A more humane Mikado?

I've done The Mikado once before, in the chorus. The chorus, at least the women's chorus, isn't as much of a character as in other shows, and didn't have much to do in the production I was in. I also find much of Act II a bit slow, and by now have seen so many productions that in general I go because I know someone in the cast. I do admit that at least two productions actually had me wishing I were in the chorus because they had some neat bit of choreography to do, but that's been the exception rather than the rule. So why did I audition for this production?

I had originally had no intention of auditioning because the show runs in June and I'd already promised my theater-widower husband (TWH) that the whole summer, from Memorial Day thru Labor Day, belonged to him, since I'd been in rehearsal or production for one show or another continuously since the middle of last August. However. I got e-mails from two different sources saying that the company's turn-out for the first night of auditions had been light, so please consider trying out. I discussed it with TWH, telling him the only reason I was even raising the issue was that I was hoping that, if the audition pool was small, I might have a chance at my first lead. The deal we struck was that I could do the show only as a lead; if they offered chorus, I'd politely decline. It was a gamble, and I won!

Now I find myself in rehearsal for my very first principal role - this is very exciting! I've pretty much quit bouncing, but at last night's rehearsal, I found myself enjoying almost everything. To put that statement in perspective, you need to know that all we did was work music for the Act I and II finales. Woodshedding parts, especially other people's parts, can be deadly dull. But Pitti-Sing gets to sing all the chorus sections in the finales plus some solo and quintet lines. Singing makes me happy, so more singing makes me happier. And Sullivan's finales are generally very exhilarating to sing; it's amazing how that chugga-chugga alto line can be so invigorating and rewarding once you layer it with the other vocal lines.