Physical Comedie and Physical Maladie

I've learned so much from this outreach experience here in Cedar Rapids. Again, like all outreach, more so than any other performance situation, the show is NOT about the performers but about educating and entertaining. During the first few performances I found that the kids weren't responding so much to the humor of my "aria" because the situation and jokes were a bit convoluted (see last post), so I decided to figure out a way to establish Granny's "cougar" and man-craziness before the singing even begins. So I grabbed a flower left over from Valeria's scene where the mother picks the bouquet of flowers, and gave it to Tony, our fabulous pianist, with a little wink. This geared up the kids' minds to the idea of flirtation and seemed to work. They seemed to get the joke more quickly... this confirms that elementary age children respond to physical comedy the most strongly. The words, unless they are very well articulated and indicated, are generally lost other than just telling the story. Dancing with the watering can, kissing it like it were a man, and then directly talking to the youngest kids in the front row, seems to keep them engaged and makes them laugh. The kids are a great barometer for the effectiveness of physical comedy, because their laughter is only given when they're really tickled. They are not there to judge or critique... they just exist and react in the moment.

I wish my brothers could see this show, if only because it would prove to them that I'm not adopted... since they're all hysterical and I've always been the more reserved of the four of us. I'm proud of the improvisations that I've felt comfortable enough to throw in... particularly of the "Haaaiiiiiiii.... YA!" that comes as I smack Mr. Big Bad on the rear end with the broom.

I'm not sure there's anything better than the sheer joy of making these kids laugh and enjoy themselves. Many of the children we've sung for are victims of the floods this summer, having lost their homes or had their lives altered because of the tragedy. Many were already low-income and, as the music teacher at one school told us, are excited to come back to school after the holiday because that is where they are happier. Needless to say, what we do is very important if it makes these kids really happy for 45 minutes.


Now... today was an adventure because Chaz, one of the main characters, woke up quite ill this morning. He was going to brave it and do the show severely under the weather, but found at the last minute that he absolutely couldn't do it. So we stared at a gym full of students with a full set behind us and half of us in costume, telling the the show wasn't going to happen. So Tony had us all pull out our music, arias or songs from the Broadway show we could sing. Ironically, this as the only day I didn't come with a backpack full of music. Luckily, we were a 5 minute drive from my homestay, so I just popped back while the other guys sang. A good lesson to learn though... ALWAYS keep your audition book on you, because you never know when a situation like that will occur. And this time it was for kids, but who knows if it could happen in another situation.

We also just found out a few other cast members are sick, so hopefully they will improve with the weekend while the rest of will stay healthy.



On a different and more positive note... I found out that I will be singing Carmen in both the quintet and Card trio in a scenes concert at the beginning of OSB. This is exciting because I thought I'd be singing Mercedes, which is my official cover. I'm so excited to learn and perform "En vain pour eviter", where Carmen sees death in her future predicted by the cards. I have so much music to learn, so many french words. I will spend much of my free time next week with my face buried in the score, ipod headphones keeping out the sounds of the real world. Bizet during the day, Puccini at night... what a joy. I am grateful.