Summer 2015

Hi friends.
It's been a while.  :)

Adorable foster kitten Harley

I've been sharing mostly on Instagram these days, so be sure to follow me there!  
My handle is, of course, Airstreamdiva.

So... to catch up.
What have you been doing?

I've been:

1. Directing a huge heap of shows, including several brand new productions.

• Il Ritorno d'Ulisse at Rice University, which was a super fun production we set in a grand villa on the Italian coast.  Check out the fun pics on my professional webpage!  (www.tarafaircloth.com) 
• Gorgeous new Eugene Onegin at Arizona Opera, with the lovely Corinne Winters.  What a blessing to work on this amazing opera, with friends old and new.  Pics HERE. 
• Visited the great flat North.... North Dakota State University, where my long time designer pal Rooth Varland runs the theatre department.  She and I created a lovely Midsummer Night's Dream (opera) for the music school.  I stayed with her family for the month and had a grand time working on this gorgeous score.  Also staying up all hours painting banana leaves on massive scenic flats.  A director wears many hats....    Pics HERE. 
• Not a new production, but directed my very first Nozze di Figaro.  At Atlanta Opera, my homeland.  This show has always seemed the pinnacle of opera to me... massive, deep, important, "sacred."  I did a lot of sweating in the months prior. Like so many things in life, there was a lot of dread and angst, it was hard, and it ended up being wonderful.  Pics HERE, and scattered all over the website. 
• And a few other productions, but those are the highlights.  :) 

Munger St "River"   May 2015

2. Basically spent about 5 days at my home in Houston between Christmas Day and May 17, so it was pretty wonderful to crawl into my own bed for a bit.  Just in time to enjoy the crazy floods we have experienced this spring/summer!  Man, I was feeling pretty smug about my decision to raise the house 18inches last summer. 

3.  Did MASSIVE work on the foundation and exterior of my house, fall 2014.  Another post on this to follow. 

4. Big news: my man-friend Matt moved from NYC to Austin!  Not the same city, but at least we are in the same state again.  Moving him was the normal pain in the rear x10 that anything involving NYC means.  But now he is here, and has a lovely apartment, and I have actually been able to spend some time with him before heading off on my summer gig! Huzzah! 

Ok, that feels like enough updating for the moment.  I am feeling "bloggy" this summer, so check back soon for more updates.  Thanks for stopping by! 

Tips from the Road: Rock down to... Electric Avenue!

Another in my continuing series on travel tips.....
This time:  ELECTRICITY! 

The night before I travel, perhaps when I am logging on to print my boarding pass, etc., I spend a few moments plugging in and syncing my devices with my laptop (like ipod, iphone, kindle). Most of mine sync up remotely, but if there is some update that requires a plug in, this is a good time to have that complete. Also, I like to make sure I have plenty of freshly downloaded podcasts in place, and that there is a good Kindle book ready to go. While I am at it, I plug in my devices so they have a full charge.

If I am looking for efficiency gold stars, I use this opportunity to backup my hard drive. You are probably already amazing and do this regularly, but I simply cannot seem to make time for this important task. So I do it now, before I accidentally toss my laptop down a runway or something. Of course, since the advent of online storage (thank you Dropbox!), I feel even less inclined to keep up with backups, but there you go. 

Interested in other Tips from the Road? Check 'em out:

• Remember your Secrets
• Packing for the Absent-minded

Tips from the road: Packing for the Absent-minded

One of the most frustrating elements of a semi-regular traveling lifestyle is the feeling that maybe senility is creeping on a bit sooner than normal because WHERE THE #$%#%# DID YOU PUT YOUR HOUSE KEYS???!!

And... breathe.

It can be a challenge to keep up with trying to keep up with important things when your address changes every month. I have stumbled upon a very simple solution: ALWAYS PUT THE IMPORTANT THINGS IN THE SAME PLACE.  (Tip #1)

For instance: I keep all of my electronic cords together, in a quart-sized ziploc, in the top small outside pocket of my carry on rolling bag. I do NOT keep one cord with my computer, one with my kindle, one in my purse. I keep them all together, always there.     Also, I keep my daily medicine in my makeup bag.  Always. 

