Leaving Cork for Limerick

Well this is it, last night in Cork.  It's been a great time here, and getting to know the city and the people has been fun.  I did a little last-minute shopping for loved ones today, and picked up some goodies from the Murphy's brewery for Jean and Chantal's pub back in Glons.  The marketing manager from the brewery was very nice and assembled a little bag with some pens, bar towels, beer glasses, a t-shirt, and so on, so there will be lots of mementos from my stay here to further decorate the best Irish pub in the Maas river valley.

Then I had a coaching with Ciara, working through both the Rossini Figaro and the Gounod Valentin arias, which are feeling fine; I'm hoping to audition with these so I want to keep them in the voice.  We were working in the Cork School of Music, which is a beautiful very new building with lots of rehearsal studios with mirrors and grand pianos... lots of natural light, it's quite an impressive building.

This evening we reblocked the show for the University College Concert Hall in Limerick, which will see a reduced set.  This is only really a problem for the larger numbers with Chorus, so we had to walk through those numbers tonight.  Now it's off to the apartment to pack things up, do a last laundry and give things a once-over before tomorrow morning, when we get on the bus to Limerick; I'm flying out directly from Shannon the day after the show, so won't be back here again for who knows how long.

Bye Cork!  It's been smooth, like!

visit to Kinsale, closing night in Cork

I took the free day on Friday and went by bus to Kinsale, a beautiful village to the south of Cork.  It was the sight of a momentous battle in the early 17th century, during the nine years' war.  Two forts remain on either side of the entrance to the harbour, which is still in use as a port.

I had already swum for over an hour that morning, and so thought I'd had enough exercise, but the very hilly walk to Charles Fort was about four kilometers, and I was pooped out by the time I got there.  I took the tour of the fortress, which is star-shaped, after the style of Louis XIV's military engineer Vauban.  It was an informative tour, and it was a beautiful day, so I followed the easier walking trail to get back to Kinsale proper for dinner.

It being a coastal town, I opted for a seafood restaurant, choosing the Fishy Fishy cafe, but was a little disappointed.  They seated me next to the lobster/crab tank, until I asked to be moved, and left my glass of Veuve-Cliquot on the bar instead of bringing it with the fresh oysters I ordered.  The oysters were very nice, juicy and very fresh, but the thai wok-stirred clams I had later on were lacklustre, no more than average.  A bit of a disappointment for my first meal out since arriving in Ireland, but the price tag was ok, 31 euros.

The bus ride back took an hour, and I opted out of the event at Cashman's, a local pub owned by a very generous member of the chorus, who opened the place for a private party for the cast and crew.  Instead I headed home and went to bed early.  How boring!

Unfortunately I awoke in the middle of the night, sneezing uncontrollably, to find that despite my discipline of sleep, healthy food and exercise, the scratchy throat and itchy nose that had been bothering me for the last couple days had in fact developed into a cold.  I took some meds and went back to sleep for another few hours.  Fortunately for me, Dayquill works very well, and in any case a head cold doesn't really affect my singing, it just makes it little harder work, energy-wise.  The famous American soprano Renee Fleming says that one is in perfect voice five days every year; tragically one never has a gig on those five days, and has to make do with feeling less than perfect the other 360.  She's right.

Last night, our last performance went very well, although more members of the cast than just myself have caught this cold; the conductor, the tenor, the mezzo, one of the sopranos, both of the basses, we've all had it and we're all soldiering on.  I did attend the closing party for two small drinks but as usual headed home early, and was in bed by 1; I ran into a chorus member this afternoon who told me that the party kept going until 8 this morning.  Man, they are serious about socializing, these Irish!  A friendlier, more hospitable group of people you'll never find...

Above is a picture of the Chief Justice, another secondary character who moves the action along in act I by inadvertently inducing the king to visit the fortune teller.  I've had quite a few comments about the differentiation of characters that I play in this show; the director has been quite appreciative, and the choreographer in particular was impressed with how contrasting my characterizations were, both physically and vocally, and how much range this demonstrated.  It's nice to be noticed, but I'm just happy to be on the stage, that's more than enough for me!

Tonight Simon, Jeff and I are having a thai potluck and watching 24, and then tomorrow we reblock the opera for the new venue, which will have a greatly reduced set.  Then it's off to Limerick for Tuesday's show, and then home again on Wednesday.

Cheers!

Opening night: aka "Yarrh Billy"

So it's opening night at last... lots of adjustments right up until the last day, so we're still feeling pretty energized.  Our mezzo was sick last night, so was away for the dress, but I hope she'll be feeling better, she is a very dramatic and effective as the gypsy fortune teller who prophesizes a promotion and money for me (see photo above) and death by the hand of a friend for the King.

I've done my opening night present shopping and have to get writing my cards before it gets any later.  I'm called an hour before for some hair and makeup work; in case you didn't know, that isn't really my own beard in the photo above, it's the magic of theatre.  I really look like this:

I've had lots of encouragement from friends and loved ones, so I'll do my best to do y'all proud, as they say in the 'States.  I've become used to being mistaken for an American, and when the lovely Cork residents ask me what part of America I'm from, I say, "Toronto, Canada; and what part of England are you from?"  No I don't, not really.  I mention it with a smile, of course, after they've blushed and apologized.

Okay, it's off to eat dinner, write my "break a leg" cards and warm up.

Dress rehearsal tonight.

We are nearly ready... we spent the last couple of days in the theatre, and the set looks fantastic.  The orchestra sounds good and people are singing well, adjusting to the full set, and coping well with the costumes, although it looks as if the mens' evening dress for Act III (The "masked ball" of the title) is late.  Hopefully it will arrive before our dress this evening.  The opera house looks fantastic, and the sound in there is understandably live when empty, which of course will change with the addition of an audience.

