a weekend of music

okay, i know, i blogged only a day and a bit ago.
but meh, i'm procrastinating - there! i said it. plus, lots has happened.

on friday night, i had to play for 'cop song' from urinetown. the show had been nominated for awards at the UHT cabaret and awards night, and subsequently was asked to perform just one number from the show. it went quite well, considering we had a very short time to prepare it, plus it wasn't fresh in our heads. a few hitches but nicely saved, would be how i'd describe it overall. i didn't realise that there'd be quite a few people i knew in the audience, because i'd gotten a "go gladys!" when i stepped onto stage (albeit to the side to play piano! hehe) as well as a few comments in the next 24hrs of "well done!". wow, who would have thought i had so many friends who were into theatre?!

then we rushed off to mel's 21st. thanks to D who drove S, A and me. it was wonderful to see so many of her friends (who incidentally are also half my friends hehe!) from all sorts of places. especially some that i haven't seen for a while (ie. mostly wyverns). i had a wonderful time. the place was so cute (all to herself!) and had a good chat to a few people - some old, some new. the cupcakes were a treat, sooo cute! i unfortunately managed to stack it down the stairs near the end, causing a flurry of "are you ok?!?!" don't worry, i was, but my bum hurt for a little while, but not an issue! at least i didn't twist my ankle! haha. there was a guy we didn't know (but part of the party!) who was coming down the stairs trying to bust the moves on P and me (he started busting the moves when he saw us - desparate..!) but then just as he did, he hit his head on the doorway coz he was too tall. hahahaha. shows that he really shouldn't try to flirt when it's possible he could make himself look like the biggest idiot (which is what we thought) haha. for amusement factor, good score!

did a little bit of homework on saturday morning, but kept getting distracted (i'm really good at that!) then met M at 12 to go shopping. (I haven't eaten properly all weekend......anyway, different story completely). i wanted to buy a black dress for performing, and/or a nice top for performing (so that our trio can have some colour!). we went into the city to browse and all that. went to several places, including melbourne central, myer, and swanston st. actually found a gorgeous dress in central, from ojay. tried it on, but wanted to leave it to think more about it for a while. kept going around trying to find stuff, but to little avail - nothing else really caught my eye that much. M had to go quite suddenly (well, earlier than expected because her aunt arrived at spencer st earlier than anticipated) leaving me to try on a dress in another store. that didn't quite do it for me, even though it was half-price, at $45, and quite nice. however, it just didn't quite cut it. i decided to go back to ojay to have a 2nd try of the dress. the girl who'd helped me the first time was very helpful again ("back for the dress?"), and so was another girl working with her. i totally fell in love with the dress again. mostly for the skirt, but the dress is just gorgeous! and so i decided to buy it. even though it was more expensive than i intended to spend (mind you, it was on sale because of racing season), but i figured that i'd wear it quite a lot (getting lots of value for money!) and it was just perfect - well, so suitable for playing piano (the original intention of buying a dress) and plain enough to dress up or down with all sorts of accessories, but nice enough to wear by itself. i also went to the supermarket to buy a pair of stockings (real ones with feet this time!) - but who knew it'd be so hard?! i thought i'd have lots of choice, but i didn't really, which was a pity! the time i wanted footless tights, they didn't have them. but the time i want just normal stockings, so little choice!

so, the farewell concert.
sound-check at 6.15, so had to shove down dinner pretty fast. got all dressed up. new dress and all. so nice to wear!!! a few people are incredibly jealous of it.. :P (not that it's fun to be the envy of people, but yeah, anyway....)
waited around for ages, but i guess that happens.
our sextet was wonderful. so much fun! A turned pages for me again (this is only the 2nd time i've actually met him, although i've known about him for well over a year), but he was much fun to talk to and hang out with.



i have loved working with this group of singers - i did originally tell N, "More than two singers in a room makes me scared!" but this group, you guys are incredibly talented. when and what is our next project? many happy and fun memories :)

merlyn's performance was stunning. she is just such a gorgeous singer. "I'm Tone Deaf" was performed with great amusement, and Laudate Dominum was just gorgeous (also involving the music coming on screen and the audience joining in! I love singing the alto lines!) the opera project tribute was quite amazing - i've heard about this, but never really known much about it. to see the footage of what goes on, and how it evolves was amazing. the best opera was definitely the one about camels. the composer even made all the costumes, wrote the libretto, helped with set design and construction. and wrote an aria from the point of view of the camel belonging to lawrence of arabia. HAHAHA.

when we'd finished performing, we got off the stage and sat in the audience, as they were still applauding - it was almost just breath-taking to see bebbo applauding and smiling at us as though we were his protegees! it was cute.
AK came up to me later and told me in her usual (fairly stern) way "that was fantastic, gladys" i felt all warm and fuzzy on the inside. because i'm pretty sure comments like that from her are fairly rare. and she's hardcore. well, in terms of knowing exactly how it's meant to be.
hung around for a while, especially catching up (a bit!) with G, which was wonderful - i haven't really had a chance all semester to sit down and chat with her. even though we didn't sit, it was great to discuss big issues. :)
just as we were about leaving, i stopped merlyn and thanked her for helping us out and working with us. even though i'd heard the rumour for three years about her being mean, i have found this, in my experience, to be completely untrue! she was wonderful to work with, so supportive, and so encouraging, and so full of humour! she gave me a hug, and told me that i was talented!!!! wow. i was really taken aback by this second comment from such a prominent person (people!) in one night. she said i could go far if i had determination, and that it's hard being a woman in this industry. but i assured her that i was full of determination and grit...! this was quite phenomenal - there was this lady, an amazing musician, who i'd only worked very briefly with, telling me that she could tell i was talented, and urging me to keep doing this stuff! i was really touched.

it was an amazingly touching and emotional kind of concert. of course, there was a standing ovation for her. and i don't know her that well, yet had tears in my eyes several times! what an amazing woman.


daylight saving started from saturday to sunday. gargh, i hate this time of year - one less hour of my life! i really could do with just adding hours consistently..! oh well.
didn't get much done today, admittedly.
went to parkville this morning, which was lovely. got to see G, whom i haven't seen all year! plus, i got to meet W in the flesh! (he has been in the flesh for quite a while now, though..!) soo cute!!!
tried to do some work this arvo, but that didn't go that well, because.....i'm lazy....!
was intending on going to the choir of westminster abbey musica viva concert this evening...but E and i got there at about 5.20pm, and ALL the student rush tickets had sold out. we waited to see if any would become available, but to no avail. what a disappointment - i'd been waiting for a whole year for this event, and didn't end up seeing them at all :"(
instead, M, E and i went for some early dinner-y thing at blue train. it was nice to hang out with them, because i don't get to enough, and definitely not much at all outside of uni.
it was just a pity that soo many students missed out - i find it quite preposterous that they advertised to VCA and con students (potentially at least 100 students who would go) but only had about 20 seats to actually sell!
i suppose i will just have to go to london to hear them. there will be lots of things to do on this trip!

anyway, swotvac officially starts tomorrow. as you can probably tell, i've been very successful at procrastinating for an ENTIRE weekend. i really have to knuckle down. but when one's homework and study is:
1) practicing and playing the piano, it doesn't feel like study.
2) so spread out because exams are so spread out, motivation has to last all that time..!!!
3) listening to set pieces, i can still blog at the same time. or do other stuff while doing homework. i really think my homework is too much fun to be homework.