Opera for Carlow:We get into the GBS Theatre at last!

So, last night was beyond exciting! We got to begin rehearsals or the production phase, as “they” like to call it, in the George Bernard Shaw Theatre.

Entering just like every other cast member through the Back door.

We had Changing rooms!

We had Holding rooms! (?)

We had Stage Left and Stage Right!

We had a Green Room!

Already, I have made 2 diva demands. When I entered the Green Room, I could smell curry. I’ve asked for any smells to be removed before I enter. Also, when I looked out the window, I saw an AES bin, it wrecked the view and my creativity has been harmed. i demand a white blind to pull all the down over the window.

We are back in tonight so my list of diva demands will continue.

Here’s some new pics on flickr!

http://flic.kr/ps/Q7FxK

Opera for Carlow:Press launch, radio interview and…it gets serious again

Wow!It has been the most jam packed time in my journey with Opera for Carlow!Rehearsing every day with real life choreographers and strict stage managers, things had changed in Opera for Carlow. It is faintly beginning to dawn on us that in 2 weeks time, we will be performing in the George Bernard Shaw Theatre!

But, there was still time to meet the local media and dignitaries. Walter Lacey was there along with the Mayor/Leader of the Carlow council and other “important” looking journalists. We were asked to sing our small ensemble piece-A Good Melon, it went okay. It wasn’t perfect but we kept going and there were no stops!

Deirdre and I were interviewed for KCLR FM, my brother recorded it for me, thanks, Joseph! Anyway, have a listen. I only come in right at the end and I know everyone is only going to want to hear me! You can also hear my voice lilting through right at the end.

I’ve finally uploaded a flickr album, so enjoy!

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjuvar8L

Who puts those stickers on the bottom of shoes?

AGGGHH! Sticky labels that shops insist on sticking on everything

This is a big irk and one that could be easily solved. Shoe shops, in particular love sticking white and translucent labels onto the bottom of the shoes they sell. I think they look awful if you see a woman walking with brand new shoes, tarnished by this sticking obsession. I’ve followed all the tips, using a hairdryer actually does help the easy to remove ones but some are more stubborn.

But, why should I have to go through the bother of doing this? Please, people who insist on this, use a little, plastic string that can fasten the price on. I’d actually even pay more for that pair of shoes. At least, a euro.

Trying to work in my relationship with vegetables

I am a lucky girl/wife. Simon cooks all the meals in our house. He makes really healthy dishes that taste divine!
He likes to keep creative and has started a little challenge for himself and for me, I guess too! Every night, he makes a mystery vegetable of some sort, the deal is I taste it and see what I think. I’ve had avocado dips, carrot mash, sesame oil crispy green beans and am waiting eagerly tonight for some other mad thing.

That picture you see above is a perfect match for me when I was  a child. now, experts say that fussy eaters are only children who are looking for attention or control.

I diagree, I know this is not true, I wasn’t looking for attention or control. I simply hated the vegetables I was being given. I hated the taste and texture and felt sick if I did eat them, it has taken me years and years to get to even stand them being in my mouth.

I only started eating them when I met Si, aged 23. Even then, I couldn’t stand the bitty texture and he would puree everything for me.

Everything.

He used to make separate dinners every night. I’ve progressed since then, I’ll eat most veg but only they’re cooked “Simy style”, which means tasty. His salad dressing is divine, the oils he stir it’s his veg makes me want to try them and his roast sweet potato wedges hit the spot too.
I’m very lucky.
Although come back to me on that, I might get aubergine with red wine as my mystery veg tonight?

(ifood.tv-image taken from)

Up a big hill and all the way back down again:proper hillwalking

So, a few summers ago, in a fit of madness, I said I’d do the Wicklow Way with Terry and Simon.

Terry was an experienced hill-walker. I was not.

Terry likes walking ultra fast up hills through the rain with little to no breaks. I did not.

Terry liked moros. So, did I.

You can see how that trip went. I finished Day 3, though the exact number could be debated, I was nearly put off the whole hill-walking thing until last week. The Tullow Mountaineering Club was doing an “Easy” walk of about 14km. It sounded nice and Simon agreed it was a pleasant way to spend a Sunday. Terry was asked and he accepted.

It was beautiful and thankfully the Wicklow Way didn’t totally put me off. The Club were really friendly, helpful and took it at a nice pace. Apparently, the rule is to keep the pace with the slowest walker(listening, Terry?) All of the group carry emergency stocks for anyone who comes, like bottoms, tops, hats and even food.

