papageno schweigt

how exactly does one padlock a mouth? A question for our director...

heilige tugend 2

Cold has descended on us. Leaves are blowing. We had a ladies' night.

We sang the 3 ladies of The Magic Flute, most of their choruses from both acts. I wreaked a little havoc by not remembering if I was Lady 1, 2 or 3.

Tonight we learned again that women are full of idle chatter, and that men's virtue lies in being firm and steady: not listening to women, and not speaking much themselves.

It must be silent in that temple.

fasten your seat belts

Good evening, mayhem fans!

Yes, it's true, last week I took a hiatus. You see, the world was doing such a good job of creating its own mayhem, I felt I needed to give the task over completely, and take the night off. There were blustery winds. The market was suddenly cancelled. Trees rustled ominously. I hunkered down.

But tonight I was back at it, along with the rest of the cast.

We rehearsed all the choruses. Sometimes we were a trio of ladies. Sometimes a trio of spirits. Sometimes a choir of priests. And sometimes, just sometimes, a voice from within.

The priests of course had important things to say. Namely: don't trust women. Don't trust women! That seems to be the bulk of their wisdom. Women are, of course, completely untrustworthy. It's a little hard to take, so we have plans, in our rendition, to make our women a little more feisty.

Once this wisdom is gained, and women have been resisted, we sang, earth becomes a paradise...earth becomes a paradise...earth becomes...

wings and feathers good, arms and legs bad

We are rounding up a real cast for the Magic Flute. Each week new people come! And along with them: new possibilities!

Our Doyenne of Song was taking advantage of this by having us sing in small ensembles, searching for possible lasting combinations. One of them she wanted to try out was the duet between Papagena and Papageno. 

"Remember, she is your dream fulfilled."

Our small Papageno took a look at our exuberant Papagena, dripping, sopping still, having come straight from swim practice, and scrunched his face up. She beamed. 

Some of us were a little timid about singing alone in front of the big group. (What, ME?!? Heavens no. Me, afraid of some of Pamina's high notes? OK, maybe...) Our leader gave us a pep talk, short and sweet, and possibly just slightly Orwellian: 

NO FEAR, HERE

ONLY CHEER

The real treat of the evening came right at the end: the men, singing the Spirits' trio. Men, take note! There's just nothing like your voices, in harmony. They had us all swooning. 

So, without further ado I will let you know that tonight was brought to you by the rhyme    

-ear...

papageno

"He's a man, but he's been hanging around birds so long, he looks like a bird." 

"So he's like a crazy cat lady, but with birds?"

heilige tugend

My, my, my, my, my.

I may have promised more than I can deliver!

In these sacred halls, tonight, there was no revenge - also no talking out of turn, pursuing of tangents, cracking of jokes, squabbling, or mayhem of any kind!

One hardly recognized us.

"Don't worry," our First Lady of Song assured me afterwards. "It's only the first class. They'll be misbehaving in no time."

In the meantime, tonight we accomplished an amazing feat: a Whirlwind Tour through the entire Magic Flute, with all the major arias and duets touched on, and pretty much all of the dialogue read.

We were treated to both of the Queen of the Night's arias, sung in full splendor by our uncontested Queen. We had a couple of different wonderful Papagenos. We are already envisioning him being covered in peacock feathers (donations of feathers, etc. are more than welcome).

And: we have a bass!

Friends, we are flush. Let's enjoy this moment.

* charade *

Good morning, friends!
It's a beautifully blustery one.

Why am I posting on a Thursday instead of a Wednesday? Because last night I was out having the perhaps once-in-a-lifetime treat of seeing one of my favorite movies on the big screen.

But next week the mayhem starts up again!

You will once again get to hear about Opera Scenes.
Better than any movie, this acting, singing, dancing class has got it all:

     - mystery
     - intrigue
     - conflict
     - comedy (lots and lots of comedy)
     - witty dialogue
     - lovable characters
     - happy endings

So come on along for the ride. Because, mesdames et messieurs, ici, l'attraction, c'est nous!