My first day back on stage is always an incredible experience. I am still completely in awe of the majesty of the MET. As we all await our entrances in the Act III Procession, we think first of our friends whom for a myriad of reasons are not with us at this moment. Richard Vernon, whose generous, beautiful talent is no longer with us, but whose spirit we feel. Charlie Anthony, amazing gentleman, artist and friend, who always sings “Take time for tea” at this one point in the music, I still can’t tell you exactly which. I so enjoyed Bernie Fitch’s retelling of the story and Anthony Laciura rushing back stage to see if we had actually performed this critical first line of Act III, which the audience will never hear.

The moment has arrived for our entrances in the long procession, and my standard bearers rush to find their place. DO I REALLY HAVE STANDARD BEARERS? We enter and as I look out into the house again, my breath leaves me and the smile upon my face grows beyond measure. What an incredible place to perform, what a great place to work, what an honor to be here… Everything falls into place, this great complex machine has such finely tuned brilliant human elements, all doing their part, all creating this dream, and after seven seasons I still feel as though this is the first time I have stepped on this great stage. As I entered and saw all around me friends and colleagues amongst the Cast, Chorus, Music Staff, Stage Management, Directorial Staff, Supernumeraries, and Technical Crews, I felt in one instant, star-struck, celebrated and humbled to be a member of this great family, performing this Meisterpiece.

The scene plays out and at one point our director Peter McClintock says to the Chorus “at this point be even more inspired by his singing” speaking of the exquisite performance of Johan Botha. I turn to several of my colleagues and say, “being inspired by such incredible singing will be such a task…” The scene has to be repeated, to make sure we all feel a bit more inspired…. I will do my best, as always, it feels like my first time…

This entry was posted by Patrick Carfizzi on Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 at 3:53 pm and is filed under New Production Countdown. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.