The Last Opera of the Season

Here is my costume for Falstaff. I was really happy with this costume, but only got to wear it for about 30 minutes of each performance because the women in the choir only appear at the very end of the opera to help the other ladies taunt Falstaff in an "enchanted" forest scene. We were actually called to the theater 90 minutes after the start of the show and still had plenty of time to get into makeup and costume before our entrance. One night I even got a ticket to the show and sat in the audience for the first half to see the soloists hard at work, and then slipped backstage during intermission to start getting ready!












On April 9th we gave our last performance of Falstaff, ending the operatic season for the members of the Landestheater Chorus. There will be a small production of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte in June with just soloists, but the remaining shows for the year are an operetta, a musical and a rock opera. With three months left in this year's season, it was a surprise to see the schedule and see 22 performances of Jesus Christ Superstar and only 8 of Cosi. But the Coburg audience has spoken loud and clear through ticket sales, and musicals rule the roost here.

Why am I so tired?

Rehearsals for "Jesus Christ Superstar" are long and extremely demanding, both physically and emotionally. This week we moved to the main stage for rehearsals after three weeks on a practice stage, which is an exciting transition as we approach our premeire. In addition to seeing our 360-degree rotating stage and the amazing hydraulics used in creating different spaces for each scene, I'm happy to be on the clean, tidy main stage and get out of the dusty rehearsal room. In the three weeks on the rehearsal stage I ripped a hole in the knee of one pair of jeans and had to wash my other pairs several times due to the down-and-dirty rehearsal and staging style of our director, who has us alternately standing, dancing, sitting, and crawling around on the ground in almost every scene of the show.

The director for this show is a professional choreographer who has also done some directing in the past. His ideas for the stage are really amazing and he has created many very powerful images with the choir that I think the audience will really like. And the Coburg audience obviously remembers him from his past work at the theater because all 22 performances are already sold out or close to sold out. But some of the images have taken a physical and emotional toll on me.

At first the physical challenges of our choreography, in addition to solidifying the memorization of all our music, was what had me collapsing into bed every night. But now the fatigue is coming from a deeper source. As one of the few native English-speakers at the theater, I sometimes feel the intensity of the language in addition to the movements and music hits me on a deeper level than some of the other performers who are still digging into their translations and worrying about correct pronunciaion.

For those of you not familiar with the show, "Jesus Christ Superstar" tells the story of Jesus' last seven days on Earth. The chorus plays a large roll, acting alternately as Jesus' supporters (posse, fan club, papparazzi, etc.) and then his hecklers. Ultimately, we witness and cheer on his 39 lashes from Pontius Pilate and laugh and wave as he is crucified at the end of the piece. Although we don't physically crucify our Jesus in this production, the women in the choir smile and wave and eventually laugh as you hear the pounding of nails into wood from offstage. And our Jesus is indeed hung upside-down by his feet about 6 feet in the air while the entire house choir and extra choir stand en masse behind him and react with joy to each one of the 39 lashes he receives.

Some of you may ask how performers can do such horrific things onstage and not walk away from each rehearsal a total mess. Well, everyone deals with this emotional aspect of performing in a different way. For me, I don't try to block off the emotions I feel during rehearsals. The more I identify and acknowledge my specific feelings, the more I can use them productively and ultimately let them go at the end of a performance. This is how I create an emotional separation from a show so I don't become too overwhelmed with the subject matter. As we approach tech week and our dress rehearsals, we will start running the show every day, which will help with the emotional pacing as well. But in addition to this frame of mind, I run quite a bit and try to eat healthy and do things outside in the fresh air every day to keep from taking my work home with me. And at the end of the day even though singing in this show is like taking a wild roller-coaster ride, I think the product we have created will touch the audience and make them really think, which makes it all worth it.

My first professional interview

This is a picture of my first professional interview, published in the April 2007 edition of Mohr Stadt-Illu magazine in Coburg, Germany. You can click on the photo to get a close-up view of the page.

























