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This post comes around year after year on a blog I don’t run anymore.  Without fail, I get a contingent of folks saying, “toughen up,” “you can’t take a joke?”, or “you’ll never survive in the real world if you’re this fragile.”

I am a doing just fine.  I am married, have wonderful pets, own a home, and have a flourishing career.  Don’t mistake my empathy for fragility. Being kind is a strength, and I hope you can find the joy in making the people around you feel comfortable and safe.  

It may just be a singular day that doesn’t seem harmful to many of us.  It may be insignificant in the grand scheme of things.  But you know what, I’m still going to choose kindness first.

April Fool’s Day is in a few days, and I just wanted to make this clear. This blog is safe, and I can promise you no screamers, nothing emotionally abusive, no fake posts, and nothing to intentionally trigger dissociation. You are safe here.

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In case anybody sits and wonders about Tali... Yeah, she's still exactly the same. Some things never change. ❤️

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Turned 31 today. Time keeps movin'.

Miss my beautiful little community here all the time! ❤️❤️❤️

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I opened a show yesterday! It's been a long time since I got to perform live in front of people... What a treat it was.

If you're in the Minneapolis area, come check out Islander at Elision Playhouse and enjoy this beautiful show!

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Hi Christine! Have you ever had to deal with working full time while performing in a show on evenings and weekends? I've held a job while being in shows in the past, but they were part-time so a bit less of a time commitment. On days that I have both work and rehearsal, I'll be out of the house from about 8am until 11:30pm (15.5 hour days!!) and I'm just wondering if you have any advice to help keep me from overdoing it and exhausting myself. Thanks!

That sounds absolutely exhausting! Obviously the hours are the hours and that isn't going to change, so I would see if you can find any way to make the day itself smoother or to treat yourself. Perhaps making sure you have lots of yummy snacks, or a little treat between your two jobs as a "made it halfway!!" celebration. And then things to keep you healthy like a big water bottle to get you through the day, because that's a huge marathon day in and day out.

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Hi Christine! I've been doing some work with a virtual theatre company recently as a vocal director, but it's pretty different from work I've done in person. Is there a way to notate that it's virtual on my resume, and is that something I should do? I don't want people to think I have all this experience vocal directing when it's different from how things work in person (although I do have in person experience as well, just not nearly as much as virtual). Thanks!

I would put an asterisk next to the production, and at the bottom of your resume indicate that things with an asterisk are for virtual shows!

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Are you allowed to send in a video for an EPA if you're non-equity? I know in person you would sign up on the unofficial list, but since that's not available for video auditions would it be okay to just send in a video? Or would that be considered spamming/rude? Thank you!!

I personally am a "listen to the directions" person, and would follow whatever the call says. So for an EPA, I'd say non-eq should not submit. But I know a lot of folks would say, why not, what's the worst that can happen! So I don't think there's one firm answer on it.

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Hi! I’m graduating college with a music degree in music education and voice! Normally I have a really great sense of pitch when singing, and always have! In my last semester of classical lessons, ive been consistently flat. Like really badly flat. I can hear that I am flat and I do everything I can to correct it but it just doesn’t work. I’ve been in classical lessons for almost 10 years. Could this be an injury or over-use issue? Have you ever heard of this happening to anyone before?

The voice is an ever changing wonder! Our voices are not "done" at 17, as many will have us believe, because the vocal tract is changing with every year you're alive. It starts to settle somewhat in the mid-20s for women, but things do change. So it could be something changing in the physiology of your voice that you haven't accommodated for yet. It could also be a long term technical issue that is having more repercussions now than when you were younger. Hard to know without working with you, but I'd just stay curious about it and continue to observe the change to see if you can suss out what could be causing it.

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I'm classically trained but love musical theatre and would like to be able to sing in that style, just for my own fun. How do I create that bright, pingy musical theatre sound without putting tension in my throat? I feel like I'm trying to close off the space between my back teeth to make it less resonant, but that's creating lots of problems.

