Hello and welcome back to the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow! A happy new year to you all as we jump back into the podastiverse and get ready for a whole new year of exciting guests in 2012, provided we escape the mayan apocalypse… To kick off the new year, I thought I would do it right and choose a guest that really exemplifies what this show is about~ Mo. Andrew Bisantz is in demand all across the country, from Florida Grand, to Wolf Trap, Gilmmerglass to Boston, and most recently, in his capacity as Music Director at Eugene Opera, where he conducted our production of Carmen. That Andrew is an incredible conductor goes without saying to anyone who’s had the pleasure of working under his baton…. pause for Andrew’s inevitable insertion… and again…. ~ but what makes Andrew so much fun to work with, aside from his absolutely wicked sense of humor, is his ability to create an instant rapport with anyone he meets, and his ability to talk about opera with passion and zeal…but without sounding as if he just stepped off the elevator at the ivory tower.
When you’re banging around the internet this week, make sure and stop by the iTunes store, subscribe to the show, and give me a review~ you can also leave comments on each episode at texapolitanopera.com, and find the show on Facebook, or find me on twitter (@mazerthehazer).
Now sit back, pour yourself a stiff drink, and be entertained and informed by the always hilarious, Maestro Andrew Bisantz.
OH and don’t forget to stick around for the end of the show, I am going to start adding recordings of arias, songs, etc at the end of each episode~ some of former and future guests, others from different festivals around the country ~ this is just a way for those folks out there doing new and innovative thing in vocal music to get some play, and for me to give you all a break from the good ol’ bluegrass version of Non piu andrai that assaults you every week… this week’s selection is a Commission of Glen Roven by the 5 Boroughs Music Festival in NYC. Poetry by Michael Tyrell and sung by my good buddy, David Adam Moore, ‘F from Dumbo’
THATS WHAT SHE SAID
The Mophie
Living in a concrete culvert
Courtney RizZO
Slapping five when the ASM is readying to give you the ‘go’
QUIET PLEASE!!!
Take the local to Buffalo, then take the Opera Unlimited…
I feel like if you work on a Mighty Wurlitzer Organ you ought to have to dress like a Who?
Veering is always good
The Mighty Wurlitzer
Emily Pulley is truly one of a kind
North Tanawanda???
orchestra to the pit please.. ORCHESTRA to the pit please…ORCHESTRA TO THE PIT PLEASE!!!!!!
Actually doing what is on the note you wrote yourself
The Bisantz canon: King Louie, Winthrop,
Elocution lessons by Sylvester the Cat
Nixon in Eugene, i mean China
Putting the present in context with art of the past
The opera graveyard is filled with companies that made bad choices
Relevance is the best guarantor of longevity
I’d rather get a sharp stick in the eye than go see Nixon in China
Guerilla Marketing in Opera
There are way more than 5 people that can sing that, there are just 5 that we know
The new economic reality
Chasing the fee is a thing of the past
The Eugene Singer
This is the work that’s out there, let’s do it
The big boy agencies are taking our calls now
People are interested in doing good work
Minding the gaps
Doing it because it means so much to you
Its really easy to sing for $6000/night its hard for $1000
What’s it like to be able to pick the people that you want to work with
Emily Pulley unintentionally terrifies a random Eugene starbucks patron
ah well, its wednesday in Eugene
There’s no shame in ANY job
The day Andrew almost became the subject of a Discovery Channel Special
You can’t fuck around with nature
The ford focus was like a 4×4 compared to what I was driving…
Miami is Iowa with palm trees
THERE ARE NO CLIFFS BY THE OCEAN IN FLORIDA CSI
which one of these washers doesn’t have bed bugs
i want to sit in MY chair that I paid for with MY work
the contraction was the best anecdotes for malcontentedness
the bond of the shared journey
It takes someone from out of town to appreciate your destinations
Andrew Bisantz: Cruise Director Julie
Into The Wild.. THE OPERA??!?
Hmm… Female Chorus, that doesn’t sound like a very good job….
Perform it as new every time you do it
The ictus tells the tale
leopold leopold.. LEOPOLD
pre performance reflection as opposed to mania
the worst reason to do anything
I’m a real director’s conductor
be special
if you’re going to do it, do it all the way
don’t program stuff for an audition just to be different
Back in my day…
The disappearing era of mentorship
getting sucked into the Carmen vortex
if you can imagine another life, you already don’t belong here
the acknowledgement of your colleagues
the genuine love you feel backstage
the perfect golf shot/stage experience
negative self-talk
this is in cosine/4
quarter note = π
www.andrewbisantz.com
FGO Rigoletto
Making a Wolf Trap debut
Sherril Milnes. Still gets confused with a lady
“F from Dumbo”
F from DUMBO
Glen Roven
Michael Tyrell
On trains I fall in love often;
and oh-so obviously, uncontrollably,
but safely—
only with those who vanish before me.
Then come
the legless, then come coin rattlers,
the bereavement stories.
I’ve heard it all so many times before
I haven’t heard it at all:
The flasher whose dick got caught in the closing doors,
the candy money that goes for soccer uniforms, not crack.
No more omens, please! I don’t want to be
the recording angel; just another one under these
lights that go off, lights that go on,
where I might miss an eclipse but not the toy copters
I buy for nearly nothing, like the
beads the Dutch handed
over to get Manhattan Island.
That must be the river, bursting its frontiers—
my eardrums pop, and across from me,
an Amazon’s headphones coil
round her ears like drowsing serpents—
to whisper the password to get her and
everyone else the hell out of the garden.
If you’re an fan of the greater Opera Podcast Community, you know that theme song doesn’t belong to the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow~ that’s right, we’ve crossed the streams again~ I’m Michael Mayes, your host, here with a very special episode of the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow with guest MIchael Rice of the OperaNow Podcast. I can’t imagine anyone who listens to my show is not familiar with Michael’s work with Oliver ‘SoMacho’ Comacho and Doug “Hot Dod” Dodson, but if you’re not~ head over to operanowpodcast.com and rectify that situation immediately. Michael and company spend every episode dispensing insightful and often hilarious commentary on all the news that is news in Opera today. Not content just to be a fun conversation on opera’s current events, they also spend time dissecting arias, operas, singers, movements, etc in opera… Operanow podcast is an important part of a complete Opera Meal.
As always, head on over to the iTunes store, subscribe for free and hit the show up with some good and or scathing reviews [CLICK HERE], follow me on Twitter @mazerthehazer, and find the show by searching for Texapolitan Opera on Facebook where you’ll be kept abreast of all the Texapollination being spread across the country…
Enough of that, let’s get down to business with Michael Rice of OperaNow on the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow.. CROSSING THE STREAMS
Negrophobia
Michael Rice is a jokester
Borderline homophobic?!?!
I’M A CELEBRITY GODDAMNIT
This is a crazy look, I am going with this today
Michael Mayes 1/2 cowboy 1/2 mariachi
Mariachis make us look like wimps
Michael Rice, I’m no coward
Top hats and monocles
Summer Opera Camp is like Jersey Shore with bigger words
There’s drinkin’ and whorin’
The discovery that gay/faggot as pejorative is unacceptable
Chad Johnson and Louis Anderson
Opera, the gateway drug
The first trip to a strip club, was with opera singers
The gift of letting someone play on stage
bullshit bullshit bullshit MY LINE bullshit bullshit bullshit MY LINE
Moriarty’s claw
Moriarty’s close ‘o’
if you google map John Moriarity’s house, he’s on the porch
Take ‘em to the Glory Hole
Dostal Alley here I come
Jessie and me
Your beer buddy, your scotch buddy, your bourbon buddy
3 floyd’s in Muenster
40:10
The genesis of the opera now podcast
mutual mastication
Jewish Elvis- Jelvis
Dean’s Motorcycle days
Chuck Hudson, an actor’s director
The art of the double take
Motherfuckas be com in’ out the woodwork
Chicks dig podcasts
seriously, that’s how Rice found Rivera
getting in before anyone knew what a podcast was
anytime you talk unedited for an hour, stuffs gonna happen
its gotta be a good joke, or you gotta apologize
where are MY bad reviews??
Comedians aren’t just funny people?
I wanna sing as loud as “x” one day
Don’t be a homophone like Michael Rice
Give me a bad review, i dare ya
Hello and welcome back to the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow. I’d like to send a special Mighty fine Mighty fine and a great big howdy out to the new listeners tuning into to the show from all over the world via operamusicbroadcast.com, welcome to a whole side of opera you won’t hear about in opera news, opera digest, or anything else with a glossy cover and the words Opera printed on it… Here we take off the bow ties, chuck the pipes out the window of that ivory tower and get down to the nitty gritty.
This week’s guest comes to you straight from Music City USA, Nashville Tennessee, where we just wrapped up an incredible production of Pagliacci starring Liz Caballero, Alan Glassman, Dean Anthony, yours truly, and this week’s guest, Todd Thomas, who sang Tonio with the kind of authority that only a lifetime of experience can bring to this incredibly complex character. Todd is a B12 shot to your corpus operaticus ~ talking to him about the craft he loves just feels you with a renewed energy and sense of well being; to anyone having a career crisis or struggling with self-doubt, this episode is definitely for you. Todd’s easy manner and gentle spirit is definitely a balm, and will calm the rough places on your operatic soul.
As always, if you have any comments, suggestions, protestations, insults, duel challenges, etc, you can email me at mazerthehazer@gmail.com, find me on Facebook, or twitter @mazerthehazer or hit me up with a scathing review on iTunes (click here to subscribe), where you can also subscribe for free and have these wonderful bits of operatic bas-couture delivered to your magic wonder box every time I update the site.
So, pour yourself a libation, pull up your camp chair, and warm yourself at the campfire that is the warmth and good nature of Todd Thomas, on the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow.
mic envy
“it seems like i’ve always been married”
a teenager with 2 opera singers, how does THAT feel?
Classical Singer profile piece
The only time you have balance, is when you’re dead
the 3-4 weeks at home shakes
this is an emotionally dynamic life
you have to have a rock
The “you’re basically a single mom” barb
Are you about ready to give this up now?
Every time you walk onstage is the culmination of a lifetime of work, up to that point
The Plan B trap
How’s the artist tonight? … Who?
To be called an artist is truly a great artist
Unlike with photography, there will never be an app that makes you a great singer
Sometime you gotta unplug
The prism of self-interest and career advice with respect to coaches/acc/teachers
The “burden” of unconditional support
The rewards outweigh the costs, and that’s why you keep doing it
The night my daughter was born everything changed, I saw God that night
Transplanting families
Absagen
HERR THOMAS!!!
People are yelling at me in German
The midwife giving the Intendant the 5th degree
Todd’s midwife to his intendant upon his urging Todd to leave his wife’s side during labor “Ins theater du hast eine probe, hier wir haben eine premier.”
we all need a Frau Heidorn in our lives
KINDERGELD!
