I was involved in my first opera ever. It was challenging, fun, scary, and rewarding. I'm no singer so don't think that I was out there belting a solo. No, I was the only unsung roll as Gisela in the American primeur of Gisela In Her Bathtub. The Ninth Ward Opera company presented this opera along with opera A Hand of Bridge by Samuel Barber and songs by Samuel Barber. Dr. Kathleen Westfall the founder and director of The Ninth Ward Opera Co. asked me to come aboard as the lovely naked girl in the bath. I was excited and agreed to rock some small pasties and a thong with "bubbles" (batting) attached them them and read my romance novel lounging in the tub. However the story got even better when Erick Wolfe, the fight director, brought in swords. A sword fight was meant to break out all around me and I could not react to the sound of steel against steel. Which as you can imagine is pretty difficult when it's by your head. But I was quickly over that when I learned he would show everyone the proper way to strangle me and prepare me for my death. So after spending the next 6 rehearsals being strangled then drown over and over the cast was ready for opening night. It was a joy to work with everyone. Kathleen had put everything into her work in presenting opera in a new light for a younger generation. Kathleen and Dave Hurlbert, owner of The Marigny Opera House, teamed up to bring so many operas in 3 seasons and now these two amazing pieces have been added to the books. Hand of Bridge is a very moody piece about betrayal and broken marriages, while Gisela is a comedy that pokes fun at grand opera full of puns and gags. The directors; Josh Talley and Kathleen Westfall, along with conductor Madeline Finn Thinodeaux, musicians James Westfall (percussion), Elise Butler-Pinkham (cello), and Mirka Jichova (piano) brought a whole new level of opera life to the stage making it a more full and rounded out scene than what was on the page. The cast, Lesley DeMartin, Elizabeth Evans, Samuel Hendricks, Laura Booras, and Fiona Delta killed it making this hour of art a true pleasure to be involved with. I'd do this show again and again if I could. I can't wait to see what's in store next season for The Ninth Ward Opera Co. For more details about them or the Marigny Opera House visit: www.ninthwardoperacompany.com www.marignyoperahouse.org