Recitals | Tech-Toy | Italy

RECITALS & CONCERTS

April was the month of recitals. I think I set a record this year—five recitals in one month! I started things off with Meghan Garvin’s senior recital at SLU, then Stephanie Ball’s Masters Recital for WashU a few days later. One particular Sunday, I did a 3-recital marathon: Joy Boland at Christ Church Cathedral, Tom Sitzler’s Masters Recital at WashU and Anthony Heinemann’s senior recital (for SLU) at Union Avenue. Capping off this month of recitals was a concert in Belleville with Christine Brewer and broadway singer Anna McNeely.

One highlight for me from each (though there were many of note):

- Meghan’s Frauenliebe und –Leben

- Stephanie’s Roussel set (with flute)

- Joy’s Puccini arias from Turandot

- Tom’s rendition of Hoiby’s “Last Letter Home”

- Anthony’s Tosti/Donaudy set

- Anna’s Broadway show selections (loved her “Broadway Baby”)

- Christine’s dramatic-soprano encores (which will be released on CD soon)

This month of recitals gives me an itch to audition for Artists’ Presentation Society next year. I have rep that I’d love to put out there…plus I’ve been plugging away at character Tenor rep for some time now. It’s time!

A little over a week after seeing Christine Brewer’s concert in Belleville, I had the opportunity to see her again in an all-Wagner concert with the Saint Louis Symphony. She performed the Liebestod as well as the final scene from Die Walküre with Alan Held (whom I remember from Salome in Chicago). The former was sublime; the latter makes me want to rediscover the Ring Cycle. It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

THE NEW TOY

A couple weeks ago, I bought myself a new tech-toy. Usually when faced with the urge to splurge on a tech-toy, I second-guess the purchase until I spin myself out of the temptation. It’s a good habit that has spared me money woes. Not this time, though. I now own software and video/audio connections to convert my VHS tapes into DVD format. It’s mostly an effort to downsize and simplify my life, but also to preserve some of my treasures…including a live broadcast of The Light in the Piazza from PBS, the 1982 Pirates of Penzance movie (a box office disaster which will probably never be digitized), plus a bunch of college plays and musicals. I also promised my family I would make DVDs of my sister’s wedding and various family vacations. Bring on the awkward memories!!!

ITALY [!!!]

A month from now, I get on a plane for Italy. There is so much to do between now and then, I cannot even begin to say. However, I can say for sure that I have my plane ticket, hotel reservations in every city (even Venice, which costs an arm/leg), plus my Eurail pass. So that’s getting somewhere. Since church choir will be singing in three of the cities we visit (Rome, Assisi, Florence), we’re gearing up for that with rehearsals. The repertoire is a mix of sacred works (classical and renaissance period) and American spirituals—which Italians tend to enjoy greatly since that form is not part of their cultural/musical history. So far, I’ve heard that while in Rome, we’ll be singing in a service at a major Anglican Church which reportedly has a Sunday attendance second only to the Vatican!! (Funny how in the birthplace—more or less—of Catholicism, we’ll be singing somewhere non-Catholic.) Oh, and a certain traveler in our group will be turning the big THREE-OH while we’re in Rome. Can we say Birthday debauchery?!?!! More on Italy as it approaches.

2009: End of the Aughts

Well, another year has marched on by. Let’s take a look at what happened for me in 2009... I saw some great concerts with some heavyweight Broadway talents: Kristin Chenoweth, Mandy Patinkin and Patti LuPone! Also got to see some great operas, including Salome and Ghosts of Versailles at OTSL, plus a world premiere musical: Abe—which turned out to be quite entertaining (despite all the hype of its camp value). Got the opportunity to go to Italy (next year) with my church choir peeps. Best of all, I worked a LOT this year. My favorite gig? Merry Widow, because who wouldn’t love to sing German operetta in German??? Was great to work with Tim Ocel twice: first with Don Pasquale and secondly with Amahl and the Night Visitors—for which I got my first legit newspaper review. And as much as we had to say about O Pioneers!—for better or worse—there is something to be said about doing a new work and creating the first characterization of a role…and being heard on the radio for it wasn’t too shabby, neither!

