The soap OPERA was so long ago - the thing about soap operas, and there's SOMETHING to be said for doing it, but you do a script a day. I don't want to say it's a TRAINING ground; it really isn't, but what it does teach you is discipline.

Professionally, I did a COUPLE of operas when I was in SCHOOL, when I was 18.

What is the source of power of MUSICIANS who are financially browbeaten, most of whom WORK for minimum wage or LESS? Musicians who cannot even AFFORD to buy tickets to operas or concerts in which they themselves perform?

Soap operas were my FIRST PROFESSIONAL experiences, and I always knew I was eager to EXPLORE a LOT more WORK in a lot more arenas.

To be honest, I've never been a HUGE fan of AMERICAN SOAP operas. I grew up Spanish, so I grew up watching a lot of novellas.

I WATCHED a LOT of SOAP operas, when I was GROWING up, and a lot of those GREAT serialized soap dramas.

Operas elucidate, in a WAY SOMETIMES absent in other theatrical productions, the very human fact that in every hero, there is a THREAD of duplicity. In every villain, there is another SIDE to consider: We don't have to LIKE him or her, but we are compelled to think about motivation.

My GREATEST influence came from my PARENTS' love of classical music. We LISTENED to a LOT of arias and operas GROWING up.