Tip #2:  If I decide to put something "in a safe place" for a few days I make a note in my Calendar where that item is stored. For example: I just spent 2 months in NYC. My car stayed with my parents in Georgia.  I did not need to keep my car keys on my person the entire time, so I stored them in my (also seldom used) computer bag. Then, in my calendar, I put a little note on the date of my return: “Car keys in computer bag.” Travel date arrives, freak out avoided. Boom. 

What do YOU do to keep up with the important things when you are seeing the inside of your suitcase more often than the front door of your own home? 

Tips from the Road: Remember Your Secrets!

In the course of my career, I often return to the same cities every year or two.  I spend a lot of time getting to know these cities, and in my early days, was sometimes frustrated that I did not do a better job of keeping up with the little secrets I learned.   What is worse than looking forward to  "the best walnut-cream-cheese bagel I ever tasted".... but not remembering where you found it?

For a long time I tried to remember to keep an analog journal of such things (and I still do, to a degree), but lately I've been trying to make technology my friend:  ENTER THE IPHONE CAMERA.

What is easier than taking a quick snapshot of the restaurant or store you've found?  With Instagram, you can even label it with hashtags for easy access later on.  Genius.

Analog tips:
Keep a large manilla envelope for each city you visit.   When you are scheduled to return to this city, pull out the envelope and you are ready to go!   I include....

• public transit maps
• partially used subway cards
• take-out menus
• foreign currency
• business cards
• partially used laundry cards
• IF I am really on the ball, I put a little index card with NAMES of people I've met

Digital tips:  

• Make use of Instagram for good food, good stores, nice people you want to remember, fun places to visit.
• Make a Pinterest board for each city you visit... fill it with your pics, but also pin ideas from other folks!
• Be sure to check in with your Facebook friends to see what they recommend.... and if any of them will be in town!

Follow me on Instagram to see my travel secrets!

Productivity

Well I have been back home in Houston for just about two weeks. Two very hot, but fairly productive weeks! This is what I have done since my adventures with Sweeney Todd at Wolf Trap:

1. Took my time driving from Washington DC to Houston with my boyfriend as co-pilot, making stops to visit my parents in Georgia, and his parents in New Orleans. Little to no bloodshed in the family meet-ups, lots of laughs. Verdict: good times, sore fannies (from the long drive!).
2. Meet with the Tax Authority to protest the new valuation of my house: It had miraculously increased in value nearly $40,000 in just a year! Amazing! Especially since that valuation was $20,000 more than I paid for it just over a year ago! Luckily, the protest guy agreed with me and set the tax value of the house at my purchase price. Oh, home ownership.
3. Have been tediously transcribing a literal translation in my Barber of Seville score; thinking about and studying the show; having major doubts about my ability to direct this piece well, interspersed with feeling really good about it.
4. Assessing the situation and hiring contractors to do interior work in the tenant side of my duplex before my new tenant moves in. They are over there right now, re-tiling the bathroom. It's gonna be so pretty!
5. Working my ever loving buns off on another major home project! The tenant side yard of my property was a total nightmare when I bought the place... there was once a concrete sidewalk but it was all broken and it basically looked like an earthquake had hit that side of the property. I had the concrete pieces taken out in the early summer and had hoped the mud would miraculously smooth out and grass would seed and all would be lovely. On my return I realized this was a fool's wish, and thus I have been spending my mornings creating this:  

  

  Can you even believe it?  I excavated and hauled sand and gravel and bricks and pavers and this morning it is done!  Now my side yard is jealous of the tenant side yard.  As well it should be.

Ok, off to be productive for today....  more soon?

What have you been doing with your August?

Missive from the road

Traveling can be so exhausting.

Greetings from the Middle East

So... I am writing you from sunny, lovely Baku, Azerbaijan.  I am here on a mission from the Houston Grand Opera, to meet with Azeri composer Franghiz Alizadeh about a small opera she is writing for production in the spring.

Getting here was quite a trek.  I left Houston at 6:30pm, (flight: @8.5hrs) arrived in London at 11:30am. My next flight was scheduled for 1:20pm, but there was a delay due to weather, then we boarded, then we sat on the sweltering plane for a while. Short story long, I arrived in Baku around 1am (5hr flight).  A very long day and I purposely only slept about 2 hrs on the flights, so I would be able to jump right into local time.  And now it is morning, and here I am!