I can’t even visualize Nic Muni without a beret
The Maoettes
Nobody in europe looks at you like an alien when you tell them what you do
Its hard to get respect in your hometown
The hometown discount
You gotta make your own fun
The Best. Pagliacci. Ever.
Living I Pagliacci
The Pag Tent City
Occupy Opera
Having Dean Anthony is like having an entire circus all in one person
sadly, there are no more tours
You just had church
Hello and welcome back to the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow, coming to you from the land of country music, big hair, wild women~ in other words, my own personal heaven~ Nashville Tennessee. In between taking in amazing sets at The Station Inn, Layla’s, Tootsie’s, Robert’s, rehearsing Pag, buying the most outrageous cowboy shirts I could find, dodging goo goo cluster and yahoo beer, i somehow found time to sit down with one of the most interesting and innovative people in our industry, John Hoomes of Nashville Opera. John is an out of the box kind of guy, like so far out of the box, he’s moved into a alternate universe where boxes don’t exist and we all have health care and income equality… I think we might have inadvertently launched a new movement in opera similar to what’s been shouted on the streets of Austin for decades, Keep Opera Weird, don’t worry, I’m already designing the T-Shirt. John also let me in on, what is in my opinion the most innovative marketing idea that’s ever occurred in our business, you’ll know what I mean when you hear it.
As always you can find the show on Facebook, Twitter (@mazerthehazer) or you can email me at mazerthehazer@gmail.com I always love to hear feedback, it’s really been crucial in the evolution of the show, and I am always looking for new guests and ideas.
So, here we go, from Music City USA, John Hoomes of Nashville Opera on The TORS.
Dean and Mike’s adventures
Who am I in the town where everyone dresses like me
Keep Opera Weird
Asian cinematic sensibility and opera
Dead or Alive
The craziest dramatic curveball you’ve ever seen
Pre-show and End-show silence
Blurring constraints of the 4th wall
The coolest ending of Vesti la giubba you’ve ever seen
8:20 SPOILER ALERT
You can never really be sure if Allan Glassman is not actually going to kill Liz Caballero
The Susannah years
What does it all mean?
forcing people to have opinions, that’s direction
removing petty judgement by virtue of interesting production and direction
the term ‘Opera’ is just too cliche
what we do is really bizarre
stuffy uptight classical music types
learning from Television
Cartoons teach you what you need to know about timing in Rossini
creating unease in the audience as a dramatic device
“Sir, there are NO BUTTONS and ZINGERS IN MOZART.” – bullshit
If i can listen to my opera in my car and be entertained, then its a great piece
Ignore the text first, gauge the emotion in the music, and then see how the text lines up with the music
The placid lake visualization
The storyboard is complete in my head before I even start working with singers
Ross Allen, Mad Genius of Opera
A. Blocking and Traffic B. Motivation C. Backstory and minor details
you gotta start with A, if everything goes to hell, at least you have a show
I have the attention span of a gnat
Crickets
Viva la mamma! and the huge misstep
Sad trombone
performing for the stage vs performing for stage
you gotta play the audience you have
The most innovative marketing idea you’ve ever heard…DVD commentary and a free ticket for patrons coming for a 2nd performance
“The end of the world as we know it” -Best review, ever~ especially coming from Opera digest
Flying under the radar
Elmer Gantry gets a Grammy nod
The Fall of the House of Usher~ gothic extravaganza
@dean anthony, @valerideout,
Nashville is a place of NEW music
Nobody here is scared of new music
a cacophony of thought
Country Music is 3 chords and the truth
Surrender Road by Marcus Hummon
Maybe we have something here
you need to take my music and process it and understand what I did artistically?
WHAT DID HE SAY??
You’re obviously not from our world
“The moment you hear something I write, it becomes a part of your heart, and you can’t wait to hear it again” -Marcus Hummon, song-writer and composer
our business needs more of that
The Ultimate Spaghetti Western Opera
Hello and welcome back to the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow. I’m your host, Michael Mayes, and this week’s episode comes to you straight outta Louisville Kentucky. David Roth is the General Director of Kentucky Opera, but personally, I’d like to nominate him for Operatic Evangelist, because when David speaks about opera, he does so with a passion and zeal that you’d expect from Joel Osteen, not someone who runs an opera company. n If you’re in the area, Kentucky Opera is a must for it’s innovative productions and intimate approach, due largely in part to David’s stewardship of a great tradition there in Louisville.
Before we jump right in with David, I’d like to take a minute and welcome the new listeners joining us via Operamusicbroadcast.com. I’ve recently been added to their roster of shows, and I’m pretty sure that this is not something those folks over there are used to hearing… and from early reports, we had listeners tuning in from all over the world… God Help us all… So to all of you out there getting your first dose of Texapollination, welcome, and be sure and tune in every Sunday at 11 pm EST, because the withdrawal symptoms are hell on the liver.
As always, if you enjoy the show, head over to the iTunes store [CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE] where you can subscribe for free, and let the podcast community at large know what you think of my little show here by leaving a review and comment. You can also find the show on Facebook, Twitter (@mazerthehazer), and email, mazerthehazer@gmail.com.
Allright now.. let’s get started with David Roth on the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow!
let’s just dive in and see where it goes..
a gift from Texas, Tito’s Vodka
Beau Gibson and the Distellery tours
Getting’ yer corn from a jar
White Lightnin’ vs Grappa
Ft. Worth ~ genuine Texas
If you want to see Atlanta go to Dallas, if you want to see Texas, come to Ft. Worth
It’s a good story, once…
A training in a tradition rooted in theatre
As with many folks in the opera business, it started with music theater
The shared lexicon of opera and addiction
Temp Jobs, Table waiting and more
If you don’t have work, you create your own work
Minnesota Opera, an historic perspective
Colin Graham’s Mikado
The formative influence of tight knit intimate opera companies
If you haven’t done your homework, you won’t recognize opportunity when it knocks
Creating your own degree plan
Staging PDQ Bach
Is the Star System a viable model in this economy?
The Opera is the star, not the singer
Thinking ensemble, not individually
The power of opera to create something bigger than any one person
Stars USED to be household names… where are the opera singers on Letterman
The ensemble system is harder to do, but the payoff is greater…
Audiences need nurturing, absent that, the economic impact of the recession is much greater
This art form is better than anything else, except when its not, then its worse than anything else
A bad opera done regionally hurts the business more than no performance at all
If you give one customer one bad product, you not only lose that customer, but all of their friends as well..
If you lose trust, multiply it by 5 or 6 to get it back
Opera today in the regional houses is 100x harder than it was at the met 50 years ago
Smaller houses are more adept at recreating the intimacy that the HD broadcasts afford
The power of silence
Silence has a volume
Shakespeare? Moving?
Shakespeare is meant to be seen, not read… just like opera is meant to be seen not recorded.
Force Feeding opera
The penultimate pianissimo
Perfection is a unicorn on a rainbow
I love it when a plan comes together
Hello and welcome back to the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow. I am Michael Mayes, your host, here to give you your weekly dose of Texapollination. This week, the show comes to you from Shreveport Louisiana, where I was singing Danilo in The Merry Widow. Mo. Jerry Shannon was at the helm of this, our second production together, and true to form, Jerry was a constant source of witticism and commentary. Jerry is a laugh riot, but he has a very serious side too, which emerges when he speaks about the effectiveness of true artistry. Jerry is an earnest, true-believer in the entertainment and artistic value of our beloved art form, and I count it a blessing to have been able to have him on the show, and to have been lucky enough to work with him twice, with a third opportunity coming this winter when we’ll both be heading to Tulsa for Dead Man Walking.
If you want to learn more about my guests, me, or the roadshow, head over to Texapolitanopera.com and leave some comments, email me at mazerthehazer@gmail.com, like the show on Facebook, follow me on twitter @mazerthehazer, and friend me on friendster, myspace, america online, compuserve, etc etc etc…
(CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE ON ITUNES)
Now, down to business with Mo. Jerome Shannon on The Texapolitan Opera Roadshow
Let’s do this thang
Conducting blindfolded
You memorize the page turns
The emotion of the word gives you the color of what you should be playing.
The voice is the original instrument
My own voice sounds horrible in my head
Why kind of weird sado-masochistic freak chooses this career
The voice is THE most expressive instrument
In ballet, there are NO BALANCE PROGRAMS
All music in a theatre is music theatre
An Opera conductor can conduct anything, a symphonic conductor can conduct a symphony
West Virginia, Operatic Power House
Theory, and Orchestration classes… IN HIGH SCHOOL
Sounding at what??
The inverse version of the Career “Talk”, Maybe you should teach?
Chatauqua lit a fire
Moonshine, Mountaineers, OPERA?
I’m old
about those Italian films
Surreal moments on the road
I’m not digging ditches
The big pearl that smells like a dead foot
Othalie Graham and the big pearl
Opera is the ultimate multi-cultural experience
She’s Japanese, she married an American, and we’re singing in Italian
It’s unusual, it’s surreal, it’s opera
Ah the Trovatore Synopsis Trap
Verdi goes best with a felt board
The Hilarious sword play in Trovatore
The Verdi fight song
The sad Venn diagram of stage combat and vervain singers
The ever essential flag waver
Who’s got money on the downstage right tree trunk as the place for the fat chorister to light
Standing room… that’s a long night
Sleeping against the pole~ not the Polish guy, but the actual pole
Wagner gets Jerry to sleep standing up
Caballe, DSC, plant and sing
The Score Desk at the Met
Learning all you need to know about opera from the The Score Desk at the Met
‘I am the product of extraordinary parents’ -Jessye Norman
Having your first Butterfly be at the Met
going through 3 tenors and 2 conductors in one night
She held him onstage so that he could not leave
real fire onstage, always a bad idea
It’s safe to say that Jerome has seen every incredible opera performance, ever.
A disaster of Carmenic proportions
au distance
Opera benefits from a little distance
The best seat in the house is backstage
There’s a subtle prompting
The voice
The inner game of Tennis ~ strike that~ OPERA
Calming those negative voices in your head
turning off real time judgement
don’t tell me who’s here
playing it by ear
those charges were dropped
What do I wear? exactly what you have on now.
Opera has changed
The more you know the more you may wanna go
we went to music school for God’s sake.. we work hard, but we play harder
Opera is handwork, that sweat ain’t just from the lights
Cuts really show up in extravagant productions
The new skill set of austere production
Going above and beyond with Shirley Verret
The Legendary Shirley Verret singing the Te Deum to beef up the chorus.. because she’s an incredible generous artist
Pulling a Verret
The greatest artistry has no artifice.
