Tuesday, January 23, 2007
A Voice To Start The Day....
Because my day doesn't start 'til 12 noon, I was lying and cuddling pups in bed, looking out on the crispy cold sunny morning, when the phone rang and it was an old pal from Abingdon, waking me with the deep tones of her gentle Southern accent...Terri L., who, with husband Bob and sons Mitch and Harry, are driving the rounds of NE colleges for the boys to look at and were over in Staten Island looking at Wagner College (because once I had told her that school has a good Musical Theater Department)...she was merely checking in, and it was so nice to hear that voice.... her boys are both quite brilliant, so wherever they decide to go to college will be lucky to have them...Bob and Terri were two of the most interesting and dear people we got to know during our time down south. For a wedding gift, they gave us time at their cottage at Calloway Gardens, which we have yet to take. Maybe one day. So good to her her voice. Thanks for calling Terri.
Grad student at noon...one of the four whose recitals I am helping to coach...but today we are working on her spoken auditions that are coming up for various things. This is good, as one of my personal goals is to make the Steinhardt student as good at speaking as they are at singing text. Glad to have the chance to work with Juliann today on spoken things.
Then, tonight, I 've been invited by darling Mana A. to be her date to a Vocal Performance Master Class at Carnegie Hall led by the marvelous Barbara Cook! And that will be interesting at the very least. Especially since she is working with what appear to be classically trained singers. Right up my particular alley at present. I am so grateful Mana invited me, and we shall meet for dinner before the event at 7:30. She remains, along with Wendy Waterman, one of the very few people from my days at CAP 21 I feel comfortable being with and discussing the work. And i am therefore grateful to her as well for being the open generous person she is. Also, I think she is terrifically bright and gifted at what she does..I admire her teaching. As I do Wendy W.'s who appears to be turning out marvelous students from her classes at Julliard..I am having dinner with her in Thursday of this week.
It feels good to have the majority of this day to myself: to sit and have the time to ruminate on what i feel like writing, instead of rushing to do a blog entry just for its own sake...when it is truly cold outside like it is today, with the wind blowing to make it seem even colder, there are many things I am grateful for , not the least of which is to have a comfortable home. A place that shelters me from the biting realities of an outside world...the proverbial roof over my head, and such a comfortable roof at that...a roof over a place filled with love and understanding....a place where the strange puzzles of life can be taken apart at leisure and studied , with the help of a caring partner...a place where hearts beat, and not just human ones, and they all beat for each others' welfare and comfort (I'm sure Cyrano thinks it is for my good that he begs me to throw his "chewie" for the 100th time)....it leads me to think of all those who have no such fortune, and i worry that that person trying to cadge some heat from the grate she is sleeping on in the street is truly me as well, and i am neglecting her....it pains me to think of all I am powerless to prevent, and that people kill each other even though they do have the power to prevent it...people choose to kill and maim and harm and hurt...as if to do so will make them safer. ......and, given leisure , this is where my mind wanders...when one is warm from the cold, it is hard for me not to think of those who are not.
Perhaps it helps to think of theater as one large fire 'round which people can warm themselves...the problem is, these days, it costs lots of money to get a seat around that camp fire...far too much money for the person who really needs the warmth....so , like everything else in human life, we have put a price tag, high price tag, on the things we fear most losing: reassurance that we are all in this together, closing out the very people who need to hear it...perhaps becuase we fear that we are all in this together,EXCEPT FOR THOSE PEOPLE! As if misfortune is contagious....so, if I am to continue this work , I must think about who I want to do it for....and guide my students in the directions that lead them to helping the most people with their gifts....otherwise, we only build more walls....walls behind which we build the very fires the people on the other side need the most. Even a starving man has a right to hear beautiful music. Especially the starving man....
NYU is a brilliant place, filled with gifted and privileged people. I am proud to be among them. And it's odd that today, with time on my hands and the sun shining in the NYC sky, my mind goes where it has gone. I am determined, as i get older, to make as much sense of my life and its uses as I can....to be as effective for the sake of others for as long as I can...to contribute and keep contributing for as long as it is possible for me to do so , in whatever ways I can...so, even as I ramble and write, nothing is wasted...of this I am sure. So, thanks for rambling with me and "listening". As ever, all comments are welcome....
Grad student at noon...one of the four whose recitals I am helping to coach...but today we are working on her spoken auditions that are coming up for various things. This is good, as one of my personal goals is to make the Steinhardt student as good at speaking as they are at singing text. Glad to have the chance to work with Juliann today on spoken things.
Then, tonight, I 've been invited by darling Mana A. to be her date to a Vocal Performance Master Class at Carnegie Hall led by the marvelous Barbara Cook! And that will be interesting at the very least. Especially since she is working with what appear to be classically trained singers. Right up my particular alley at present. I am so grateful Mana invited me, and we shall meet for dinner before the event at 7:30. She remains, along with Wendy Waterman, one of the very few people from my days at CAP 21 I feel comfortable being with and discussing the work. And i am therefore grateful to her as well for being the open generous person she is. Also, I think she is terrifically bright and gifted at what she does..I admire her teaching. As I do Wendy W.'s who appears to be turning out marvelous students from her classes at Julliard..I am having dinner with her in Thursday of this week.
It feels good to have the majority of this day to myself: to sit and have the time to ruminate on what i feel like writing, instead of rushing to do a blog entry just for its own sake...when it is truly cold outside like it is today, with the wind blowing to make it seem even colder, there are many things I am grateful for , not the least of which is to have a comfortable home. A place that shelters me from the biting realities of an outside world...the proverbial roof over my head, and such a comfortable roof at that...a roof over a place filled with love and understanding....a place where the strange puzzles of life can be taken apart at leisure and studied , with the help of a caring partner...a place where hearts beat, and not just human ones, and they all beat for each others' welfare and comfort (I'm sure Cyrano thinks it is for my good that he begs me to throw his "chewie" for the 100th time)....it leads me to think of all those who have no such fortune, and i worry that that person trying to cadge some heat from the grate she is sleeping on in the street is truly me as well, and i am neglecting her....it pains me to think of all I am powerless to prevent, and that people kill each other even though they do have the power to prevent it...people choose to kill and maim and harm and hurt...as if to do so will make them safer. ......and, given leisure , this is where my mind wanders...when one is warm from the cold, it is hard for me not to think of those who are not.
Perhaps it helps to think of theater as one large fire 'round which people can warm themselves...the problem is, these days, it costs lots of money to get a seat around that camp fire...far too much money for the person who really needs the warmth....so , like everything else in human life, we have put a price tag, high price tag, on the things we fear most losing: reassurance that we are all in this together, closing out the very people who need to hear it...perhaps becuase we fear that we are all in this together,EXCEPT FOR THOSE PEOPLE! As if misfortune is contagious....so, if I am to continue this work , I must think about who I want to do it for....and guide my students in the directions that lead them to helping the most people with their gifts....otherwise, we only build more walls....walls behind which we build the very fires the people on the other side need the most. Even a starving man has a right to hear beautiful music. Especially the starving man....
NYU is a brilliant place, filled with gifted and privileged people. I am proud to be among them. And it's odd that today, with time on my hands and the sun shining in the NYC sky, my mind goes where it has gone. I am determined, as i get older, to make as much sense of my life and its uses as I can....to be as effective for the sake of others for as long as I can...to contribute and keep contributing for as long as it is possible for me to do so , in whatever ways I can...so, even as I ramble and write, nothing is wasted...of this I am sure. So, thanks for rambling with me and "listening". As ever, all comments are welcome....
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