Haines His Way

PS:  Could someone please give me the tip on how to quote from a day before and how to do several quotes in one message?   Many thanks!

Oh, for those who care, here is the end of my airport saga -
So there you have it...a trip that can truly be called an adventure!

On a high note

Soprano Renée Fleming's star is soaring as she pushes the boundaries of divadom.
By Jan Breslauer
Special to The Times

Jul 26 2004
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The celebrated American soprano, who performs at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday, has triumphed at the Metropolitan Opera and throughout Europe, earning comparisons to such greats as Maria Callas and raves from critics not known for gushing. She is widely hailed as one of opera's biggest female stars today, although the praise has not been unanimous.

Fleming has provoked naysayers not only because of her glamour and slick marketing but also because she resists the pressure to specialize. She has gone from a bestselling "Bel Canto" album to a CD of show tunes with fellow opera singer Bryn Terfel. Up next is a Handel album, followed by a jazz CD.

"It's risky to step outside of the mold," she says. "We risk alienating people who appreciate what we do. Opera has a small niche audience anyway, a sometimes voraciously aficionado-style audience."

Fleming may have alienated a few purists along the way, but she has certainly achieved fame beyond the opera house. People know her face from Rolex ads, and her voice from the 2003 movie "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." She inspired the main character in Ann Patchett's 2002 novel "Bel Canto," a dessert by master chef Daniel Boulud and a newly minted iris. She's been featured in media outlets where opera singers are seldom seen, from People magazine and Vogue to "60 Minutes," CNN and more.
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Fleming is not the only contemporary opera singer to attempt mainstream visibility. While a number of artists have made recordings or done projects aimed at a broader audience, it was the Three Tenors juggernaut that broke the mold for crossover of this kind.

Los Angeles Opera general director Plácido Domingo, the only one of the three tenors still performing at a high level, has been doing crossover for decades. Back in the '70s, he appeared on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" and was spotted by record producer Milton Okun. Okun, who now sits on the L.A. Opera board of directors, approached Domingo, and the result was the 1981 Domingo-John Denver duet and album "Perhaps Love." Since then, Domingo has recorded many nonopera albums.

However, there is a distinction to be made between opera singers such as Fleming and Domingo singing one-shots with the likes of Elton John and John Denver, or even making whole albums of other types of music, and pop singers who perform opera — so-called crossover artists, such as Andrea Bocelli.

As the market for the Bocellis of the world has grown, the music companies' attitudes toward opera singers making nonopera recordings has changed.

"When I started recording, every opera singer had a crossover project: music theater or cabaret music," Fleming says. "And in the years since then, we haven't been encouraged to do that at all."

Her much-delayed pet project is a jazz album that she expects to make in August, for release next year. "I just want to do this one jazz record, that's all I want to do," she says. "As a lyric soprano, I have a large repertoire that can be recorded: I'm not a specialist. It was hard to find time to do it, to make space in the schedule. But it's finally happening. Unless it falls apart again."
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As any opera singer who wants to have a big career these days must, Fleming continues to pay close attention to the "branding" and the art. Particularly since she sang the 1998 debut of André Previn's "A Streetcar Named Desire," there has been consistent interest in Fleming. In addition, there was a surge of attention this past fall, when she opened the Met season with a widely lauded turn as Violetta in "La Traviata."

She's expecting another busy fall, with the release of her newest Decca CD, "Renée Fleming: Handel," and a book, "The Inner Voice," due out in November from Viking Penguin.

"It's not an autobiography," the singer says. "The framework is autobiographical in the sense that it tells my story, but it's really a process-oriented book about how to learn how to sing, how to build a career."

At the Met, she'll star in a new production of Handel's "Rodelinda." Until then, she is continuing a tour of major American music festivals, including Tuesday's Bowl appearance, where her program will likely include selections from "Rodelinda" along with a variety of other opera fare and some musical theater songs.

In January, she will return to the West Coast for a recital at Los Angeles Opera, where she will make her company debut the following season, 2005-06, in "La Traviata."

The Plum Tree was one of my faves and I was sad to see it go.

So, we picked I AM MY OWN WIFE. ..
The show was quite interesting. I have to shame-facedly admit that before seeing this play, I knew NOTHING at all about Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, sort of the Quentin Crisp of his/her time and place. While I found the story very, very interesting and Jefferson Mays simply wonderful playing Charlotte and lots of other characters, I didn't find it compelling. Interesting without being gripping, I guess you'd say. Charlotte was a strong willed but quietly sedate person, so there were no VIRGINIA WOOLF displays of volcanic emotion during the show from the central character, and maybe that's what I wanted.

Whatever you do, don't write a play about history. Write a play about your love affair with Charlotte von Mahlsdorf