults
printed on them and each person has a turn to read one and then someone
responds with their card when it fits, acting out each one through vocal
expression and physical characterization.
It’s amazing
how kids “get” Shakespeare when given the chance. The activity is more
successful that I had even hoped and the students are loving it. One young man
in the class has severe dyslexia and also a pronounced stutter. I partner with
him and he gets up to read his card – flawlessly and not a bauble to be heard!
I’m beaming. Next we have little Ruby, who at 6, gets up and reads her
Shakespeare card without any help. Now I’m walking on air. Then, we have
Emmett, who does not read his card. No… Emmett has memorized his insult and
even choreographed movements. We’re all cheering for him and the other students
by the time the game is done. Louise helps with another activity on expression
and sings Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man
from Showboat. I stand back and watch their faces as they listen to her – it’s
one of my favorite things to do because their expressions are unguarded and
completely priceless.
With the
workshop completed, we make a quick dash back to the hotel to grab a few things
for tonight and then we make out way back to the mainstreet area for dinner. On
the way, Taylor sees a dog in a backyard and calls out, “Puppy!” Unbeknownst to
Taylor, the dog’s owner is also in the yard and as the dog begins to bark uncontrollably,
he gives Taylor a look that expresses displeasure. Taylor responds, “Sorry, I
like dogs.” Everyone decides on their own cuisine tonight. I decide to go for
Thai food as do Brett and Jared. Taylor, Colleen, Louise and Ben opt for
pizza. As they walk around town, they
see signs of the Barber of Seville
everywhere; and not just posters. This town has really gotten into this. They
have some chalkboard art and there are even gold combs hung on sculptures.
Back at the
car, Colleen is good luck – or should I say, Colleen has good luck shared with
her.
It’s while
I’m sewing that I realize something profound. After two years of this
production, this will be our final show for a public audience. We have one more
next week, but it’s at Children’s Hospital and a very different experience.
This is it. Barber of Seville has
been the most successful and well-received touring production we’ve ever done.
It’s been the production that has come the closest to the vision that lived in
my head as I was designing it too. I’m feeling a bit misty. I think Jared is
nostalgic too – he’s spent the past two year performing in the show and it’s
strange to think that it’s coming to a close. It’s time… everyone takes their
places and we wait. One of the sponsors makes an introduction and I go out and
welcome our audience and tell them a bit about the production. I go out to take
my seat as Taylor plays the first chord.
I haven’t
watched the show in its entirety for a while. I’ve seen bits and pieces, but
I’m usually trying to multi-task so I inevitably miss potions of it. Not
tonight. The Young Artists asked me to sit and watch tonight; to enjoy the
show. I do. Even after two years, this production still makes me laugh, due in
large part to the talent, chemistry and antics of the Young Artists. The audience is enjoying every moment. At the
end of the performance, the finale, there’s a surprise. Now I know why they
wanted me to watch. Jared has procured some of the unused confetti from Carmen and the artists throw it into the
air on the final note. The audience cheers enthusiastically and I join in. What
a perfect way to end this productions’ run. Bows taken, I go out to begin the
Q&A.
The Q&A
is different from others. Typically most of the questions are for the Young
Artists; tonight they are about Opera Colorado, the production and the Young
Artist residency. I have to field a lot of the questions, but I am thrilled by
the community’s interest. After the last question, I say a sincere thank you to
the audience and let them know why tonight was such a special evening. To our
surprise, that triggers a standing ovation. Our evening isn’t over yet – the
sponsors of tonight’s performance have also set up a reception and we’re led
down to a lounge area where we rejoin the audience. We’re treated to an
assortment of food and beverages and we all divide ourselves among the crowd,
talking to as many people as we can. The response is overwhelming. Everyone
tells us how much they enjoyed the show and makes us promise to come back next
year. One of the sponsors tells me that we have fulfilled a dream of hers to
have real opera in Carbondale. Another woman tells me that this was her first
opera; she didn’t expect to like it, but now she thinks she’s hooked! Talking
with our main contact, she’s over the moon and tells me we have to start
planning next year – they want us back. For a first time visit to a community,
this is exactly what I want to hear and I am thrilled that we’ve made a new
connection.
I have to
break up the ongoing conversations and get the Young Artists out of costume and
makeup. It’s already late and we still have to break down the set and load out.
Taylor is a champ and he begins to load out while we take the set down. The
confetti was a fabulous touch, but it now proves to be a huge pain. Sweeping it
up is almost impossible, but Jared, Brett and Taylor are relentless and get the
job done. We’re told several times by staff just to leave it and they will get
to it tomorrow, but that’s not how we roll. We don’t leave a mess for other
people to clean up. We’re told again, for probably the fifth time today, that
we’re “easy.” We really to try to be low maintenance; people that are easy to
work with.
Just as load
out reaches its peak, the rain begins to fall. By the time we get everything
and ourselves into the beasties, it’s really coming down. We’re all tired, but
it’s been a wonderful day and a great way to end the performing part of tour.
We have one more day tomorrow, but it’s all driving. There’s not much time to
catch our breath though. This weekend, Ben is headed to Santa Fe for some
initial chorus rehearsals (he’s in their program for a second season). Colleen,
Louise, Brett, Jared and Taylor will be performing at the Downtown Denver Arts
Festival. Follow that with a
fully-booked week and we’ve got a lot still to do. We make it back to the hotel
and everyone turns in. As I turn off my light and settle in for the night, I smile.
What a crazy, wonderful business this is.
Nighty-night
readers (one more blog to go),
Cherity
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