All I can say is that I’m honored to be a part of such a talented cast.  Last week we began our musical rehearsals with those of us who were here while the rest of the cast arrived from out of town.  I’m privileged to share the stage with Courtney Ross and Jordan Trommater sharing the role of Giulietta, Luke Grooms as Tebaldo, Igor Vieira as Capellio, and Luis González as Lorenzo.  Yesterday and today, we all got together to stage the show in what turned out to be a great collaboration amongst us.  Peter Kozma, the stage director hired to stage the Hansel & Gretel also produced by Bel Cantanti Opera, was kind enough to come and help us out.  I LOVED the brief time that we had with him; he has the kind of infectious energy and passionate ideas that I love in stage directors.  More importantly, he helped me take the character of Romeo further by breaking down some of the barriers I still had in some scenes.  Thank you Peter!

When I first started my research for this role, I was looking closely at Vesselina Kasarova’s interpretation of Romeo. But in the end I found it easier to emulate a man, rather than a woman trying to be a man.  So I modeled my interpretation after one of my all time favorite Latin actors, the late Eduardo Palomo in the wildly popular television series Corazón Salvaje.  I found this period piece a brilliant work and one which truly moved me, even if a bit gooey at times.  I felt strongly that Palomo’s character of Juán del Diablo was the direction in which I needed to take Romeo in Bellini’s version of Romeo & Juliet.  While I wasn’t nearly as hot and sexy as he was, with his famous mane, watching him on YouTube certainly helped me get into that “mental place” of being a man, or better yet, that kind of a man. 

Edith González & Eduardo Palomo in

Corazón Salvaje

Having been told in the past that I was too pretty (questionable) or too “girlie” to be cast in a trouser role, I made it a point to hide my mane as best as I could and to remove all trace of femininity in me!  Our run-throughs enabled me to get into character, and I never thought I’d enjoy playing this part as much as I did.   Romeo is a force to be reckoned with in this opera, and I found it powerful and liberating to be him.  Men back then got away with so much more than women did!  :) But the biggest challenge for me, however, was learning to pace myself vocally yet acquire the stamina needed for this role in just a week and a half of rehearsals.  No easy task considering the vocal demands of the role.  This is the kind of tessitura that makes many a mezzo lose sleep at night, so I had to proceed with caution, yet not too much caution.  I felt like I was always walking a tight rope..... 

Alexandra Mena, Mezzo-Soprano ◊ Copyright © 2007-2012

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