Chance = Change

....is a sumptuous thing, and when Franz Lehar wrote it, he must have been conscious, he had to have been aware, of the purely erotic and sensual musical themes he was loading it up with! I have had the most fun working on the Steinhardt production of it with Bill W., because the singers' voices are wonderful, they are alive and young and sexy and ready to explore the work....and James Cunningham is a great rehearsal pianist! Well, he's a lovely pianist of any sort, but to have him playing these rehearsals is a treat....and since Bill asked me to come in to discuss with the cast the ways to open their physicality up and fill the stage with the sort of sensual style such an operetta requires - the utter "take stage" size it takes to command the wonderful sweep of the story and the music together - this particular music is a real ally in the process: if they can let it into their bodies, half the battle is won...last night I worked with some wonderful people: Crystal and Gabe who play the Widow and Danilo, are lovely....such beautiful voices...gorgeous to look at...all I did was give the Widow a fan to play with, and corrected a few diction things that opened her vowels...and all i did with Danilo was to give him a real operetta "entrance', showing him how not to be afraid of his power as a star player, and we were off and running...the whole evening was about this cast (or at least the part I got to work with last night), understanding that what they have naturally as performers is enough to fill a stage...all they need is to find the actorly actions and objectives to concentrate on, to PLAY, in order to simply unlock what is naturally within ithem...and once I gave them an actual action and obstacle to overcome, they all opened and opened large! It was amazing to watch....
In the process, the voices got bigger too because they had something else to concentrate on besides singing! Their total bodies became engaged! They focused on the actual work of being actors and their fears seemed to disappear...

The real hero of the event for me is Bill W.....and here's why: he is secure enough with his own ego and artistry to allow a genuine collaboration with another artist...he not only let me in the mix to help the performers in ways he knew I could, but he sits and listens and learns from me, as I sit and listen and learn from him...and the real beneficiaries of Bill's generous spirit? The cast of players in THE MERRY WIDOW...Bill is a genuine educator. And a spirit striving for his own growth as well....i am grateful to him for letting me in so generously. I commend him for being so open and willing to learn. He "rules" his department with a human and liberal hand. He is one who is not afraid to admit he does not know it all. And, in this there is strength. Again I say: I am grateful.

We dine with David S. tonight. I just finished reading FANNY'S FIRST PLAY, by GBS...terrifically funny and fun.