Whew it’s been a week!
Lucia di Lammermoor opens at the Chapman Music Hall here in Tulsa one week from today and I feel so lucky to be a part of this show. I’m in the chorus, so I’m singing (Tenor II) with about fifty others at various times in the performance. The rest of the time, I have a better-than-front-row seat for some of the loveliest voices I’ve ever heard. If you’re gonna be in Tulsa in the next couple of weeks, come see the opera.
I began to record some of the rehearsal yesterday to share with you. So beautiful, this music. I was in tears, man. But I had to stop.
It occurred to me that this recording of rehearsal might be against the rules. So I asked. It was. No video or audio of the rehearsals. Violation of various contracts with the artists, you know.
These people are professionals. They have agents and contracts and are making a living from singing for other people. They expect to get paid for doing this thing that they are very good at. I agree with that sentiment. I quit recording them and destroyed what I’d videoed.
As I’ve listened to them, and even more as I have listened to the younger members of the chorus who are currently training to be opera singers, I flash back nearly two decades to my own early training. To my voice teacher telling me that what I was doing was “Hot Shit!” and trying to encourage me to pursue a vocal-centric arts path.
Which I didn’t really do.
Which I find myself regretting.
And now, here I am with these pros and these kids, seeing what could have been.
I used to be really, really good.
I’m not gonna lie. Part of this experience really sucks. The temptation to regret, and to let regret have free rein, is so powerful.
Nothing could be more destructive.
The response I have to make to this set of things I should have done years ago is to DO THEM NOW.
I can still hone the voice. I can still audition for roles. I can still pursue the dream.
Is it harder now? Sure. I have “responsibilities” like every other adult.
But life ain’t getting any longer. I want to spend more of what time I get to spend in the world with these kinds of creative, artful endeavors.
So I am choosing that path.
