Since I have been such a bad blogger lately, I don't remember if I even wrote about getting the role of the "First Lay Sister (Una Conversa)" in Florida Grand Opera's 69th Season production of Puccini's Suor Angelica. Sure, it's not a huge role... but it's definitely a start, and I am VERY greatful for the opportunity :) God is blessing me!
After a few weeks of many rehearsals, we finally opened on Saturday, November 14th. When I arrived at my dressing area, I found this small token from Bob Heuer, the General Director of the Company...
Needless to say, it made my day :) It was a great Opening Night, in my opinion... but I didn't have much time to celebrate because the next morning, bright and early, Mr. R and I were headed to NYC for an audition... I had been granted an Audition with Santa Fe Opera's Summer Program, and it was taking place on Monday, the 16th.
Needless to say, it made my day :) It was a great Opening Night, in my opinion... but I didn't have much time to celebrate because the next morning, bright and early, Mr. R and I were headed to NYC for an audition... I had been granted an Audition with Santa Fe Opera's Summer Program, and it was taking place on Monday, the 16th. That night, we didn't even get a wink of sleep... especially after having electrical problems at our house, which delayed our packing... but still, we finished up all of our packing, got dressed and headed to the airport at around 3:45 in the morning... I was so lucky to have the Hubs come along with me, and we definitely took advantage and turned the trip into a little mini-vacation...
We stayed with a friend of mine named Raymond, who lives in Brooklyn with his Girlfriend Liz. We went to lunch at Brooklyn Flipsters, which is a delicious Diner, and had a burger and some wings... Then, they took us to this famous bakery, Cake Man Raven, home of the "The Harlem Cake Man" and his Souther Red-Velvet Cake... walking into the bakery, this is what we saw...
An OCEAN of Red-Velvet CAKE!!! And not only did it look good... it tasted AWESOME!! Just check out our faces....
Afterwards, we were literally running on fumes, and definitely needed a nap... so we headed back to the apartment, and rested a bit... we also stayed in the rest of the night, since the next day would start early for me, with warm-ups, hair, makeup, etc... so we ordered some awesome Sushi from "Ten". Actually, we ended up ordering take-out from 3 different places... Ten, another Asian place, and a Peruvian place... Gotta love New York. :)
After my audition, we headed over the Shetler Studios to hear Raymond's lesson, and grab some lunch... but on the way in the taxi, I was able to snap a photo of Central Park, with it's beautiful changing leaves :) Definitely one of the most beautiful times of year in NYC!
While at Shetler Studios, after Raymond's lesson, deciding where to have lunch... a big bald guy walks by us with 2 girls... one of them turned out to be Ashley Simpson, who was there to rehearse for her upcoming debut in the Broadway Musical "Chicago". We decided on this Pizza Place called "John's Pizzeria"... but don't let the name fool you, it is nothing like the regular NYC Pizzerias you've been to or heard of... this place doesn't sell by the slice, but their pizza's are AWESOME!!! If you are from Miami and have ever had Andiamo Pizza (on Biscayne, next to Soyka), it's very similar... it was awesome! And their sicilian wings were great too :)
Even though we had planned to visit NYC during Valentine's Weekend for our Anniversary, and see Avenue Q then... we couldn't resist the temptation to see it while we were there... especially since it looks like we may have to reschedule our trip, due to an audition I have scheduled for the 15th of February in Sarasota... So we visited the TKTS booth in Time Square and purchased our tickets 40% off for that evening to see the show...
We sat in the theater, at New World Stages, in our 4th Row Seats and waited for the show to begin...
I honestly have to say that the show was FANTASTIC!!! We loved every minute of it, and I am so glad we went to see it. We especially liked these characters I didn't know about called the "Bad Idea Bears". If you ever have a chance to see this show... DEFINITELY check it out :) But remember, don't bring your little brother/sister, cousins, nephews/nieces, etc... It's an Adult Oriented Show, with Full Puppet Nudity ;) And as if all of this was enough... it looks like I'll be back in NYC on Sunday the 6th thru the 7th for another audition with Crested Butte's Music Festival... I can't wait!!!
Happy Blogging!
They were a hit at rehearsal :) The ladies of Suor Angelica loved them!!!!