Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Long,Long NYC DAY....
...but, so...what's new, right? It's Wednesday, so of course, it started with my fabulous and wonderful Song Analysis Class down at Steinhardt...a central joy of my life...Bill Wesbrooks, the fine man who not only hired me, but has befriended me as well, and runs the most wonderful department of Musical Theater in the Vocal Performance School of Steinhardt, ...well, he and I had a great lunch on Monday, and as usual, the time was too short to spend with him, but enjoyable all the more so... we seem to be able to find countless, endless topics to discuss, and I never feel anything but inclusion and encouragement from him....it is never a stress, a defensive strain or a confrontation to talk with him...he is an easy and good new colleague...one of the most collaborative i have ever worked with....i find this to be true of all the Steinhardt teachers i have had to privilege to work with. Unlike other places I have worked, where one seemed always on some sort of defensive or other.
Dianna Heldman... I am especially fond of, and as her vocal studio is next door to my classroom, we have had the chance to really begin to know each other on the most congenial basis...she is head of vocal training there, and oversees her teachers with such a gentle yet insistent and humane hand...I trust her...and have been sitting in on her Friday afternoon Vocal Studios....an informal gathering of voice students from all over the department, getting to gether for some coaching...the gifted and dear James Cunningham is the pianist for the time, and he is, as usual, invaluable...she includes me in her coaching while I am there, and I am able to contribute in my own way...it's great fun. I hate missing it because of my rehearsals, since it gives me a good chance to get to know other Steinhard students not in my class , and i love love love watching Dianna teach...she is kind and deeply helpful...a fine vocal tech person...refined in her knowledge... I shall get back to her Fridays when my show opens.
Today, my students had their turn to perform at the Wednesday 2:00 Program Meeting that the whole school is required to attend...I could not be there because of rehearsal...but we prepped this morning for the afternoon and what they did for me left me feeling deeply moved and proud of how far they have each come...so far, the feedback from Bill W. and James C. has been really good...I look forward to hearing what the students themselves have to say about it...and i will hear all that next Monday...I really hated missing today...I was soooo proud of what they all did in class this morning...soooooooo proud. It's really a brave thing to do what we all have chosen to do for a living. And to be college sophomores, doing it in front of your classmates? Fuggeddabowdit! Now that is hard! But my kids were prepared and relaxed and filled with decisions they had made in class, plenty of them to concentrate on instead of being nervous! So, I deeply hope they found solace in the work they prepared!
At rehearsal, we kept "beavering" on and have completed our 2nd pass-through of the play, meaning we have blocked and now have spent rehearsal time refining and exploring that blocking. And we are all mostly off book and music memorized! This is a lot to accomplish in such a short time, leaving us with a luxury of time to really get used to the stage, and make the show our own. Plenty of time. That is IF we can get Glenn A. back: his wife mysteriously went into the hopsital today for some sort of emergency surgery and he had to rush off to her....and they have two kids in the bargain to also look after, so who knows what the next days will bring?
Obviously, we are all hoping all is well with him and his wife...this show is having more than its share of illnesses striking people down in one way or the other...
But I have grown incredibly fond of Glenn in the time we have worked together...my heart goes out to him....wish i could help...right now, no one seems to know much of anything...or even if we will be spending our day of rehearsal out at Woodlawn Cemetery tomorrow as planned...we are all waiting to hear if it's worth doing without Glenn...or even if they can change the date...
Our darling writer Eric H. is home from his hospital idyll...weak and pained, but on the healing end of a stomach operation! Lordy...I feel so tired...I had better go to bed and stay healthy!
More soon...dear readers!
Dianna Heldman... I am especially fond of, and as her vocal studio is next door to my classroom, we have had the chance to really begin to know each other on the most congenial basis...she is head of vocal training there, and oversees her teachers with such a gentle yet insistent and humane hand...I trust her...and have been sitting in on her Friday afternoon Vocal Studios....an informal gathering of voice students from all over the department, getting to gether for some coaching...the gifted and dear James Cunningham is the pianist for the time, and he is, as usual, invaluable...she includes me in her coaching while I am there, and I am able to contribute in my own way...it's great fun. I hate missing it because of my rehearsals, since it gives me a good chance to get to know other Steinhard students not in my class , and i love love love watching Dianna teach...she is kind and deeply helpful...a fine vocal tech person...refined in her knowledge... I shall get back to her Fridays when my show opens.
Today, my students had their turn to perform at the Wednesday 2:00 Program Meeting that the whole school is required to attend...I could not be there because of rehearsal...but we prepped this morning for the afternoon and what they did for me left me feeling deeply moved and proud of how far they have each come...so far, the feedback from Bill W. and James C. has been really good...I look forward to hearing what the students themselves have to say about it...and i will hear all that next Monday...I really hated missing today...I was soooo proud of what they all did in class this morning...soooooooo proud. It's really a brave thing to do what we all have chosen to do for a living. And to be college sophomores, doing it in front of your classmates? Fuggeddabowdit! Now that is hard! But my kids were prepared and relaxed and filled with decisions they had made in class, plenty of them to concentrate on instead of being nervous! So, I deeply hope they found solace in the work they prepared!
At rehearsal, we kept "beavering" on and have completed our 2nd pass-through of the play, meaning we have blocked and now have spent rehearsal time refining and exploring that blocking. And we are all mostly off book and music memorized! This is a lot to accomplish in such a short time, leaving us with a luxury of time to really get used to the stage, and make the show our own. Plenty of time. That is IF we can get Glenn A. back: his wife mysteriously went into the hopsital today for some sort of emergency surgery and he had to rush off to her....and they have two kids in the bargain to also look after, so who knows what the next days will bring?
Obviously, we are all hoping all is well with him and his wife...this show is having more than its share of illnesses striking people down in one way or the other...
But I have grown incredibly fond of Glenn in the time we have worked together...my heart goes out to him....wish i could help...right now, no one seems to know much of anything...or even if we will be spending our day of rehearsal out at Woodlawn Cemetery tomorrow as planned...we are all waiting to hear if it's worth doing without Glenn...or even if they can change the date...
Our darling writer Eric H. is home from his hospital idyll...weak and pained, but on the healing end of a stomach operation! Lordy...I feel so tired...I had better go to bed and stay healthy!
More soon...dear readers!
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