Parts of it were slightly challenging, I hated it when it rained but when we were all sitting by this fresh lake eating a roll and sipping coffee, I sat back and thought how nice it was.

It was a great way to clear my head, my limbs were slightly sore the next few days.  Robert, the Group leader told me that the Wicklow Way, though very interesting, was a path made walk. Hmmm, I think he was implying it wasn’t as real as hill-walking. I’d agree-lots of mud, water, bog and rocks.

A proper hill walk? I hope to go again. The Tullow Mountaineering Club go every Sunday from Car Park by Abrakebra, Carlow Town at 9:30 sharp. An easy walk is schedule every month. Check out their web page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tullow-Mountaineering-Club/370336333713?sk=wall#!/pages/Tullow-Mountaineering-Club/370336333713?sk=wall

Opera for Carlow:Full steam ahead!

Today, the sun was shining..a lot.

We were inside singing with Fergus. We went through some of the tricky ones with Fergus having utter patience with us. We are starting to sound like group singers. The next step is to sound like opera singers!

I have only one thing left to say as I am exhausted.

The Altos rock!

Precious, our cat is AWOL for 9 days now….

We miss Precious. I miss the abuse that Simon used to throw at him, jokingly. I miss his purrs and cuddles.

Come back, smelly.

It’s worse that we have no proof that he won’t come back. Spotted 2 different cats in our garden in the last week. But, no Precious.

I hope he returns.

Opera for Carlow gets serious(again)&Rozz is interviewed by Athena Media

See what happens when you miss two rehearsals in a row, Rozz?

Yep, everyone else in the group become brilliant.

I had really good reasons to miss my Opera for Carlow rehearsals, I haven’t missed one before so was annoyed. Was away at training in Dublin and last week, I actually was in the same building as the rehearsals. I was helping out at my husband’s Fashion Show for his school, he was modelling so I couldn’t miss that!

Anyway, enough of the negative! I am back, baby!

So, last night, I got to meet Lisa from Athena Media. She was known as “the girl with the mic” to the rest of the group and was often seen hanging around the rehearsals recording anything she could salvage. I was always envious of the cast that got to be interviewed for the Lyric FM podcast so when Lisa contacted me through this blog, I was uber excited.

I think I did okay. I hope I didn’t ramble too much. Lisa tells me the interview will be available from June onwards so pop that in your diary, peeps.

Fergus tells us that for the next month, we will eat, breath and sleep Opera. Great. Full-scale rehearsals starting next week throughout the Easter holidays.

Do I have the energy?

Can I learn the words to “A good melon”

Is it all about the altos?

These questions and more will be answered very soon.

Tickets on sale for Shelter me from the rain:Opera for Carlow at http://www.gbshawtheatre.ie/theatre.php?day=5&month=5&year=2011

Women are more likely to ignore you if you do them a favour:Fact.

3. Rant

Whenever I cross a pedestrian crossing, I wave or nod or gesture nicely to the car that stopped for me. It’s a nice thing to do. It’s manners. It’s totally not typical of women pedestrians.

Fact. A woman pedestrian is less likely to thank you for taking the bother to stop safely to let their bottoms walk in front of your car. A man usually will. Why is this? I’ve seen women purposely ignore that your car is even there and stride across like it’s their given right to walk across a pedestrian crossing, without looking either way, in case a car is coming.

I’m going to carry out a massive piece of research into this to prove my point. I will stand at a crossing and take note. The study will be called “Is a woman pedestrian more likely to ignore a car that has stopped to let her pass than a male pedestrian?”

The overwhelming response will be yes.

I bet.

A Good Melon and a really hard piece for me to sing in Opera for Carlow

So, this weekend the rehearsals have started to pick up.

After I auditioned for a part in the Opera for Carlow “Shelter me from the rain”, I got a part in a smaller piece in the Opera. I sing as part of  a small group of 8, 4 men and 4 women. Today, Fergus Shiel met us to begin the rehearsals of just this piece. It is extremely difficult, I don’t read music and you are expected to pick it up within a few goes of listening. Luckily, everyone else seemed to find it hard and it sounds great! The rehearsals are in the County Council Offices and we sang in the Council Chamber where official business goes on!

We are back in tomorrow to go over it again.

WE all met at the end and started speaking about the possibility of a musical society for Carlow. That really would be great. I’ve been involved with this project since September and am loving it. We all dread when it will end.

But until that day, we will go for it! So, if you want to get tickets to this project, go to http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?agency=VCCA&organ_val=33468&pid=6957107

Listen in the our podcast here http://audioboo.fm/boos/285792-an-opera-for-carlow-episode-8 you might hear me sing!!