I woke around 9:30am and got a sense of the place I am staying.... a "guest room" in the Composer's Union building, right across from Sahil Gardens.  There are lots of upscale shops nearby and the building is very grand, if rather sparsely (but nicely)  furnished.  Everything seems to be very large here.... the buildings, the squares.  The ceilings in my suite area are probably 25ft high, and there is a lovely chandelier in my room.  I am on a pulll out sofa but seem to have almost the entire building to myself (it just occurs to me that may be because it is a Saturday).   I am on the 3rd floor, have to take 3 flights of very grand green marble steps.

After a shower and some tea I took a walk around the area to try to get my bearings.  Some observations: 

1. There are very few streets signs here.
2. I feel very conspicuous on the street and people are not shy about staring at me. Also they do not smile.  The locals look very Turkish/Russian (as you would expect), so my coloring is a bit unusual.
3. The light is gorgeous here. 
4. I am about 3 blocks from the Caspian Sea and there are very nice parks and blvds. 
5. It is really disconcerting to be in a place where you do not understand the language AT ALL.  It bears no relation to any of the languages I am familiar with.... not even in writing (especially when they use the Cyrillic alphabet).
6. This is indeed a very modern city.  The "old city" is not too far away and I plan to walk over later on.

So now I am just hanging out at the residence, awaiting further orders.  I do not know at all what my schedule will be like this week.  But I will keep you posted!

Winter News

O lordy. I may be the worst blogger on record.  Having been firmly hassled by myriad rabid readers of late, I am at last succumbing to the pressure and offering up a little blog post.  The form:  a list, of course.

What is Up in my Life, or Why I have been a Horrible Blogger:

1. Worked on Peter Grimes at HGO this season.  What a doozy of a show.  Tons of chorus work and it is not just standing around, singing pretty music.  Happy to work on it, happy to see it come to a close. 
2. Trying to get things lined up for next season.  Its looking pretty good! More to follow on this, pronto.
3. Spending lots of time with the man in my life.   Including a whirlwind vacation to lovely, wintery NYC.  See pics above and below!
4. Getting work done on my Money Pit, I mean house.  As in foundation repair, reno of bathroom, new septic/sewage lines. Saving up now for a new roof.
5. Singing (actually sobbing throughout) at my younger brother's wedding.  Who knew I was such a sap?  (I suppose the question should be who DOESN'T know?).  Story to follow if I am feeling brave.  In any case, the wedding was lovely, we love the bride, I think they are a great pair. Happy ending. 
6. Spending lots of time getting ready for my spring work.  More info to follow.
7. Packing madly for a trip to Baku, Azerbaijan.  A perfectly normal place to spend the week before Christmas, I say.  Houston Grand Opera is sending me there to work with a composer on a commission for a small show we are producing in the spring.  More info to follow.  

Movie set pretty

More loveliness from England.  In terms of beauty, the Cotswolds have got it down. 

1.  Anne Hathaway's cottage.  Check the thatched roof. 

2.  Gardens in Stratford, right across from the hotel (Legacy Falcon).  Freaky

Whoa.

I was there.

Windsor Castle. Notice the gorgeous rapeseed field in the background.

Then notice that that ridiculously gorgeous "Thomas Kincaide"-esque scene in the second photo came out of my (borrowed) camera.  Because everywhere you turn in that country is so out-of-control gorgeous, you can't help but accidentally take some amazing photos.  Criminy.

Adventure

It's been a bit quiet around the ole blog lately..... getting all those things on my previous list done... but now it is 7:30am and I think, I THINK, I have crossed everything off my to do list. And now I sit quietly and wait for my pal Shelley to come and pick me up to take me to the airport, for the grand adventure to Shakespeare country.

At dinner last night (hi matt!) I was telling a new friend how much I enjoyed reading My Life in France... the Julia Child bio.   She was a woman filled with so much joy and laughter, and found humor in the most trying circumstances.  It is my goal to remember Julia on this trip.  :)   There will be lots of opportunities for things to go wrong and I know my attitude will be the deciding factor: will they be tragic or will they be comic blips for dinner conversations years to come?   Today, I choose B. 

