The Secret Remedies Opera Singers Use to Avoid Getting a Cold
Isabel Leonard, who plays Rosina in “The Barber of Seville” (opening this week), swears by Yogi Throat Comfort tea. “If you ask any singer, they all know about it,” she said, “It has soothing ingredients like licorice, fennel, and slippery elm.” (Slippery elm comes from the inner bark of the tree.) She recommends adding fresh lemon juice and honey—just make sure to add the honey after the scalding water has cooled down . . .
“We rely so much on our voice and are so tuned into every detail that when one little thing is off, we can really feel it,” Leonard said, and a cold can “remind [us] of how fragile we are and how out of our control so many things become.” During one performance, she pushed through the first half of a show with a sore throat, but she could feel her voice disappearing. “It’s a horrible feeling. I alerted the theater and my cover towards the end of act one and said ‘I won’t be able to finish.’ It gave everyone enough time to get themselves organized and then at intermission, I cried myself home in a taxi. Life happens.”
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