Classically Abby - October 15, 2020


Ask Me ANYTHING About OPERA!! ｜｜ I didn't expect some of these questions...


Episode Stats


Length

26 minutes

Words per minute

177.26451

Word count

4,610

Sentence count

346

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged

Toxicity

3

sentences flagged

Hate speech

2

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode of Opera Ask Me Anything, I answer your questions about singing in opera! Are you new to opera or have you been in opera for a while? Do you have questions about what it's like to be a professional opera singer or do you want to learn more about it?

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Hello, Classic Crew, and welcome to today's video where we're going to be doing an opera
00:00:05.100 Ask Me Anything.
00:00:09.140 So I have done a few AMAs on my channel, but I had the realization the other day that you
00:00:15.500 guys might have a ton of questions about opera that you've never thought to ask or had anyone
00:00:20.580 that you could ask, and I was actually having this conversation with my husband because
00:00:24.600 he is a newbie to opera in his own way, and he has really been trying to educate himself.
00:00:30.520 He's a wonderful man, so he was talking to me as I was kind of explaining something about
00:00:35.180 opera, and he said to me, have you ever asked your followers if they have questions about
00:00:40.060 opera?
00:00:40.340 Because I didn't know any of the stuff you're talking about, and it was kind of funny for
00:00:43.760 me to remember that.
00:00:44.500 Of course, everyone is new to opera.
00:00:46.900 I was new to opera at one point in my life, and for it to have less of a stigma in a way
00:00:52.320 of being for rich people or being just too far out of reach, it's important for us to
00:00:58.420 start from the very bottom and answer your questions.
00:01:01.420 So I have a whole list of questions that I gathered from Instagram.
00:01:05.720 I asked you guys on Instagram to ask me your questions, and I'm really excited to go through
00:01:09.500 those today.
00:01:10.260 So let's get into it.
00:01:11.320 So I'm just going to answer these in no particular order, and I'm going to go through as many
00:01:15.020 as I can.
00:01:15.740 Some of them are going to be quick and short and easy, and others will be a little bit
00:01:19.920 more complicated.
00:01:20.920 So let's start with this one.
00:01:22.100 Which role's costume was your favorite to wear?
00:01:26.520 I have an immediate response to that.
00:01:29.200 When I was at the Manhattan School of Music, I was in an opera called The Dangerous Liaisons.
00:01:34.240 So if you saw the movie Growing Up, Cruel Intentions, I do not recommend it.
00:01:38.040 But if you've seen it, it is a modern retelling of the book and story of Dangerous Liaisons,
00:01:43.940 and there's also a movie of Dangerous Liaisons that you can see.
00:01:46.600 And so there was an opera written by Conrad Souza.
00:01:49.720 So I was playing the role of Madame de Torval, who is kind of an innocent woman, and she had
00:01:57.440 the most gorgeous dresses ever.
00:02:03.900 They were just stunning.
00:02:05.660 Corsets and beautiful skirts and fabrics and wigs.
00:02:10.300 Oh my gosh.
00:02:11.020 I will post a picture on the side, and you guys can take a look at it for yourself.
00:02:14.720 But they were so beautiful, and I felt so blessed that I got to wear that costume.
00:02:21.260 It was stunning.
00:02:22.620 The next question is, do you have to belong to an opera company, or can one freelance?
00:02:27.560 So the only people who really belong to a company are the people who work in the chorus.
00:02:33.420 They're like the Met Opera Chorus, for example.
00:02:35.780 They are belonging to the company.
00:02:37.900 And young artists.
00:02:38.980 So after college or after your master's program, a lot of young singers will do kind of an internship
00:02:45.720 at an opera house, an apprenticeship, and they kind of work with that company for one year,
00:02:51.140 two years, three years.
00:02:52.340 And that's the only time really in a singer's career that they belong to a company.
00:02:57.280 The rest of the time, you take gigs and you perform maybe with a company for a summer,
