i met jeff goldblum… and moved to italy!
Yes, you read that right. I met Jeff Goldblum just strolling down the street in beautiful Firenze. I didn’t even notice it was him at first! I was admiring his outfit and thought to myself “what a stylish man”. I looked at his face, he was wearing a black hat and these bulky sunglasses, and thought “wow, he looks like Jeff Goldblum!”. As we continued to walk down the street, I saw the man continuously check his phone and look back.
Oh my god. It actually was JEFF GOLDBLUM.
His eyes were aimed at the store just ahead and I knew my moment was fleeting. I love Jeff Goldblum and his work - from all his iconic movies and his jazz albums! Yes, Jeff Goldblum is also a jazz pianist - doesn’t that just make sense? Here’s one of my favorite songs of his - My Baby Just Cares…
Anyway, back to calming my heart down before meeting Jeff. I told myself “SCARLETT, THIS IS YOUR ONE OPPORTUNITY”. And so as calmly as possible, I crossed the street. Jeff was about to open the door, and just before he did, I said “man, you are so stylish". He promptly turns around and says “why thank you”. The next few minutes were a wonderful conversation. He asked me what I was doing in this beautiful city. Once I told him I was an opera singer, he started singing…
I am not joking - in true Jeff Goldblum fashion - he starting singing the classic 24 Italian Songs & Arias to me. Was I dreaming? I had to take a picture, of course, to memorialize this moment.
me & jeff :)
Of course, as I am taking the picture, he is still singing Caro mio ben. In true Jeff Goldblum fashion.
Then, I told him “You know I truly love all your work, but my favorite thing of yours are your jazz albums”.
Side note: I love opera, but I also truly love music theatre and jazz. In fact, I loved both of those before I loved opera. When I’m not searching for clips for SBC, you can find me listening to jazz 70% of time. Chet Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, Herb Ellis, Julie London to name a few…
Jeff Goldblum: “Really?! Well, I’m having a concert here in a few weeks, you should come! I hope there are still tickets.”
Me: “Here in Firenze?!”
Jeff Goldblum: “Yeah… on the 20th or something *proceeds to open his phone and show me the promo poster from Instagram* Look here!”
Me: “This was fate!!”
We parted ways shortly after, but god I was so giddy and excited! Especially since it was the start of my birthday week so I felt like the universe was like “here you go”!
I’ll be at the concert this week :)
All in all to say, I’ve moved to the beautiful historic city of FLORENCE!
I am so lucky to be living in such a gorgeous city. Ever since I was little, I wanted to live in New York City - mostly because it’s walkable, has good food, and so many things to do and see. But now I’m in Italy, and that is even better - truly a dream come true.
Of course, Italy has it’s negatives (dealing with the Italian bureaucracy has taken some years off my life…) but so does every place. On top of it all, I am so lucky to be with a partner that is so talented to have gotten a job in this city. Garrett Evers, my fiancé and tenor, has joined the studio at Mascarade Opera! We’re here for at least a year… maybe two. I’m looking forward to seeing all of Garrett’s growth in the near future!
Ms. Lucia di Lammermeow
We also brought our kitty, Ms. Lucia di Lammermeow! She was an angel on the plane and if anyone has questions on how to get your cat from the USA to Italy, I’d be more than happy to answer.
Moving to Italy has been a true whirlwind, but now that it’s been a few weeks, I’m starting to feel more settled. I’m excited for what’s to come. I’ll update you on the concert!
xoxo
