Pun-kin Pie for the Holidays

Yes, I know. You don't hear from me for weeks and then all of the sudden, three in a row. Sometimes it be's that way.

We all know how much I love a good pun. Lately I have been meeting virtual maestros of the form. One of my colleagues at HBU, Jason Lester, got some really bad (by which I mean, good) ones off at NATS last week (an entirely different post about that one day), and of course, John Yarrington would be nothing without his witty repartees.

Anyhoo. I'm singing a concert version of Porgy and Bess in February with the National Philharmonic. With such, the challenge is always how to pare a 4-hour opera into something that will fit on the bill for an orchestral concert. Let me tell you; I envy no one that task. Gershwin was absolutely brilliant and crafted a beautiful show with not a lot of extra, um, extraneous stuff.

Long story short, what often happens is that roles get compressed and combined. I must admit to a bit of astonishment when I was asked to sing both Clara and Maria. Again, for the uninitiated (which included me until this past May), there are not two more wildly divergent roles in the piece. Well, except perhaps, Clara and Porgy. My two ladies are diffrent people, different voice types and oh yeah, they often appear in the same scene.

But you know me. I went with it, figuring all would become clear when the cut list came out. For the most part, it did, although I was left with one page on which I was to sing both people, in conversation. To wit:

Maria: Why been out on that wharf so long, Clara? You got no cause to worry 'bout yo' man. Dis goin' be a fine day.

Clara: I never see de water look so black. It sits there waitin', holdin' its breath, list'nin for dat hurricane bell.

Un peu de schizophrenia, to be sure.

Since the conductor, Gary Schneider, invited me to ask any questions I had, I did. It was a short list of little, easy things requiring clarification, and my little Three Faces of Eve moment. This being me and it being around 4 a.m., I got a little punchy. Here's how it went down:

MEG
[blah, blah, blah...] Thanks for the "clara-fication" (pun
definitely intended)!

I awoke to an e-mail from the conductor, clearly a like mind– only more awake:

GS
Hope this completes all of your necessary Clara-fications. We all want to give our very Bess performance so that the audience doesn't feel like we are Robbins them. I know that having no outstanding confusion will allow you to give a Serena performance. I hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving and a very Maria Christmas.

God, I love what I do. Thanks to Mo. Schneider for his permission to post!