Thanks for sympathizing with my pain- I've decided I'm just going to be the best Ottavio I can be, and pretend that he's just tripping balls for this particular production.
This guy is very much a Regietheater director, and Regietheater- like the flu and other afflictions- has to be endured until it passes. However, I now know to not audition for any productions where he will be the stage director...
And if he asks me to do something like masturbate onstage while singing il Mio Tesoro or something like that (this has happened to a colleague of mine with 'Regietheater' directors) he's going to be a very, very sad panda.