Dass hat Rrrrrrassss so tra-la-la-la-la-LAAA!

This weekend marked the end of a truly enjoyable experience onstage and off. Die lustige Witwe played its final performance yesterday afternoon. Afterwards, the cast gathered for drinks and hors d'oeuvres at Bar Italia to celebrate the end of our run. It may be hard to top this show! Right now, I'm filled with a sense of joy and wistfulness...for all the obvious reasons.

I'll admit that when I discovered (over a year ago) that UAO would be presenting The Merry Widow, I was quite "meh" about the prospect of auditioning for it. I wasn't that familiar with the operetta, and of what I could tell, it seemed such a saccharine, dated, convoluted piece. However, when I sat down to hear recordings of the season repertoire, I could NOT stop listening to Lovro von Matačič's iconic 1962 recording of Die lustige Witwe with the incomparable Elisabeth Schwartzkopf and Eberhard Wächter. The music, while not at the level of Verdi or Mozart, had this way of making me laugh and feel genuine joy. Sure, the subject of Lehár's score probably hasn't graced the pages of many doctoral dissertations...but who cares? If you have a sense of frivolity and romance, this score will do. you. IN. It did me in, at least...hehe!

Putting the show together was "lustige" on so many levels. The cast got together smashingly, and sounded/looked great! We even proved wrong the old stereotype that opera singers can't move/dance...even I managed to waltz. I even tried my hand at a Polka and the Can-Can! Success? I hope so. I'll always chuckle at waltzing "drunk" with Megan, my lovely Frau auf der Bühne. Men's Chorus numbers were tons of fun...especially our "gawk at Hanna scena" and the epic "Damenwahl trainwreck." And those grisettes? Tres chaud! We looked damn good, too...all thanks to Teresa, our resourceful, dedicated costume designer. Julie, the production manager, summed it up succinctly: "You all look like a million damn bucks!"

Oh, and did I mention that singing the piece in German was the ultimate Glasur auf der Kuchen?!? I don't give a flying @*#!Ü what a silly critic has to say about that choice, either. I think it's quite refreshing and unique to hear a piece just as the composer heard it and wrote it. So there!

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Oh, and I might as well mention that I turned the big TWO-EIGHT on Thursday. My wonderful, loving parents gave me a fantabulous gift: a MacBook. You may have no I-DEEEE-A how badly I've wanted/needed a new computer, and this was a complete surprise for me. I've already named it: Agador Spartacus. Points to whomever knows where I got the name!

The new week brings on the second wave of Lakmé rehearsals...more on this later as I shave off the mutton chops and take on Brahmin Hinduism.