Singer
Adria Firestone has been onstage since she was 10. Her first performances were in musical theater, opera and straight theater.
After a 25+ year international career, her music serves her message and illuminates her speaking engagements.
Now Adria delights in cabaret where she is able to share the stories of her rich life experience and enjoy the music, languages and colors of unique programs she creates from the world of contemporary works, classic art song, music theater, world music. Each cabaret goes beyond entertainment into a profoundly moving theatrical experience.
– New York Opera Newsletter, Vol.19 No.10, October 1998
Why do I stay in the Ring? When asked the same thing by a friend recently, I was shocked by my own answer – I felt safe, no one could hurt me on stage. I had my four walls around me, and I was free to create characters and be loved for my intensity – for the very things that made me an outcast in life.
What a stunning revelation to come to New York 13 years ago, starve for the first 6 months, literally, and follow a chimera that cares nothing for the heart of the individual who is possessed by art. I could have stayed in Florida and remained a big fish in a little pond, but I wanted more. I wanted the international circuit. After years of sacrifice of every type, all of the elements have come together and I have attained a high level of performance virtuosity, professionalism, and very important to me, respect in the business.
But what do I have in return? Until this year, I have been in debt, always pouring my resources back into the business, and a nomad. Yes, I have travelled the world, my ears ringing with applause … so what? What does it really mean? Those fabled “people in the dark” from Sunset Boulevard – “Do they know who I am, do they care?” The answer is no. Not a no resonant with bitter cynicism, but a no that goes beyond illusion. Perhaps now, and only now that my journey has taken me to a place where I create because I must, because it pleases me, because perhaps one person may be touched by the magic I create, can I begin to be worthy of the tile Artist. Applause is not love, the rehearsal, the creation of art is love. It is love that is capable of transforming our very souls.
