From May Aria Project singer Colleen Brooks
My COVID pandemic experience was ... awful, beautiful, terrifying, and magical. I had made the decision to cut back from full time to part time work just prior to the onset of the pandemic as I realized that I wanted to spend more time with my family, and wow did the universe grant that wish in spades! ha! It wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but for every moment that Larry and I were missing our friends, cleaning up yet another potty training disaster, or screaming at the top of our lungs for the kids to stop yelling at each other (that makes sense, right?) there was always an equal,
matching moment of crying in a parking lot exchanging Xmas gifts with family because I had actually forgotten how much I had missed them, building forts and hiking through snowy forests, and having exciting scavenger hunts for suffixes during evening story time. ha!
The scene you are about to view includes the sentiments expressed above and specifically focuses on the unshakable desire for adult interaction that results when one is constantly surrounded by a storm of kid craziness. Through sheer will power, I often blindly committed myself to telling Larry a story, when I knew that it was, in fact, impossible that he would actually be able to follow it. Likewise, the loving kindness that Larry exerted in pretending that he had actually listened and followed the story was equally heroic.
My most sincere thanks to pianist Kayoko Miyazawa, production assistant Moira Shaughnessy, MOT's very own Catie, Danny, and Jill Anna, and my courageous family who let me rope them into this project in exchange for Skittles and a trip to Bounce MKE. Vocal ornamentation was lovingly stolen from the incredible Marilyn Horne.
Congratulations on surviving whatever the COVID pandemic forced you to face, and we hope you enjoy!
Love,
Colleen
matching moment of crying in a parking lot exchanging Xmas gifts with family because I had actually forgotten how much I had missed them, building forts and hiking through snowy forests, and having exciting scavenger hunts for suffixes during evening story time. ha!
The scene you are about to view includes the sentiments expressed above and specifically focuses on the unshakable desire for adult interaction that results when one is constantly surrounded by a storm of kid craziness. Through sheer will power, I often blindly committed myself to telling Larry a story, when I knew that it was, in fact, impossible that he would actually be able to follow it. Likewise, the loving kindness that Larry exerted in pretending that he had actually listened and followed the story was equally heroic.
My most sincere thanks to pianist Kayoko Miyazawa, production assistant Moira Shaughnessy, MOT's very own Catie, Danny, and Jill Anna, and my courageous family who let me rope them into this project in exchange for Skittles and a trip to Bounce MKE. Vocal ornamentation was lovingly stolen from the incredible Marilyn Horne.
Congratulations on surviving whatever the COVID pandemic forced you to face, and we hope you enjoy!
Love,
Colleen
Check out Colleen's rendition of "Non…vous n’avez jamais" from Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots!
And check out all the Aria Project installments here!