Can you believe we’re about done with another decade?!? Remember how about 10 years ago this time, lots of people were freaking that computers were going to send us back to the stone age? Crazy that it’s been that long. Looking back, there were many highlights to the years of the Aughts—the decade of my twenties. Here’s a list of some highlights of each year:

2000 – The Pirates of Penzance | attending President Clinton’s speech in Quincy

2001 – spending Spring Break in cold Chicago | having the best. summer. job. EVER: MUNY Usher

2002 – Amos in Chicago | turning 21 | experiencing real-life sitcom living in Senior House with Mark, John and all those wacky guest stars (you know who you are!)

2003 – going on Franciscan Pilgrimage to Italy

2004 – conducting Gypsy | graduating from QU | becoming Uncle Phil to little William

2005 – having least stressful (and laziest) summer in recent memory

2006 – earning my Masters from WashU | seeing Voigt in Salome

2007 – birth of my niece, Grace | performing The Magic Flute | seeing Christine Brewer in Die Frau ohne Schatten…then missing the bus!

2008 – serving as Best Man at John and Hilda’s wedding | experiencing and obsessing over the Election

2009 – making Radio Broadcast Debut | singing quite often (and in this economy, that’s a blessing!)

Hope you have an enjoyable (and safe) New Year’s Eve. I’ll be enjoying a friend’s cabaret concert in midtown, then ringing in the new year in South City. Happy 2010!

end of summer

The end of summer is more or less here.  UAO--all three months of it--is done.  Now that I'm back to a more "regular" pattern of life, I've begun to think about what's ahead for me. Prepare yourself for a somewhat meandering read...

Even if UAO has ended for the year, I have another opera gig coming up in a few weeks.  I was recently hired to sing in the world premiere staging of a new opera by composer Barbara Harbach:  O Pioneers!  It's based upon the Willa Cather novel.  I'm singing the role of Oscar, one of two cantankerous, sexist brothers of the opera's/novel's heroine, Alexandra.  Tom Sitzler, whom I got to know well this summer at UAO, will be Lou, the other brother.  We get a trio with Alexandra, and the rest of the time we absorb into the chorus.  Got the score the other day...and did I mention that it was the full orchestral score??  This things are a bee-yotch to read, but if anything, I'll walk away with an appreciation for conductors who have to read that much all the time.

Tomorrow I meet up with John to resume voice lessons, and I'm hoping for a fruitful lesson as well as a meaningful discussion about how I'm going to expand my horizons and put myself out there for audition panels. There are a few Young Artist Programs and Opera Companies that I am really interested in pursuing including, but not limited to Ohio Light Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Opera New Jersey. Of course there's local fare.  New Opera St. Louis (soon to be "Winter Opera St. Louis") is doing Werther, Barber of Seville and Gianni Schicchi.  This repertoire gives me a few things to shoot for, namely Brühlmann in Werther, Fiorello in Barber and Gherardo in Schicchi.  I'd even be happy to do the chorus of Barber once again...I remember the Quincy Barber to be fun stuff, and this time it'd be in Italian (I presume).  UAO's '10 season (Fille du Regiment--Pirates--Queen of Spades) isn't as ripe with role opportunity, but I'll get to all that later.  The hardest part is finding the right rep to bring to auditions, especially when the role you want has either no aria or nothing excerpt-able.  Then again, that dilemma can breed creativity like nothing else.