This local magazine interviews young people in the community each month and I was the feature in April as the newest member of the Landestheater. The magazine's main readers are young people (teens to mid-twenties) and in addition to interviews, there are also current events, party listings, and party review in the magazine. I've (roughly) translated the text below so you can see what kinds of things the Coburger public now knows about me.

"When I am allowed to sing and dance, then I'm happy." With a beaming smile that couldn't be friendlier, Teresa Lewis talks about her work. The 26-year-old American is a member of the choir since this season. She says about her colleagues, "We are a big, crazy family." (that's also the big script in blue).

The young woman is modest. When asked about her wishes, she answers, "Actually I've already accomplished what I want - I have an apartment and can make a living as a singer. That is what I've always wanted." She confesses with passion, "When I am standing onstage, I'm happy."

To that one must know: in America there are many young people who study Vocal Performance and then end up as a secretary in an office. "In America there are pretty much no "fest" contracts. At Seattle Opera, for example, there are only about 6 operas a year, which means as a musician you have to move every six or eight weeks and even then it's not secure if you can find steady work the whole year."

Therefore, Teresa's teacher at the University of Washington, Tom Harper, suggested going to Germany after receiving her master's in music. In 1982 Tom Harper was also engaged as a Tenor at the Landestheater in Coburg. That it would also be the first stop in Germany for Teresa Lewis is somthing she naturally couldn't have known.

The young artist furthered her German-language studies in 2001 by studying at the University of Salzburg and Mozarteum. "But I was still somewhat nervous when I made my trip to Germany," said Teresa Lewis. In Berlin she had to sing for an agent. Then she was offered the chance to sing in Coburg in the choir - a maternity leave contract until the end of next season. The first rehearsals for "Martha" and "Der Bettelstudent" were hard for the American, not only because of the foreign language. "However my colleagues helped me a lot and explained to me what I had to do." And since then is her understanding excellent, Teresa Lewis speaks near-perfect German. Exceptionally fun for her so far has been the production of "Hello Dolly," although she was skeptical at first. "I couldn't picture performing an English-language musical in German. I had the movie with Barbara Streisand in my head." But then she was totally fascinated. Right now are preparations for "Jesus Christ Superstar" and the young American is full of zeal. "It is a really great piece and really well-directed," she gushes and adds laughingly, "but not only because we're singing in English."

Teresa Lewis is happy that she made the step to come to Germany. "My colleagues are really nice, we are a big, crazy family," she explains. She gets along well with the members of the choir - by the way a multi-cultural choir - and also with the actors, solo singers and even the cafeteria and technical staff, and spends some of her private time with her colleagues. "Thursday mornings a colleage gives a free yoga class and that is especially fun," says the young American, who is multi-faceted. In spite of the six-day work week at the Theater (10-2 rehearsals, 6-10:30 performances and extra time in between for memorization and practice), she is preparing for a sprint triathlon in the USA this summer. "I already participated in it last year, but was pretty bad. For a .75 k swim, 20k bike and 5k run it took almost two hours." This year she wants to improve her times. That means she swims regularly at the Aquaria and runs a lot. "With biking it hasn't worked out yet, I have to buy one here first."

In addition Teresa is passionate about knitting, she likes to go dancing at the Wooloomooloo Bay Hotel, and enjoys getting a drink at "Loom." Only her passion for baking she hasn't tried yet in Germany. "For one the ingredients are different, but also the baked goods and bakeries in Coburg so tasty," she says. She particularly enjoys pumpkin-seed pretzels and apple pockets. The later perhaps because they remind the young artist of apple pie from her home.

In the USA Teresa Lewis has sung the main role in "Trouble in Tahiti" (Bernstein) and Papagena in Mozart's "Die Zauberfloete" and given two solo concerts. If she will ever do that in Germany is yet to be determined. As her next step Teresa has a goal: she wants to give a concert in the Reithalle. Theme? "Classical music" she answers promptly--privately she admittedly listens to Hip-Hop.