When I was a young and ambitious singer in training, I really aspired to be an opera singer. Not surprisingly, I was not only reaching for the stars but also for those high notes. Opera is extremely challenging. This song though-tears of emotion.
Do not even talk to me about what it takes to be a dancer. Walking still challenges.
Sad that ChamalamaDignDong felt it was okay to denigrate rather than understand or at the very least applaud all these talented souls who devote themselves to these arts.
"If you have to shit, shit. If you have to fart, fart. You will feel much better for it."
I ran across it re-reading the Palahniuk novel "Pygmy." Which is pretty awesome.
I looked it up to make sure it was a real quote, and it is. It was during a time things were not going well for the Revolution, and the meaning was that people should feel free to criticize him as it would give them relief to get it off their chest.
Don’t go see Boris Godunov opera. Wow. Brutal. My a.d.d. riddled brain could not handle it. One guy. One king. Dying. Wandering back & forth clutching his chest. Singing incomprehensibly in Russian. I don’t recall anything else. Massive mistake. We should have gone to see something on Broadway.
Not particularly a fan of opera or ballet, but I'm in favor of preserving them, both for the people who are fans and for the sake of preserving diversity in genres of entertainment. I also don't particularly like twerking, but it's not like I'm going to oppose it, either.
That's what it felt like to me. But he's got no reason (at least from where I'm looking) to be jealous. Everybody's got their own lane. Some are actors, some people sing. Others dance. Who knows?
I try to support plays in my local theatres. The last couple of years I was able to pay for discounted season tickets but this year I think I will only be able to see one or two plays
Listen. During college & a few years afterward I had a job in the music business. The place did copying (by hand w/calligraphy pens & ink), transcription, arrangements, binding & sales of music paper & supplies. It was a little corner of the industry that's now gone courtesy of xerox machines & computers (these were union jobs lost, by the way, which paid scale). We did work for Broadway shows & Carnegie Hall/Lincoln Center institutions - symphonies, opera, ballet, etc.
As a college kid in thepunk rock 80s, I didn't give two shits about Broadway show tunes or opera. I had a mouth too w/ plenty of stupid opinions spewing out of it. Some of the older pros were (by the grace of God) kind enough to put up with me & gently explain that I ought to keep my mouth shut and my ears and eyes open.
As they patiently explained, the best singers you will ever hear are not pop divas or people in your favorite bands. They're folks whose names you never heard who get onstage for several hours six nights & two afternoons every week and make an audience think that the hundreds of dollars they paid for tickets was money well spent.
In other words, Hugh Jackman is a better singer than anyone not named Lennon or McCartney & that's because they were also songwriters & capable of singing harmony.
Opera people are in a different class entirely. They're like Olympic athletes. They work with vocal coaches & have to distinguish themselves in a yearly series of international competitions in order to be taken seriously & win even minor roles. Italian judges are VERY protective of that particular demimonde & outsiders (i.e., non-Italians) have a VERY hard road to travel. One of my mentors in the legal profession has a daughter who's on that circuit now & it's very stressful, her being American & Jewish rather than Italian (so far, so good though).
This kid Chalamet running his mouth could've used an intervention like the one I got. As far as supporting live theater? I had the pleasure of seeing Tony Randall & Jack Klugman (Felix & Oscar) in The Sunshine Boys and Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellen (Professor X & Magneto) in Waiting For Godot. Not only did they implore the audience to keep coming to the theater in their post-performance remarks from the stage, they also came out onto the sidewalk outside the theater to meet & greet us. My kids got to shake their hands.
If Timothee (how fucking pretentious) thinks that no one cares about that, I know 4 actors who disagree and outclass him in every possible way.
Timothee Chalamet (Marty Supreme) is going to lose to Michael B. Jordan (Sinners) at the Oscars this year, for the lead actor role. At least I think the universe intends for this to happen. In fact, if it weren't for my general aversion to watching anything horror-related in These Dark Times, I would have watched Sinners by now, which is widely expected to run away with most if not all of the 16 Academy Awards it has been nominated for. Timothee is near or at 30 years old and is a sore loser, and he's dating a Kardashian. Plus, both his sister and his mother have been really involved with ballet, so the whole statement was, to put it in a context, SO DUMB and even HURTFUL.
