We need to re-post some photos in previous posts as they have mysteriously disappeared. Why blogger, why??

So, the opera, in English the Pearl Fishers opened last Saturday. For those unfamiliar (as I was before Brian was offered the contract about a month ago) this is the second most well known opera by Georges Bizet of Carmen fame. Bizet was quite young when we wrote Pearl Fishers. Brian has said the opera is a little difficult dramatically because the action in the story does not happen for a while, as there is lots of remembering. In the remembering portion, there is a very famous baritone/tenor duet where they are singing about an oath they took to not love the same woman and save their friendship. However, Brian's character did not live up to his side of the oath and pursued the woman, causing much trouble and his near death. Brian takes a good beating. Sadly, his bloody photos are in our small camera that does not have a transfer cable. I can individually send a bloody Brian photo to your cell phone if you want. (I sent it out for a Halloween cell phone greeting and traumatized my nephew.)

I was able to go opening night with our friend Megan (and thanks to the kind babysitting of some friends from Church). It was great to finally see what Brian had been working on, and he and the cast all sounded great. The audience went crazy for the famous duet. Brian said he and Troy could come out and do almost anything on stage to that duet and the audience would go wild. Here is a bit from the review: “Brian Stucki’s …tenor has a sweet, bell-like clarity… His and Troy Cook’s celebrated Act 1 duet was wonderfully gauged.”
Les Pecheurs des Perles, Lyric Opera of Kansas City
Kansas City Star

All was well, until Tuesday when Brian started feeling a bit sick. Tuesday night it hit him full force. He went to the ENT yesterday and he has a bad sinus infection! He made it through last night's show, but now he is on some serious vocal rest and antibiotics. It was actually a good experience for him as the cast and conductor were all extremely supportive. The senior missionaries we got tickets for said they could not even tell anything was wrong with him. He is very optimistic for Friday and Sunday's shows.

After the Sunday matinee here in Kansas City, we leave directly for the next opera in Louisville, KY. Brian's first commitment in Louisville is around noon on Monday.