Singing for my supper

This has been so much fun - the entries are really a hoot. Funny if you're only passingly familiar with the stories, and even funnier when you know them well (or have sung them!). Great stuff. The prize list is growing all the time, so I encourage everybody to have a look and a try, if only for a giggle! For those not familiar with twitter, to find the summaries go to www.twitter.com search the hashtag #operaplot (include the # symbol in your search). Here are some of the ones I submitted - I'll leave you to figure out which operas they are (comments welcome!): Druid love triangle goes up in flames while secret squeeze runs off with the kids. (this one was actually quoted in an LA Times article yesterday , which was kind of fun!) SWM seeks doll, sick singer, adventurous lady & bi-curious violinist for raving and poetry. No medics, please. Wedding bells for single-mother acquitted in baby-drowning scandal. Breaking News: mom pimps teen to get a head. Authority figures ...

I generally avoid discussing politics in public, having taken to heart sage advice given to me as a student that the three things you should never talk about on the job are politics, religion and vocal technique. Well, I've never managed to keep my mouth entirely shut about the latter, and apparently I'm now going for a two-out-of-three failure rate, but so much is going on that I'm finding it impossible to keep stumm. Even as the US government was threatening shutdown of its own, there was news again this past week of more opera companies suspending seasons, and symphonies filing for bankruptcy; in the UK, eyebrows were being raised over the recent Arts Council of England cuts . All of which has resulted in a great deal of activity in the press and blogosphere which needs to be shared and rather than paraphrase, I'm taking the liberty of linking to some of these articles and interviews. Much food for thought. From the Guardian Stage blog: Why do some theatre cr...