00:03:03.380 but you're not going to be just singing with that company, which is why being an opera singer
00:03:08.160 can be really hard, because you don't have a certainty for how long you'll be working.
00:03:13.280 If you're going to be doing freelance, which is what most people do, it's an incredible
00:03:16.880 accomplishment if you're booked two to three years out.
00:03:19.520 So that's kind of how it works.
00:03:21.420 One question is, does it have long-term damage to your voice?
00:03:25.580 No.
00:03:26.300 If you're doing opera right, then no.
00:03:29.160 If you're singing healthily, actually the healthiest voices are going to be opera singers
00:03:33.820 because they know how to treat their voice as well.
00:03:36.560 They know how to speak in such a way that they're not putting strain on their vocal folds
00:03:40.640 because the average person can actually have issues with their throats and with their vocal
00:03:45.320 folds if they're not speaking healthily.
00:03:48.140 And somebody who uses their voice a lot, somebody like a teacher or somebody who works in a business
00:03:53.500 where they're constantly on the phone, if you're talking all the time and you have no technique
00:03:58.080 for how you're doing that and you happen to speak not healthily, you can have long-term
00:04:03.480 damage to your voice.
00:04:04.680 Whereas a singer, they're trained to know how to use their voice.
00:04:07.660 So the way that we speak and the way that we sing very often will actually make us have
00:04:11.860 healthier voices over the course of our lives.
00:04:15.120 The next question is, can you sing non-opera music well?
00:04:18.740 Are you above average in other types of singing?
00:04:21.140 Me personally, I would say that I do sing other types of music, but of course opera is what
00:04:29.580 I'm most comfortable in.
00:04:31.040 But I grew up singing musical theater and I love jazz.
00:04:34.900 I think most opera singers can sing in a few different styles, but I would say the thing
00:04:39.880 that differentiates us the most is that we learn how to sing in our head voice.
00:04:46.880 For women, we sing in that upper voice, that sound that's very distinct, as opposed to
00:04:54.180 what you hear just generally when you're listening to pop music or country or whatever, which
00:04:58.140 is chess voice, that la-la-la-la-la-la, you know?
00:05:01.960 So yes, we can sing in other styles, but we're not trained in other styles unless you specifically
00:05:08.520 go out and train in those.
00:05:10.360 I think one of the things that makes a singer able to kind of cross over the different genres
00:05:15.440 and still sound good is pitch, because not everyone can sing on pitch, and vibrato.
00:05:22.240 So if you are somebody who has a healthy vibrato, that can sound good in a couple of different
00:05:27.760 styles, or it can sound weird in different styles.
00:05:31.000 How low can you get your voice while making your voice sound pleasing to the ear?
00:05:36.260 Let's test this out.
00:05:37.360 Literally, we hit that.
00:05:38.580 La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.
00:05:52.580 So D, but I don't think that's pleasing to the ear, personally.
00:05:57.580 La, la.
00:06:03.380 I can comfortably sing an E and that doesn't sound bad to me.
00:06:09.380 La.
00:06:12.380 So yeah, that's the answer to that question.
00:06:15.380 What makes opera powerful?
00:06:18.380 That is an interesting question.
00:06:20.380 I would say it's definitely the mixture of drama and the music.
00:06:25.380 And the music is there to make the drama even more dramatic.
00:06:29.380 And it's incredible.
00:06:31.380 The other part of it is that in opera, people are experiencing the craziest version of emotions.
00:06:38.380 And we as the audience are able to kind of watch that and realize that we too can experience
00:06:46.380 kind of the mini version of the very intense emotions that are happening on stage.
00:06:52.380 And it allows us to get out of our own heads and really kind of engage with feeling and engage with experiences.
00:07:01.380 Because obviously what you're watching on stage in opera a lot of the time is going to be incredibly dramatic.
00:07:07.380 And it's going to be different than what you're going to experience in your everyday life.