Of course there's also musical theatre auditions at Stages or the MUNY...HAHAHAHAHA!!!!1!!!11!  The former has announced its somewhat bland season (State Fair, Promises Promises and Big River).  The latter operates on a 5-year cycle, so we can expect a season including some (or possibly all of) the following:  West Side Story, Beauty and the Beast, Sound of Music, Singin' in the Rain and Jesus Christ Superstar (welcome back, Eric Kunze!). They probably won't repeat Annie Get Your Gun or Mame as both kind of stunk up the place.  Bottom line: not so many singing shows on that docket.

In a week or two, I start up again with my church job at UACC. As I mentioned in the previous post, we might be going to Italy.  Hopefully it will work out...and end up reasonably priced. I look forward to all that we're singing, especially if we end up doing this Italy trip for realz.

Ok, that's it...abrupt ending, I know...but that reflects the ending of my summer. ;)

REVIEW: An Evening With Patti & Mandy @ Fox

The other day, my dear friend Joy happily came across some comps for a concert that I had decided initially that I'd have to pass up for scrimpin' and savin' reasons.

In the past couple years, I've seen several of my favorite singers/personalities live, including Christine Brewer, Bryn Terfel, Susan Graham, Debbie Voigt, Margaret Cho and most recently Kristin Chenoweth. It's all so surreal! To finally know they exist not just on CD or television. You're actually in the same concert hall/opera house/theatre with them!! I know this seems so gauche of me, but it's an honest feeling I get...

...and I got it definitely tonight at An Evening with Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin. They'd not worked together since their monumental performances together in the original Broadway production of Evita...and it was like watching two old friends collaborating as if twenty or so years really hadn't passed by.

What I loved most about the evening was that it didn't feel like a conventional concert. Patti and Mandy treated the evening almost as if it were a classical recital, except the repertoire was not Schubert, Debussy or Copland...it was of equal giants in the musical theatre canon: Rodgers & Hammerstein, Kern, Loesser and Sondheim. Groups songs by these composers were woven into almost a Liederkreis of sorts. We were given a story to watch. I was very touched by Mandy and Patti's recapitulation of the Carousel story, especially.

Of course, the evening also allowed for some solo turns. Patti came out and knocked 'em dead with two solos instrumental in her early career ("Don't Cry for Me, Argentina") and her most recent work ("Everything's Coming Up Roses"). Mandy gave an inspired, borscht-belt reading of "Buddy's Blues" from Follies. It was a little disappointing, though, that he nixed "Oh What a Circus" this evening. The duo closed out the evening with the delightful ditty "Coffee in a Cardboard Cup," which I now am determined to sing with a willing duet partner!

It all flashed by so fast, yet with such pacing, I was never left wanting more. A truly wonderful evening of song!

Prodigal Blogger Vol. 1

Woah, where have I been this month?!?

*cue cheesy baptist church organ music*

I’m a bonafied certified blog-backslider!!!  I am a lost sheep!!  But I—the Prodigal Blogger—have come home to beg your forgiveness!!!

Ok… now that that part is over with…lemme fill you in on what’s up…

WILLIAM TURNS FIVE!

My nephew William turned 5 years old at the top of the month.  His parents threw him a Cowboy-themed party, and the kid just had a ball!  Was glad to have been a part of it.  I have learned that one of his birthday presents was Tae Kwon Do lessons…though I think they are less a “wheee! fun!!” present and more a “we need to harness this kid’s energy so he doesn’t drive us nuts at home” present.  Either way, I’m wearing a cup next time I visit him in case he wants to practice any kicks when I walk in the door.

MOVIES

So I decided to catch up on a couple Oscar films, albeit retroactively.  I spent a Saturday afternoon at the Chase Park Plaza seeing two films in a row: The Reader and Frost/Nixon.  The Reader was quite amazing and prompted a lot of moral questions, but for reasons of plot spoilage, I cannot comment why I feel that way.  Nonetheless, Kate Winslet proved once again why she’s one of the best working film actresses today…and I actually feel this role to be Oscar worthy, even though I feel like the Academy pulled a “Scorcese” on her.  Frost/Nixon made me feel as if Frank Langella was robbed—and I loved Sean Penn in Milk.  Now I want to see the actual Frost/Nixon interviews.

