it's the performance that matters

If you wanted an update on the project, I've been spending more time just learning songs, which I try not to reveal because I want an element of surprise for the end product. I've been practicing while trying to figure out this recording bit. If there was one thing I picked up from the book (shown in a previous post), it's that recording live poses its own challenges and practice is key. At the end of the day, it's the performance that matters. 

I always downplay my guitar skills because I'm self-taught and it had been years since I'd played one. I had a friend help me pick out my first guitar in college. I sought his guidance, albeit from far away, on the purchase of a new guitar and I will forever be grateful that he took the time to answer all my questions. He was the one who suggested I get a capo. See, sage advice. Along with everyone else though, he cautioned me against the hundred dollar Washburn bundle from Costco. I'd been eyeing that since the holidays the year before but I was wary of buying an instrument from Costco. My husband, noting that it was the last one on the floor, just popped it into the shopping cart and it came home with us. It's a playable instrument and came with everything I could possibly need to get started. A case, stand, tuner, extra strings, picks... It took me a few months to conclude that it was actually worth it. 

A guitar enthusiast co-worker recommended silk and steel strings to me and I was also told to consider sizing down. I had learned on nylon strings and the steel was really hurting me in those first few months playing. The new strings brought the action down significantly and it become so much more comfortable to play it for extended periods. That's great for practice and as a bonus, I now have an instrument that is very mellow sounding. 

While I have never taken guitar lessons, I have actually taken voice lessons multiple times in the past. I was in choir during my elementary and HS years. Most of the singing was for religious purposes. Without asking me if I was interested, my mom enrolled me in pop singing classes offered as an after-school activity. My teacher had me learn the song Close To You by The Carpenters as my first song. She also asked me to buy a minus one tape. I purchased one with songs from Spandau Ballet, Culture Club and Cyndi Lauper. All the latest hits from... 1984? I hated those lessons so much.

I also took voice lessons while in college. The College of Music being across the street from my college was great. We could hear the music from across the way, every note beckoning me to come over and give this whole singing thing another shot. I considered applying for the music program but I heard that there was an audition and chickened out. Many people who want to prepare for the audition enroll in the extension program, open not just to university students, but to anyone and everyone. I signed up and made my way to those piano rooms once a week to meet with my teacher, an accomplished soprano. 

It only took me 3 semesters to finally give up. The first semester was a lot of vocalizing, learning solfeggio and Broadway songs. For our first recital, she assigned All I Ask of You from Phantom of the Opera. My teacher was so excited to introduce me to my partner for this number. She told me that our Phantom was handsome. I arrive for rehearsal and in walks... one of my brother's friends who had a band and loved to perform Smashmouth covers. Okay.

The second semester was more of the same, lessons-wise, but with one of my friends also enrolled. For the recital, the teacher paired us to do an Italian aria. My friend sounded like an angel. I was horrible. I was way too nervous on the stage and couldn't hit the notes. But I soldiered on for one more semester. I started to notice that it wasn't just guys with bands that walked those hallways. I once saw Ice Seguerra passing through, when he was still a 12 year old Aiza. I think he had the lesson before mine. 

Anyway, for my last recital, my teacher gave me the part of Mother in Dear One from Kiss of the Spider Woman. I was part of a quartet and it turned out... ok. My friend in the audience said the nicest thing to me as we left the theatre. I asked her, "How was it?" She said everyone was singing our song as they left. Or something like that. Maybe we were the finale? But the point is, I SURVIVED. One of the girls I sang with actually left for Germany shortly after that to play the lead in a German production of Miss Saigon. I became a DJ.

30 years later, where does this take us? Armed with all the production values and strategies I learned on the job, a crazy imagination and all the chutzpah of a frustrated singer, I have embarked on this yearlong adventure. I'm invested in this now and I'm determined to come up with something that sounds good. 

Kiss of the Spider Woman opens in theaters on October 10, 2025.

Poster borrowed from the Wiki page

Playlist Recommendation: Dear One, Kiss of the Spider Woman (Original Cast Recording) performed by Merle Louise, Kirsti Carnahan, Anthony Crivello and Brent Carver