Knocking the ol cobwebs outta the brain
Dead Man Walking~ literally a sob fest
Andy Wilkowske and I aren’t really that tough
Welcome back to the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow~ I am your host, Michael Mayes here to bring you your weekly dose of dysfunctional operatic unconventionality . This week’s guest is another one of those folks in the business with whom it’s simply a joy to sit down and shoot the breeze with. “Collaborative Artist” Mo. Michael Borowitz aka the Super Conductor one of the more prolific conductors in the business. With positions at Nevada Opera, LSU, Opera Louisiane as well as his free lance work across the country~ this is a man with many irons in the fire, and a healthy perspective on the business. If your looking for a positive outlook and a good laugh about the Opera business, you need look no further than the Super Conductor himself.
Don’t forget to head over to the iTunes store, subscribe for free to the show and give me a good and or terrible review (CLICK HERE), or hit up TexapolitanOpera.com where you can also download episodes, and leave comments on what you think. I love to hear from listeners, all feed back is welcomed and appreciated. You can follow me on Twitter at mazerthehazer, leave a comment on the wall on the TORS fan page on Facebook, or just drop me an email at mazerthehazer@gmail.com
Now, sit back, pour yourself a nice tall glass of gin, and enjoy episode 26 with special guest, Michael Borowitz, the SUPER CONDUCTOR!
Geux Tigers? Isn’t that more like Joe?
Go box? no GEAUX box… sheesh
Sent from my iPhone on the beaux… LORD MAKE IT STOP
GET OUTTA MY SPOT YOU ARTSY FARTSY WEIRDO! i got some tailgating to do
The LSU cult
Mardi Gras, put on a mask and make out with a stranger
Full on OperaCamp mode
Super Conductor, Man of Mystery
SO. HOT. IN. AUGUST.
The North Texas Blast Furnace
I got Texfoliated~ I just walk outside naked and let the wind and grit take it off
Mozartean Recit misapropriation
In your pleasure garden, i feel my pleasure harden.
anything in 3/4 is acceptable
“It’s like Rent, ‘cept they replaced the TB with the AIDS
Pippa Passes?
No handguns warnings in places where it SHOULD BE ASSUMED
Handgun iPhone… the iGun or iTaser
BACK IN MY DAY WE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE NICO CASTEL
Bob Merril would have had his nose buried in that Castel book
It’ll just be there
I was a singer, just long enough
Collaborative Piano?
“we really think you ought to stick to playing the piano”
Maybe you should stick to being a carouser, you’re much better at that than singing
Conducting on the stage
Today I’m a little backed up, the tempi are going to be slow
Let your singers GO, or GEAUX
Stephen Lord is unfuckingbelievable, he is an amazing human being
DAMN THOSE PAPGENO PIPES
I got a big mouth, and the holes are tiny, that’s why I can’t go back to Vietnam
Editorializing dialogue
Subtext is not dialogue
The Cursed Boheme
Flexibility!
Extra High notes + Cut aria? bad choice
No stigma in the pit about being a throat?
You have to watch the face of a singer, and the center of a dancer
If the singers aren’t comfortable, everyone else is screwed
Mutual respect between the stage and the pit
Reveling in the texture while I am singing
Ah, the long lost sitz
The AHA moment in a singer’s eyes
WIth sex and music, you can’t go back.
Mobile Homes produce opera
Singing Opera in the mobile home
What’s wrong with that Borowitz boy?
The second I stopped mowing the grass, Dad buys a RIDING LAWNMOWER
Come on home and stay for a week, Son!
I go home, and I turn 12 all over again
Bloody Knuckles
I was a bit of a firebug when I was a kid
Charred hillsides abound in Michael’s childhood
sent to the room to think about his actions, and, practice arias
Fire and Vice
Singing save my life
I’d be a smoker if I wasn’t a singer
IT JUST LOOKS SO COOL!
Oh booze
Gin is the best self medication ever
Your Drunkle Jerry
Eldon and his Patron Shots
Mess you down
How many pies do you have your fingers in?
That’s a lot of pie for one man…
Mike Mayes is coming…. watch out!!!
So man million dollar looking sopranos
Reformed singer
I’m easy~
I played the viola part with my left hand, and conducted with my right…..
SUPER CONDUCTOR
Nevada Opera, Opera Louisiane, Louisiana State University, Ohio Light
Just say yes
Thanks for the arthritis Jake Heggie
I CHOOSE MOBILITY
Rigoletto in a Hoverround
Hoverrounds climb stairs????
It helps to be a homosexual
I don’t have to listen , I don’t want to have sex with you.
Hello and welcome back to the TORS, I’m your host Mike Mayes, and before we get started I want to just take a minute to thank some fans out there who’ve written in to show their support for the TORS. Sometimes it can feel a bit like screaming into to the surf, but every once in a while, someone writes in to let me know how much the show means to them, and their words of encouragement mean a lot to me, and really let me know that I am doing the right thing here…
[CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES]
First Delano Dugarm from St. Paul writes;
I just wanted to send a note saying how much my wife and I enjoy the Texapolitan Opera Road Show. It’s always a treat to listen to you and your guests. I’m always struck by a) how nice they all are and b) how sincere and dedicated you guys are.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by the first thing, since why would you interview the nasty sorts? Still, for an art form that his given us terms like “diva” and “prima donna,” it’s great to hear interviews with singers as pleasant, natural, and normal as Brenda Harris or Chad Johnson.
Okay, maybe “normal” isn’t the best term for Mr. Johnson. In fact, there should be a warning label on that episode, something like, “Do not operate heavy machinery while listening to Chad Johnson.” I nearly drove off a mountain road in Oregon while listening to it, I was laughing so hard.
.
Best regards,
Delano DuGarm
St. Paul, Minn.
P.S. When are you going to interview Andrew Wilkowske?
Well Delano, Andy is one of my best buds in the business, and as soon as we’re in the same area code, I’ll nail him down. Andy is one of the best story tellers I know, and an incredible man and father to boot… hopefully I’ll get him on the show sooner than later.
And from Philly, fellow singer, Wes Mason writes:
Mazer~ just wanted to thank you for the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow. It has been an amazing companion on the road, especially these last few months.
The recent show with you, John and Tay really struck a chord inside yesterday when I was riding to NYC for my Santa Fe audition; especially the first half with you and John. It some how reminded me that shit is gonna be ok.
Well thanks Wes… and brother, it is going to be ok. Wes is another one I hope to get on the show real soon… he’s got some great stories that need to be told…
If you have some feedback, guest suggestions, or something you want read on the show, you can always email me at mazerthehazer@gmail.com or hit me up on twitter @mazerthehazer or on Facebook on the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow fan page
That’s enough of that, let’s get on with the reason you tuned in in the first place, part 2 of my interview with baritone John Moore and Taylor Stayton~
Visualization continued
Inevitably I just kinda act like myself
The fiercest competition of all is with your family, good training for Opera
I love you.. we never say it… but I do…
I hug my friends, I shake my brothers’ hands
The curse of being the youngest
Dealing with existentialism
I wanna win
I play to win, because that’s the only way I know how to do it
We’re just monkeys
I think I’ll make that basket, every time.
The only difference between me and you is you don’t think you’re going to make it, but I do
The joy of mowing straight lines
When did that switch happen… from not caring to being obsessed with women’s opinions
Best GIJOE’s vs Mercedes
I like blonde haired blue-eyed small women
Complete honesty
They call me The Dark Cowboy
Ultimately you choose whether or not to be together, regardless of statistics
You never have time to read your own newspaper
I hate the big scary headline
The Facebook relationship imperative
Can this just be ours for 5 days before it goes on Facebook??
Generally those people are always like that
I have a problem Mom, I am obsessed with totally insignificant things, and I need you to suckle me back to health
When it all comes apart, you go home to Mom and Dad
I can’t fathom if my kid is like me
I’m STILL SPOILED
Parents and the joy of giving
Being in love is more that being in love with just the person, but being in love with their people
The more people you genuinely let into your life, the more accountable you are
The similarity between being on the road and being at sea
Coming into the mask
Do I deserve this applause tonight
Wisdom is keeping yourself in check
If you’re afraid of wisdom, you’ll be lacking
I’m here, I’m now, and that’s quite good
Being an opera singer feels like you’re running a con
This profession is a culture
The prevalence of music in our society
The visceral power of good music
Music is a religion
These are my musical saints, you should worship my saints
I would sing anyway, the fact that I get paid makes me want to do it for a living
Being in the Condom Club
We are the reason for the absence of sex ed in school
Being sent to the principal is an 8 yr old’s Guantanamo
Condom Club becomes the Cigarette Club, Becomes the Booze Club, becomes, becomes,
Biting the carrot
Acting versus being an Actor
The power of carrot juice
The refrain of poop stories on the TORS
John’s Poop story
Hello and welcome back to the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow. If you’re a regular listener to the show, you know that for the past month or show I’ve been off the air. Unfortunately the display on my trusty dusty 6 year old MacBook pro finally bit the dust and after trying to replace, cracking another $300 dollar replacement screen , I am finally back up and running with a new MacBook, at great personal expense, so you all know how truly dedicated I am to the Roadshow.
As always, if you enjoy the show head on over to iTunes and give me a glowing and or scathing review as well as subscribe to the show to get these pearls of wisdom automatically downloaded to your magic wonder box every week. (click here) You can follow me at @mazerthehazer on twitter or on Facebook
This week, we have another 2 parter with my buddy, John Moore and special guest Taylor Stayton. I took to calling John the Shaman, simply because he’s one of those guys who just floats through space, and seems to understand something essential about the universe that people around him just don’t see. We had many deep existental conversations this summer, and there was much music sharing and philosophizing to be had~ so sit back and enjoy this little insight into John, and our pard, Taylor Stayton.
Feeding your spirit
Domestic life vs Traveling life
Getting to the adult place with your parents
Financial Freedom gives you choices
All I need is a TeePee and a Flintstones Car
John with Tiff vs John the Singer
Living in the Present
Crossing the streams is a very bad thing
You’re in the Opera of Life and you’re an Opera Singer
Opera is our God
Living in a state of suspended animation
The ritual of receiving compliments from patrons
Look people in the eye and be cool
Being a singer is like being a politician
Am I putting this on, or is this really me?
Turning the contrast way up on the public and private persona
Disassociation with self, ego or persona or both?
Its a way to exist in the world without feeling constantly vulnerable
I can do everything I’ve ever wanted to do on stage
The joy of small form art
Singing opera is like playing football without pads
drawing from your life shelf
The Colors
HEY LET ME LOOK BEHIND THAT CURTAIN AGAIN
everyone in here is asleep!
The condensation of the “When I was your age” cliche
Metaphorical lightening strikes
Fast friends can whack you out so fast
Opera is a camp that adults go to for 30 or 40 years of their life
A furious discovery of other people
The impulse to overshare
Thankful for new people because it shuts me up
Bringing people out of the texture of a 2D world
Taylor Stayton pays us a visit
Taylor mops out the space
Huge Headed old man baby
Chris Hanson~ BUSTED
Chris Hanson, Prison Boss
ICQ?!?!?!