I will TRY to blog about my adventures while I am gone, but not sure how successful that will be.  Anyway, happy May to you and we'll see you on the other side!

Crazy time

This is what my life looks like for the next several days/months....

1. Mad packing this afternoon (all day really.... how do I make such a mess?)
2. Show tonight... Tosca at Opera Colorado. Final paperwork, goodbyes, etc. (sniff)
3. Tomorrow morning: off at the crack of dawn!  Driving to Houston.... 16hrs.  Might try to do it all in a day.   But probably not, as my butt might stage a revolt if I try. 
4. Thursday:  finishing the drive.  Sleeping in my own bed.  yay.
5. Friday: more mad packing in preparation for....
6. Saturday: MOVING DAY!  I am finally moving into my new house!  Also, my parents arrive to help. 
7. the week following:  home repair projects, visits with the parents, seeing all my Houston friends, taking care of home ownership tasks, finishing driver safety course, and more packing for....
8. May 10:  GOING TO ENGLAND!  Yep, I am off to merry olde England for a Shakespeare trip with my good friend Kate Pogue and 25 senior citizens.  That's right. I am a "travel host."  If I survived the two weeks with the group, then I have a week of sight-seeing for myself.... hello European pals!
9. May 27:  Home for a couple of days, more packing...
10. Drive to Central City.  Where I am once again spending my summer.  Apparently I cannot get enough of Colorado.    (ColorAHHHHHHHHHdo if you will)

Does reading this make anyone else tired?

Mini Flute mania

I left Salt Lake City on Sunday with a grin still pasted onto my face, after spending a week putting The Mini Magic Flute on its feet and seeing a FABULOUS performance on Saturday morning. What a wonderful score.  What a pleasure to work on this delightful piece.

Salt Lake Tribune article about the show here (including interview with yours truly).

A nice review from an audience member here.

My summer vacation.

I decided that after my long and "grueling" summer I should have a tiny vacation. Since I was already facing two solid days of driving for the trip home, why not add a couple of hours to that and make a side trip to Carlsbad Caverns, one of the most amazing natural wonders on our continent? And so I did....


Some notes from the road:

• There is not a lot to see on the road south from Denver to New Mexico. Once you cross the Colorado border, it mostly flat scrub-land. Make sure you have a book on tape to listen to.
• Ditto western Texas. Also, Texas is a very very large state.
  
• The "town" of Carlsbad is heart-breakingly sad and depressed. And ugly. And severely lacking in eating establishments. The hotel I stayed in reminded me of nothing so much as the hotel room in "No Country for Old Men."
  
• BUT THE CAVERNS.....

Ok, the caverns were all I remembered them to be from childhood, and more. The facilities there are really really nice, and for a mere $6 you are whisked into a magical land, only 750 feet below the earth's surface.

I got there very early in the morning, bought my ticket, watched a little movie, and then caught the first elevator of the day at 8:30am, straight to the big room. While 22 people came down in the first sweep of the day, somehow I managed to hit the trail first, and thus, I walked the entire Big Room absolutely by myself. The walk around the "room" takes about an hour....the room is the size of 3 football fields, I think they said, and there is nice trail with handrails the entire way. The cave is mostly dim, but they have set up discreet lights to display certain areas of especial beauty.

In fact, I spent most of my time pondering the creation of the park, rather than the creation of Mother Nature. Of COURSE, the natural wonders were absolutely amazing, but what I wanted to know was: what yahoo thought it was a good idea to crawl into a hole in the earth... and then crawl some more, and then explore this whole humongous cave? This big room, as I mentioned, is 750 ft underground. That is the size of a 75 story building. And then who decided where to put the lights? And who changes those lightbulbs that are very high up in the cave ceilings? Information please!!

Well luckily for me there is a book about it: Carlsbad Caverns: The Story Behind the Scenery. Excuse while I hit my friendly neighborhood public library.