00:07:11.380 But those people are still experiencing their emotions, but they're experiencing them at the height of those emotions.
00:07:17.380 And to see somebody experiencing the height of their emotions, it draws something out of the viewer, which is incredibly powerful.
00:07:25.380 But the music is just stunning and the stories can either be funny, scary, hilarious, and really moving.
00:07:34.380 And that is also an incredibly beautiful thing.
00:07:37.380 What operas would you recommend to someone who is new to the genre?
00:07:41.380 Okay, I definitely have some recommendations.
00:07:44.380 And it depends on who you are as a person and what kind of music you like and what kind of stories you like.
00:07:49.380 So I will offer a few different options.
00:07:52.380 And you guys can decide which one of these you'd want to check out.
00:07:56.380 The first is the Magic Flute.
00:07:58.380 So the reason I always recommend the Magic Flute is because it's a Singspiel, not a traditional opera.
00:08:04.380 In the sense that a lot of it is spoken dialogue like a musical and then there will be sung songs.
00:08:10.380 And so for somebody who is overwhelmed by the amount of just sheer music that you're hearing at an opera, that might be a good fit.
00:08:19.380 As well, it's a fairy tale, so it's very kind of fun and interesting and you're seeing a princess and a prince and that's kind of fun to watch.
00:08:29.380 So if you're somebody who's into fairy tales, if you're somebody who is overwhelmed by the amount of music, Magic Flute.
00:08:34.380 Also, oh my gosh, the music is amazing.
00:08:38.380 Mozart is stunning and Magic Flute is one of my absolute favorite operas.
00:08:43.380 Number two is La Boheme.
00:08:44.380 La Boheme was written by Puccini.
00:08:46.380 It is incredibly beautiful and the story is the same one in Rent.
00:08:52.380 Rent and La Boheme are based on the same story, but La Boheme is better in my opinion.
00:08:58.380 And the reason I think La Boheme is so good is because the music is so gorgeous and the story is incredibly relatable.
00:09:04.380 It's something that could happen and that you can, of course it's dramatic, but it's still something that you can relate to all the characters very easily.
00:09:12.380 People really aren't caricatures of themselves in La Boheme.
00:09:15.380 And the third opera that I would recommend is Carmen.
00:09:19.380 Carmen, you already know a ton of the tunes from Carmen.
00:09:22.380 Like, you don't even realize how many of the tunes that you've just heard in commercials or in movies are from the opera Carmen.
00:09:29.380 The story is mind-blowing.
00:09:32.380 It's so good.
00:09:33.380 And the music is amazing.
00:09:35.380 It's dramatic.
00:09:36.380 It's exciting.
00:09:37.380 It's got everything.
00:09:39.380 So, I definitely recommend Carmen.
00:09:42.380 So, those would be my three recommendations.
00:09:45.380 I'll see if I remember any more as we keep going.
00:09:48.380 Can you break a wine glass?
00:09:50.380 So, the way that the breaking the wine glass thing works is actually it has nothing to do with how high you sing or even really how loud.
00:10:00.380 It actually has to do with matching the frequency of your voice to the frequency of the glass.
00:10:05.380 So, you can watch videos of this on YouTube where people will match the frequency of their voice to the frequency of the glass in whatever range it is, low, high.
00:10:14.380 And then they'll just sing pretty loud and that will be what shatters the glass.
00:10:19.380 So, theoretically I could, but so could you.
00:10:22.380 What is your all-time favorite opera?
00:10:25.380 That's a really hard question.
00:10:27.380 There's so many and there's so, oh my gosh, I can't, one second.
00:10:32.380 I need to calm down because I'm overwhelmed.
00:10:35.380 I have a lot of favorites, you guys.
00:10:40.380 I don't know if I can pick just one.
00:10:42.380 Can I pick composers?
00:10:44.380 Mozart's amazing.
00:10:46.380 I guess just for fun, just in this moment, let's say Don Giovanni.
00:10:51.380 Don Giovanni is awesome.
00:10:54.380 I love it.
00:10:55.380 And the music is amazing.
00:10:57.380 And also, if you're learning Italian, a lot of the Italian in it is pretty simple.