I used to usher for theatre productions, I attended my first live opera at 18 (The Flying Dutchman, and yes, the large lady with the blond braids, the spear, and the substantial breast plate really does sing at the end of the show), and I took my kid to see live Shakespeare (a Midsummer Night's Dream) in a park during one summer and it was magical. (I first saw live Shakespeare eons ago out in western MA, also great.) I love concerts and films. I love art in museums. I love seeing others' photography (I suck at it). I love live dance (I was a dance mom long ago).
My MIL, who attended many, many concerts over the years in NYC, now supports and attends concerts in the New England area. She has a fridge magnet that we gave her that says this: Earth without art is just Eh
Robyn, thank you for this piece. You've reminded me that I should look for such organizations in my neck of the woods. And my last live concert was Angelique Kidjo singing on her birthday and covering the Talking Heads as well as singing her own stuff, and it was fucking FANTASTIC. Catch her in concert if you can!
He'll learn when he loses the Oscar this weekend....that (let's be honest) he was always going to lose to Michael B. Jordan. Or he might not learn. Who knows?
When I was a young and ambitious singer in training, I really aspired to be an opera singer. Not surprisingly, I was not only reaching for the stars but also for those high notes. Opera is extremely challenging. This song though-tears of emotion.
Do not even talk to me about what it takes to be a dancer. Walking still challenges.
Sad that ChamalamaDignDong felt it was okay to denigrate rather than understand or at the very least applaud all these talented souls who devote themselves to these arts.
I think a much more meaningful distinction than "high art" and "low art" would be "commercial art" and "communal art."
Going to see the new production of "Tristan" next week at the Met. It's always worth every penny.
OT: This is an actual quote from Mao.
"If you have to shit, shit. If you have to fart, fart. You will feel much better for it."
I ran across it re-reading the Palahniuk novel "Pygmy." Which is pretty awesome.
I looked it up to make sure it was a real quote, and it is. It was during a time things were not going well for the Revolution, and the meaning was that people should feel free to criticize him as it would give them relief to get it off their chest.
And now you know.
oh dang, thanks for the heads up. i live in Chicago, love opera, and am still under 45 for a while yet. bet i can find 100$ somewhere
The “Rabbit of Seville” for me.
Don’t go see Boris Godunov opera. Wow. Brutal. My a.d.d. riddled brain could not handle it. One guy. One king. Dying. Wandering back & forth clutching his chest. Singing incomprehensibly in Russian. I don’t recall anything else. Massive mistake. We should have gone to see something on Broadway.
“I saw their production of Carmen in a cemetery last summer and it was packed full and an absolute jam.”
Were people dying to get in?
I’ll see myself out.
Not particularly a fan of opera or ballet, but I'm in favor of preserving them, both for the people who are fans and for the sake of preserving diversity in genres of entertainment. I also don't particularly like twerking, but it's not like I'm going to oppose it, either.
Timothée Shamalamadingong is overrated. I do not understand what people see in him.
he doesn’t even skate
Right?
It might not even have been a big deal if not for the fact that Timmee's mother,sister, AND grandmother are or were PROFESSIONAL ballet dancers.
Maybe there's some familial competition and resentment.
That's what it felt like to me. But he's got no reason (at least from where I'm looking) to be jealous. Everybody's got their own lane. Some are actors, some people sing. Others dance. Who knows?
It’s the Russian opera that’s brutal. After a while you’re like…, is this dude who’s limping & wandering
I try to support plays in my local theatres. The last couple of years I was able to pay for discounted season tickets but this year I think I will only be able to see one or two plays
Listen. During college & a few years afterward I had a job in the music business. The place did copying (by hand w/calligraphy pens & ink), transcription, arrangements, binding & sales of music paper & supplies. It was a little corner of the industry that's now gone courtesy of xerox machines & computers (these were union jobs lost, by the way, which paid scale). We did work for Broadway shows & Carnegie Hall/Lincoln Center institutions - symphonies, opera, ballet, etc.
