For my next, new experience in the arts, I decided to take a completely opposite direction than pottery making. I decided to go to the Opera, Gianni Schicchi, being performed by students from Ohio University. Knowing quite a number of people in the opera itself, and playing in the orchestra, I figured it was a good way to support my friends and write another blog about Arts in Athens!
I was put to ease by my friend Rachel when she told me the opera was short, very comical, and in English! It even projected subtitles onto a screen above the singers if I got completely lost! I tried to remember if I had even seen an opera before, and I asked her if Cinderella in Italian counted, but she said that it didn't. This would be the first time I would see an opera live, and it was even better that I knew some of the people in it.
Sitting down in Memorial Auditorium with my friends, I waited while the voice recording went through all the rules: turn off all electronic devices, exits to the back and sides, no video taping the performance, etc. I loved how I could recite the announcement almost word for word after seeing so many concerts here! The lights dimmed, and it was show time!
The curtains opened up to show a large, four-post bed in the middle of the stage. An old man, presumably dead, lie covered in the middle of it. Men and women all arrayed in gorgeous outfits, exemplifying the time period well, stood and sat around the bed, crying and wiping their eyes. I thought this was supposed to be funny! Eventually it did turn quite comical, the audience enjoying every moment of it (my friends and I sometimes laughing at the loud and boisterous guffaws we could hear from the audience members). A rich old man, Buoso Donati had died and the mourning family members were less concerned about the death than with the will he had left and seeing who inherited what. A fight ensued as they found out that he had left them nothing, but gave all his money to the friars. The family members, desperate to change their luck, devised a plan to revise the will and make it say what they wanted it to say. With the help of sly Gianni Schicchi, the death of old Donati is reenacted, and the will is rewritten, but Schicchi also edits it (he's so sneaky) so that he gets everything in the will!
While the family members argue and bicker, a love story is also woven throughout the opera. The daughter of Gianni Schicchi and Buoso Donati's nephew are completely head over heels in love with each other, and even though they do not appear much in the opera their connection plays a big role. They eventually attain the mansion at the end of the performance and unite the families together for a short time!
Katie McGonagle, who played Lauretta, allowed me to ask her a few questions as to why she performed in the opera, and why she does vocal performances period. She told me that she "felt most satisfied when learning about things that were generally artistic. From a young age she found that one of her best attributes was her creativity and love of expression through music." Finding some discouragement in her children's choir director and even her high school director, that never persuaded her enough to give up. It wasn't until a student teacher told her that she was good enough to sing in college, and that was all the encouragement Katie needed. Katie's ultimate goal is to sing in front of people on stage and feel the satisfaction of knowing she has completed all of her singing goals, and she is well on her way to doing so!
I also talked to Andi Schwalberg who feels the same passion for singing and music as Katie did. She explained that she couldn't see herself doing anything else, and to share that talent and gift with others is her joy in life. She draws her motivation to keep going from the "beauty of music" and its "spiritual, even healing powers." Also finding discouragement when it came to music, her mother would tell her she would never make it as a music major. But that drive to prove her mother wrong is what keeps Andi going!
When asked what sort of inspirational tips they had for people in the arts, they both encouraged not giving up, that you have to stick with it through good times and bad, for the self-fulfillment and complete gratification that is rewarded. With as much passion as these two ladies hold for the arts, just made me realize how much I can agree with them, how much I can associate myself to them. Even though I have a completely different aspect of the arts in my heart, that passion is what keeps me going, and drives me to work hard every day.
After watching the opera, and seeing how much the performers love what they do, how much passion is exemplified through their singing and actions, made me appreciate what they do and the beauty that springs forth from their love of the arts. The power they evoke when they sing, the chills you get down your spine, the ultimate love for music that they show with every note is completely amazing. This experience not only made me appreciate music that much more, but also reminded me why I am a member of the arts: to make others experience the joy I feel when I write, to leave others with a sense of passion that is as strong as I feel.
