Der Rosenkavalier

I just got an email today offering me the chance to be a super in one of this summer's opera productions. It's a 4-hour long German comedy/melodrama by Strauss, which I must confess I've never seen, as I've usually shied away from 4-hour long German operas.

Parts were offered to me in all three acts, so that would mean long hours in the basement of the opera house waiting for my fleeting moments onstage in the spotlight. The glamorous roles are: Carpet Vendor, Courier#4 and Policeman. Really stretching my acting chops! ;-)

I jumped at the chance, silly me, even though I'm seriously anxious about a few relatively minor schedule conflicts and also about the overall extremely non-pragmatic and ambivalently conflicted choices I've been making in my work/money/career life.

I was led to reflect on how many years I've been facing this dilemma: since I first started supering back in 1995. I counted: I've been in 26 productions, sometimes the same opera in different years or different runs in the same season. Plus a couple of stray ballets, plays, film extra work and GlinkAppearances.

I like to play dress-up. NO, REALLY????!!!!????? We never realized that, Alb./Grove/Glinka! So I cannot say no when the oppportunity arises.

I just wish that I could figure out some flexible, decent paying work to do to support this avocation. Ahh, and one that doesn't involve trapping myself in some stuffy office...