Lisa Mayes Owens has tagged 73 pictures of you
Going off the grid
Information DT’s
I’ll get back to you in 2 weeks
I’ll send my reply via carrier pigeon
COMPLETE INTEGRATION
Teepee, wood stove, bow and arrow vs I WANT THE NEW IPHONE
Cesar Milan techniques on people
2 weeks in the backcountry of Alaska vs A New Computer
Seeing the world thru a screen is bad for you
Seeing in three dimensions
Activating the set pieces in your life and on the stage
Inexperience is seeing through a squint
Finding your balls… in the literal sense
Dribbling and the stages of learning a craft
Hello and welcome back to the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow~ I’m Michael Mayes your host, and I am here to tell you that this week, we’re taking a little detour. Normally my guests consist of Singers, Directors, Conductors and the like, but this week I’ve made a slight departure, which I am sure you’ll find refreshing. Barihunks(click for site) is a website I’m sure you’ve all heard of. More and more, as newspapers cut their artistic staff, we’re relying on arts bloggers to fill in the void left by these cuts… and Mr. Barihunks, as we’ll call him, was one of the first out there on the cutting edge of opera blogging to put a crazy new spin on this phenomenon and exploit the trend of movie star casting in a very specific and unique way. His blog gets an enormous amount of traffic, both here and abroad, and is an excellent example of how grass roots action can be utilized to promote our beloved art form.
As always, make sure and head over to the website, www.texapolitanopera.com, and check out all of the other wonderful guests that have come on the show, or head to the iTunes store (Click Here!)where you can give the show a review, as well as subscribe for free and have the episodes automatically downloaded every week.
So, get out your body oil, manscaping kit, and p90x videos, because the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow is hunking it up with Mr. Barihunks himself…
TORS Barihunks
Elvis is my jesus
FWOP was not the festival in 1996 that it is now
You’ve come a long way baby
The deification of DKW
Edgy Choices and Donor Flight
6 hour long opera on OPENING NIGHT?
Soprano Baritone and lots of Bird Sounds
The Barihunks Dinner
I’ll fill up my Barihunk iPod with Willie and Hank
Getting to play a good ol’ boy
Channeling my inner frat boy for the rape scene
Ruphying the Barihunks
If you want to distract a Tenor, hand him a mirror
The genesis of Barihunks
3000 hits/day
Barihunks has a certain Germanic appeal
Baritones in high heels
I just think they ilke sex
This is the Golden Age of Baritones
The Baritone voice is the voice of the man
A boheme where Mimi goes for Marcello instead
Act 3 duet takes a turn for the worst
I HAVE GOT TO GET A KEY RING
BOOGA BOOGA is boring
Scarpia as the head of the IMF
Continuing the tradition of raping the African continent
Scarpia is more threatening if he’s dashing than just fat and slow
Greer is the Fabio of opera
A diaper is not a good look for the male form
Greer Grimsley scares children and eats voices
Keeping the bitchy catty bullshit out of the mix
The intent is to promote careers
Opera has to compete with movies and television
The pecs get them in the door…
Nudity is only permitted en scene
Sending obscene pics?.. thats not the way fella.
The Barihunks pin-up calendar in the making??
Heterosexual countertenors make sure and let you know
yeah, so what’s he gonna do with that
He’s an opera singer.. BUT HE’S MARRIED
He ain’t one of them fellers
Losing your sense of self on the road
Coming of the rails
No one wants to say no
“You’re a singer, sing.” – Roberto Mauro
There are people whose job it is to know
That’s why we have coaches
50 is when the REALLY great roles start
All i’ve wanted to do is get older
25 yrs old today is like 15 back then
The great Dons are the older ones
Score with the ladies
I want to hear more about your cat…
Shattering the Mysterious Opera Singer
Opening yourself to the weirdness
Sexuality is not to be hidden
On the whole, its been positive
Spousal Pride produces the most content
Sending in stuff of yourself…
Trying to not be mean
Angry German Emails
Once you put yourself out there, it changes the way you interact with people
Everyone thinks they’re a celebrity/political commentator
The hyper-correctors
You’re an opera FAN not an opera EXPERT
CBC, LA Times,
Barihunks has made it into the operatic lexicon, in print
Will it make it into the Webster Dictionary
Mr. Barihunk
The power of the blogger/podcaster
How television/movies have affected casting in the opera world
BariCHUNK?
Bearihunk
There ain’t a whole lot of Manscaping going on in prison
Are you playing a 12 yr old?
GIOVANNI WOULD HAVE HAD CHEST HAIR
Crotch fleas? no those are crabs
The Don definitely had the clap
Restasis~ eye herpes? REALLY???
Waco strip clubs…
Thank you Suzanne Summers
Fort Worth Love Fest
If you’re not using social media, you are at an immediate social disadvantage
You can’t beat free
Video Blasts WORK
HD Broadcasts
One performer on the Broadcast will be seen by more people in one shot that Rosa Ponselle and Caruso put together
Exposure is good, any kind at all
I could totally take Robert Redford
The passion of the artform manifests itself in so many positive ways
Creating Fans
Turning up the static
The Chosen Ones
This business is about sticking around
LA Opera’s ring should have been punished
You don’t put Gordon Hawkins in a giant mask that hides his face
I never want to be the most experienced person in the room
The vacuum of informed musical criticism
Bloggers are filling the void
Operanow tells it like it is
The emperor has no clothes phenomenon
If the singers are great, everything else can be forgiven
We’re saturated with beautiful images… we need to accommodate that
GImmicks get you in the door, but the artistry brings you back…
Holograms? In Opera? yeah, that’s DKW
Imitation, Flattery, and all that
Let’s walk down there and f*ck all them cows
Thomas Allen and Mark Delavan, my frosted and wheat sides
Vale Rideout, the definitive Pace Pace Gioia Gioia
Hello and welcome back to the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow! This week we’re taking a break from the Des Moines Metro Opera crowd, but don’t worry~ they’ll be back later this month with John Michael Moore, Mo. Michael Borowitz, and my new brother in weird marketing, Nick Renkoski
This week’s episode was recorded while I was home in Ft. Worth during FWOP’s summer festival. I sat down with my buddy from Chicago, Quinn Kelsey and his lovely wife Marjorie Owens who was there singing Leonora in Il Trovatore. Being one of those notable opera couples comes with its own unique challenges and benefits. Quinn and Marjorie speak very frankly about these, and their candor really gives an unique insight into what its like to be married in this business.
Don’t forget to look me up on Facebook, Twitter (@mazerthehazer), and at the website www.texapolitanopera.com. If you have any feedback, you can always leave comments at TO.com or send an email to mazerthehazer@gmail.com
SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES FOR FREE BY CLICKING HERE or scroll to the bottom and download/listen for free as well….
So, Texapolitan Opera ep .. is here. Enjoy
I don’t see that
Urban Livin with a view
Scully is now on every episode
Scully’s mustang is now a grocery getter
Quinn could get used to Texas
Hawaii?? Boy, don’t you need a passport to be over here, son.
Living on the Mainland
Your default is Hawaii.. the best plan B I’ve ever heard in my life
You need to see the Rockies
The cold murdered Quinn’s ignition in Chicago
Butt Cold Epiphany
Chicago turns your lung tissue into a cherry flavored snow cone
Working with your mate is such a treat when you’re both singers
Ships passing in the night
Best package deal ever
O Wagnerians! What are your names?!?!?
Quinn’s first Rigoletto~ making the shift
Di Luna can put the fear in you.
It’s Verdi, welcome to the NFL
The road to singing Verdi
Burak… MAN
Cover butting
rehearsal time is a godsend for a cover
3 days of rehearsal, and then you’re up~ AS THE COUNTESS
`aaaaaaand go
Mozart~ you just have to open your mouth and sing
Marjorie was a Navy Brat
She sang opera from High School on… amazing
Opera??? WHAT KINDA NANCY CRAP IS THAT?!?!
The only way to approach going to Waco.. I was SENT to Waco
Waco is like an Australian Prison
Don’t stop being a crazy redneck
Opera needs Mike Mayes
Just fight the stereotype a little bit
Quinn Kelsey singing Christmas Carols… Most Terrifying Caroler EVAR
Having a reh pianist for a mother… might be the most perfect mother for an opera singer ever
Opera is not cool when you’re 7, unless you’re a Kelsey
Fleet Fox Evangelist
Getting old sucks when you have to learn music again
Using my brain hurts
you’re never really “off” when you’re a singer
Dresden~
Cocktail Party Stories
Patron is great for loosening the tongue
You don’t have a problem with heights do you?
You did what in there where and the who where now?
Quinn and Sis take europe by storm
First Marcello at 21, not too shabby
she told on you?????
SHE’S A NARK
Mom busting Quinn’s chops over learning music
Sweat Shopra
Forgetting to Highlight~~~
When you start to ‘improve” upon the libretto
The joys of a long distance relationship
The unfairness of being a male opera singer compared to being a female
Throwing elbows
Knock on DoorTable
He made her say I love you first
In a singer’s relationship, the other has to be your biggest fan
You’d be surprised the things I edit out of podcasts
Are you free? Depends on what you mean by free…
I can still holler in my man voice
Quinn’s Middle Name is:
Whoa. WHOA. I am Michael Mayes, your host, and I just put in some serious time editing our podcast for this week, and my stomach just hurts. I love doing this show, and most of the time the best part of it is going back and listening to the episode, nipping here, and tucking there… and really listening to all the great discourse that gets laid down between me and my friends… I’m just exhausted after editing this episode. Chad Johnson is a relentless funny machine, and the life of every gathering he’s a party to. We sat down in my room at the Luxurious Hamilton House during our tenure at DMMO~ and let me tell you, this is one of the funniest eps I’ve done yet. I clipped a bunch, and I normally like to keep it around an hour, but there was just too much here that I didn’t have the heart to leave on the cutting room floor, so we end up coming in at around 1:20, if you’re like me, you won’t notice the difference….
Don’t forget to subscribe for free at iTunes(CLICK HERE), all the episodes since the beginning of the show are available for free download there, or at TexapolitanOpera.com.
… and, fair warning, this one is rated R folks, so make sure you’ve put the kiddies and grandma to bed…
THe Hamhouse luxury
Wal Mark
Pool time
A plan is hatched with RamJan, Staylor and Maze Glaze
Sombreros, eye patches, banana hammocks, and Jorge
Chadajohnsontenor.com speedos
Coffee and Kahlua to every rehearsal
Brisket-a-palooza
Bratsaster
Grilled Bacon
Bacon makes me murder
I do my roles in Black Face
God, if you hate Gays so much, why do you keep making them?!
