Some days are just filled with it!

I had one of the most exciting opera-infused days yesterday. Did I go see one? Nope. Did I even listen to one? Nope. So why so good?

Well, add Stage Director James Marvel to any situation and you're likely to increase the enjoyment quotient by at least a few percentage points. Get him at his best and there's no way you can't have a blast.

This man is really one of a kind. He's toured the world directing operas and theater pieces from the smallest projects with inner city kids to the major stages of the country, working with some of the biggest names in opera today. I have coached with him before, but it's been a couple of years. I contacted him a few weeks ago for coaching because I felt I was having trouble coming to terms with how to embody all these new characters and roles I was now starting to learn as a soprano (Mimi, Liu, Pamina, Rusalka, Blanche, Marguerite...). We started off slow just sort of talking through some general ideas, then got specific... then got really specific.

What I find to be one of the most appealing things James brings to the table is his unbelievable ability to pull from all parts of life - literature, anecdotes, rock music, personal experiences, poetry, you name it - and relate them to exactly what you're talking about. You might not know it at first... wonder where the heck he's going with this thought, but when he gets to the end of it, it just becomes perfectly clear. How in the world could you possibly imagine that the movie "As good as it gets," a quotation by an atheist on his deathbed, and the lyrics to a rock song would help you understand Mimi's most vulnerable moment? But they do. All these little, wonderful tidbits of life, art, experience, pain... they all relate, and his special gift is being able to absorb all these things and then use them to create the germ of an idea in your mind or, if it's already there, help you flush out the rest into some coherent emotional truth.

After two hours of some of the most intense, but yet so thoroughly enjoyable, character exploration I have ever done, I rushed downtown to 'Ino on Bedford Street to meet one of TOI's newest and most supportive members, Owen Reidy. He's 29, a lawyer in New York, single, and adorable (I hope he doesn't mind me saying this but he is). He's also new to opera, wants to learn more about it, but still doesn't quite know where to start. His enthusiasm for learning about the art form, for trying to get in touch with other people who want to learn (or teach) him about it, and his exuberance about the ideas behind The Opera Insider were just infectious.

It's hard sometimes when you're in the thick of things to see clearly, to see beyond what is right in front of your face at that given moment, to see past the obstacles to the end of whatever you're working on. I admit that sometimes these feelings overwhelm me when I think about the development of The Opera Insider over these last months. But then these shining moments come along, forcing me to reevaluate what I've already done and what I'm about to do, give me a chance to talk about the ideas and concepts behind it ... and then I just can't help but get so excited. What you'll see when we launch will be good, it will be excellent, and it will be something the opera world needs. And we just can't wait to bring it to you!