GIGS, GIGS, GIGS

Got cast at Union Avenue for the coming season.  They’re doing Il trovatore, The Merry Widow (in German), Lakmé and a Christmastime production of Amahl and the Night Visitors.  I’ll be appearing in the Verdi and Lehár, the latter of which I’m most excited…because any chance to flex my german muscles is worth taking!  We have yet to hear how Amahl will be cast, but I am not necessarily holding my breath.

(Oh, and I entered the Crapshoot Olympics® but didn’t even get the Bronze.  However, I did get a compliment from the judge.)

Last weekend, I solo-ed with the St. Louis Women’s Chorale.  Got to sing some Lehár and Weill, one of which I can sing at parties; the other I can add to my aria list…SWELL!!

As if all that weren’t enough, I got hired at the last minute for a chorus gig in New Opera St. Louis’ season-closer Don Pasquale.  Great director, great conductor, fun colleagues... To quote the great Ethel Merman: who could ask for anything more? 

Review: ABE

ABE, a new musical, received its world premiere in Quincy, Illinois two weekends ago.  Presented by the Muddy River Opera Company in a city that hosted one of the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates, this new work holds particular nostalgia for the state of Illinois in 2009, the Lincoln Bicentennial Year.  Composer Roger Anderson and Book-Writer/Lyricist Lee Goldsmith began collaboration on this musical in the 1970s, but had not finished it until recently, when MROC took interest in premiering the work.

ABE focuses on the life of Abraham Lincoln from his early years until his departure from Springfield, Illinois for the Presidential Inauguration.  The first act mostly concerns Lincoln’s formative years in New Salem, Illinois; the second with his rise to power and marriage to Mary Todd.  Dramatically, the musical suffers at the beginning.  While the creative team succeeds with a stirring, effective prologue set at a New Orleans slave auction (at which Lincoln is a prominent spectator), their opening number—“Fifteen Houses, A Hundred People”—lacks energy.  Despite this initial flaw, the musical numbers that follow manage to liven up the pace.  “Who Are You” gives the audience a glimpse into Lincoln’s quest for purpose.  “Corn,” “Two Hundred Seventy Seven to Three” and “Who, Abe? You, Abe!” gives the ensemble ample opportunities to shine and put a smile on our faces.  The second act of ABE happily maintains the established dramatic pace.

In the title role, baritone Samuel Hepler gave a sensitive, well-considered reading of the iconic 16th president.  His warm, rich baritone and lanky, handsome stage presence exuded Lincoln’s idealism, melancholy and heart.  Soprano Elise LaBarge was charming and sympathetic as Lincoln’s first love Ann Rutledge, and her solo “A Man Like Him” proved bittersweet, given Rutledge’s fate.  Ms. LaBarge also deftly negotiated some of the more awkward, stilted dialogue in the show.  Soprano Joy Boland portrayed Mary Todd Lincoln with gutsy aplomb and gave us a glimpse of a woman that—despite an often difficult temper and shifting mood—loved, cherished and supported her husband wholeheartedly.  Baritone Greg Lewis had clear diction and strong presence as Mentor Graham, schoolteacher and early friend to Lincoln. Tenor Robert Boldin was an utter delight as Lincoln’s oft-smashed law-partner Billy Herndon.  Boldin showed remarkable versatility in the unsettling “What Am I Bid?”

Director Mark James Meier handled this big, old-fashioned book musical with careful attention to detail and resourceful usage of his ensemble.  Along with the bigger, splashier numbers, Meier offered many simple, touching moments throughout, especially regarding Lincoln’s early courting and eventual loss of Ann Rutledge as well as the enduring friendship between Lincoln and Billy Herndon.  Conductor Scott Schoonover’s leadership of the 20-piece MROC orchestra was a generous complement to the proceedings onstage.  Paul Denckla’s production design made the effective approach of suggestion over presentation with a rustic unit set (calling to mind Lincoln’s early years in Kentucky and southern Illinois) coupled with projections of actual plot locales.

