The Bodice Ripper Project is back for another season! You’ll hear more stories, more of Maren’s musings, as well as some interviews with other creatives about how they rip their bodices…metaphorically, of course.
In this episode, Maren reads the only chapter she ever wrote during a production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, to whet your appetite for what’s to come.
The music played during this episode:
- Excerpts from a public domain version of the overture to Mozart’s The Magic Flute
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Transcript
(orchestra tuning)
Hello and welcome to The Bodice Ripper Project, an exploration of sexuality, feminism, and the journey to self-empowerment through the lens of romance novels.
I’m Maren Montalbano, opera singer, coach, and writer.
In this episode, you’ll hear a single chapter that I wrote during a production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. I will also talk a bit about what to expect for Season 2 of this podcast.
So make yourself comfortable, loosen your bodice, and let’s begin!
(intro music plays)
Well, hello and happy new year. It’s so wonderful to be back with you once again, in this podcast space, just you and me.
If you are just joining us, welcome. If you are a returning listener, I am so happy that you have come back. I’m just really delighted that you’ve pressed play and we can have this time together.
I’m going to keep this one short. As I was planning season two, I realized that I was putting together a bunch of interviews and I will talk a little bit about that later, but I was so focused on the interviews that I forgot to record a bunch of the stories.
And I realized that I had planned for my very first episode back to be an interview. And I realized that wasn’t right. I didn’t have something short enough that would fit into just one episode, except for this one story, which I wrote during a production of The Magic Flute.
In this opera, the chorus actually does have a lot of downtime. It’s a pretty long opera. Audiences love it. It’s got some really beautiful music and it’s got some really boring music in it too, actually. Singers tend to loathe it, particularly sopranos, for some reason. But I actually really love the story. It’s full of fantasy, adventure, mystery, mysticism. And it has the trappings of a morality play.
But anyway, in this production, I actually spent a lot of time on stage even while I wasn’t singing. So I didn’t have a lot of time to write. And plus, for some reason, I don’t think I was very inspired. So the only thing I have from that production is just this one scene, which I clearly had meant to develop into something else.
But it actually turns out to be perfect. Because I just wanted to give you a little bon-bon for the new year. This is something to whet your appetite for what’s to come.
Without further ado, let’s get on with the story.
A Bewitching Flute
It was Midsummer’s Eve, and the full moon shone with silvery softness on Lord Sarastro’s palatial garden labyrinth. The sounds of laughter trickled through the trees and shrubs like birdcalls on the first day of spring.
Maddelein Brüning, third chambermaid in Lord Sarastro’s household, ran down the path. She stopped at a fountain in the middle of the clearing, ample breasts heaving as she looked around.
Karl, the handsy gardener, had been chasing her and the other maids around the maze all night long while the guests celebrated only a few yards away, at the entrance to the garden. Maddelein wouldn’t have been running so fast if she had wanted Karl to actually catch her, but all the maids agreed that the odor of bratwurst and sauerkraut that surrounded him at all times made it impossible for anyone to get within a three-foot radius of him.
She peeked into the darkness down the path she had just traveled. Not a creature stirred, and she sighed in relief.
She turned to the fountain and dipped her alabaster fingers into the watery coolness, cupping her hands and scooping up a bit to drink. Her ruby lips sipped, and she closed her eyes in pleasure as she slaked her thirst.
If only another had been chasing her, she mused. One of the guests at the party, who she had seen getting ready for some strange Masonic ritual, had sparked her interest.
Maddelein sat down at the base of the fountain, remembering wistfully the way the torchlight had reflected off that man’s chiseled muscles. Now her heart was beating more furiously, and not from the exertion of running. He had removed his trousers before he had donned the priest robe he had been given! The memory of those firm legs made her shiver and burn at the same time.
Suddenly, she heard a rustling from the hedge behind her. She scrambled to run, but in her haste to get back up, she tripped on her skirt and landed, face first, in front of two well-polished boots. Mortified, she slowly rose, noticing that the legs above those boots were bare…it was him!
“My pardon, fräulein.” His voice was deep and rich as he reached down to help her up. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
She took her time getting to her feet, her eyes traveling every inch of his body on the way up. “No, it is I who should apologize.”
He kept his strong arms around her a few seconds longer than he ought to, which she did not mind in the least.
And I will leave it there.
Join me next episode, in which I interview romance novelist Susan Scott Shelley.
I wasn’t happy for a long time in my job, because I felt like it wasn’t making a difference and it didn’t feel authentic and it didn’t feed my soul. And I reached a point where outside events were happening, and I was just like, I need something that feeds me and feels better.
And then the opportunity came. It came in a way I did not see at all.
I’m super excited about kicking off my interview series with Susan. She is an amazing woman, a stellar writer, and just plain down to earth. We talk about sports, romance, and what it’s like to find and follow your passion.
I have a bunch of interviews lined up. They are all with amazing, creative people who are all, in their own way, ripping off their bodices to let their true selves out. Obviously I mean this metaphorically. They are true creatives who have a passion burning inside them and they have pulled away, those restrictions, those fears, that are holding themselves back, and they’re really letting themselves out.
And I wanted to share these stories with you because I really think that this is a part of the Bodice Ripper Project. This is the exploration part, the journey to self-empowerment. I feel like all of us have this passion inside of us. And if we can really tap into that, tap into the passion, our creativity, intuition, whatever you want to call it, and not let our fears get in the way, we can really step into our power. And you know what? The world needs us to do this. So this is one of the reasons why I’m sharing this with you, so that you will be inspired. So that you can take your step into letting your true self out.
These interviews are going to be alternating every other week. So you’ll still get your stories, I promise. And especially with Susan, I’m going to be reading some excerpts from her romance novels, which are very steamy.
And I would love to hear what you think about these interviews and if there are other people that you want to hear from or hear about, or if you have a story to share, I would love to hear about that too. Please reach out to me on Instagram. I’m @supermaren, S U P E R M A R E N. That’s the easiest way to get a hold of me.
And of course, don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter, which you can find if you go to bodiceripperproject.com. You can just sign up right there. Either way. I definitely want to hear from you. Let me know what your favorite parts are. Let me know what I can change and improve upon.
I’m here to have a conversation with you. And I’m so happy for season two to start.
The Bodice Ripper Project is a production of Compassionate Creative, and was conceived, written, and edited by me, Maren Montalbano. The background music during the story was excerpts from a public domain version of the overture to Mozart’s The Magic Flute – and the theme music was also written by yours truly. If you liked what you heard, I invite you to give this podcast a 5-star rating – you think it doesn’t make a difference, but it does! – and I’ll see you next time.