This appeared in a local Providence, RI newspaper. By Channing Gray, Journal-Bulletin Arts Writer
After plugging away at an opera career for the past decade, Rhode Island soprano Diane Alexander is trying her luck with Broadway. And the decision seems to be paying off.
Alexander headed off to San Francisco this summer where she is appearing in the city's long-running production of The Phantom of the Opera. The 33-year-old singer has signed a one-year contract for the part of diva Carlotta Giudicelli and is singing eight shows a week - a grueling undertaking that has taken some getting used to.
"I feel like a sprinter running in a marathon," she said on the phone from her flat overlooking Golden Gate Park.
"In opera you sing for three hours and get a couple days off. With this, it's eight shows a week forever."
Alexander said it took a while to get used to singing with a body mike and parading around the stage of the 1,700-seat Curran Theater in an 85-pound costume. She, in fact, done six different outfits - all custom tailored for her at a cost of $100,000 - during the course of the show.
The Rhode Island College graduate has also had to learn to pace herself. While she is not on stage as much as the other female lead, Christine, her part is more demanding, with scads of high Cs to negotiate.
"I actually sat down and counted the high notes to try and figure out how I was going to get through the part."
It's not as though she had a lot of time to prepare for the role, either.
Alexander hears about an opening in Phantom through friends in San Francisco, where she has sung often in recent seasons, and contacted the casting people in New York. That resulted in an audition on the New York set of the Andrew Lloyd Webber mega-hit with director Hal Prince.
"He was great," said Alexander of the stage legend. The minute I started singing, he said I don't need to hear anymore. You're perfect for the part."
Withing two weeks, after saying goodbye to her contractor husband, Derwood Lesh, and shipping her car to California, Alexander found herself in rehearsals. The show opened two years ago at the Curran, making it San Francisco's longest running musical. But before she got a chance to work with the cast, the out-going Carlotta called in sick and Alexander had to step in on a moment's notice.
"I went on on a Thursday and the next day was my dress rehearsal. I hadn't gotten used to the costume, hadn't gotten used to the mike."
Still, her unexpected debut was "very exciting."
Now almost two months later, the excitement seems to have faded. Alexander said her nights are spent at the theater, her days spent working out in the gym to keep up her strength. She avoids long phone calls so as not to overtax her voice, and watches what she eats so she can continue to slip into her snug-fitting costumes each night.
"It's a total change in lifestyl," she said. "But it's a job, and it's steady."
Alexander has sung with many local groups over the years, including the Rhode Island Civic Chorale, and has begun to land roles with regional opera companies in Colorado, Arizona and Minnesota. But a lot of those jobs, which she lined up through a New York manager, are booked a couple years from now. With nothing lined up for the immediate future, Alexander said she needed a "filler" and decided to try her hand at Broadway.
"I'm a singer, so why not work as a singer?"
She concedes that in some circles, her stint with a musical, even one as popular as Phantom, might be looked down upon. But she doesn't seem to care much.
"Some snooty opera people might feel that way, but will they pay my bills?"
On the other hand, a successful run in Phantom might just lead to a big career on Broadway.
"It's another route," said Alexander. "Where it will lead, I'll just have to play that by ear."
