Baba, before and after. The first photo is from 2006, when I performed this role for the first time at Des Moines Metro Opera (waves madly to all her friends at DMMO, who are carrying out a fantastic summer season of La Boheme, Don Pasquale, and Dialogues of the Carmelites --- miss you guys! Eat some custard for me!).
The second one is from last night's run-through, our first time in costumes (no wigs or makeup, although I did get to try the beard). I still have a lot of work to do, but the fact that I can even post this photo is evidence that I'm happy with how far I've come. (BTW, this is NOT what I appear on stage in --- there's a coat and headdress over it, so not nearly as much shows. But I wanted to show what was underneath).
I haven't worked out much this week, after Sunday's big bike ride --- I have just been feeling run down and exhausted, and it turns out I'm fighting off a summer cold, right at the beginning of production week. A cold won't necessarily keep a singer from singing, but it can make your life miserable, and nobody needs that during production week, which is already stressful. So I've been taking it easy.
I kind of hate it because I want to eat everything in sight, and I haven't been doing very well. I really need to go back to the basics and remind myself of all the tools I learned and adhered to so strictly when I first started this journey. No matter how well I think I'm doing at any given time, these periods of relapse always come, and no matter how many times I overcome them, they always fill me with fear. The trick is to not let it become a cycle. You can always stop a destructive behavior in that moment and walk away from it, even if you start it up again later. You may not be able to stop yourself from engaging the behavior, but you can catch yourself and stop it. Some days that just has to be enough.
So, today's plan is to eat lots of veggies and save a little snack for after rehearsal. Late night eating is not good for you but I always seem to crave snacks after rehearsal, so better to plan a little something than to wander around the kitchen opening all the cabinets and ending up eating more than I should. I plan to do a short cardio workout early in the day, just to get the metabolism going and to give plenty of time for recovery if it tires me out. Hi-ho the glamorous life!
WOW! That is some transformation. You are looking great and I bet you are feeling better as well.
I am just curious. Do you find it easier to sing now that you lost the weight? I would think you would have more energy to put into your singing but since I am not a singer I do not know.
Posted by: Lindsey | June 20, 2011 at 04:33 PM
Who sez chicks in beards can't be teh sexxxay? Go ahead, Miss Thang! You rawk that facial hair! X D
Posted by: Karen | June 19, 2011 at 02:21 AM
I was very fortunate to see Cindy sing the role of "Baba" in 2006 in Des Moines. As always, she brought the character alive with superior acting and singing. Regarding the differences in costume in 2006 vs. 2011 may I echo the comments from Samson and Delila, that dynamic dachshunds duo and simply say "woof".
Posted by: Ed | June 18, 2011 at 12:17 PM