The production team, cast and crew of Abe are to be commended for giving such a wonderful world premiere.

Goin' up to see "Abe"

Tomorrow, I'm going up to Quincy, IL to see the world premiere of Abe: the Musical presented by Muddy River Opera.  I first heard of Abe way back in June last year, when Mark Meier (director of UAO's Elixir of Love) said that he was offered the job of directing the show.  To hear him describe it, you'd think that it had the potential to be a campy adventure a la the play-within-the-movie of Waiting for Guffman.  When he told me that the composer and lyricist wrote a show-stopper called "Corn" I knew I had to see it.  Of course, there's more reasons than that to want to come to my college town, including the fact that several friends are involved.  Joy is Mary Todd Lincoln; Elise is Ann Rutledge; Emily is some role I cannot remember right now; Scott is conducting; Mark is directing.

So, up to Quincy I go tomorrow.  I shall offer a full report here...perhaps in the wee hours of Saturday morning when I've stumbled back to my motel room after some inevitable post-opening-night partying.

STAGES audition

OK, so I had the STAGES audition about two hours ago.  Here's how things happened...  I entered the room to notice the accompanist (whom I know from WU, and she was tickled to see me, so that put me a little bit at ease) and the one-man audition panel.  I announced my song, "Mr. Cellophane" from Chicago, sang it pretty damn well (it's so ingrained by now), and the panel thus asked me to sing those 32 bars once more in my most 'new-york-gangster' manner.  I had a bit of a memory lapse this second time around...partly due to nerves, but mostly because I overthought another directive from the panel.  Nevertheless, they seemed to like my 'gangster' characterization, even if I felt my nerves didn't allow me to go "full out," as it were.

I was asked if I had anything else, and proceeded to sing "The Desert Song."  My high A-flat at the end was stellar on first approach, but my second approach...a little squally, perhaps?  Should have just done a portamento down to the F.  Urrgh!  No re-sing of this one, but the panel did thank me for singing.

Overall, I give this audition a B.

What I can gather?  Not a whole lot.  Word is that STAGES is looking to hire more locals as they are in the red after their December production of Little Women...so that doesn't necessarily give me hope, but is at least a little encouraging.  If I get a call from the company on Saturday night, that means they want me at Call Backs the next day.  Judging from the 'gangster' directive, I deduce that if anything, I might have been considered for the ensemble of Guys and Dolls--but that's a mere assumption.

In other audition-y type news, I might go with my friend Jason out to Crestwood Mall on Saturday afternoon to be considered as an "extra" in the soon-to-be-filmed-in-St.-Louis movie Up in the Air (with George Clooney).  Production needs types to play travelers, airline employees, TSA personnel, etc.  I'd only have to set aside one day, and I'd probably end up in a scene filmed at Lambert Airport's recently closed D concourse.  We'll see.

Only for now!

Well, today's the last day of the Bush Administration. In order to avoid too much negativity, I won't go into any long-winded diatribes. (It's just too tiring to recount all the crap that has been visited upon We, the American People since January 20th, 2001.) However, I will say that George better hope God is merciful. History won't be. No amount of self-delusion will change that.

I won't lie...I am taking some definite Schadenfreude in this transfer of power. I want to be in the heads of all the conservative pundits, journalists, shock jocks, et. al. that are unhappy with the new administration coming into power tomorrow morning. How must it feel now that their hands are off the levers of power? Sure, the pendulum could swing back...but for now, I wanna know if they're gonna all wear black tomorrow.

In the finale of Avenue Q, the cast sings a bittersweet sentiment that so many joys and hardships in life are "only for now..." Towards the end, the lyric goes:

Only for now
Sex-- is only for now
Your hair-- is only for now
George Bush-- is only for now

That lyric has heightened meaning for us today, doesn't it?

