2014 Greater Colorado Tour –
the prequel…
Hello readers! We’re baa-ack.
Yes, that’s right – the blogs from Opera Colorado’s Greater Colorado Tour 2014
are about to begin. Well… almost. This blog is a bit of a teaser. A prequel if
you will. We’re taking a short jaunt to Gunnison for a couple of days; testing
the waters. The longer, more extensive tour happens in May this year. We needed
to shift our schedule a little to accommodate an opera we’re doing. You may
have heard of it… Carmen? Anyone? Rigoletto just closed and we had a small
window of time before rehearsals begin for Carmen,
so we’re hitting the road.
If you’ve read the blogs
before, you’re familiar with how this all works, but if you’re a new reader
(and we hope there are lots of you) let me introduce you to our group this
year, the Opera Colorado Young Artists. No doubt you’ve heard about them
already and you’ll be hearing much more as the blogs from tour progress. The
incredibly talented line up is as follows: Colleen Jackson, our soprano. Louise
Rogan, our mezzo, Brett Sprague, our tenor, Jared Guest, our baritone and Ben
Sieverding, our bass. Taylor Baldwin joins us as our accompanist and coach.
That leaves me – Cherity Koepke, the director, tour guide, occasional den
mother and blogger. Oh wait, I forgot… there is one more. Mr. Quacksworth. If
you read the blogs from last year, you’ll remember him. The Quack is baa-ack
too and you’ll no doubt be hearing about him as we travel Colorado’s Western
Slope.
We were up early, needing to
be in Gunnison by 12:30 for a series of programs today and more tomorrow. We’re
taking a rental car the size of the USS Enterprise and our touring vehicle,
lovingly referred to as “the Yukon.” OK, it’s not very loving, but that vehicle
and I have a past and it’s best to tread lightly. I arrive to pick up the
group, minus Taylor who we will get on the way out of Denver, and I see happy,
smiling faces. No really, this group is happy and smiling. It’s still early.
We’ll see how they’re doing at 7:00 tomorrow when we’re getting ready for an
8:40 performance of The Barber of Seville.
Loading the Enterprise goes
quickly; it’s just an overnight trip this time, so there’s not a lot of
luggage. Me thinks this will change when we’re going out for 2 weeks in May. As
soon as Jared and Colleen figure out how to work the seats and Brett figures
out how to actually get in the car, we’re off, with Louise and Ben following us
in the Yukon. It’s important on road trips to stay together. You know, keep
each other in your sights in case something happens. The following thing lasts
about 2 blocks – Ben soon goes his own way. Thank goodness for GPS.
We make it to pick up Taylor
and Colleen and I have the added bonus of getting a guided tour of the local
sights which consist of Brett and Jared’s favorite Chinese food buffet. Seats are shifted, Taylor is in the car and
we’re off - again. Ben leads this time and when I catch him, we do a reasonable
job of staying together.
The topic of conversation
immediately goes to Rigoletto, Opera
Colorado’s production that just closed. All of the Young Artists were involved
and had an amazing experience. Such a fabulous production! Everyone is still
buzzing about it.
We make a quick pit stop and peruse
the convenience store. Colleen tries on several hats; my favorite being the
lady bug and Brett and Jared sing for the staff. I admit, I was startled to be
asked to sing upon exiting the ladies room – how did they know we were
performers? I admit, I sing in the shower but that’s as far as it goes. Oh… the
jackets. We’re wearing our Opera Colorado jackets. People see them, they talk –
it goes from there. (If you don’t have one, you need one – they’re super cute
and warm!) We take a minute to admire the breathtaking scenery and snap a group
photo before we get back on the road.
After the guys try
unsuccessfully to get Colleen to reveal dark, hidden stories about her
formative years (which was basically attempted by making her laugh about noises
the human body makes) the conversation in the car shifts to other genres of
music. Brett and Jared are in charge of today’s play list. I reassure Taylor
that it will be fine and we put our tunes on the stereo. We start with some
Jason Robert Brown and move into some lively Irish gigs. As we drive up Monarch
Pass, the tunes become more insightful, moving to classic musicals and deeply
moving ballads. I think the scenery adds to the emotion in the car; or not. Taylor
has gone quiet and Colleen is asleep.