Pube Rug
Edit around the 10 min mark
Tim Kuhn is the size of a couch
Hiding my sibilant ‘s’
Pella, it is a window company after all
The Goto Gay
“I’m Chad the Gay”
Cast Ambassador for Homosexuals
I too straight to pick up on Sound of Music references…immediately
I need a gym that isn’t made of white cinder blocks
“Just do pushups until you puke”
The McDonald’s menu song… flawlessly executed
Fat kids
Turning the reel on the filmstrip
Transitions Lenses- the glasses of the… 80′s
Transitions Eyeballs, now that is something
HAND HIM A CONTRACT BEFORE HE STEALS OUR SOULS
Something is not right…I NEED TO CALL MY WIFE
Don’t piss people off, they’ll probably bee your boss at some point
Classic Recordings as a resource
Yelting
Narrow it out
cranking the middle
Pacing: Thinking about the last performance before the first one
The BLOOD MEANS NOTHING
When you’re singing a high note, you ain’t doing it right unless you taste copper
I am either having a stroke or singing a high note
Ever blacked out during a high note?
Lyric Theatre of Uranus
Hope I don’t pass out….AND GO
She’s aces
Francesco Milioto~ HE’S ACES
Shawna Blake Hill is one of the most underrated voices in the business
How elevation works
wait… YOU WERE IN THE CLOSET IN SANTA FE???
Christina Pier was wheeling me out…
Such young tender livers
Chad’s got a perfect eye for scale…
The music fades to air and light.. A JIGGA WHA?
Jay Morrisey, Cinderella
The Epic of Jay Morrisey, Chad Johnson, Harvey and a Dog named Murray
Taylor Stayton drops by, and demurs
How to mix drinks, from Momma Johnson
The Harpy Next Door
I’m not from fancy stock
I can see that his eyes are dead, from my balcony
So she can sit there and make ships crash
Something to make you appear child-like for the rest of your life and thus attractive
solid hair, detritus, and shame
Ulysses? I was at Tanglewood with him, I think?
Michigan is the Hat of the US
The weird creepy part of Canada that touches Michigan
My Manstrual Cycle
Humpty Dumpty the Mandolin Player
HHOTRS ladies stop by for Etiquette lessons
50 EDIT CHICKS OUT `
She’s Cramazing
“I look for a medium size condom”
Weight Watchers~ not for Italians
Do not put it in your mouth, is disrespectful 1:00
Christian Mafia
Clearly Ive come home
Amen to affirm ANYTHING
“MO”
Longview has the best drag queens in the south
“Decisions” was the name of the gay bar. “Consequences” , the lesbian bar
I GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE
you can’t do anything but smile in a ball gag
Can I borrow your gun?
OOOOH LIGATURE MARKS
Its the very last thing on my bucket list
The Gay Sex Opera
Outro Music: Un di felice from La Traviata, Chad A. Johnson Tenor, Jane Redding, Soprano
Well here we are again, back on the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow. I’m your host, Michael Mayes, and I am back this week with another DMMO favorite, Director William Farlow. Bill has had a long and illustrious career all across this fruited plain, and has a wealth of insight and stories to share with us this week, delivered with his characteristic dry and super sharp wit…
As always, you can head over to the iTunes store, subscribe for free to the TORS and have episodes delivered to your magical wonderbox automatically every week (click here), or you can download the episodes for free at TexapolitanOpera.com. If you get a free minute this week, and you enjoy the show, give me a good review over in the iTunes store and/or share a link to your favorite episode on Facebook. Word of mouth seems to have been the best way to spread the word about the show, and I need your help to keep the show rolling…
Now, sit back, relax, and enjoy Bill Farlow, and let me tell you, if you know Bill, you’re gonna love it…
You’re gonna love it
I love Mozart
Nozze di Figaro
Casting for the sound of the voice?
Mozart does not need your help
Chipping away what is not Marcello
Encouraging words and excellent advice from Dr. Robert Larsen
Take canvas and start hurling paint at it
Frustrated artists make terrible art
Directing? How Hard can it BE??
Learning Opera in the Trenches
The swiss and organization
walking down the the streets of El Paso with an arm full of LPs and Scores
Opera is inside me
if you’ve done this as long as I have, you’re retired or dead.
Imitation, flattery and all that
The stroke of genius myth
Everything is imitation
Just stop and learn the basics
In America we want the meteoric rise
Be the first you
You never know you are going to have a 40 year career until look back and realize that is just what happened
it takes all the running I can do to stay in the same place
Why would you want to be a big fish in a small pond
Listen to the music and remind yourself why you’re there
When the surreality kicks in
I started levitating
The White Tornado
The Junkyard Dog of Opera
“The only thing more thing more inept than Mr. Farlow’s Choreagraphy, was his stage direction
The excitement of the early part of a career
Pedagogy is an enormous responsibility
THe first director of the post Larsen era
Animals on stage
we need more live chickens in opera
I said, “I will kill you”
The Camel had a cover
opera either kills you or cures you
getting back to the vibrancy of your adolescence
i just laid down on the floor
it looked like a Zorro convention
he does know that I am not Beverly Sills, right?
the operatic intervention
Would you do it again?
Opera is an all-consuming phenomenon
Welcome back to the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow, I am Michael Mayes, coming at you loud proud from Indianola Iowa at Des Moines Metro Opera. I was able to sit down with DMMO favorite, and beloved opera icon, Brenda Harris this week, and we had a delightful and enlightening chat. Brenda is singing the New Prioress in DMMO’s incredible production of Dialogues of the Carmelites which is up and running, and a must see if you are in the area.
Before we get started I just want to remind you to head over to the iTunes store and give me a rating and review if you like the show, or hell, even if you hate it~ if you have any feedback or ideas for guests that you’d like to hear on the show, you can hit me on Twitter at @mazerthehazer or on gmail ~ mazerthehazer@gmail.com.
And as always you can find all of the episodes for free at www.texapolitanopera.com or you can have them automatically lazer beamed into your magic wonderbox for free on iTunes by clicking {here}.
allright, lets get this thing going, Episode 19 with Brenda Harris
Computer withdrawals…. like Heroin DT’s
You are much beloved
The Emily Pully
Paying it forward
Monosexual casts
gallows humor
Manipulation is not bad, when you’re an actor
Last Minute Learnin’
Learn how your learn
Finding joy in your mistakes
Reformatting the artistic hardrive
Wait… Mozart, right?
Down in the valley
City people, we’re not.
How’s the wheat in Montana? DUDE, we’re in a MINI COOPER
Carrying the urban energy into rural areas
Tempted by Corona
Anything worth doing, is worth doing to excess
O RLY? where are these 400 people???
DMMO YAPS, work for they’re money
GET OUT THERE AND WORK, you’re 2o years old!
Plenty of time to be jaded
Holding on to the “other” life
Corporate America did her a lot of favors, and not how you’d think
Crazy in contagious
homebodies
finding your good joo joo wherever you can
Hooked on endorphins worked for me
Using the same terminology for addiction and singing
Working your stuff out, on the WORLD
Good times = good performances
its not a business man, companies don’t MAKE ANY MONEY
The business model doesn’t really apply
Singers don’t last long in temp jobs, because they get permanent job offers, IMMEDIATELY
DONT MAKE ME GO BACK THERE
If you take this job, i think you’ll stop. So i am not offering it to you.
Church jobs are good for you
The Episcopalians know their music
SIng the melody.. NO!!!!
Technology has changed the business so much
Operatic Pantsing
Brenda Harris will BLOW YOUR MIND
Whoa… so, best laid plans and all. I had fully intended to put out a large string of episodes over the past couple of weeks, but I was frustrated by the incredible group of singers here in Des Moines at DMMO~ we’ve been having so much fun on and off the stage that I haven’t had a chance to sit down and edit~ so to those of you who have been wondering what the hell has been going on lately, be comforted by the fact that my, er.. ahem.. field research is yielding some pretty good stories for the show.
This week I sat down with director Kristine McIntyre, one of the brightest and most interesting people with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working. Kristine and I have worked together before in Louisville, and now we are here in Indianola working on La Boheme with Des Moines Metro Opera~ which opens this weekend.
Before we get started, I just want to remind you, if you like the show, or hell, if you hate it~ let the iTunes community know with a review in the iTunes store, and you can always find me on twitter (@mazerthehazer) and on Facebook.
Subscribe to the Roadshow for free on iTunes by clicking here!!!
so, sit back, kick up your boots, and enjoy the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow
This week we have another guest rom Fort Worth Opera’s impressive roster of talent, John De Los Santos, Director/Dancer/Choreographer and Actor, hell I don’t know the guy just does everything…
Fair warning: This one ain’t for your grandma, so don’t play it as background for your church bingo tournament. John and I worked together on Carmen the summer of the Lone Star Opera escapades, so we definitely have some good stories to throw down on this episode. John is a Texan and really speaks to the of mission of this podcast, he’s raw, unfiltered, incredibly talented, and not ashamed to be who he is. From my perspective, its the only way to be in the arts.
Subscribe on iTunes by clicking [HERE] or scroll down to the bottom and download/listen for free….
some singers are just up tight
so anyway, COCK
somehow they got the impression that I was a gossipy bitch
You fuck somebody over, you’re done
You gotta go blue for reality TV
We’re still doing the stuff that rock stars do~
FWOP 2011, Roger, Seth, Scully, it could get ugly
Scully and I together is a little bit like crossing the beams in Ghost Busters
Let’s Go OUT!! You, I got netflix and a bottle of wine, I’m good.
I feel like I need to get arrested at some point~ just to build my street cred
is it Rape-Pigtails-Rape, or Pigtails-Rape-Pigtails?
You want Traditional? Go watch a video…
Constantly expand, and ride the cutting edge
Beth Clayton could KICK MY ASS
the human jock strap
on the fly text changes in Mikado
Segues… on STAGE
A BICYCLE ON STAGE?!?!?! MADNESSS!!!!!!!
whoa. I saw the pores on his sack~
Going the full Okulitch~ the right way
I’ve seen 100′s of balls in my life
They didn’t manscape in the 50′s
The pubes were lost in the transport, and now has a giant bush
When doing the full Okulitch, keep a space heater in your dressing room~
Dan’s always IN IT
John’s a SPACKER
Finding commonality in the trailer park
You have to OWN YOUR NARRATIVE
if you screw a hooker… OWN IT
the tradition of trailer park denial in Texas
Terra Patris
‘Y’all’ is here to stay
Where are you from? Dallas.. ohhhhhhh
Dallas don’t scare me, I’ve been to Detroit
NO ONE EVER COMES BACK FROM DETROIT!!!
Wal-Mart’s a great place to see the villagers
Sometimes you just need a picture frame
The Hard-Scrabble determination of Detroiters
Minnesotans~ hard to get used to?