00:11:02.380 And that is kind of a nice thing when you are learning the language because you can watch it and think to yourself,
00:11:06.380 oh, I kind of understand what they're saying because it's simple Italian.
00:11:10.380 So, Don Giovanni, which is Don Juan in English, is amazing.
00:11:15.380 Yeah.
00:11:16.380 Are any languages in opera harder to sing than others vocally, tonally, etc.?
00:11:22.380 Yes.
00:11:23.380 Yes.
00:11:24.380 Yes.
00:11:25.380 Yes.
00:11:26.380 So, I would say that English for me is the hardest.
00:11:29.380 English has a lot of fricatives and it has a lot of diphthongs. 1.00
00:11:34.380 These are all diction terms.
00:11:36.380 But basically, it has a lot of pronunciation stuff that can mess with just singing beautifully and singing lyrically.
00:11:45.380 Italian is definitely the best for that because it has just really pure vowels.
00:11:50.380 Super fun to sing in.
00:11:52.380 Really.
00:11:53.380 It's just gorgeous.
00:11:54.380 German, I think a lot of people don't like singing in German, but I personally really like singing in German.
00:11:59.380 I think that the vowel structure in that language is great and you can use the consonants to your advantage.
00:12:05.380 So, they allow you to like springboard off in a way.
00:12:09.380 So, that's why I like singing in German.
00:12:11.380 French, there are a lot of things I like.
00:12:14.380 I do not like open air vowels and French asks you to do that quite a bit.
00:12:19.380 So, that makes it tricky for me.
00:12:22.380 French can be difficult for people just generally because the language is very different from our own.
00:12:26.380 But I would say that singing in French and German and Italian, they're all great.
00:12:30.380 A lot of people have issues singing in German just because there are so many consonants.
00:12:35.380 But I personally, I really enjoy singing in German.
00:12:38.380 So, that might just be my own experience.
00:12:41.380 I know nothing about opera.
00:12:43.380 Where should I start?
00:12:45.380 I love people who don't know anything about opera and I love teaching people about opera.
00:12:49.380 That is part of the reason I started this channel was because opera is something I think really everyone can enjoy.
00:12:55.380 They just don't even know that they can.
00:12:56.380 So, they kind of stay away.
00:12:58.380 Fair enough.
00:12:59.380 There's not a lot of information out that you can easily get about learning opera.
00:13:04.380 So, they kind of just walk away from it.
00:13:06.380 But there is a lot that you can do to teach yourself opera.
00:13:10.380 So, I would say that the first place to start is to listen to a Pavarotti CD.
00:13:17.380 Pavarotti is so gorgeous.
00:13:19.380 I mean, you'll just fall in love with the sound of his voice right off the bat.
00:13:23.380 And you'll fall in love with the music.
00:13:25.380 I pretty much can guarantee.
00:13:27.380 I mean, it's gorgeous.
00:13:28.380 He's wonderful.
00:13:29.380 And it's just, it'll make you start to think differently about how people sing about music generally.
00:13:36.380 So, that's where I would start.
00:13:37.380 Just listen to a CD of Pavarotti's greatest hits.
00:13:40.380 Then what I would do is I would choose one of the three operas that I recommended for beginners.
00:13:45.380 And choose, let's say, seven selections from the opera.
00:13:52.380 And just put them on a playlist.
00:13:54.380 And listen to them a few times so that you're recognizing them and that you start to like them.
00:13:59.380 Then when you watch the opera for the first time, you'll like have little points throughout that you'll recognize.
00:14:07.380 And that'll make you excited because you won't just be hearing all this new music all at once.
00:14:12.380 Instead, you'll have little points that will help you kind of hold on to something throughout.
00:14:18.380 And of course, read the story beforehand.
00:14:21.380 Make sure you understand the plot because you should understand it, but it can be confusing.
00:14:28.380 Especially the comedies can be confusing.
00:14:30.380 And it's in a different language, of course.
00:14:32.380 So that will, could sometimes be confusing.
00:14:35.380 But just reading up on that stuff beforehand and really preparing yourself.