The way I teach belt is very similar to how I teach legit, and in order to achieve that pinginess we work with resonance placement to move the vowel shape in the mouth. So that rounder, more legit sound is going to resonate much farther back generally, whereas the belt sound is going to resonate more towards the teeth. (not nasal.) I have lots of exercises I use with students, but they're not something I really share too much about, because I believe they can be misunderstood or misused, and end up with more throat tension. So I use them under supervision to ensure we maintain the lowered larynx and open throat while executing the sound!

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hello! I was wondering do you do voice lessons over zoom as well or just over skype?

I don't use zoom because of some issues I've heard about from other voice teachers. I do use Skype, Facebook messenger, Google meet, and Discord though!

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Do you have a website?

I do! If you would like the url, I will send it to individuals privately off of anon. Just let me know if youre interested in pursuing voice lessons or are just curious about what I'm up to!

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Hi! As you know there’s online casting call for Christine on Broadway. It’s an open call and I’m wondering why you have to live in the US to be considered? It’s because people from for example Europe don’t have work visa? Or it’s because you have to fly to NYC to audition in person?

The union has incredibly strict requirements for reopening, and travel and housing is definitely one of those strict requirements. Getting people from out of the US would be nearly impossible given union and travel restrictions. I mean, Broadway doesn't even have permission to open again yet, under the union's strict reopening requirements. I would guess this is the reasoning behind the limitation.

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Hello Christine! I passed pre-screening and got into the A1 auditions! They will be virtual and I will be going for an interview and both acting and musical theatre! Do you have any tips for those kinds of cattle call callbacks! I am so honored and grateful! And you always seem so kind and wise and sweet!

Congratulations!  I’m sorry it took so long to reply, it’s been pretty wild in my life these days!  I will still answer it for those who might benefit from it, even though the date may have already passed for you.  

My biggest advice is that you want to pick a pair of pieces that showcase a bit of what you can do with the intention of wanting to get the callback. It’s not about trying to show them everything you are, because that’s too much to ask in 60-90 seconds!  So work for the callback.  

Respect the time limit and DO NOT go over, including your slate.  They often penalize you for going over the time limit, so be strict with yourself and practice your timing.  

Try not to get overwhelmed by the number of people who are going to be involved in cattle call auditions, both people behind the table and other auditioners.  Just view it as your little bit of time to share where you’re at, not a huge competition.  You are worthy and try not to compare yourself to others!  

Other than that, have fun, and break a leg!!

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Hi! I hope you're doing well and that I'm not troubling you w/ a question. As you may have seen POTO Bway put out an online casting call for future Christines. Tbh I suspect I'm not yet ready for a role like that, but I've heard it can be good to audition anyway so the casting team can become familiar with you for future auditions. Should I go ahead and submit an audition, or would it be rude/wasting their time to audition when I know I'm probably not ready & probably won't be considered?

I sort of view it as no harm in trying! It's good experience, and it's not like they're going to penalize you for giving it a shot.

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Hi Christine! Is there any way to get moisture in your mouth when you're on stage for a long time with no opportunity to get water? (When I get nervous my mouth gets super dry anyway so it can get pretty bad.)

Not really, your goal is to stay very hydrated in the time before singing to help mitigate it!

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What do you do when your voice just isn't working and all the things that usually open things up and ground them aren't working? Mine has been like that all week and I'm so frustrated because I was making really good progress.

I try to avoid hitting my head against the wall and just take it one moment at a time. Our bodies are in constant flux, and even just the weather can impact our voices! So if I'm having an off day or even off week, I work on what I can and try not to dwell on things not lining up perfectly. If it persists multiple weeks, that's when I'd pause and try to see if there is something deeper going on.

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How do you recommend I alter the consistency and speed of my vibrato? It's here, in gear, and I can flip in and out of using it. However, I find myself constantly singing straight tone because it's... Not pretty. It goes super fast and can sound thin sometimes, like a trill or 'regular' vibrato at 2x speed. Is there a way to slow my vibrato down?

Vibrato had a natural rate that is unique to the individual. I don't work specifically on vibrato with students, but rather on other things like resonance and laryngeal relaxation which can impact vibrato speed. But I don't recommend trying to approach vibrato speed head on because that can lead to tension and holding to try to make fit into a certain mold.