Welcome to my journal, where I hope to let you in on behind the scenes activities in rehearsal and life in general at Pittsburgh Opera as we prepare for 'Ariadne auf Naxos' by Richard Strauss. We have been rehearsing for almost 2 weeks now, and are getting the the stage where we are able to run large sections of the opera without stopping. Everyone arrives knowing their parts from memory and then we start to work with the director, Chris Alexander, and conductor, John Mauceri. This production of 'Ariadne' was first done in Seattle, then in Montreal. I sang the role of Ariadne in Seattle, taking over with only a week to go, and learnt the role in 3 days, as I had never done it in German before. It's such fun to come back to the role and have a chance to rehearse fully, and add some things too. 'Ariadne' is a comedy and most of my repertoire is not particularly funny(!) so I love doing this role and having a chance to have some fun and play for laughs. The cast is really exceptional and everyone seems to be having as much fun as I am. It's always nice when a large cast, like this one, gets on well and enjoys working with each other. As many people do not permanantly live in Pittsburgh, the cast are staying at various apartment complexes, and one of the main topics of conversation seems to be where everyone is managing to shop for groceries. There are no supermarkets down town, but we are very lucky in having members of the Opera Guild who will take us shopping when we need. A lovely lady called Amy took my husband and I to Giant Eagle yesterday so we could stock up for the rest of the stay. I am very lucky in that I am able to travel with my husband, Brian, and he takes care of the cooking, and things that need dealing with while we travel. It makes such a difference to not have to travel and be alone, especially having done so for many years. So the first couple of weeks have gone well, and the opera is really taking shape. Tonight we had the first rehearsal with the supers, or actors that do the non-singing roles. The first half of the opera is very complicated with a lot of people on stage at the same time, all rushing around preparing for the party that follows in the second half of the evening. I have to throw some flowers at a lady playing my dresser, and wanted to make sure I didn't hurt her, so we practiced that a few times. It's been a long day today, starting at 10am and finishing at 9pm, but I was able to come back to our apartment and watch "Lost" which my husband had taped. It's my new favorite show, and I love the relaxation of being able to unwind watching something exciting on TV at the end of the day. So now it's time for bed before another day rehearsing tomorrow.