TDO: I hear you’re from Alaska.

VG: “Fairbanks, Alaska, born and raised.”

TDO: Do you still call that home?

VG: “Yeah. It’s still my home - my family lives there. My husband is Italian so I live also in Italy near Venice. I’m kind of covering all time zones. It was a great place to grow up, we had a lot of culture and we had a lot of arts and participation in the arts for the community; so that’s where I got my start.”

TDO: So, you are married, do you have children?

VG: “No, no kids. My husband has kids so I have step-kids.”

TDO: Well that’s nice, they’re not yours so…

(She laughs as if she knows exactly what I’m talking about.)

TDO: How about hobbies? Do you have time for hobbies?

VG: “Not too much. I took Donato (Donato DiStefano - Doctor Bartolo) out to an electronics store yesterday because - actually electronics are, kind of, my hobby because I travel so much that electronics are usually the lightest way of carrying a lot of material with me. So, I have all of my scores and stuff most of the time on my computer. I’ve got over 400 gigabytes that I travel with! Other than that, I bought a little computer game that I plan to play in January… if all goes well.”

TDO: Well, that will give you plenty of time to prepare. For entertainment, when you have time off, do you just enjoy having time alone?

VG: “Yes, I do like having my time alone. My mom used to travel with me and when she finally couldn’t travel with me anymore, I was wondering how that was going to be, traveling by myself all of the time - if I was going to react well to that. Actually, I look forward to going back on the road and having my apartment to myself and just being able to do what I want to do when I want to do it. I try to study quite a bit so, I’ve got a lot of new material this year; five new roles and two new concerts of material. So, that’s basically what I do. I bury my head in my scores as much as possible. And then when I’m not, then… I don’t know… the days just seem to go by very fast.”

(There’s a momentary pause and a far-away look in her eyes.)

TDO: Do you enjoy being in Dallas?

(I said it as if she could deny.)

VG: “I do, I love Dallas. I was so happy to be asked back because, especially the last time that I was here for Cinderella, I had a really good time. My dad came down, he’s coming down this time also, and people were so friendly. I love driving around and there are some really neat stores. My husband was happy that I was coming back because I bought him a suede western shirt last time I was here and he said, ‘You’ve got to go back and get another one; I love it.’”

(As a native Texan, I roll my eyes. She laughs.)

TDO: I heard through the grapevine that you did a cameo appearance in a movie?

VG: “Yeah, that’s right. It’s already filmed and I’ve gotten word from the director that it’s in, I’m in the movie!

(She sits up, obviously excited.)

VG: “It’s called Fracture and it debuts on the 27th of April.”

TDO: How did you feel about your role?

VG: “It was so exciting! It’s only going to be about thirty seconds of screen time but when I was in L.A., I asked a friend of mine if there would be any way of getting to see how they film a movie because, you know, I’m interested in different kinds of concentration. I watch a lot of skiing, skating, tennis… snooker. I love snooker!”

TDO: Snooker?

VG: “Snooker is like pool but it’s a different configuration of balls - it’s big in the U.K.”

(My face shows that I’m still uncertain.)

VG: “Oh, it’s so cool, they’re so talented. That kind of concentration is amazing! Just seeing how everybody has different concentration methods and how long you have to stay in the zone, I mean, for an opera singer you get in for about three and a half hours or so and the concentration… if you’re an ice skater, you’ve got to really get it in four minutes; if you’re a ski racer, you’ve got to get it in a minute-thirty. And so for filming, I had heard that they work for about sixteen hours a day or so and I just wanted to know how they turn that on and off. I wanted the chance to see it. I never had any idea that I would be asked to do anything for the film, so that was icing on the cake.”

TDO: Was it difficult, did they have to do multiple takes?

VG: “It was really wearing physically, because you’re standing there for a long time and just doing the same scene over and over so they can get different angles on it.”

TDO: Did you have to sing the whole piece all the way through?

VG: “Well, no, I just did the di capo because it was a really long aria and they weren’t going to use that much of it. I just did the di capo with some simple ornaments.”

(I had done my research on the movie so this was my chance to catch her off-guard.)

TDO: Did you get to meet Anthony Hopkins?

(She explodes back in her chair with disappointment.)

VG: “I didn’t get to meet Anthony Hopkins, he was filming the day before! He wasn’t in the scene that I was in but I did get to meet Rosemary Pike and also… um… oh what’s his name; he was in The Notebook…”

TDO: Ryan Gosling.

VG: “Ryan Gosling! I got to meet Ryan Gossin! We were all in the makeup trailer together.”

TDO: No gossip about those two?

VG: “No, I wasn’t around long enough to get any gossip.”

(We both sigh.)

TDO: Well, thank you so much for the opportunity to get to know you a little better. We at The Dallas Opera (and our subscribers) look forward to being amazed by your talent and stage presence once again.