I’ve been in San Francisco for a little over a week now. It’s really my first time being in this city since I was a boy so I consider it my first time being here and I honestly can’t remember much of what I saw or did when I was here the first time save climbing the hills and the street cars.

The last week has been an intensive week of rehearsals near the theater and incredibly exciting. I get the wonderful pleasure to sing with a dear friend Elizabeth de Shong, with whom I also performed Lucrezia Borgia in London earlier this year. It’s been nice to start working with colleagues that I know personally.

Aside from my rehearsals, I’ve tried to take the opportunity to walk around and start to get to know various neighborhoods. Well, walking in San Francisco is not walking in New York. It’s a workout to go one mile east to west or wherever. For instance, my own gym is in the financial district and the theater and rehearsal space in what I think is Hayes Valley…a good mile apart, maybe more. It’s easy to take public transport. But I’ve been doing the walk back and forth nearly every day, just going down different streets and learning the city map. It’s been a lot of fun. What’s not been a lot of fun is the surprisingly cold weather in September!!!

In any case, I’m looking forward to exploring the city more once my production gets off the ground and I have a few days in between performances.