Gritty Opera

I dreamed that my friend Beth* and I were discussing casting an opera (in real life, she works in opera), as though we were coworkers. We were talking about getting this person named Pam* (who is one of my current coworkers, a librarian) who I thought would be more "authentic." We were comparing Pam's performance in, I think, Aida, with what she might be in Carmen. I thought that since she had lots of tattoos and sometimes shot up with heroin (totally not true of coworker!!!!) on the stage (!!!) that she was more authentic than the person Beth was considering. She were arguing that we should hire someone else because, after all, why else are they trained as actors?

As we were discussing Pam's attributes in a role, we would see a replay of her performance in that role, like a montage summary. There was one scene in which she was singing in an opera (not sure which now), looking like a total junkie, crouching at the corner of the stage smoking a cigarette and handling a crack pipe or something. I was pointing to this example as one reason that Pam should be in this opera, for her authentic gritty qualities.

*Not their real names.