Ack, those pesky necessities, focus and discipline

I'm preparing for my dress rehearsal tonight for The Magic Flute, which goes up on Friday.  (I'm on opening night, yay!)  I've been sick for most of the rehearsal process (all one week of it) and today is the first day that I can actually think about trying to make a good sound.  Most of my rehearsals have just been trying to squeak something out while nailing down blocking with the other two ladies that make the trio.  We basically move as a unit around the stage, which I think makes us look creepily like a robotic show choir when we sing, but hey, I'm not the director.  So in singing along with the recording today to work through the parts, I'm noticing that I can, if I concentrate on it, sing very, very well.  The trick is to do it while you are moving and acting and gesticulating.  My voice teacher says singing opera is kind of like juggling while riding a unicycle and today that feels dead on.

I wish I had another week of rehearsal.  Oh well.  At least I get to do the role three times, so there's an actual chance of improvement over the course of the run of the show.  I'm thankful for the opportunity to try and kick some of my sloppy, bad habits and my 'oh-who-cares-its-going-by-so-fast-no-one-will-notice' attitude.   I can sing this very, very well and I will.