Auditions to come...

So, I've got three auditions on the horizon for summer companies (STAGES, Union Avenue Opera & The MUNY).  I get so embarrassed sometimes that I'm not casting my net wider.  It's due to several factors--most of which are in my power to change.  I just need to have more faith in myself...et cetera.  Anyhow, I am thinking of the following game plans:

STAGES

Just scheduled an audition with this summer musical theatre company doing Little Shop of Horrors, Drowsy Chaperone and Guys and Dolls.  I'm probably most appropriate for the third show, as the first two are a belty-singing show and dancing show, respectively.  I'm a singer that moves...so a good number of the Rodgers/Hammerstein, Loesser, Lerner/Loewe shows are right up my alley.

Thus, I'm bringing in my requisite two contrasting songs.  I'm starting off with "Mr. Cellophane" to give the panel a glimpse into my comedic personality.  Should they want to hear something else, I'll sing the title song from The Desert Song--which is my "ballad" with a lot of "money notes" during and at the end.  A friend smartly suggested I have a cabaret song ready and in my binder...so I've got a bittersweet William Bolcom number planned in that case.

UNION AVENUE OPERA

They're doing Verdi's Il trovatore, Lehár's The Merry Widow (in german), Delibes' Lakmé in the summer and Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors at Christmastime.   In short, there's a lot that I would love to be considered for (and have noted on my audition letter) in every production this season.  Though, I'm really gunning for Kaspar in Amahl and a few supporting roles in Merry Widow...did you think I'd pass up the chance to compete for a role in german?

At UAO, one usually gets to sing two pieces, time- and panel-permitting.  My thought is to begin with "This Is My Box" from Amahl, followed by "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" from Lehár's The Land of Smiles.  This is, by my estimation, the best course of action.  You've got A.) an aria straight from the opera AND the role...and B.) another aria in the style of the composer to be featured.

MUNY

Oh geez... I don't even know where to begin.  Maybe the "Debbie Plan," which would consist of:

1. hardcore dance sessions w/Debbie Allen

2. Debbie Voigt surgery (maybe the lap-band kind?)

Ok, so the "Debbie Plan" is wildly expensive...so I'll just have to seriously out-sing the conservatory students.  I don't know what to sing yet, but luckily, the MUNY auditions aren't until the beginning of March.  I have a decent amount of time to find something old-school musical comedy that is both something I'd actually sing onstage yet aesthetically pleasing in all the ways it must be aesthetically pleasing.  Oh, and lots of ZOWIE!  I'm not sure what "zowie" entails, but I'll get back to you on that.

. . . . . . .

Your thoughts, if any?

REVIEW: Kristin Chenoweth Concert @ Fox

The Kristin Chenoweth Concert @ the Fox Theatre was a very warm breeze in this cold, and getting colder, month of January.  It was one of those events I knew I couldn't miss, much like seeing Margaret Cho last spring.  The first half of her program included medleys from old-school musical theatre composers Meredith Willson (a lovely job on "Till There Was You") and Jerome Kern (her "Bill" was simply touching).  We also got a glimpse into her quirky real-life crush on a Starbucks employee in "Taylor, the Latté Boy." Kristin ended the first half of the program with Irving Berlin's energetic "Let Yourself Go," backed up by two talented Broadway dancers, who joined her throughout the evening, and provided a humorous Brokeback Mountain-esque punchline in the dance number "Goin' To The Dance With You."

Throughout the evening, Ms. Chenoweth paid tribute to modern musical theatre composers including Stephen Schwartz (she sang "Popular" from Wicked with an ironic dedication to Gov. Rod Blagojevich; in the second half, she sang "For Good") and Andrew Lippa--who just happened to be her conductor for the evening!  Maestro Lippa led the Saint Louis Symphony with aplomb and only one noticeable false start.  Bravo to Mike Isaacson of the Fox for having brought all these talented forces together.  It's something we don't see that often.