In a few minutes I'll be heading over to the theatre to get some makeup/wig work done, and then we are running the first two acts.  Tonight I hope we get through the whole thing, that would be nice!

Maggie and the boys are good.  She hasn't blogged anything for a couple of weeks, but I assume that is just because she's been so busy.  I'm really looking forward to this show opening, but even more (to be honest) to getting home.

Talk to you later!

The bells of St. Anne's

Yesterday Simon, Jeff and I walked up the hill to St. Anne's church here in Cork, climbed the tower and rang the bells; Jeff chose "Kumbaya", Simon did the first few notes of "Eri tu" (his aria from the show) and I picked out the first bit of "O Canada". The view of the city from the tower was quite lovely, and we spent a good time wandering through the streets on our way down the hill.

We finished up with a trip to the English market for some roast beef, green beans, sweet potatoes and other roast vegetables, and some bread and cheese for afterwards, then settled down for another "Heroes" marathon while the roast was cooking.

This morning I had a coaching with Ciara, the principal repetiteur, and we worked on a few of my audition arias. She's really very perceptive and had some helpful and insightful things to say, so I'm feeling good about the pieces, and hope to get some auditions in during the next couple of weeks. There are a few companies here in Ireland that I've already contacted, plus I've started the process of following up with French and Belgian companies that I either spoke with or sang for last year.

Now it's off to the rehearsal hall; this afternoon is the first time for the soloists to work with the orchestra, so it should be good. We have another session this evening with the chorus as well, so it will be a full day; I think we are in the theatre tomorrow, so time is rushing on, and it's all coming together. We ran the show on Wednesday for the first time, and it really is going to be very good.

Have a good weekend!

Ireland etc.

Things are going well here in Ireland... this morning we had a brief concert to promote the opera, at an art exhibit of masks made by the students of a local school.  It was very well received, and Kevin, our conductor, was pleased with our performance.  It was a chance for me to show a more challenging role in a performance situation, which was good.

Over lunch I learned that my employer was in fact going to eliminate my position in Canada, and pay me severance, which was great news.  Then it was back to the rehearsal hall for more work, before going out for some pints with the Irish gang, include Kevin, Elinor, Abby, Ciara, John, John and Alva, and they were still going strong when I begged off and left around 1:00 am.  Man these Irish can drink, and they don't seem to eat anything while doing so, which is absolutely foreign to my Canadian and Belgian sensibilities.  It's true that a pint of Murphy's stout is like a sandwich in a glass, but I need some pub grub while imbibing.

Tomorrow it will be another early day and some rehearsal with Ciara, prior to a working session with Kevin and Tom later in the week: I've asked them to listen to my audition pieces and give an opinion, some suggestions, repertoire ideas, etc.  The evening holds the first complete run of the opera, something that will be quite a treat for me, as I'm not involved in any of act II, so I hope to enjoy watching my fellow actors do their thing.

More later in the week.

Matthew

Blarney Stone

Well it's been a while getting settled. Obviously my priority has been learning the roles I'm singing, and it looks like I have some dance steps to learn for the big "masked ball" of the title in Act III. Fortunately the assistant conductor and repetiteur are great and they've helped me a lot in getting the roles learned, and my dance partner (a nice married Irish lady who has two daughters a little older than our two boys) is very understanding and helpful.

The cast and the "crew" at the opera company are uniformly very nice, friendly and professional. It's obvious that they've all done their homework, and are excited about the project. The chorus is great also, very positive and they look very elegant. The famous Irish reputation for hospitality is not unfounded; the lead soprano has been kind enough to lend me a few things to help equip my kitchen, although I am still without a cell phone. I'm thinking of picking up a small ultraportable computer for a couple hundred Euro, and using that as my telephone, as my apartment has WiFi.

Despite the relatively modest number of scenes I'm singing in, I am rehearsing pretty much every day, and I'm glad for it: not only does it mean that I get more practice, but it also keeps me busy. I'm a bit isolated these days as I don't know anyone here in Cork outside of the opera company. It's nice to spend some time socializing (I've had one pub evening after an afternoon rehearsal, and the mezzo lead and I planned a dinner that ended up involving most of the cast as sous-chefs) but most of my evenings I go back to my apartment alone. After a whole summer surrounded by people it's weird to be so solitary, but I guess I'll get into a routine. In the meantime I'm hungry for news of the boys' first day of school, and Maggie's new class. Once again, for Maggie's perspective on things visit www.maggiesexcellentadventure.blogspot.com.

Another stress buster is exercise: Kevin has arranged for a nearby hotel to provide access to its pool/sauna/gymnasium for a reduced rate, and I've already done a couple of of kilometers there; I plan to go back tomorrow.

I didn't go today because I went on a little quest to kiss the Blarney Stone at the top of Blarney castle! The bus from Cork is 5 Euro, and takes perhaps half an hour to get to the village of Blarney. There are also famous woolen mills here (I have a nice scarf that my Aunt Lorraine gave me several years ago) so I made a trip in there to shop for some presents myself, and to kill time while the monsoon hit. Gracious me! I seem to have brought the Belgian weather with me... rain pretty much every day; one can only hope for something better. Sadly the one nice day so far I spent in the rehearsal hall. Dang!

I promise as soon as I get a computer I'll do some proper posting with photographs. I'm in an internet cafe in Blarney, and my time's almost up.

Talk to you soon, like!