As a college kid in thepunk rock 80s, I didn't give two shits about Broadway show tunes or opera. I had a mouth too w/ plenty of stupid opinions spewing out of it. Some of the older pros were (by the grace of God) kind enough to put up with me & gently explain that I ought to keep my mouth shut and my ears and eyes open.
As they patiently explained, the best singers you will ever hear are not pop divas or people in your favorite bands. They're folks whose names you never heard who get onstage for several hours six nights & two afternoons every week and make an audience think that the hundreds of dollars they paid for tickets was money well spent.
In other words, Hugh Jackman is a better singer than anyone not named Lennon or McCartney & that's because they were also songwriters & capable of singing harmony.
Opera people are in a different class entirely. They're like Olympic athletes. They work with vocal coaches & have to distinguish themselves in a yearly series of international competitions in order to be taken seriously & win even minor roles. Italian judges are VERY protective of that particular demimonde & outsiders (i.e., non-Italians) have a VERY hard road to travel. One of my mentors in the legal profession has a daughter who's on that circuit now & it's very stressful, her being American & Jewish rather than Italian (so far, so good though).
This kid Chalamet running his mouth could've used an intervention like the one I got. As far as supporting live theater? I had the pleasure of seeing Tony Randall & Jack Klugman (Felix & Oscar) in The Sunshine Boys and Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellen (Professor X & Magneto) in Waiting For Godot. Not only did they implore the audience to keep coming to the theater in their post-performance remarks from the stage, they also came out onto the sidewalk outside the theater to meet & greet us. My kids got to shake their hands.
If Timothee (how fucking pretentious) thinks that no one cares about that, I know 4 actors who disagree and outclass him in every possible way.
Learn when to shut the fuck up son.
Timothee Chalamet (Marty Supreme) is going to lose to Michael B. Jordan (Sinners) at the Oscars this year, for the lead actor role. At least I think the universe intends for this to happen. In fact, if it weren't for my general aversion to watching anything horror-related in These Dark Times, I would have watched Sinners by now, which is widely expected to run away with most if not all of the 16 Academy Awards it has been nominated for. Timothee is near or at 30 years old and is a sore loser, and he's dating a Kardashian. Plus, both his sister and his mother have been really involved with ballet, so the whole statement was, to put it in a context, SO DUMB and even HURTFUL.
I used to usher for theatre productions, I attended my first live opera at 18 (The Flying Dutchman, and yes, the large lady with the blond braids, the spear, and the substantial breast plate really does sing at the end of the show), and I took my kid to see live Shakespeare (a Midsummer Night's Dream) in a park during one summer and it was magical. (I first saw live Shakespeare eons ago out in western MA, also great.) I love concerts and films. I love art in museums. I love seeing others' photography (I suck at it). I love live dance (I was a dance mom long ago).
My MIL, who attended many, many concerts over the years in NYC, now supports and attends concerts in the New England area. She has a fridge magnet that we gave her that says this: Earth without art is just Eh
Robyn, thank you for this piece. You've reminded me that I should look for such organizations in my neck of the woods. And my last live concert was Angelique Kidjo singing on her birthday and covering the Talking Heads as well as singing her own stuff, and it was fucking FANTASTIC. Catch her in concert if you can!
He'll learn when he loses the Oscar this weekend....that (let's be honest) he was always going to lose to Michael B. Jordan. Or he might not learn. Who knows?
Leaked... President requested Bibi to stop bombing oil facilities in Iran.
Source npr
No one could have predicted this outcome.
...it's a little late now.
Always on top of the situation, that guy.
"Bibi, STOP!"
Whenever I hear Bibi I think of Frazier's agent on the show. She was hilarious!
Donnie & Bibi, the Axis of Epstein
I have to give Kyle Kulinski credit for that one.
Not just SVU. One might also bingewatch, say, Archer.