Another simple piece of paper

(Joy captured the expression on this little girl's face perfectly - just look at her admiring Christy's costume with such awe and dreaming of one day being just like her, so cute!!)

I just found a very special crumpled up American $1 bill in my bag. This dollar bill was given to me by the sweetest little girl after our performance of Traviata the other day. She shyly came to me and told me that she thought I did a really great job and that she wanted to give me a dollar for doing so well. I felt odd taking money from a child but she insisted and looked a little hurt when I told her that I couldn't take it. I ended up graciously taking the dollar and went about introducing her to Denise (Violetta) and Richard (the doctor) who were her other favorite singers and whom she also tipped for doing such a great job. She had to have been about 7 yrs old and was as adorable as ever. She was all dressed up and looked at all of us with such awe. I have to say, that little girl truly made my day!! It made all of the hard work and dramatic rehearsals more than worth it. For me that little girl represented the reason why I sing. Not for the experts, or critics, but for people who appreciate the art for it's genuine beauty and wow factor. When you work at an artistic discipline like singing, it's so easy to lose sight of why we do what we do. So often I worry about what the experts will think rather than the actual audience who is not there to analyze and criticize, but to be entertained, taken on a journey and deeply moved.

I think I'm going to keep this dollar bill, and put it on my piano. It's such a sweet reminder of why I spend so many frustrating hours trying to perfect such a craft. Not for the money(definitely not that:) ,and not for the critics, but for the enjoyment of the real audience.

I have a feeling that in 20 years or so one may just find that little girl from the other night sitting at her very own piano, practicing Ah fors e lui . . . Sempre libera remembering her very first opera experience at the MasterWorks Festival in 2007 :)