We have our final dress rehearsal tonight, and I hope anyone who reads this will wish us in boca al lupo! I kept hearing this Italian phrase and wondered what it meant, but no one could tell me other than that it's the opera equivalent of "break a leg" or good luck. The internet came to my rescue again, although I do have friends that could have translated it for me. The phrase literally means "in the mouth of the wolf"...I suppose you would need good luck to get out of there! The other phrase often used for good luck is Toi...Toi...Toi! One internet source said that this phrase is derived from the German for devil (teuflisch), while another said "it's to represent spitting, when properly done it is said over the left shoulder of the recipient of the good wishes." Whatever, wish us luck!
Last night was the first dress rehearsal with wigs and makeup. That made for some glamorous gypsies, of which I was NOT one! I don't think I was cut out to have long, curly black hair. But the process of "wigging" is interesting. First you have to pin up your hair as well as you can using bobby pins, then put on a stocking "skull cap" over your head. The wig/makeup expert next places the wig over your head and proceeds to pin it down to the skull cap using lots more bobby pins. It's not the most comfortable experience I've ever had, but tolerable. Of course when the wig comes off one's hair is sticking out every which way, which makes for a frightful sight.
So off I go to get wigged and into my favorite character,
La Zingarella!
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