and.....scene.

Yesterday I sang what was called a "mock" audition for Mr. LA Opera. His feedback for me was this:

- attractive, steely voice with most interesting color in my middle range

- I come across as thorough, dependable, and likeable

- my choice of repertoire is well suited to my look, monochromatic in that it's very clear that I know which characters make sense for my voice

- my sound lends itself well to "desperation" and even "anger", so bring back Tytania and Pamina (!) to my audition rep (a bit confusing, since S. and I had decided Pamina is too big unless singing for a small house)

- "be careful" when offering 'Caro nome', because it implies a bigger sound and conductors/audition panelists are listening to it in terms of whether my Gilda could still be heard over the orchestra later in the opera - perhaps leave it on the list, but don't start with it.

I thought most of this made sense, and was really useful. In terms of LA Opera, I don't know what it means or how much weight yesterday's sing has for future consideration there....

Now I'm a little unsure of the right Game Plan for the WCA in a couple weeks, so the jury is still out - I've asked for several opinions, and we'll see what comes back.

Side note: apparently, this was what I must have been waiting for, deeply in my subconscious - as a signal that my body is starting to relax after yesterday's audition, I finally got my period - 2 weeks late.