00:14:40.380 Because it can be overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be overwhelming.
00:14:45.380 And what my husband has been telling me lately is something he never realized is that he always felt like opera was this really high art.
00:14:52.380 That was just totally kind of unreachable for him.
00:14:57.380 Or for just the average person.
00:14:59.380 And then he realized that opera isn't that.
00:15:02.380 Opera was popular music for a long time.
00:15:04.380 And if you don't give it more credence than just that.
00:15:07.380 If you just say, okay, it's just music.
00:15:10.380 It's just a story.
00:15:11.380 It's just like a musical.
00:15:12.380 I don't have to think it's this grandiose thing.
00:15:15.380 Then you'll realize that it's really available to all of us.
00:15:17.380 We're all able to watch opera and enjoy it.
00:15:21.380 What tips do you have for improving vocal range?
00:15:25.380 So, here's the thing.
00:15:28.380 It kind of comes with time and it kind of comes with age.
00:15:31.380 You can't necessarily control your vocal range.
00:15:34.380 You can't say, okay, I want to be a soprano, but I'm a mezzo-soprano.
00:15:37.380 I want a higher voice, but I have a lower voice.
00:15:40.380 You can start to kind of work on your extension.
00:15:42.380 You can sort of start to feel out if maybe there is more room in your upper range.
00:15:47.380 Or there is more room in your lower range.
00:15:49.380 There are certain times where there is no more room.
00:15:53.380 But there comes with learning how to sing and learning technique ways to support as you go up.
00:16:01.380 Support these little tiny muscles in your throat as you go higher and higher and as you go lower and lower.
00:16:08.380 And that will be the way that you grow your vocal range is just by learning how to support.
00:16:15.380 That's really like primo, number one, first thing to do.
00:16:19.380 What makes opera different from musical theater?
00:16:23.380 So, musical theater is kind of like the baby of opera.
00:16:27.380 That's how I think of it.
00:16:28.380 Musical theater has a lot of the same conventions as opera,
00:16:31.380 but most musical theater is not sung for women in head voice.
00:16:35.380 They use microphones, which in opera we don't use microphones at all.
00:16:38.380 Everything is just without any amplification.
00:16:42.380 The orchestras are usually smaller for musical theater.
00:16:46.380 And I would say that the stories for musical theater are generally more relatable in the sense that they're more toned down.
00:16:53.380 Like this is what would actually happen in life, whereas with opera you're dealing with really oversized stories.
00:17:00.380 And I think that's kind of the main difference is the singing type, the amplification, and the storytelling.
00:17:08.380 And the other thing you have to keep in mind is that musical theater is a fairly new medium.
00:17:12.380 Opera has been around since the 1500s. Late 1500s. Middle 1500s.
00:17:18.380 How do you get ready for performances?
00:17:20.380 So, number one is warm up. I have to warm up my voice.
00:17:24.380 Make sure that everything is a-okay, that I feel comfortable singing.
00:17:29.380 I'll also usually steam, which is sit in front of hot water and just kind of let that moisture get into my vocal folds.
00:17:37.380 Essentially, you can't actually make your vocal folds more moisturized with water, with drinking,
00:17:44.380 because it goes down the other pipe.
00:17:47.380 So the only way to actually get your vocal folds moisturized is to inhale steam. 1.00
00:17:51.380 So that's what a lot of singers will do before they perform.
00:17:54.380 And I'll usually have, I don't know, just some time to read and cool down and just collect myself, go over the music again.
00:18:03.380 That kind of thing.
00:18:04.380 Can I sing the Queen of the Night aria from the Magic Flute?
00:18:07.380 Probably not.
00:18:08.380 I am not technically a dramatic coloratura.
00:18:13.380 And even though I can sing the first half of the aria very, very well, the first one,
00:18:19.380 the second half and the second aria, they go up to the F quite a few times.
00:18:25.380 And I can hit an F, but I am not comfortable staccatoing an F, meaning those little popped notes rather than sustaining.
