Creation.

We are plowing through this opera! Plowing I say! It's so nice to finally have a rehearsal experience down here that is not completely decimated by a hurricane or riddled with tension and frenzied energy. These days are smooth but intense. Full of interesting character conversation and a few laughs even. Mark cancelled reherasal tonight because we are in such good shape. It's nice to know that he's feeling confident enough to leave well enough alone even when he's leaving in four days.

I guess it should be making me nervous, but I watch those singers stand up and chew the scenery (what there is of it) every day in rehearsals and I'm happy with what we're making. We have our second chorus rehearsal tomorrow and should finish up the architecture of the show. Now comes the nit-picking and polishing. What Shirley Mordine, my composition teacher in college, called "emroidering the piece."

"Embroidery" rehearsals are unbelievably rewarding and integral to making a great piece of theater, but they can sometimes be the most intense and the hardest to get through. As we've slowly begun doing more character-driven work than basic blocking over the last couple of days, I've been welcoming the intense conversation. The temperment of this cast and staff is conducive to this type of detail work. I can't wait to see what more we can pull out.

Until then, however, I've got nothing to do while we cancel rehearsals here and there. I'm typing this before I do some work on my score, send some emails and watch "American Idol," which has become an unfortunate obsession of mine. I wish my social life could get back to what it was during "Fanciulla." It dropped off the face of the earth during the last opera and I would love to do something other than sit on my bed and watch television while doing menial tasks. Feast or famine I guess...