Through this production, I certainly lived up to an adjective that many people have used to describe me: Renaissance Woman. (which is meant to mean a person who has many talents in diverse subjects.) I am especially pleased with this production because I choreographed it, did the majority of the dancing, accompanied the cast on the piano during the performance, produced (including marketing, advertising and made all the graphic design decisions for the poster and program book), directed more than 20 people in the cast and edited a 3 hour Operetta to a concise 1 hour theatrical production!
The only difficulty I had was finding enough time to physically be in so many different places. I was everywhere from Lexington (in a church next to the Battle Green, no less!) to do rehearsals with the singers-to driving up to the North Shore to teach one group of dancers some choreography-to weekly rehearsals with a dance partner-to special rehearsals with another set of dancers (some who hailed from as far away as Providence, RI!!!!
As overall Director and Producer, I included 6 singers from New England Light Opera, a professional pianist, lighting designer, a dance partner and 10 dancers. I also danced the principle role of the production: Rosalinde. I have extensive knowledge about music and opera and so was able to literally take the 3 hour Fledermaus score and find intelligent ways to edit it down to a 1 hour production.
On top of that-I choreographed the entire show and even accompanied my cast during the performance, when I wasn't dancing! It was very difficult to find enough time for me to practice the piano, keep myself in performance condition as a dancer, do marketing and graphic design for the posters/program and rehearse everyone else!! (as is typical for me, the choreography didn't take much time, because I am one of those rare people who get much of the choreography all at once-fully formed in my head- and all that is left to do is simply write it out! Maybe 5% of the choreography needs to be worked out in the studio, but that is mostly finding some steps to link the other 95% "fully-formed" chunks that come to me away from the studio.)
I will always remember this production because it allowed me to utilize the diverse talents that symbolize a Renaissance Woman.
P.S. That ability to combine different talents is also what led me past the first round of auditions for a major primetime network reality show! I was asked to re-perform for the Executive Producer(!), was named a STAND-BY, and was sent a wonderful email afterwards which stated in part: "We are creating a list of ALL the ACTS we loved in Boston, and you are on that list!"...That whole audition process was such a wonderful experience!!
