The first order of business last night was to celebrate our dear director Steve's 50th birthday! Brandon Whitesell, a recent UNCSA voice grad, worked his magic in the kitchen, and produced not one, but three spectacular chocolate/banana cakes! If you ever need a dessert that will dazzle your guests, Brandon is the man to call, unless he leaves us to go sing opera somewhere (mixed feelings on that possibility.)
Then we got down to some serious action in rehearsal. The scene involved Leonora (Jill Gardner, who will knock your socks off when you hear her sing), who thinks her true love Manrico is dead, is planning to enter a convent to avoid giving herself to the evil Count di Luna. Manrico and the Count are portrayed by Stephen Mark Brown and Mark Walters respectively, both with beautiful and powerful voices.
So here I am, Mother Superior, getting ready to accept Leonora into the nunnery, when all h*%# breaks loose, if you get my point. The Count jumps out of hiding to claim her before it's too late, then Manrico appears to further complicate things. Soldiers fight, nuns swoon, a lot of fabulous singing occurs, and you have to come to a performance to see how that all works out!
Steve warned all of us to be aware of the power of the swords, that even though they are "fake" they could put a hurting on someone if we're not careful. Jill immediately said, "No kidding, I've seen someone get killed that way!" Everyone gasped in horror, then she laughed and said she made that up, to our great relief and delight. She is a hoot, keeps things quite lively. I love my scene with her, the true Diva in this narrative, in the best sense of the word.
But I really don't approve of Leonora running away from her commitment to the convent, just to be with that handsome Manrico! She may have to pay the price...
Blessings to all, especially to those who come to the opera,
Mother Superior
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