Sing out, Louisa

As you may or may not know, I was a singer in a previous life. A real, honest to goodness, scarf-wearin', water bottle-totin', throat lozenge-suckin' singer. Oh, yeah. I discussed fachs and aria lists ad nauseum. I spent way too much time trolling internet forums where singers ask each other about who's gotten a rejection letter from which company, and which competitions are totally unfair, and whether it's too late to start a career when you're 38 and have never sung in public. I even (gasp) considered using one of these.

But all that's in the past now. I left grad school, sang one last oratorio gig, stopped singing, and haven't looked back since. And I honestly don't even miss it. I wasn't a great singer. Oh, I was okay, with occasional fleeting moments of potential, but never great. Positive feedback about my singing always focused a lot on musicality and stage presence, rather than the natural beauty of my instrument or my flawless technique, but I think what held me back the most was that my heart just wasn't in it. I started voice lessons when I was 8 years old (let the flaming begin), and I always thought I would regret it if I stopped singing, so I kept going with it even after I knew I didn't want to make it my life. When I finally made the decision to stop and accepted the fact that I belong on the other side of the footlights, it was the easiest decision I ever made.

I don't sing in the shower, because I'm really not interested in being heard. I do, however, sing in the car. Constantly. At the top of my lungs. I don't sing opera or anything classical. When I'm driving Frankie the VW Bug, it's all musical theatre all the time. I've gone back in time, not to when I was a singer, but way earlier, to when my dream was to be a Broadway star (an era only slightly more recent than my Supreme Court Justice/ballerina period). I have a playlist on my iPod called Beltin' with the big girls. I put it on shuffle and go to town. The best part about it is, I've actually gotten much better at singing musical theatre as a result of my automotive crooning. I can belt pretty successfully, and my knowledge of the style has improved as well. Haha, easy for me to say, since nobody's ever (and I do mean ever) going to hear me. Frankie's good at keeping secrets. Here's a little taste of what I rock out to:



My birthday's in 2 days. Don't even think about getting me a karaoke machine. Buy me one of these instead! If you do, I might have to take a break from belting while driving, but it will be so worth it.