No Rest For You Know Who

What a few weeks its been since my last post. I had intended to have this up on Monday, but I've been flat on my back with a horrible cold since almost the end of the opera tour on Sunday. I think my body put up with so much stress about whether or not that was going to happen, and if it did, how smoothly it was going to go, that as soon as it was over (and without too many actual problems thank god!), it just relaxed its defenses and now I'm being ravaged by all the bugs that my companion has been plagued with all winter. Fortunately classes are done and I have a couple of weeks to just rest and recoup with nothing at all to do. For the first time between terms I don't even have to study for the LPC exam, it really is nothing at all to do (and BTW, I got the confirmation from the testing company in the mail on Wednesday confirming that I passed and that my scores were sent to the state and that I should have my license within 2-3 weeks. Of course that means that I'll get the registration packet with more forms to fill out and another check to write in 2-3 and then I'll get my license a few weeks after that, the state does need all the money it can get). I've been fiddling with my mp3 player, finally updating it with all the new music I got and let pile up while I was studying and getting my music. With my most recent emusic allotment I finished up the Kander & Ebb compilation, got Sean McDermott's newer CD, A Piece of Sky (which is just ok, half the songs are good, but half are rather lackluster, he's got the voice but there doesn't seem to be much passion or conviction in his singing, I'm debating about whether or not I want the older one), Linda Hwang playing violin concerts by Grieg, Saint-Saens, and Janacek, John Barrowman's Aspects of Lloyd Webber (much better than Sean, you can tell that he loves singing what he does), and started on a recording of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations (which does have a Broadway connection as the Variations are the subjects of Jane Fonda's new play). The next allotment will be just enough to finish up the Variations and then I'll probably start on some of the older recordings that I've had in my Froogle list forever like Babes in Arms or A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine. The other good news is that apparently someone important is reading my blog as a couple of days after my last post, it was announced that there will indeed be a cast recording of The Story of my Life!!! It was recorded last week and will be released on June 2. It's on the Ghostlight label so it should be available on emusic and I can get it when my downloads refresh about a week later. I love it when things work out like that!

In addition to OD'ing once again on music, I've been quite busy finally getting back to seeing things. We did Miss Saigon a few weeks ago, the third to last performance and it was fabulous, and then last Sunday we had the opera backstage tour. We did get our picture taken on the stage, so when I get it in the mail I'll get it scanned and posted (and BTW, I know I said I'd post some Aladdin pics, but given Disney's litigious history, I've decided against that, the last thing I need is a court order demanding that I take them down and pay royalties for using their images without permission, so if you want to see them, you'll need to come visit me). Yesterday I finally got tickets for Xanadu (March 29 matinee, the second to last performance), A Chorus Line (April 21) and La Clemenza di Tito at Chicago Opera Theatre (May 1). Once those are done and a new credit card billing cycle has begun (extra important now that I've just renewed the Lyric and Music of the Baroque subscriptions and need to book my next colloquium within the next few weeks), we'll look at Pacific Overtures and Theo Ubique's highly acclaimed production of Evita. They did such a great job with Flora, I'm excited to see how they pull this one off. It is very operatic though, so I'm sure the stripped down staging probably works very well since it lets the characters come through easier without all the stage distractions, and it can't be worse than that horrible touring version that came through the Auditorium a couple years ago. New York appears to be permanently on hold right now, but there is so much to see here at home for a lot cheaper that I'm not too distraught about that right now. In addition to these great shows, the Art Institute has that Edvard Munch retrospective which is far more interesting than anything the Met, MOMA, or Guggenheim have going right now. That's also a lot more fiscally responsible right now too and keeps my money at home where it has more of a chance to come back and benefit me more directly. However, in a concession to the economy, we will not be renewing Northlight. We only really subscribed this season because we wanted to see everything they were doing, and next season is not so exciting, I really only want to see Souvenier, so we'll just get individual tickets.

Lastly, our hearts do go out to the Redgrave and Neeson families. It still hasn't fully sunk in that Natasha Richardson actually died, it was such a freak accident. I totally loved her 10 years ago when she was in Cabaret and came this close to naming my new car (at that time) after her, although I ended up settling on Bebe, after the star of the other huge K&E revival of the time since the white color of the car seemed to be more fitting. I would have loved to have seen what else she could have accomplished. RIP Natasha.