You gotta talk slow to Minnesotans
The gyms and pools in Utah are INSANELY THICK with sexual tension
The Mazer in a Dance Club
The Round Up in Dallas
The Mazer goes to the Gay Honky Tonk
The naked oily bartender
Where’s the slot on the human credit card scanner
The patrons at the Gay Honky Tonk, not big Muddy Waters fans
Cock Spoons
Opera Singers alternate talents
Goldie Lame aka David Ward
John De Los Santos as Estelle in the Golden Girls Parody
The crazy cross section of the Golden Girls
Full Okulitch
I’m raping as hard as I can John!
ummmm I’M FROM CLEBURNE
Michael Mayes’ Wigs n Merkins on sale now…
The John de los Santos effect
We get payed to play dress up
If we’re having a good time onstage, it translates
Michael Mayes the definitive Motorcycle Cop
You’re going to have to pry my fingers off of the stage door
Opera Singers Tap Dancing? yeah… that’s loud
Cosi in a Frat House
We started all cocks and balls and ended with Music Theory
You might have noticed that its been a while since I’ve posted an episode~ well, after a really hectic year of almost nonstop travel, I took some time away from the Opera world to reconnect with some family, spend some time with my lady, and drink a few cocktails on a beach in Cancun
Now, I am back on the road….
…and to make it up to those of you who feel like they’ve been cheated of their weekly Texapollination, I am going to publish a couple of episodes a week for the next few weeks or so~ so you can look forward to more Texapollination than you can handle. Once I get caught up with guests here in Des Moines, I’ll return to the old weekly publishing schedule.
While I was taking it easy at home in Fort Worth, I was able to sit down with some of the people that are making this year at the Fort Worth Opera Festival one to remember. Director, David Gately, at FWOP regular, and someone with whom I had the privilege to working in Connecticut as Dandini in their production of La Cenerentola, is back this summer directing FWOP’s Giulio Cesare in what is sure to be a big hit… Now, space was kind of a premium at the festival this year, and we ended up recording in one of the rehearsal spaces during strike, so, you are going to get some real opera ‘atmosphere’ in this episode provided by the staff of the Amon Carter ….
So, grab a drink, sit back, and enjoy episode 16 of the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow
[click here to subscribe on iTunes and get the TORS automatically downloaded every week!]
Speak into the mic
Gately loses his Handelian cherry
Before Night Falls, DMW, those were EASY compared to this show
We brought the funny
Fort Worth Opera Chorus can’t jump
Coach Mayes and Coach Carico
I’ve used a basketball as a decoration, does that count?
I had a whole chorus who threw like girls
When I played basketball it was on the C team
The idea of running around for four periods is the closest thing to hell that I can imagine
David Gately, not too many boards
You know what, I think I’ll think I’ll do musicals
Los Angeles forces you to work out
Black is so forgiving
I’m not in Shirt Off Shape
P90X~ Public Performance Art
I know the Music for Traviata.. but I don’t really know all the words
Yeah, I can’t do this, I’m canceling.
She had a huge success and everybody else looked like crap
The politics of bowing
I wish people cared enough to boo
I think we need more operas with strippers
Burlesque vs Stripping… yeah, they’re totally different
Just don’t give a shit
David Gately~ Speed Director
Catering your approach to each individual player
Directahunk~ There is a vacuum
Oberlin appears again
I didn’t choose opera, it chose me
David also excels ON the stage
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
What the Fuck Moments
This is a JOB?!?!!
Afraid to say no
Don’t skip vacations
Urban Vacations
Reconnecting with Nature
We have air-conditioning…..
…but no electricity
I dove right in the middle of a Jelly Fish
Galveston is like swimming in a cappuccino
Directors are de facto educators
“I think I cried every day my first year at Brevard”
Driving up standards via summer programs
Dean Anthony’s incredible growth as a director
The kids like Dean better
Dodging the Flying Chihuahuas
Big doins at Brevard
If you fall on your face, just fall hard enough that you knock yourself out.
I never wanted to do Carmen again
Carmen is a director’s challenge
your production of Carmen will never be as good as the one in their head
Mark Adamo is like Christ, he is wherever 2 or 3 are gathered in his name
This weeks episode is part two of my interview with Maestro Stephen Lord. Last week, we got some great artistic and philisophical insights into what drives Maestro Lord, this week, we get a little more of the same, and some great stories about his favorite singers. [SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES FOR FREE BY CLICKING HERE] or for folks not equipped with iTunes, scroll to the bottom and listen/download for free. Join us this week as we talk about such topics as-
7 yr olds play it now, on crack or whatever steroid they take now
Winterreisse is hard, shouldn’t i be getting credit for something that is going to pay for my food??
Collaborative Pianist???
You have to invent yourself
Be the first ‘you’
I am the first Michael Mayes
Papageno should be older
Christian Boerst’s Papageno
Paolo Szot’s genius
Invent Yourself
Rockwell Blake reinvented the Rossini Tenor
Corelli exuded power
Pavarotti was a singing machine
Corelli never sang Otello.. i didn’t know that
Synthesizer Oopses
Otello in Jones Hall in Houston
“Doesn’t your wrist get tired???”
OH WELL CHARLOTTE CHARLOTTE
Stephen Lord Comes Clean
The damn organ is tough to play
Donald Palumbo.. the ASSISTANT CHORUS MASTER playing the pedals with his hands
You gotta tell a joke every now and again
“I love to make singers laugh”
when you laugh your breath releases
It’s so nice to see you smiling in the pit
LIVE THE DREAM
How did that Little Ape ever think of this???
That is what love is
You are admiring something that is greater than you’ll ever be
You just need to love it
This art-form is your mistress/lover
You don’t have to live in terror
Going onto the hard disk when i am asleep
“I hope I know this”
An Unwelcome Neighbor
Mr. Bill Bars
Pam Bullock~ she doesn’t want them to see her lips counting
“i put my hands down and wiggle”
Jean CRACKS ME UP
Kurt Pajer plays the hell outta salome
I am too handsome and hunky for Benoit/Alcindoro
Thomas Allen had the greatest head of hair
Renata Scotto said Allen’s Italian was better than Italian’s Italian
English Accents = instant credibility
We all aspire to a certain elitism in america
Saving? what’s that?
Put your hand in your pocket, if you have 4 dollars, then you should think seriously about saving one of them
Life is all about discipline
HOW DO IT GET IT BACK??
The starbucks homogeny
IS THAT REAL ORANGE IN MY METAMUCIL???
Gin and Tonic isn’t real unless its got LEMON in it
Jim Robinson is a real Enophile
What’s the word?? THUNDERBIRD
Wine makes me feel bad…
Texas Vodka…
There is no GOOD std
The 60′s you read about… ITS TRUE
Baby Boomers screwed us all
Stephen Lord’s Memoirs
“What’s wrong with Vocal Study Today?”
Singers don’t know how to learn music
Micro-analysis
“Lo conosci chi e?” What does that mean? why does she ask that???????????
What would it take to get you here? MORE MONEY THAT BILL MASON PAYS
How Indiana fucked it up
The economy gap
it’s not the style, its the emotion contained within the notes
Larry Brownlee and Stephen Lord the King Maker
Questions/Comments? mazerthehazer@gmail.com
-Michael Mayes
I consider Michigan Opera Theater to be one of my opera homes. Dr. David DiChiera has given me so many wonderful opportunities~ first as a Resident Artist, then, when I had flown my YAP nest and moved on to a full blown professional career, as Ping in Turandot and, most recently, my first Papageno in their production of Magic Flute. It’s only fitting that my first guest, while engaged here in Detroit, would be another artist who got his start at Michigan Opera Theatre. 30 years ago, the incomparable, Maestro Stephen Lord came to MOT for his very first job in Opera. Maestro Lord is not only known for his depth of knowledge in the operatic repetoire, but his accessiblity and passion for helping young singers find their voice. In Episode 14, Maestro Lord exhibits his magnanimity in spades and dispenses advice, perspective, and encouragement like a baton wielding Johnny Appleseed.
{CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE TO THE TORS ON ITUNES}
or scroll to the bottom and listen/download for free if you don’t have iTunes…
Join us as we discuss such diverse aspects as…
The Contraction: Operatic Darwinism
Sound Enhancement: A Dirty Word?
Those Purists can GET OVER IT
What do I wear to the Opera? Who cares, we just show up.
“Just cover the vital parts, Mom!”
The problem with opera is that people don’t think it belongs to them
Opera Sweats
How Glimmerglass got its Groove back
“You gotta have a dream”
Everyone should live their dream a little bit.
“I almost punched him right in the face…”
A living in music is really living music
A Cross-section of an opera rehearsal period
The shell game of finance in operatic personal finance
“You know what I really hate? Going to the grocery store, and buying those plastic salt and pepper shakers…”
The Unrealistic expectations created by graduate school
Mortgaging the career~ its kind of a racket
When you get into the business… WAIT… how would you know?
Your teacher is powerful in the business? Do Gelb/Mason/Gockley take his calls?
As a singer, you are the top of the pyramid, you are the boss~ they [coaches/acc/teachers] work for you.
To thine own self be true
Oh, your muscles will get used to it…
The dream would be able to work on an opera for 6 months as a production
Acting and Expression in the voice are not distinct
Find the theatre in the music…
“The essence of bel canto is not ornamentation, dear”
The tragedy of the lost art of improvisation in bel canto
Verdi’s meticulous notation beginning in Traviata
“Just sing for me once the cadenza Donizetti wrote…” uhhhhhhhh…
“That’s the kind of voice that sings this…” REALLY?
“Singing an operatic role is like wearing someone else’s clothes, you need alterations”
Benoit’s exit~ Neil Schicoff’s Pale maker
No one’s perfect, Pav used to crack in front of millions of people
Fee structure tango
i divi?
The middle people are always the ones that suffer in the fee battle
Recordings, the opera singer’s fountain of youth
Just dots of ink on a piece of paper
How Stephen Lord got his start in opera at Michigan Opera Theatre with Alan Glassman, Christopher Alden, Rocky Blake, David DiChiera et al
Mo. Lord and Neil Schicoff… roomies
Opera Singers literally writing a blank check.
Coaching, Vickers, Lord ~~~ JEEEEESUS, what am I going to tell this guy
Learning Otello from John Vickers
O Gloria Otello fu! ~how Mo. Lord lost hearing in his right ear….
Ermano Mauro sang the PISS out of Otello
“Should I do it?”
John Vickers: Babysitter?
Going without food so your kids can eat, as an opera singer. Props to Ermano Mauro
Privation is not such a bad thing early in life
Night School Italian
DKW, as he is affectionately known throughout the opera world, is one of the most innovative and exciting people in the opera business today. When others abandoned ship, Darren buckled down and stayed true to his mission at Fort Worth Opera, and his tenacity has payed incredible dividends. He’s a friend, and inspiration, and someone who truly wants to expand and innovate this business. Join us as we talk about such subjects as:
{SUBSCRIBE TO THE TEXAPOLITAN OPERA ROADSHOW ON ITUNES BY CLICKING HERE}
{To find out more about Fort Worth Opera and Darren K. Woods, click here}
Empresario? General Director
The Genisis of the Mayes/Woods connection
My Motorcycle Cop is the definitive Motor Cycle Cop
The Man from Falfurius
5’6″ Drum Major.. now that takes authority and a big hat
Self-Taught
Opera? WHUTS THAT?
