Remarkable Rosalind Plowright ....."ageism"...let's abandon it before we die !!!..ha ha haaaa !!!!

Does it bother you as much as me, when I suggest a singer to a management for a specific operatic role, and they negatively reply about their age ?? Yes ? I'm so fed up with this attitude, especially when I know that many promising careers have come to an abrupt halt because the singer was propelled into a role ...TOO SOON....and of course there's the opposite ....being juuust too late...for me it depends on the intensity and persuasive interpretation of the individual artist. If I attend a performance and am 'carried away' from reality into a euphoric state, in which I'm unaware of the lighting, direction, design, etc. the age of the performer is irrelevant. The most important factor as far as I'm concerned, is that the artist can spellbind us with a 'realistic' performance, transforming themself convincingly into the character they're playing.... in my late twenties I played a young heroine one evening, and two days later, I was an elderly 'Marcellina' in "Le Nozze di Figaro". Friends who attended the first performance came to see me afterwards,as usual, but not after the "Figaro" - so I presumed they didn't think much of my portrayal of 'Marcellina'. When I 'phoned them and asked if they'd enjoyed the "Figaro" production they were most complimentary about the evening. "But you didn't come backstage to see me afterwards, as usual". "We hadn't a programme, and didn't realise you were in the show !" - pausa - " I was the old 'Marcellina' - you didn't recognise my voice either?!!" Big guffaws of laughter all round - what a little makeup can do ..!! If you'd like to see a real live charismatic 'ageless' Diva, look up the remarkable Rosalind Plowright, O.B.E., in her Facebook Fan Club page ...especially the photo gallery ..I was there for her sensational "Prioress" in "Les Dialogue des Carmelites" at Stuttgart Opera recently - and believe me , she IS a LIVING LEGEND, and thoroughly acclaimed by her ecstatic audiences ...she is the youngest in sound of 'over sixty' singers I know ...toi toi toi Rosalind...her charming husband, Tony Kaye, none more experienced 'in the business' than he, asked me at a breathing session with Rosalind, when we were 'breathing in' a role, "Excuse me Anna - is this all you do to enable Rosalind to sing the way she does ?" -meaning the simple physical movements, etc. "Yes Tony" - " Good Lord, we must make a dvd of it, or no one will know how to do it when you're dead !!"... hysterical laughter all round ...I'm still chuckling about it ..ha h ha...so, Dear Readers...k..p b.......g ...and laughing ...