Come see my show

Ok, yes, I have agonized about this show for nearly a solid year. At last it is here.....and despite my trepidation, I think it is going to be a charming charming show. The sets are extravagantly gorgeous and my cast is adorable:

• Maureen McKay -- Gretel
• Blythe Gaissert -- Hansel
• Dana Beth Miller -- Mother
• Rob Hyman -- Father
• Jennifer Roderer -- Witch
  

If you are in the region (the Tulsa, Oklahoma region, that is) come on by! Feb 21, 27, Mar 1 at Tulsa Opera.

I heart Houston

Houston is the most wonderful city. It is January, and while most of my friends are up their ears in snow around the country, the temps here have hovered in the 60s almost all week...sunny, gorgeous. I have seen a tons of friends, mostly on charming outdoor patios. And it has been non-stop culture. Here is a list of cultural activities of which I have partaken in the seven days of my visit here:

4 Operas

• Britten's Mid-summer Night's Dream at Houston Grand Opera
• Tech rehearsal of HGO's Chorus! .....a pastiche extravaganza of opera chorus scenes.
• Met movie broadcast of Gluck's Orpheo ed Euridice
• DVD of Verdi's - Rigoletto... the one with Pav and Gruberova.

2 Movies

• Bread and Tulips Charming film about a modern Italian housewife who discovers a way out of her boring life.
• Slumdog Millionaire. see it. it is beautiful and funny and soaring.

1 Play

• Mrs. Warren's Profession at the Alley Theatre.

1 Talk

• Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers: The Story of Success, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, and The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

...and tonight I am going contra-dancing. Can this place be beat?

Tulsa awesomeness

Hi all! I am not gone forever, just a holiday hiatus.

So.... yesterday I made the drive up to Tulsa for my next gig.... nice drive, eight hours, stopped in Dallas for lunch with a friend... and as I was getting closer to my destination, I got a call.

Long story short, this is where I found myself a mere 45 minutes after my arrival in Tulsa:

I kid you not, this show was awesome. Lights, smoke, mirrors, hot dancing. It was like a Vegas dream come true. The stars*.... not so much... but the professional dancers were INCREDIBLE. I would never in 100 years have bought tickets to this shindig, but I am so glad I got to see it. The Tulsa awesomeness scale just tipped a little further.

photo credit

photo credit

*for the record: Lance Bass, Marlee Matlin, Toni Braxton, Maurice Green

Notes from the Road

Well I am wrapping up my time here in Salt Lake City. It has been a very nice trip.... only a week, which is very unusual for my line of work, but not the least unpleasant! The show is looking good, I think... it is always a little nerve-wracking when you are creating something new (this show is a pastiche of pieces from operetta, not a pre-existing entity), but at the end of the day, I think we have come up with a fun little evening at the theatre! Some random thoughts:

1. I love the internet. Really, I cannot imagine life without it, especially given my ridiculous traveling lifestyle and the friends and family I have scattered all over the place.

2. Crazy but true story: Last night I had dinner with two gal pals at a nice restaurant here in town. We had wine, delicious meal, etc. The waitress brought our bill over but we continued to chat a bit before looking at it. A little while later the waitress came back to our table and said,

She: "Hi. Someone has taken care of your tab, so I will just get this out of your way."
Us: "Are you kidding?"
She: (nervously giggling) "No, but they prefer to remain anonymous."

Is that the craziest thing you have ever heard??? So then we are grinning like fools and completely flummoxed.... who would do such a thing? And anonymously?? Delightful mystery.

3. If you are ever feeling down, or just want to laugh yourself silly, take your browser over to Youtube and do a search for "bloopers". Hours of pleasure await you, my friends. I am particularly partial to the "women falling down" genre. Also, "cat bloopers". Or alternately, just check out all the youtube clips I have posted here (not all bloopers, but mostly all funny)

Have a great day!

more autumn admiration

Ok, I am gonna gush a little more. I have spent most of my morning driving around Salt Lake City, agog at views like these. (no I did not take any of these pics, but I did spend precious moments looking for them on Flickr.) Mother Nature knows how to put on a fireworks display, no?

I love fall

Originally uploaded by markrod59

I am so lucky to be in Salt Lake City this week! The weather is perfect. The trees are incredibly vivid. There are pumpkins decorating every porch. .... sigh....