Taking 5 with Rachelle Durkin

I never listened to classical music growing up. My sisters and I were much more interested in watching MTV or Countdown, and I was obsessed with Madonna, Michael Jackson and Kylie Minogue. I always sang into a hairbrush though, and every Christmas we would put on a ‘Christmas variety show’, complete with comic sketches, singing, and dancing. Our entire extended family got involved and it was really quite something. We all had a great time and it brought our families closer together. 

Around 12 years old, I joined the Johnny Young Talent School, and when I was 15, I joined the Tivoli Theatre ensemble in Applecross, Perth. The company put on a fully staged variety show every Friday night. I was often given solos, in particular songs by Judy Garland, but it was mostly an ensemble show performing Musical Theatre standards.

I had a brand new teacher, a new perspective on classical music and I was determined to figure out this new vocal technique. By the end of the year, I discovered a real love for classical music and Opera, and I wanted to keep pursuing my dream of performing. I ended up with a Diploma of Performing Arts and a Bachelor of Music in voice.

Yes, I do actually! I like to get up the morning of the performance at around 8am, have breakfast, and then have a little walk around the block. Nothing too strenuous, but I like to get some sunshine if I can. I’ll have a nap from 1-3pm, wake up and do some vocal warmups. I may sing some arias in just to get the voice moving also, but I don’t warm up too much. After this, I’ll make a carb-filled meal for around 4pm, depending on when I step foot on stage. Singing on a really full stomach gives me reflux, which is why I eat so early. In the theatre, I usually have a cup of hot water and I’ll put a heaped tablespoon of honey in it just to keep my sugar up. I always take a piece of fruit with me too, just in case it’s a long night and I get hungry.

Wow, where do I start?! I’m reluctant to tell people this. I’m really not sure why I feel ashamed in some way, but I ended up with COVID-19. It was at the end of March here in Washington Heights, Manhattan. Initially, Major De Blasio told us that masks were only necessary for people who felt ill, and so we carried on with our daily tasks without one. I remember I was quite reluctant going on a play date for my five-year-old which I had organised the week before, but we had very little information to go on at that stage and so we went. When we met up, the other mother complained of a dry persistent cough. She told me she had no other symptoms or fever, but alarm bells went off when she told me her doctor said she had neither the flu nor strep throat. As I said, this was all new, and information would slowly filter in on the news here.  

A few days later, after feeling nauseous, I suddenly came down with high fever. I remember sitting on the couch next to my husband and I turned to him and said ‘I have this! I just know it!’ Right away, I separated myself from my husband and son, put on gloves and a mask, and kept away from them for two weeks. What was to come was just awful. A headache from hell and terrible pain which seemed to permeate from within my bones. I remember waking up in the middle of the night for three nights in a row in severe pain and crying. Nothing could make it stop. Once those three days passed, I just felt weak and I barely got out of bed. Then out of nowhere, I lost all taste and smell. This was the oddest thing that had ever happened to me and it worried me more than the pain. It took a good three weeks for me to gain my senses back. In May, I was antibody tested. I was positive for antibodies, but my son and husband were negative.

April and May was quite surreal here in NYC. We live on Broadway next to two hospitals and so we would hear ambulances tear down the street nearly every five minutes. Sadly, we all knew what that meant at the time. At 7pm every night we would applaud the essential workers. This small action seemed huge for all of those people who put they own lives in danger. Hearing people banging pots and pans, clapping, beeping horns or yelling, made us all feel less alone.  

Thank god for Governor Cuomo! He was a real lifeline to all of us, and his words were full of hope, unlike others. The curve had just started to come down, the lockdown was working, then suddenly the murder of George Floyd happened. We all couldn’t believe that something like this could happen again. People were angry, fed up and had had enough. Then the riots happened. We had a curfew here in NYC for 8pm and so we were all shut in…again!! Nothing bad ever happened in our neighbourhood though, and from what we saw, there were only peaceful protests. I actually wished I could go to some, but I was concerned about the virus. I understood all the anger though and I wanted to share in that.

New York has certainly put us through the wringer these past six months, but I have hopes that she’ll get back on her feet again and keep her title as one of the best cities in the world.

For me, there’s nothing better than watching a live musical performance. Opera however, is a force unto itself. There’s no vocal or orchestral amplification at all, and so what you get is music in its purest and most unadulterated form. Add to that a glorious storyline, a magical stage set, an accomplished conductor, a fearless director and an imaginative lighting designer, and you’re in for quite the sensory overload. If you’ve never been to an opera, you should make yourself go at least once. You might just end up loving it as much as I did.