Speaking of operas, a co-worker and I are going to see "Carmen" on Monday at the Seatle Opera. When I was in college, I was in concert choir and the Music and Drama departments were putting on a joint production of "Carmen." The concert choir became the chorus of "Carmen" and it was my very first theatrical stage experience ever. The director was pretty much a tyrant, yelling at everyone, making us sight-read the score at the first rehearsal with no marking...and for the first few rehearsals, we had to sing as if we were in performance (although, that changed very quickly). But as hectic as it was and as "unfriendly" as the director was, I loved every moment of it. For some reason, I had a great time. Since I also was only "just a chorus member," individually, I was pretty much not noticed by the director. Two years after that, I was in Angus McGuffie in their Brigadoon and fell in love with performing.
It's been a couple of years since I've been in a show (Charlie Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown), but I still love musicals and will someday audition again for something local. The real problem is that the two main theater groups here have only one group audition for their seasons, so I can't gear my audition for a particular show if I want to be in more than one. I hate that.
