Introducing Mary

I think I could listen to Mary sing "Steal Me, Sweet Thief" every day.  Now that I say that, I guess I could.  I have a recording of it.  That's it, it's my mid-year resolution!

Of course, many of my memories of Mary are musical.  She was a voice major with me at NMSU, but she also played the hell out of the French horn.  Her mom and dad are both musicians.  So are her sisters, if memory serves.  Mary sang pieces from a song set called "Mommy, Gimme A Drinka Water" by Danny Kaye.  It's a collection of poems that are written from a five-year-old's perspective and set to beautiful music.  The one I remember the best is about the colors of kisses.  I was going to just give you highlights, but you need the whole poem:

Did you know that kisses have all kinds of colors

Some pink, some brown, some summertime green

And some just as orange as you've ever seen

Sometimes they're gold and bright as the sun

And sometimes they're bluish, when evening's begun

Oh my Nanny's are silver like old wedding rings

And Grandpa's are spreckled like butterfly wings

Daddy's kisses are mostly tan 

But maybe that's because he's a man

Auntie Melinda's are watery pale 

And old Uncle Todd's are white

But Mommy's are like a rainbow 

When she kisses me goodnight

It is the sweetest song.  I cried every time I heard her sing it.  Same thing with Sweet Thief.  I did a show with Mary called "The Old Maid and the Thief" by Menotti.  It only employs four singers, and although we had access to an entire orchestra, the director decided to just have a piano accompany us.  Menotti actually wrote the one-act opera for the NBC radio show in 1939.  Ostensibly Menotti was required to write in a little homage to the station, because if you listen to it carefully, you will hear the NBC theme (you know, bing-bing-BONG) at least three times.  We staged it as a radio show, in 30's gear and with an old-timey announcer.  We didn't do much in the way of blocking, just stepping up to imaginary microphones and sitting down when we were done singing.  It was a short show, but we never left the stage.  I was a little new to opera, and it was, and still is, the hardest piece of music I ever learned.  I remember walking up to Mary in rehearsal and she looked at me like she knew what I was about to say.  I just broke down crying, and she hugged me and reassured me that it would just happen, I would learn it somehow.  And that's exactly what happened.  We had so much fun in that cast.  We got to give each other nice presents on opening night, because it was such a small crew, and we called the composer "Naughty Menotti" when the music was difficult. 

Back to my original train of thought, I would absolutely have to tune out when Mary sang her big aria.  The story is about an old maid (me), her spinster neighbor (Mary), and her housekeeper (another gal, Juliet), and Bob (James, who I should befriend on MySpace--he's cool, too).  Life is pretty boring for these women until Bob comes into town and inadvertently shakes things up.  These are the kind of women you love to make fun of, but Sweet Thief is a painful, heartfelt cry for love.  This is the pinnacle of the opera, and it creates intense sympathy for the character.  The words and music are lovely, but the emotion Mary poured into it every single time was phenominal.  And I can hardly recommend anyone try to listen to the whole show--you probably won't like it.  It is one of those shows that you fall in love with because you performed in it. 

Mary also brought me Nina Simone.  When I was playing "Rent" and Jonny Lang in my VW, Mary cranked up "Ne Me Quitte Pas" in her Toyota.  I didn't like it.  It was jazz.  And then I got used to it, because that was all she played in her car.  And now when I hear Nina Simone, I practically have to stop breathing so that I can hear her completely.  Thank you for Nina, Mary.