And it was a much better one as well.
Thank you for your words of encouragement and support in the comments (and a few worried personal emails) - it all helps a lot. Luckily however, today was a much brighter, easier day. Maybe I really did just need to make some rain so I could find a rainbow.
I had a lovely rehearsal with the conductor this morning (I brought him a bar of chocolate to thank him for being so nice with me yesterday), followed by a staging rehearsal where they actually let me wear my costume and wig so that I could practice how it all felt during some of the trickier staging moments. I reconfigured the staging a little during part of my aria that was troubling me and it worked much better, and I even almost finished figuring out that cadenza I need to add into the second act. Then while I was having lunch in the cafeteria, I was introduced to the man who will direct Agrippina - the show I will sing here at the Staatsoper in the winter, who was just in town for meetings about the opera, and was very happy to get a look at me as he plans his production so he knows what he has to work with. I was sitting at the lunch table about to shove a sandwich down my throat when the director introduced himself to me, and asked whether I would mind meeting the costume designer, Christian Lacroix. I said of course I would love to meet Christian Lacroix, being that he is a famous fashion designer and I LOVE FASHION! As the director walked away, the singer I was sitting with said to me excitedly, "Chistian Lacroix?? I was going to wear a shirt by him just today - I was this close!!" When I met him, he was so delightfully self deprecating and sweet that I couldn't believe he was the same famous designer whose name I had heard all these years. But he was - and it was funny to have a famous fashion icon look me up and down and assess my body because he's going to make clothes just for me!! Luckily, he seemed pleased with what he had to work with (I can do boy with this body - that at least I know) and he mentioned something about tight jeans tucked into boots, which sounds awesome to me!! I think in my zealousness to meet him I might have also told him I would cut my hair for the production. I'm usually adventuresome and don't mind doing crazy things like that for the right moment, but who knows if I'm going to regret that decision later!
The day ended with a trip to the Sony Center, where they play all the american movies undubbed and without subtitles even, where I got to see the new Quentin Tarantino flick. All in all, not a bad day. Not bad at all.