00:18:34.380 That's not my favorite way to sing.
00:18:36.380 That's not really what I would consider a role I would play.
00:18:40.380 If I was going to play a role in the Magic Flute, it would be Pamina, which I'm not mad at because her music is stunning.
00:18:47.380 How much training did you have to take to get where you are?
00:18:50.380 So I started studying when I was 16 years old and I then went to college when I was 17 and I studied for seven years.
00:19:00.380 So I've studied a lot.
00:19:03.380 I still sometimes will check in with my teachers and I continue to study.
00:19:08.380 It's a lifelong process.
00:19:10.380 I want to start listening to opera.
00:19:12.380 How do I do this without getting overwhelmed?
00:19:15.380 So this is going back to that last question a while back.
00:19:19.380 You want to listen to those seven pieces and then go to the opera and kind of pick those out when you listen to the opera in its entirety.
00:19:29.380 And it can be overwhelming, but starting with the right opera is super important.
00:19:34.380 If you start with an opera like Wagner that's four hours long and is literally just music for four hours, you will get overwhelmed, I can guarantee.
00:19:42.380 But if you listen to an opera that's shorter and that has a really good story and that has less of like that wall of sound feeling, then you shouldn't get overwhelmed.
00:19:53.380 But just take it slow.
00:19:54.380 What was the moment where you realized you wanted to pursue opera?
00:19:57.380 So I had my first voice lesson when I was 16 years old.
00:20:01.380 My dad gave it to me as a Hanukkah present.
00:20:03.380 And after my first lesson, my teacher pulled me aside and she said, I think you could do this as a career.
00:20:08.380 And I said to her, people don't do that for money.
00:20:12.380 Well, I was wrong, but also I realized how much I loved it as I was studying.
00:20:20.380 And I would get home from rehearsals for my play at high school at 10pm and I'd want to practice.
00:20:24.380 Like I just loved it so much.
00:20:26.380 And I think that's when I realized I really wanted to pursue it.
00:20:29.380 Encouragement tips for a freshman vocal performance major.
00:20:32.380 You can do this.
00:20:34.380 Don't worry.
00:20:36.380 People are going to make you feel really stressed.
00:20:38.380 Everyone is going to make you feel like you have to follow what everyone else is doing.
00:20:42.380 Just do your best, practice, and remember why you started singing in the first place.
00:20:49.380 It's really hard when you're getting a ton of criticism a lot of the time.
00:20:54.380 That's what happens with opera.
00:20:55.380 And you just need to remember why you love singing.
00:20:59.380 And if that means randomly going into a practice room and just singing because you love it
00:21:04.380 and not because you actually have to practice, that's good.
00:21:07.380 That's okay.
00:21:08.380 Do it.
00:21:09.380 Like just keep in mind why you've been doing it and that'll carry you through.
00:21:14.380 What's the highest note you can hit?
00:21:16.380 I would say F sharp is the highest note I can hit.
00:21:21.380 E is what I would do in performance.
00:21:23.380 Favorite Puccini?
00:21:26.380 Oh.
00:21:29.380 Boheme for the music, Tosca for the story.
00:21:32.380 As a conservative, do you feel out of place in opera?
00:21:35.380 I used to.
00:21:36.380 I would still, yeah, I would say yeah.
00:21:38.380 Now I do too.
00:21:39.380 I don't think that there was a lot of room to be a conservative in opera.
00:21:43.380 And I hope that I can continue to perform in one way or another.
00:21:49.380 But now that I have publicly said I'm conservative, I don't know how that'll pan out.
00:21:55.380 So we'll just have to see, I guess.
00:21:58.380 It would be interesting to see if I don't really get hired.
00:22:03.380 Just kind of waiting on that one.
00:22:06.380 We'll see.
00:22:07.380 What exercises do you do to train your voice to project throughout a whole theater?
00:22:11.380 So what we're really working on with that is resonance.
00:22:14.380 And you want to make sure that you're really getting that voice to spin in a certain way
00:22:20.380 where it'll resonate without any microphones.
