30 September 2021

Pirates of Penzance 1993

Dave Horton, the attorney for whom I was working, had heard in a choir rehearsal that there was a group in Tahoe Vista, Tahoe Mountain Musicals, that needed a Frederic for Pirates of Penzance. The only problem was they opened in a week. I went up and sang for them and they cast me (probably didn't have much choice). Since I had done it before I was pretty familiar with it. I made a lot of new friends who I later did shows with in the area.

One thing I remember about the show was that it was outside, and when the sun goes down at Lake Tahoe it gets cold, even in the summer. The actor playing the Pirate King was Marcus Chait.

29 September 2021

Moving Out West 1992

In 1992 Millikin had had an opening for a full-time Voice instructor with a specialty in Commercial Music. I applied and unfortunately did not get the job, and so was still looking for other opportunities. 

When I had done Summer Rep in Grand Lake, CO, I remember thinking if I could live in the mountains somewhere I would really love that. At a UFO conference I had gone to in Chicago, I met George Green who was the CEO of America West Publishing. He happened to be looking for someone to produce audio-books for his publications. I figured I could do that, and he hired me on a trial basis for the summer.

I moved out to Tehachapi, and after about a month part of his group moved up to Carson City, NV to take advantage of the benefits of incorporating in Nevada. At one point I even had my own corporation, Sound Bytes, Inc. I moved from Tehachapi to Carson City, and after the summer was done, they offered me a full-time job, so I flew back to Decatur, rented a truck, and said goodbye to the Midwest.

In late 1992 or early 1993, I'm not quite sure, the two groups got into an argument and sued each other. They decided to let me go from the company, but since Green's attorney needed help, I ended up going to work for him, while I started looking around again for jobs.

28 September 2021

Bastien and Bastienne 1992

The last show I did at Millikin before I left to take a job producing audio-books for a publisher in Tehachapi, CA, was Bastien and Bastienne, a one-act opera that Mozart wrote when he was 12. I did the stage direction and it was part of a Student Recital given in March of 1992.

27 September 2021

Brigadoon 1992

In February Theatre 7 in Decatur produced Brigadoon, and I got to play the role of Tommy Albright again. They actually set it in the present, so Jeff and I were not wearing period (1940s) costumes.

We got a nice review from Theresa Churchill at the Herald and Review. She was especially complimentary to me which was kind of her.

When we did Brigadoon at Illinois in 1986, during the song, "Almost Like Being in Love," I did a jump off of some set piece and went right into a cartwheel. I asked the director if I could try that again, he said "go for it," and I was lucky enough that the photographer caught me in mid-air.

26 September 2021

Messiah 1991

The same group that did the Messiah the previous year asked me to sing with them again. Some singers make a decent living specializing in oratorio work. I just like doing fully staged works better. But a job is a job. This time Steve Fiol sang the bass solos. Great voice and a good mentor and friend.

25 September 2021

Mountain Adventure 1991

I did end up working for the Dorian Opera Theatre which is a program associated with my old alma mater, Luther College. Their summer production that year was Mountain Adventure (Fjeldeventyret in Norwegian), a fairly obscure piece by composer Waldemar Thrane.

It also included a recital by the professional artists.

It was fun to get to work with some of my previous mentors, and also some talented new friends.

24 September 2021

Trouble in Tahiti 1991

Another of my colleagues at Millikin, Mary Ann Scott, was one of the founders of the Muddy River Opera company in Quincy, IL. She asked if I would be willing to sing in the jazz trio for Trouble in Tahiti by Leonard Bernstein. The trio serves the function of a Greek chorus, and especially since it was in the summer when I was always looking for work, I was happy to take that on.

And no, my hair wasn't turning gray yet, that was makeup. They thought I looked too young.

23 September 2021

Kismet 1991

The Opera Department at Millikin was putting on Kismet in early May of 1991. About a week before they opened, the student (Rob Little) playing the lead part of The Poet got injured when he was accidentally dropped during a lift. They had the student playing the role of The Caliph, Eric Brzonkala, take over the part of The Poet, and Steve Fiol asked me if I would learn The Caliph. Fortunately he doesn't have many lines and does get to sing a beautiful duet, "Strangers in Paradise," so I said sure. (Plus who turns down their boss when they ask for a favor?)

I started rehearsing with them and learned all the lines, music, and blocking. I was ready to go on and even had been listed in the program.

Then I get sick with the worst laryngitis I have ever had (then or since) three days before we were to open. I was able to see an ENT and after looking at my cords he said, "I wouldn't sing if I were you. You could damage your voice." 

So I tell Steve this, and after the initial shock washes over, he gets on the phone. He soon was able to get a recent Millikin grad who was working professionally in Chicago to come down and take over my part learning it in a day. I wish I could remember his name, he had a great voice. Anyway, just goes to show, an actor is never irreplaceable.

Faculty Recital 1991

Wow, I guess I felt like I needed to keep busy back then. This faculty recital was the first time I had sung in Norwegian. I had gotten a hold of a book that had International Phonetic Association (IPA) transcriptions of many of Edvard Grieg's songs. I especially liked "Jeg elsker dig" as the melody and chromaticism are quite beautiful. I'm not sure why the article says the recital was February 3 and the program says March 5. It's unlikely I did it twice, so maybe just a typo.

Diary of Adam and Eve 1991

In January 1991 I got to perform the part of Adam in a one-act musical, The Diary of Adam and Eve, with other members of the Millikin faculty. David Golden was the director of the Theatre program and Steve Fiol, director of the School of Music. Lynne Snyder, if I recall correctly, was a faculty member in the Dance and Theatre Departments.

22 September 2021

Messiah 1990

In December 1990 I did my first Messiah gig as the tenor soloist. I remember getting the melismatic passages in "Every Valley" in one breath had been one of my challenges in addition to the higher tessitura. It was fun to sing with some of the other Millikin faculty members, particularly Liz Barnabe and Hadi Gibbons. If I recall correctly, I think Keith Levell was a student.

21 September 2021

Gallantry 1990

The first show I stage directed was a one-act opera by Douglas Moore called Gallantry. It was fun and a great learning experience.

20 September 2021

Rocky Mountain Rep Summer 1990

During the summer of 1990 I did repertory theatre in Grand Lake, Colorado with Rocky Mountain Rep. My friend and colleague at Millikin, Jim Collins, had worked there previously and encouraged me to audition. I performed the roles of Sonny/Teen Angel in Grease, Alan in Baby, and Lenny in Romance/Romance.

Somewhere I think I have some more pictures from that summer. I did find another article with a goofy picture of us rehearsing.

19 September 2021

Faculty Recital 1990

Since Millikin had a Bachelor's degree in Musical Theatre and I was one of the faculty who had more experience in that area, I decided for my faculty recital I would do a program of musical theatre songs from the "Golden Age of Musical Theatre" from the 1920s to the 1940s. I asked Maria to accompany me and we had a great time putting this recital together. Also I had started working on tenor repertoire, and even though others had suggested I could be a tenor, I believe this was the first time I billed myself as one.

1776 1989

In November of 1989 I did a show with Decatur's local community theatre group called Theatre 7. They were doing 1776, and I was cast as Edward Rutledge, the delegate from South Carolina, who sings an awesome song, "Molasses to Rum to Slaves," and attempts to point out the hypocrisy of the Northern delegates that were involved in the shipping trade that also included slavery.

After perusing a few other photo albums I found an additional shot in color from this show which shows the bright orange costume I had. The gentleman in the tux and jeans is my friend Jim Collins. Not sure why he was wearing jeans.