DKW in a Corvair
Darren got his start in the Houston Grand Opera Chorus
SHSU to HGO to Santa Fe – Bang, career.
DKW, Eighth Back
“My guns are upstairs”
You craft a mission, and you stick with it
Boheme is not expansion
Ft. Worth Opera~ SCRAPPY
Summer of the Counter-Tenor
Wait… it’s an opera.. and the season’s not open yet.. and it’s sold out???
“I’m exhausted” “That’s the point”
Anna Nicole… the opera?
Look behind the sensationalism to the team, that tells you what you need to know
Violetta and Anna Nicole have a lot more in common, than not
The trailer trap is hard to escape if your not pretty
Mexia? How do YOU say it?
How’s that fundraising treating you Europe?
Familiarity breeds ticket sales
Live like a Nun?
Summer festival~ Stroke of Genius
Hell the Met doesn’t pay Met fees anymore
Let’s upset people
Jesus Garcia’s confession scene, power.
Operatic Technological Revolution
“I only work with dead composers…”
the vacuum will be filled
“I thought act 2 was easy because was in the dressing room playing bridge!”
it’s a visual emotional artform that we just happen to sing
none of the mfers can sing! anybody can do a pushup!
Spend your money in one of 2 places. Voice Teacher or a Personal Trainer
Scott Scully drives a hard bargain
Scott Scully, Metropolitan Opera Star
“How fast do you take this? How fast can you play it?”
“Now that you’ve seen me can I take off mah tie?”
I’ll never edit again
The Texapolitan Opera Roadshow makes a return visit to the Metronome Coffee Shop in Tacoma, WA with one of our surpise guests from last week, Robert Boldin, and special secret guest Slim Spadermann. Rob and I go way back to our time in Chicago where we enjoyed the pleasures that Chicago had to offer us to the fullest. Rob is just one of those guys who is immediately lovable, and I truly believe he might be the Kevin Bacon of the opera world.
[SUBSCRIBE TO THE TORS ON ITUNES BY CLICKING HERE!!!]
Join us as we yap about:
Back at the metronome
Which coffee goes best with Blueberry Syrup?
Get thee back to Cut and or Shoot
A little but fuzzy
Tacoma Weather
Asado – Meat-a-booze-a-palooza
Your clothes always smell like beef, that’s a pro, not a con
Michael Mayes aphrodesiac~ meat perfume~ Mazer Spanish Fly
Solid 15 seconds of usable material
Notes flow in one direction, scarf to no scarf
the MF in MFA stands for…
paying for coffee in installments
Tito’s?
Libya
Free Electricity
The CCM fortress wall
Jerry Springer~ missed it by THAT much
Rob Boldin is a terrible uncle
Inappropriate Cartoons
Dating Olympics and Pepe LePew
Yosemite~ Sam
Mike’s Dandini Formula
Megan Monaghan and Dan Boring~ Power couple
NPR Rage
Journalists are liberal??!?!?! I AM SHOCKED AN APPALLED
If you will? I will.
Classical Music is a Cultural Commodity
Fair and Balanced? Totally ~ look, that dude’s driving a Prius
The anti-arts momentum
Molotov, no scratch that, Cheese Curd Cocktails
Opera and MT
Art and Culture endure
All Passes Art Alone Endures
Old Bearded White Dudes Smashing the State
Tailgating at a protest, only in Wisconsin
“I smashed the state and all i got was this lousy T-shirt”
Anger is healthy
Scarf/Hammock Combo
The Smith Scarf Collection, now at the smithsonian
Texapolitan Opera Pencils
The Blackberry Curve ruined entire days
Mac vs PC
HAL was definitely a PC
The Robocalypse is coming
Aliens among us?
Armpenises
Rob gets put on the relationship hotseat
Adult Time Out
Are you a notary public? No but i did stay in a holiday inn express last night…
Sean Anderson and Andy Wilkowske~ like crossing the streams
Awkward Grapes Suckling
What once was survival is now fetish
Beyond Tacoma Dome
Two Hipsters enter One Hipster leaves
Bill Nye the Coffee Guy
The women on the west coast are, Boldinesque
Weapons of the Director-off
Irving and Lee Spiderman
Spiderman, The Musical that Kills
Slewsical- a slew of new musicals
INTRO OUTRO MUSIC: “Where is the life that late I led” from Kiss Me Kate~ Robert Boldin, Tenor
-Michael Mayes
Benjamin Wayne Smith and I go back to the CCM days. After all these years we’ve finally been given the chance to work together on a Pag/Trouble in Tahiti double bill in Tacoma, and we’re loving every minute of it. I’ve never met anyone who has known Ben who didn’t have an absolute ecstatic reaction when explaining their affection for him. We sat down at the Metronome Coffee House in Tacoma, WA- our favorite caffeine dealer, for a stimulant fueled tete-a-tete that is definitely one for the books… Join Ben and I to find out why, as we talk about… [SUBSCRIBE TO THE TORS ON ITUNES HERE]
Bill Nye the Coffee Guy works in Tacoma
The Amazing Siphon
Metronome is a magical wonderland of caffeinated enchantment
Here’s the thing…
It’s when we try that it doesn’t work at all
Trying desperately to be funny
Caffeine fueled podcasts vs Alcohol fueled podcasts
Cue the non sequitors
Warren has a colorful vocabulary
Hydraulics to the face
Thrice, as they say at Medieval times
“We’ll fix it in post”
Hipster Light
Visual Jokes/Aural Medium
The Legacy of K. Jenny Jones
Setting the tone with a submission hold
“You know what the problem here is Ben…”
Seating Auction
Making the Transition from Singing to Teaching/Directing
“Well I was starving…”
“Nothing remarkable about me in that rep except the sheer stunning beauty of my voice and intrinsic masculinity”
“I could be a director, how hard could it be?”
Scarf, Beret, glasses… poof, you’re a director
The Nic Muni school of directing
Let me be you
Talking to you is hard
Women… and endless well of words
“I am a girl”
“I’m a Lady Tenor”
“I’m Ben Smith’s bitch”
“My yoke is easy”
Secret Words in Rehearsal
Anything or the Win
Rob Boldin and Katie Drago Surprise Visit
My Lady Friend
What are you a 60 year old swinger??
Why did the midget get kicked out of the nudist colony?
The Tacoma Opera Flip Book
FAT ELVIS
Hobo Opera Singers
We siphon this outta what?
Coffee/Colonic Clinic
My large intestine is as clean as a whistle
Rob Boldin is the Marijuana of Conversation
Change your name to Muthafuckin’ ~ intant badass
Their profit margin is about 9000%
Hey did you sing at Santa Fe Opera???
Don’t wear your own band’s t-shirt
Shattering Dreams one Application at a time
Cortigiani
The Horse missed his cue at Seattle Opera
This show needs a bibliography/companion
The Donkey Show
Gold Cast vs Silver Cast
Singing Eduardo Chama’s praises
Open Season on Katie Drago’s Ovaries
The Ovary Emporium
Conversations with Charles Shaw
Terrible Godlen Girls Impersonations
Adventures with Andy Wilkowske in the Hollywood Cemetery
We’re looking for Estelle Getty
“Golden Girl Zombies”
Nic Muni as a bond villian
Nic’s shower cap is a plastic beret
Even Odder Job
Nic Muni takes huge chances, which we admire
John Proctor’s X-Rated backstory
Miranda Rowe
Andy Garland and Tina Milhorn, workin’ it
Every Good SM’s kit should include 2 band-aids and a condom
“The First Time I Worked at the Kennedy Center…”
Andy and Donna give a Master Class
Why don’t you go into Train Conducting
Plan B jobs: Reel Man, Typewriter Repairman, VCR Tape Rewinder
The Beta Max of Careers
Young Eager Interns are, adorable
“I fall down as if I’d been shot in the back with an arrow”
The Magic Flute in Esperanto, and set on the star
Fancy
Prague is Cheap and Awesome
Dreamcasting Falstaff
Bringing Dan Paget out of Retirement
Bad Caramel
WHAT IS THIS, A YOSHI BLADE??
Road Insanity
The old puritan work ethic
You can wait on me
Scarf Fluffing
The scarf or the Jack Hammer
Smith is a JOKE NAME
Find out more about Ben Smith [HERE]
-Michael Mayes
Well, it had to happen sooner or later. During Opera Birimingham’s production of Faust, I was able to sit down with Mary Dunleavy and add a little bit of class to the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow… some of the episodes have been a bit blue, to say the least, but Mary, being the classy lady that she is, raises the bar simply by sitting down at my humble microphone. Some of the most interesting parts of this episode are toward the end when we discuss the difficult task of maintaining a relationship while on the road- right around the 54:00… we also chat about-
[CLICK HERE TO LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES] otherwise, the link is below the tags~
Dunleavy
Kids these days
The Mommy/Daughter breakup
Women are like Spiders
Just be yourself, don’t be smart or funny
Kissing the Guest’s ass makes for an easy interview
It’s the best job in the world, it’s the worst job in the world
There is a special place in heaven for singers with kids
2 types of singers
Neuroses are cured by children
Cats are easy
PROPS!
The Many versions of the Queen
Opera. Is. Dangerous
Don’t Drink and Crew
Open Trap
Workman’s comp~
Poverty, the great Potty Training Motivator
Thin margins
Retirement? HA!
Coming up the hard way
Tough Economic Times
It’s lonely at the Top, and it’s crowded at the middle
I like to be just a little bit scared for the singer
Antibiotic Battle Royale
Coughing can be deadly
The voice is resilient, so SHUT UP
Mary’s Gastro Rules for Singing
Mary did Karaoke before it was called ‘Karaoke’
Sittin’ in Randy, Amber D. and Midnight Flyer
Missing the intimacy and instant response of pop music
Recitalists vs Opera Singers
“Damn kids and their Rock n Roll Music!!”
My dirty secret, I liked Moulin Rouge
I miss spectacle
$65/ticket better mean something when you can pay $15 for 3D
Video Projection
Did Mary go thru a wild phase?