00:22:23.380 So I wouldn't say we do specific exercises for resonance.
00:22:27.380 We do specific exercises to kind of stretch the folds and make them feel flexible.
00:22:35.380 So we can move up and down the scale.
00:22:37.380 And I used to do exercises that would wake up the resonance a little bit more.
00:22:41.380 And what I would do is kind of like just to kind of get things moving up here.
00:22:48.380 I don't really have to do that so much anymore because I'm just used to it.
00:22:51.380 But when you're first starting, definitely.
00:22:53.380 And yeah.
00:22:54.380 What are some things you do for vocal recovery after a show or a long rehearsal?
00:22:59.380 So this is a good question.
00:23:01.380 Steaming, again, is an important thing.
00:23:03.380 Sometimes I would make myself a really good cup of tea that has all these special herbal ingredients
00:23:09.380 and it'll kind of like help with the recovery process.
00:23:12.380 And just vocal rest.
00:23:14.380 Not talking for a little while.
00:23:16.380 Just to let your voice really take a rest before your next performance.
00:23:19.380 Do you still get stage fright?
00:23:21.380 I didn't ever really struggle with stage fright all that much.
00:23:25.380 My concern would be that I would forget the words.
00:23:27.380 But I've never dealt with fear about what was going to happen too much.
00:23:34.380 Maybe a little bit right before I stepped on stage.
00:23:36.380 And then the thing that I've realized is that you will just have a memory.
00:23:42.380 Like your body will just remember what it needs to do to get it done.
00:23:45.380 So even if you kind of like black out, your body will just take over. 0.97
00:23:49.380 And it knows where it was supposed to go.
00:23:51.380 You've done rehearsals.
00:23:52.380 You've learned the music.
00:23:54.380 You've learned the lines.
00:23:55.380 And things will happen even if you're not like consciously doing it.
00:23:59.380 And that is a very comforting thought for a performer.
00:24:02.380 And that is still very helpful to me throughout my performing career.
00:24:05.380 Okay.
00:24:06.380 So we are on our last question.
00:24:09.380 I've been sitting in front of the camera for a very long time.
00:24:12.380 So let's do this one.
00:24:14.380 Favorite character from an opera.
00:24:16.380 What makes them your favorite?
00:24:17.380 I want to say Figaro.
00:24:19.380 Figaro is the first name that's popping into my head.
00:24:21.380 And he's just so fun and funny.
00:24:25.380 And I love his character both in Barber of Seville.
00:24:29.380 He is the barber.
00:24:30.380 You guys know that one.
00:24:31.380 You don't know you know it.
00:24:32.380 But you know it.
00:24:33.380 Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro!
00:24:37.380 See?
00:24:38.380 You know it.
00:24:39.380 And he's also the main character in The Marriage of Figaro, which is by Mozart.
00:24:42.380 And he is so much fun and such an incredible character.
00:24:47.380 And I just really enjoy that he helps people find love. 0.94
00:24:52.380 And that he also is a goofball and a silly guy. 0.97
00:24:57.380 And that he ends up married happily to his lovely girlfriend, Susanna. 0.98
00:25:02.380 I just love their whole dynamic.
00:25:04.380 I love his dynamic with the Countess.
00:25:07.380 I love his dynamic with Rosina, who's the Countess in The Barber of Seville.
00:25:11.380 I just love his character.
00:25:13.380 He's just a lot of fun to watch.
00:25:14.380 But that is it for today's video.
00:25:17.380 I had so many more questions, but I'm not going to be able to get to them today.
00:25:21.380 Maybe we'll do another of these.
00:25:22.380 Let me know in the comments if you'd like to see another round two opera AMA.
00:25:26.380 And as well, please let me know in the comments if you had any other questions that I didn't get to today.
00:25:32.380 I would love to see what you guys are thinking about.
00:25:34.380 And also let me know what's your favorite opera if you've seen one.
00:25:38.380 I'd love to hear.
00:25:39.380 Thank you guys so much for watching today's video.
00:25:41.380 Please subscribe to my channel and blog if you haven't already.
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00:25:56.380 And I'll see you guys in my next video.
00:25:58.380 Bye!