Falling in Love with Love

Hey Guys! Long time no see!
This blog is brought to you by how bored people are by love.  Yes, you heard me right.  Y'all are bored by LOVE.

Most recently I've had some requests from clients to find them some soprano material that isn't boring.  When I ask if they're bored singing legit sounds or bored by the subject matter, they say "I just hate how it's all like, 'I'm in love blah blah blah.'"

First off, let me just say: You are nuts.
Secondly,  this is how I think about it:

Love songs aren't just about love.

Think back to the days when your high school theatre teacher stood in front of the room and talked about how to approach a monologue.  Buzz words like obstacle, objective, stakes, and most importantly given circumstances/moment before filled the air and these things always seemed so easy to identify back then.  But now you've got a song that simply proclaims how nice everything is.

How do we keep the "fluffy" things interesting?

Before putting a song away because it's too corny, read through the synopsis really quickly and see what else you can bring to it.  Search for the "Why."  Why is it so important that this person finds love or is currently in love?  Why does this person deserve it?

If you're a human being, you know nothing is ever perfect.  Even if you're with the hottest guy who has the highest paying job ever...  SOMETHING is not perfect.  So I've taken the liberty of perusing the Soprano Anthologies we all have lying around under our beds and selecting a few songs to discuss.

Here are some of my interpretations and thoughts about how to make the fluffy stuff not SO fluffy:

"My White Knight" - The Music Man is quite possibly one of the cheesiest musicals I've ever seen and until fairly recently I really hated this song in particular, yet Marian Paroo is at the top of my list of dream roles because now I realize how much is at stake for her (and I can sort of relate in a sad, "it's ok because the character is in a musical" kind of way).
Even her 10 year old piano student basically just called her a spinster, she's got this guy running around town stalking her who won't take a hint, and her mom is on her ass every day about getting married.  She's in this small town in Iowa so there's a chance she'll never meet ANYbody, and I may have to fact check this but she did have a hot relationship with an older man who was very well read and she needs to find someone who will live up to that guy but would be socially acceptable to marry. And look what's at stake! If this guy of her dreams doesn't come in on his white horse to Gary, Indiana, she's going to be single, intellectually-unchallenged, horny and the joke of the town for the rest of her life.  That's a lot to handle.

"I'll Know" - Perhaps a distant cousin of Marian Paroo, Sarah Brown from Guys and Dolls also knows exactly what she wants and she's got her reasons.

She sings "I'll Know" during which she illustrates her dream man and basically says, "Oh, I'll know the right guy when I see him... And trust me, you're not him." Done deal. The end.  But give it some context.
She's saying she "won't take a chance" on some guy who could be unreliable (a fly by night Broadway romance)... Why? This girl is DEVOUTLY religious and until she meets the right guy she will  "be strong" and basically remain abstinent for God.  And she's not simply annoyed that he's trying to flirt with her... she's terrified because she actually sees herself falling for this guy but she knows she's being tempted by someone who represents everything unholy! That's some dark $&*@. Even if he HAPPENS to know a quote from the book of Isaiah, he IS really handsome and charming and he DOES want to take her to Havana just for dinner, she knows she's got just one shot and she can't waste it on someone who isn't THE ONE.   

Also think about this: where are this girl's parents? She lives with her uncle... she desperately wants someone to love her and make her feel "at home, safe and sound." 

I'm In Love With a Wonderful Guy:  South Pacific- another fave.  Nellie Forbush isn't JUST in love with a wonderful guy and that's it. She had insecurities about being perceived as boring and she is so happy because he actually likes her back! Earlier in the show she describes herself as a little hick, and she doesn't think he could be interested in her because he's an older, cultured Frenchman.  She also says earlier that she is a fugitive of her simple upbringing in Arkansas so there's a possibility that this Pacific island paradise could become her home. And now she's got her overbearing mother who sends her newspaper clippings in the mail out of her hair.  In this case, the answers are in the other songs or even the revival rewrites, much like the Sound of Music with the song
"Something Good." In the play, Maria briefly hints at having had a lonely childhood, but this song which was written for the movie elaborates and confirms.

Sometimes the answers are everywhere except the actual song.

If you're the kind of person who loves the dark, brooding songs, find the dark, brooding moment of this person's life and celebrate with them that it's over or almost over or fantasize about what it would be like to be over!   You know what they say...

Learning Our Lesson: Visiting the Studio Just Because

Aside from teaching privately in NY I teach for a college conservatory program outside of the city
two days a week.  I have to take MetroNorth there, but occasionally I'm lucky enough to hop in my teacher-friend's car on the way back.  I love these car rides because it's a time for me to socialize.  The lady who drives is another voice teacher so we talk about our day and exchange ideas, but last week it was a full car and two of the other teachers were piano teachers.  One piano teacher was exasperated about a student who simply hates piano lessons and refuses to play.  We sympathized with her and tried to brainstorm together about how to approach the end-of-year recital, but she said something that struck me.

"It's never a lesson with him; it's always practice."