‘I NEVER CHEATED ON MY HUSBAND”
wild in a catholic school girl way
Life on the road can be easy
Gym/Shopping/Dining~ those were the days
Central City~ lends itself to debauchery
Young Artist Programs~ petri dishes of hormonal dysfunction
Raging Hormones + Instense Competition
Nothing to do but Gamble and Drink
$.50 glasses of wine
You can never go home again
Life before the internet and cell phones
Opera Booty Calls
Fast Friends
Mary is a Jersey Girl
Mary and the Snookie Look-a-likes
You’re partner is strange, when they’re a stranger
55:00 relationships on the road
Coping with distance
The 2 week rule
Caveman’s Relationship Rules
The Blackberry POS
Relationships can have one star
“I’m done with crappy mozart”
Fortune Favors the Bold
Intro/Outro music, Quando m’en vo, from La Boheme by Mary Dunleavy
This week’s abbreviated podcast is short, but packed with some really good stories from Kirk Eichelberger, Bass and Millinee Bannister, Mezzo~ both of whom are involved in Opera Birmingham’s production of Faust [click here for more information about the production] Join us as we explore such riveting subjects as: [click here to subscribe to The Texapolitan Opera Roadshow on iTunes]
Millinee Bannister woman of mystery
First Podcast Appearance *crash boom slam*
Millinee, Madonna, and Cher
WOMACK
War Eagle Tiger Aubie Tigegagle Eabie Auburn this is some hillbilly stuff right here
Here comes the Devil
Kirk keeps comin’ in too early…
Pleather and Opera~ like peas and carrots
Pants that show off your junk
Pickle, Banana, Gurkin
5 minutes to code blue
The Kirk Eichelberger Resonance
Millinee don’t hide her ‘Bama
Claim your heritage
Millinee talks to herself, like..to, herself
Your Bama is shown’
The Mayes family survives a tornado
We had a double wide, we was the rich folks in the neighborhood
AIn’t nothing I don’t love about a pig, I eat everything from the rooter to the tooter
Bacon Denial
Squeal like a pig
My sister wanted to go to a pig farm, for her birthday
Unclecousingrandpa
That was the pig he trusted
Whole Paycheck
Kirk Dances
Kirk Raves
Kirk Tennessee Fords
Kirk Loves Techno ‘Pieces’
Soco? See, now that’s trashy.
Tea Totalin’
Rheumitz medicin’
Don’t take the Devil into your mouth
Don Giovanni, the gateway character
Kirk Eichelberger, Sensualist
“I don’t enjoy the backside of alcohol”
“A squirrel could graduate from NEC”
John Moriarity, institution
“I don’t cross myself”
Playing a boy~ as a girl.
Kirk loves playin’ gay
Gays have to play straight
Only gay men look at breasts?
Janet Jackson ain’t got shit on us
Moody Bible Institute’s Narnia Opera
Kirk’s Indecent Exposure
Special Thanks to Janna Williams who threw in some good commentary along the way~
Intro/Outro music:
GOUNOD-SARASATE: Faust – Waltz.
(from New Fantasie).
Erika Morini, violin; Alice Morini, piano.
Victrola 78rpm disc 64979.
Recorded April 6, 1921.
Ep. 7~Millinee Bannister & Kirk Eichelberger, Sensualist [ 36:03 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (428)
The last stop on my cross country operatic extravaganza took me to Eugene, Oregon to sing Marcello in La Boheme with Eugene opera. I was able to work with some really fascinating and entertaining people, whom I had hoped to document in great detail on the show, beginning with last week’s guest, Emily Pulley. Unfortunately, I fell victim to some pretty serious bronchitis, which even now, 2 weeks later, I am still valiantly fighting. I had to pretty much shelve the microphone so that I could be sure that I would be able to make it through all 3 performances. I was able to whoop it out at the post performance dinner after the matinee on Sunday and capture the few gems that make up this episode. This week’s abbreviated show has several guests;
[CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE AND LISTEN ON ITUNES]
(for more information on the artists, click on their names)
Reginald Tonry
Growing up in and around the Met
Leonard Warren’s Passing
Nicola Bowie
Awesomus Storius Interruptus
Jill’s colorful expressions
Christopher Staub
The Russians drive me crazy
The Europeans, they don’t like the air conditioning
NO A/C NO A/C
Mark Beudert
An Opera, a cocktail, and a child’s broken toe.
Yeghishe Manucharyan
from Turkey…TURKEY?!?! gotcha…
“YES!!”
Tom Corbeil
Have Swedish will Travel
so there I was, I was wearing a skirt…
Would you go the full Okulitch?
Sometimes, you gotta go
Emily Pulley
The Thomas Allen Limerick
Emily coins, “Texplicit”
What’s a POLYGLOT?!?!
Would you go the full Mattila?
My piercing specialist is a Roman Soldier
Harry Baechtel
How he met “Sun Shines on Miami” Chasing a Beaver
Sandy Naishtat
Honorary Citizen of TX
Sandy’s Famous relatives
Reinventing Oneself as an Opera Singer
While singing in La Boheme at Eugene Opera I had to privilege of working with the beloved Emily Pulley. Emily is one of the sweetest women I’ve ever met and is a perfect example of everything that is good about this business. Join us as we discuss…. (be sure and stick around for the end when Emily recites her famous Susannah Limerick)
Intro/Outro: Spike Jones: Pal-yat-chee
Toxic Props
Recycled Nutcracker Snow
The Walking Infirm
One of the most beloved figures in the entire business
Butt-Dialing Flicka
Keith Phares will not do the Full Okulitch
Emily & Keith a couple of Band Nerds getting’ jiggy with it
Apparently, in Missouri, Pornography doesn’t require nudity
I rode him like a fiberglass pony outside of the grocery store
Bring in da noise, Bring in da funk. Andre Funk that is…
Tragic bass humping accident
Em give a shout out to Janna
On the floor makin’ out, like ya do
Corey McKern goes booby spelunking
Corey Mckern roots out a lump in a breast like a pig rooting out truffles
Central City is great story fodder
Cabin Intruder
Curt Olds~ Mountain Man
Bears are emotional eaters
Sarah Jane McMahon and wildlife don’t mix
Central City Opera~ Combines opera and camping
Mama’s Husband Huntin’
Rainbow Coalition alive and well in Cut n Shoot, TX
I don’t mind if something’s dirty, as long as it’s clever
Stage hands can be so thoughtful
Jean and Iris
Boheme is easy
Vegan + Eugene residency = Translucent Skin
Show us your dick…
Hugging the deer
SWIMMING, WHILE SINGING?
Susan, could you sing softer, you’re frightening the cow
THAT WAS TOO MUCH
Donna Giovanna
Emily’s famous Susannah Limerick
Find out more about Emily Pully here and Eugene Opera, here.
[CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE TEXAPOLITAN OPERA ROADSHOW ON ITUNES!]
I was able to sit down and chat with DAM, as my tour of treble named baritones continues. David and I were double cast as Guglielmo in Arizona Opera’s production of Cosi fan tutte last year, and we had an absolute blast hanging out, telling stories, mountain biking, and drinking strong coffee and vodka. To me, there are few tests of character more effective than the test of coffee/vodka~ and DAM passed with flying colors. I was honored that DAM chose my show as the platform for his official coming out of the piercing pagoda to confirm rumors surround his…ornamentation…
Making his Texapolitan Opera debut in the most Texapolitan Texapolitan Opera Roadshow to date, David and I discuss a wide range of topics including:
Conway Twitty: Operatic Inspiration
Conway is a dirty SOB
Gratuitous Cuss words
The Most Texapolitan Texapolitan Opera Roadshow
Vidor vs Cut n Shoot
Dry counties
Don’t drink if you love Jesus
F*ck
Hot Governors
The Grand Wizard wants you
Sleeper Cell Klansman
Molting Trailers
Trailer Park Mansion
Big Al
I’M A BASTER
Don’t Touch the Junk
Old timers and the N word
Ironical Old Timey Moustaches
Undercover Hipsters
Culture Shock
HOW DID A GUY FROM VIDOR, TEXAS….
Whatsat noise?
Cheesey Gospel Singers
Texas, State of the Arts
Richard Miller makes DAM gasp
Monkeyf*ckingc*ckbastard
A father’s sacrifice
The Full Okulitch
DAM comes out of Prince Albert’s closet
Vitruoso Genitalia
C*ck Spoons
Star on the Vidor Walk of Fame
Opening Audio Clip: Non pyoo andrah by the Ledbetter Fambly
Closing Audio Clips: Excerpt from Midsummer Night’s Dream at La Scala and Billy in the Darbies from Billy Budd by David Adam Moore
The long awaited interview with MTS is now on iTunes (click here to jump to the page)~ the guys over at Barihunks leaked the newly coined term, “The Full Okulitch” this week… subscribe and download the full episode to hear if MTS will be going the Full Okulitch anytime soon.
Download the latest episode to listen to Todd and I go back and forth about…
What happened to Lone Star Opera?
I am rich in Internet Money
The humble beginnings of the Ledbetter Fambly
From Twang to Squillo
Janna and the Montana State Spoon-Off
Michael Todd Simpson, Male Model
Todd sings More-or-less (Morales)
Scott Scully~ Enforcer
Standing Room Only ~ A boon to NYC Chiropractors
MTS explains his secret to success
Simpon’s “Sophie’s Choice”, Vodka or Opera Tickets
NYC Brew and View ~ Nalgene Bottle, Bizzo, and smuggled pizza
Coconut Water ~ the newest fixation for the Neurotic Singer
I’ve given up on water
It smells like Gilligan’s island in here
Speaking of coconuts I was in Bangkok…
Thai Massage ~ U like buddy to buddy?
DON’T YOU JUDGE THEIR CULTURE
I got to ride a horse.. ON STAGE
I was shakin’ in my stirrups
You’re going to get punched so hard old man…
Pickin’ your big fat foot up and shovin’ it right in your mouth
Roanoke Opera and the Rodeo
Oh, you’re THAT guy
What is dees MILF?!?!
How does an itallian speak cowboy?
Bedbugs? We call them chiggers…
Julia Hollenberg Simpson ~ Barihunk Maker
Going the Full Okulitch
Find out more about MTS by checking out his website, michaeltoddsimpson.com
Always glad to hear comment and suggestions, holler at me: mazerthehazer@gmail.com
-Michael Mayes
This is a super fast time lapse of a 45 minute makeup session by the indomitable Sondra Nottingham, that has been compressed down to about a minute. We were at Shreveport Opera for Don Giovanni, and thought this would be a great way for people to see all the work that goes into making someone so sweet faced and innocent, such as myself, look sardonic and evil~ (top window is from youtube, embeddable link there)
The debut episode of the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow with guest, Dean Anthony. Despite some technical difficulties, which almost caused the tragic disappearance of some high quality anecdotes, we were able to salvage Dean’s track with some bleed over from me. Born out of humble and inauspicious beginnings, it’s good to know we have only to rise up from our humble beginnings here at the TORS.
In this episode Dean regales us with some great stories entailing Grand Theft Opera Dress, his appearances with Shaquille O’Neil, Kelly Rippa and Regis Filbin, the genesis of the Dean Anthony Tailgates, Pole Singing, Dame Dot, Falstaff hijinks with Mark Delavan and Sherrill Milnes, Harley Davidson Raccoon Eyes, and much much more.
Find out more about Dean Anthony at deananthony.net
