More Enticing Photos from Rehearsal!

Here are some more of the stars of our production, left to right: Ruiz (Marvin Kehler), Ines (Amanda Moody) and Ferrando (Richard Ollarsaba), fabulous voices all! You are really special when you play a "named" character, all very important to the action.

These lovely ladies are my support group, Kathie Eppert and Sally Wells, both seasoned Chorus members. Steve assigned them to (please) help me out in the critical points of the gypsy and convent scenes, on top of finely-tuned performances of their own! Plus they are fun to hang out with. I am grateful for their guidance.

This is not a great photo, but I wanted to show more of the dedicated chorus, beginning with Hal Garrison on the right (yellow shirt.) Hal has been in every Piedmont Opera production (that has a chorus) since the beginning of the Company, the only person who can claim that distinction! To his left (half hidden) is Gerry Gunzenhauser, and in front Guy Oldaker, both long-time chorus members. To Gerry's left is Martha Abernathy, and in back Judy Crow and Betty Jones (left to right.) They have all been in many choruses and still love every minute (well, maybe not every single minute!) of the process, they say.

And this is Sara Wichers, a first-timer like myself, only she can really sing! Sara told me that she grew up in Winston-Salem, went away to school at Furman, where she majored in Spanish. She married and lived in various places before returning to Winston-Salem a few years ago with her husband and young son. She got interested in singing her last year in college and began taking voice lessons, which she continues to pursue. She auditioned for Piedmont Opera in the spring and was delighted to find out she had won a spot in the Chorus! And this really is her first opera ever, but you'd never know it from the way she fits right in. She said that her Spanish training (she works as an interpreter at various locations in town) has helped greatly in learning to sing in Italian.

Then rehearsal started, and I had to stop taking photos. Soon I will have more to share, I hope.