When I was a piano student I was always working towards playing at NYSSMA for a good score from a judge or I was prepping for some recital that was coming up.  I suddenly realized my own piano lessons were always practice and never lessons, too.   I then started to think about this in terms of the way I teach.  And then I came to the conclusion (and not for the first time) that because most of my students come to me when they need to prepare for something like an audition or a recital I am in a similar situation.  And I always knew that this emergency-prep for auditions was sort of an issue, but the way this teacher summed it up made me realize how big a problem it really is.

but....yum

Additionally, my Facebook feed usually consists of articles my friends have posted about common core and state testing.  One article said something about how we're giving kids "Fast Food Educations" now.  I started to think, "Am I denying my students/clients a solid education by enabling audition prep and cutting to the chase and not insisting that we warm up for 30m first? Am I feeding them garbage? Am I a quack? Am I running the Mickey-D's Voice Lesson drive-thru?!"   

The next day I had 10 lessons lined up so I did an experiment.  With the few students who were not specifically preparing emergency audition material I gave them fair warning and we spent way more time than usual on the warmup sequence.  We talked about what each exercise was actually for, not just passively going through the motions.  Then we applied what we did in those warmups and the anatomy conversations to repertoire towards the end of the lesson.  Those lessons were way more productive and those people were not evidently as itchy to get to the repertoire as I thought they'd be.  Connections were made.  Concepts were understood.  And then the moments of truth: I saw those same people again this week and what we did the week before was maintained if not improved upon for their next lesson. Eureka!

 Got a 98 on my Regents Exam.  

Have no idea what this is now. Lava?

Don't get me wrong, I always hear progress when working in those emergency prep circumstances, too, but we were all there once, right?... cramming desperately the night before a test hoping we'd retain the information.  But do any of us really remember all that crap from Earth Science? I pride myself on the fact that I remember Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic rocks.  Can I tell you what they are anymore? Absolutely not.  There's a third word that comes with that sequence:
Cram. Deliver.  Forget.

 I am guilty of booking voice lessons on a need-basis, as well, but it's good to consider taking a lesson every so often when not preparing for anything in particular either for inspiration or just some good old fashioned training. Even the best singers still take voice lessons.  Take a look at this clip I saw on TV a few months ago.

There's a reason the phrase "I'm going to teach him a lesson" is so popular.  It's insinuating that we are going to show someone exactly what to do or what not to do so that they don't repeat the same behavior in the future.  

I learned a lesson this week in that I should not feel so insecure in my teaching about spending more time on exercises.  I start panicking like, "Are my guests hungry? Should I put the food out now? OK we don't have to do lip trills -- What song do you want to sing?" Meanwhile it's like the guest just got to the house and it's 3pm.  I need to stop offering the Early Bird Special just because I think I might be boring for 5 more minutes.  Sometimes the best part of a meal is the appetizer!

The Day Julie Andrews Basically Left Me a Voicemail

This month is the 50th anniversary of the film release of The Sound of Music! 

We all probably remember our first experiences with this movie; I know I do.  I was in Kindergarten and it was way past my bedtime.  I was watching with my family and when we got up to I Have Confidence my mom asked, "Jennifer, do you recognize that actress?" I listened more carefully for a few seconds and said, "Mary Poppins?"  That was my first conscious realization of two things: actresses can play more than one part... and I want to sound like Julie Andrews.  The next day in music class I pretended as if the new song we were learning was already familiar to me a la the Captain recalling Edelweiss, mouthing the words with a bewildered look on my face.  Clearly I liked the movie and clearly I was a baby theatre person.... and talk about voice recognition skills! I was only 5 years old!

My sister is a writer for a popular fashion magazine and a few weeks ago she actually sat down with Julie Andrews to talk about the anniversary.  She had tea with her in her hotel room... one on one.  I know; I nearly passed out when I heard, too.  She knew that I was dying inside because I didn't get to go with her but she was very nice about entertaining the fact that I was totally geeking out.  She even told Julie Andrews ABOUT me.  ME.  Julie Andrews knows about ME.

The day of the interview I was overwhelmingly slightly devastated knowing that my sister was at that very moment meeting one of my heroes.  I mean, how ironic can it get:  the fashionista of the family gets to meet the theatre nerd's idol.  I was imagining her experience in my mind minute by minute.  "Now she's probably in the elevator.  Now she's probably putting two sugars in her tea with little sugar cube tongs."  And then my phone buzzed.  I got a text... from my sister... with an attachment... Holy... shit.

Needless to say I sobbed uncontrollably for a solid 72 hours.  Now I only cry about it periodically. I wish I were exaggerating.  My family now plays the recording to watch my reaction and have a good laugh at my expense.  I listen to it on repeat while I'm on the subway or walking down the street and smile like a goon. Not meeting her was probably for the better.  I definitely wouldn't have been able to keep it cool.

Some things mentioned in the interview of particular interest to me were her musical influences (Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Lily Pons) and the fact that she modestly attributes her successful career to luck!  I had also asked my sister to ask her about versatility and how one can play roles from Victor/Victoria to Polly Browne yet maintain such a distinct identity as a performer.  Her response could have been a direct quote from Mary Poppins' tape measure: "Practice makes perfect."

I watched the Untold Story of The Sound of Music special that aired on ABC a couple of weeks ago (as I'm sure you did, too!) and this is something I loved that Julie Andrews' voice teacher once said to her:

"Amateurs practice until they get it right.  Professionals practice until it can't go wrong."

So there we have it!  If we want to be as good as Julie Andrews... this probably needs to be our mantra to live by!  But also, I wanted to share this with everybody because even though that message was for me, she could be telling any of us, "Don't stop, keep going, and enjoy it all." So when you're feeling like you went to that EPA just to sit there for hours without being seen or you have some other frustrating experience in this field, hear her voice telling you to keep going... it will be like that little spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down.

It fit! haha!