First a quick stop to Denver before this European adventure. As many of you know, last year I came to Denver for the MET auditions, but never made it due to a skiing accident in Breckenridge which broke my leg. So this year, I wanted to come back to Denver for a final chance at this Competition, just for fun. I never really give any competition much weight.
Besides, just seeing the rocky mountains in the background makes me instantly relax.
I came a few days early to acclimate, not anticipating that I’d really need to since I lived here for so long. But it’s been over 6 months since I’ve been at this altitude, and no sooner had I landed than headaches started. Curses! Maybe it was just the woman sitting next to me who decided to bathe in perfume . . . Luckily for me, between drinking lots of water and jogging (ask anyone, I go far to slow to call what I do “running”) I was back and acclimated before I knew it, and even had the chance to enjoy the company of old friends at some of my favorite Denver pubs :-)
The competition was a lot of fun. I’m so happy that I got to come to Denver and sing an aria I love in one of my favorite spaces for some of my favorite audience members with my favorite crew members backstage. I’m glad I came and got to enjoy the moment. I would call it a triumph! I’m proud of how I sang, even if I didn’t advance in the competition. I DO get to advance to a fabulous German Audition Tour AND my Lincoln Center Debut!
While in Denver, I was reminded of my terrible sense of direction by a miss-functioning GPS. My sense of direction sucks. Really sucks. I can navigate Manhattan like a pro, but only after years of trial and error. Other places are not so easy. I lived in Shreveport for a year and STILL didn’t know my way around. I barley know my way around Philadelphia and I grew up there! How the heck am I gonna land in a foreign city and make my way to auditions? I plan on giving myself lots of time...hours of time. Days of time. I know myself. Let the misadventures commence!
In other news, it turns out the lovely apartment I had put a deposit on was a complete scam. Since then, I have been scrambling to find housing to cover my time in Germany. Thankfully, the singer community is giving, world wide and Facebook obsessed. I’m still trying to lock down a sublet in Berlin, but have a backup plan and a friends’ couch to sleep on just in case.
Tomorrow’s the big day and I’m a little nervous. I just booked a hotel room over the phone and only got in 3 lines of German before I heard a jolly, heart felt laugh and a lilting female voice saying “I think for you maybe english is better.” Years of prep and that’s all I got! Sheesh! I keep telling myself that at my age, my godmother Elizabeth visited Syria, and my grandmother came on a boat across the ocean for a man she barley knew, to a country where she didn’t speak the language and had no family. Adventure runs in my blood.
P.S. If you enjoy sarcasm and witty writing check out my Cousin D.J.’s blog: www.dagofiles.blogspot.com. Defiantly worth a read.