One of the concert's high points, which typify Kristin's vocal versatility, came in "The Girl in 14G"--a witty riff on annoying singing neighbors (opera-wannabe upstairs; bebop-wannabe downstairs).  She has great command of the voice (voices?) she has developed over the years.  Her second half opener, Romberg's "I Wanna Be A Prima Donna," was yet another vocal acrobatic treat.

Ms. Chenoweth's banter with the audience and song-setups were quite engaging, if a bit long winded in parts.  She noted that this was her second performance at the Fox since the pre-Broadway tryout of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown and waxed nostaglic about seeing her signature at the show-mural on the walls of the Fox Theatre backstage area.  Her only misstep was a setup to a Stephen Foster song about hope, wherein she didn't want to come off too political, but bungled it akwardly into a pro-Obama statement.  While most of us (myself included) cheered when she mentioned "hope for the next four years," my mother, an ardent Palinista, sat silent, arms crossed.  (I think it was, unfortunately, a real buzzkill for mom...and she made it known as we left the theatre...*sigh*)

Now, I was hoping and hoping for a performance of "Glitter and Be Gay" sometime in the evening.  As the concert progressed, I got a little worried we may not hear it, as Kristin admitted she was suffering from a cold (thank you to the sound engineers for sparing us the requisite nose-blowing in between numbers!).  Nevertheless, after her "final song," Kristin took her bows...then slinked into the wings.  The prolonged wait for her second bow, coupled by the orchestra sitting down to prepare for another piece, tripled by a stagehand bringing out a table bedecked with jewels absolutely brightened my heart!  Kristin came out in her third dress of the evening to tackle that Bernstein coloratura-showpiece after nearly 2 hours of belting, hoofing and being a generally great diva.  What a performer!  What an evening!

Kristin, you make me glad to be a singer...and you make me even gladder to know that it's ok to be open to ANYTHING.

Later folks!

**UPDATE**

Post-Dispatch Classical Music Critic Sarah Bryan Miller reviewed the concert, and though she praised Cheno quite often, I felt cheated out of the obligatory zany, off-the-wall, WTF?! critiques SBM pulls out of thin air.

the inner child gets his diva

How were all your holidays?  Christmas loot was decent this year.  The bulk of it was kitchen supplies, which I needed, along with some clothes and a set of wireless land line telephones.  Let's just say it was a holiday to fix up my apartment ever so slightly.  Didn't get much frivolous and/or fun gifts (i.e. DVDs, Electronics, Theatre Tickets, Gift Cards).  With my mom, practical gifts get top priority, which I understand since I am 27 after all.  Nevertheless, my dad and I went shopping post-Christmas for an external hard drive (750 GIGS BABY!) and I did get some ca$h which eventually helped to sate the inner child...

...which brings me to news about this weekend.  One of my purchases was tickets to see none other than Kristin Chenoweth at the Fox Theatre.  The St. Louis Symphony will be backing up the diminutive coloratura-soprano-turned-broadway-belter/diva this Saturday evening.  I have no idea what she's singing, but I hope that whatever she does, she includes the song featured in the video below.  

(BTW, don't you think she should return to her abandoned opera aspirations at least to explore Despina in Cosi or Adele in Fledermaus?  The MET had her tapped for Ghosts of Versailles next year, but the economy snuffed that out.  Even if a Despina or Adele were a crashing failure, at least they would have tried.  I'm sure they'd want to do something about her fast vibrato pulse, tho.)

Oh, I'm so excited!!!  To my knowledge, the last time Kristin was ever in St. Louis was with the pre-Broadway tryout of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown--for which she later won a Tony!  Could it be that she views the Fox as a good luck charm?!?  Probably not, but I would like to think so.  Expect a review on Sunday or later!