Off the side of the road are
signs warning us to keep a watch for wildlife and rocks (Which to be honest has
always confused me – rocks? They’re everywhere, we’re in the mountains) Taylor
accepts the job of wildlife watcher but passes on rock sentry duty to another
as it’s just too much for him. No sooner have we stopped laughing but he gives
the alert for deer. We see quite a few as we make our way into Gunnison.
We stop for a quick lunch
before heading to Western Colorado State University for a masterclass with
their vocal students. The class goes really well and it’s so great to be able to
share a little of what we’ve learned with the students. I think some of my
favorite advice comes from Brett who tells the students that they have a choice
when singing, they can choose to breathe or they can choose to die. Laughter
quiets down but not before Louise shoots me a look that tells me plainly that she
misses her homeland (our Louise hails from the UK). I try to emote that I am
sympathetic and supportive and we move on. Right after the class, we set up for
tonight’s performance of Romeo and Juliet
in Taylor Hall. Ben sees the piano; it’s a Baldwin. Now get this – and you’re
not going to believe it – we’re performing in Taylor Hall and with a Baldwin
piano. Taylor… Baldwin… Get it? If not, review the opening section of the blog
and you will. Ben is savvy I tell ya.
Set up done, we check into
our hotel and grab just a few minutes of down time before heading to dinner.
We’ve selected a popular Italian place, which, upon reflection may not have
been the wisest choice before a performance. The food is wonderful, but we’re
now all feeling like slugs and moving about as fast. At dinner Taylor shares
with us his philosophy on the relationship of birthdays to inspirational
biblical figures and Louise tells us about a particularly challenging audition
where she was asked, by a director, to sing a Cherubino aria as if watching a
specific type of film inappropriate for a 14 year old to watch. Stay with me
readers – trying to keep this blog family friendly. Colleen is again laughing
about the human body and it’s noises, encouraged by Brett. Ben and Taylor bond
over their lagers and Jared presents an artful representation of the Olympic
rings with the onions on his salad before announcing, quite boisterously, that
we will be performing OPERA tonight. Our waitress actually asked when we
were performing; - he heard what and went with it.
The restaurant is busy so dinner
takes longer than expected and we’re left dashing back to the theater to get
ready for the performance. We’ve been away from this show for a while so there
are some jitters. We review what we can and do a fight call so that things are
as safe as possible and it’s time to start. We’ve got a great turnout and I
begin the evening by welcoming the guests. I notice that there are quite a few
younger kids in the audience and I have a moment of brilliance as I tell them
that tonight’s show is a tragedy, which means it won’t have a happy ending. I
follow that up with a chipper, “enjoy the show,” and we’re off. The audience is
with us right off the bat and the show just gets stronger as it goes on. It’s
funny and intense and heartbreaking – everything it should be and the audience
is loving every minute. After hearty applause, we do a Q&A and get some
fabulous questions. Everything from asking what words of advice we would give
to young performers to what was the hardest part of the show to how do we
handle stage fright. After thanking everyone for coming, we bid our audience
adieu.
No rest for the weary, in
this case, literally. We now have to break down the set, and load out. Thank
goodness there are 7 of us; this would be too much without lots of hands to
help. We accomplish the task fairly painlessly and we manage to get back to the
hotel before 10:15. Everyone is off to their nightly rituals – we’ve got a
seriously early morning tomorrow before heading back to Denver.
As I bid everyone goodnight,
I’m struck once again, by how amazing this career is and how lucky I am to get
to do something that I love, with people who are just as passionate. I know for
a fact that there were people in our audience tonight who had never seen an
opera before. What a privilege that we were the ones who got to introduce them
to it.
So readers, that’s it for now
– as I said, just a little teaser of what’s to come when we hit the road for
real in May. I hope you’ll join us on the journey. It’s certain to be an
interesting ride!
As you follow us on tour, I’m
going to ask something of you too. Readers… “Like” us, “Share” us, “Tweet” or
“Comment” – whatever it is that you do in cyber-world. We want people to know
what we’re up to and how we’re sharing the wonderful world of opera with everyone
we can.
‘Till May,
Cherity