Life after Artscape

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - Well friends, Artscape has come and gone and what a fantastic experience it was! Opera Vivente's production of Trouble in Tahiti played to two very enthusiastic audiences on Sunday. The cast outdid itself, moving the audiences to respond with vociferous applause. Many patrons had not heard of Opera Vivente before but were so impressed by our work that they plan on becoming subscribers to our regular season. The staff at MICA were great and expressed their hope that we would be back AND Randy Vega of the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts was very impressed as well, so hopefully this will be only the first of many visits to Artscape.

This week, I'm embroiled in crunch time for the Little Patuxent Opera Institute which will present its program of operatic scenes and arias this Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30. This intrepid band of (mostly) amateur singers is looking a little shell-shocked at the momen, but everyone is working very hard, so I have high hopes that they will all find reserves of energy that they didn't know they had. It's good for them to experience the intensity of a "production week". Like the old adage says: That which does not kill us makes us stronger.

At Opera Vivente, the design elements of Alcina are crystallizing. The production meeting last week was very exciting. Milagros Ponce de Leon has come up with a set design that blends the vibrant patterns of Op-Art with an ever-changing translucent skyscape that lighting designer A. J. Guban is chomping at the bit to fill with the psychedelic colors of the 1960s; you know - tangerine, lemon, chartreuse. Costume designer Debra Sivigny is working with a visual metaphor of sheer fabrics in vibrant colors to characterize the fluid, ephemeral, sensuous world of Alcina's island dwelling love-slaves. All in all, Alcina promises to be one "groovy trip". Put on your bell-bottoms and fringe vests, hop aboard your own personal "yellow submarine" and "drop out, tune in, turn on" at the opera.

With Alcina well in hand, I've been able to turn my attention to the next show in the season: Tobias and the Angel. This North American premier is, to quote Posh Beckham, "major". Incandescently beautiful music, incredibly moving story, and featuring the incomparable counter-tenor David Walker as the Angel, this opera incorporates singers (both professional and amateur, adult and children), dancers, instrumentalists, and audience members into an extraordinary communal experience. This is the largest thing attempted by Opera Vivente to date; consequently I alternate between extreme excitement and abject terror. Don't worry, the extreme excitement is increasingly replacing the abject terror. It will definitely be a noteworthy experience and will bring national (and possibly even international attention) to Opera Vivente, to Emmanuel Episcopal Church (the venue for the production), and to Baltimore's cultural scene. The composer of this fantastic piece, Jonathan Dove, will be in Baltimore for the final performance on Sunday, March 2, 2008 to speak about his music. Once again: "Major".

Well, that's it for now. I'm off to polish the Little Patuxent Opera Institute folks some more. I wish all our readers, patrons, and friends a relaxing, safe, and "cool" rest of July.

See you at the opera - John Bowen

Prep for Artscape begins

Monday - July 16, 2007
Hello everyone. The days since my last post have been rather unexpectedly hectic and further complicated by a slight stomach virus which has pretty much made me not feel like doing anything. But - as the saying goes - THE SHOW MUST GO ON! And speaking of the show going on I've recently been reminded of how this is often the hardest thing for amateur musicians to understand. Having had two rehearsals with the students of The Little Patuxent Opera Institute, I was struck by for the most part a lack of what one might call "the performing imperative". That sense that ultimately the problems that a performer might face (physical, professional, romantic, financial, familial) are irrelevant to the people who will "consume your product". Audience members come expecting a good, well-prepared, well-executed, entertaining evening of theatre. DON'T DISAPPOINT THEM! No matter what you have to go through to get to that goal, you do it. Professionals know this, but amateurs often don't. Thus, while there are certainly some great things about working with amateurs (see my last post), there are some not so great things as well.

Opera Vivente has also had a board meeting since the last post, at which we officially welcomed two new directors (Kristen Krzyzewski and Nicole Ashe) and a returning director (Karen Pekala). We also elected new officers: Ena Pierce - president, Kathy Kahler Lambrow - treasurer, and Karen Pekala - secretary. The meeting was characterized by great energy and determination to make our 10th season a true benchmark in the life of the organization and to ride the momentum of the past three highly successful seasons to a new level of achievement for the organization. So, many thanks to all my board members for such an exciting and positive meeting.

This week marks the beginning of rehearsals for Trouble in Tahiti. We'll start tomorrow with some purely musical rehearsals which should be smooth sailing since all the cast have done their roles before, then launch into some pretty intense staging rehearsals on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Although this piece is less than an hour long, the action shifts to no less than five different locations. That coupled with the performance venue's rather small stage and limited wing space (that's the space just off the mainstage on either the right or the left) means that each of the locations has to be finely etched with a minimum of furniture and props, and that the cast has to be very clear in their acting as to whether they are in a private, public, or social part of their particular world. The singers who make up the Trio (Bernstein's modern jazz inspired take on the ancient tradition of a Greek Chorus, i.e. a group of individuals who comment on the main action without actually getting involved in it) have to be particularly adept at switching gears as they portray a variety of individuals such as Sam's secretary Ms. Brown, Dinah's nameless psychiatrist, Sam's handball partner Bob, and a group of radio jingle-mongers. Oh, and did I mention that there's frequently precious little time for any significant costume change? Of course, the sort of creative thinking and collaboration that these kinds of issues inspire is for me the very essence of the peculiar fix that opera provides for those who create it. Which reminds me that a friend from my grad school days used to say that the arts were more a particular form of mental illness than a profession. Maybe I should see if Dinah's psychiatrist can squeeze me in. Just kidding.

Anyway, I'm totally jazzed (pun intended) to be working on this fantastic piece with a group of such talented performers. The cast is as follows: Dinah - Jennifer Blades, Sam - Will Heim, The Trio - Michelle Seipel, Joseph Regan, Brian Pettey. They'll all be expertly accompanied at the piano by the nimble fingers of Jonathan Moyer. Performances are at 2pm and 5pm on Sunday, July 22nd at the Brown Center on Mt. Royal Avenue. That's the building that looks a little like the gigantic quartz crystal cave in which Superman discovered his true identity. It's one of the few things at Artscape that's indoors so if you want to escape the heat (or severe thunderstorms) AND be highly entertained for an hour, we'd love to see you in our audience.

Ciao for now! - John Bowen

The Inaugural Posting of Opera Vivente's Blog

Hello Opera Aficionados, Opera Virgins, those of you who are Opera Curious, and yes, even you poor misguided souls who would identify yourselves as Opera Haters. Welcome to the inaugural posting of the Opera Vivente Blog. When I was originally contemplating starting this blog, I had thought that I would start by giving a brief history of Opera Vivente. However, upon further consideration, I think new technology should be used to talk about new things. So the brief history is going into an expanded History Page on our website and the blog is going to be used to keep those of you who are interested abreast of what's going on right now at Opera Vivente. So let's dive right in. Oh, by the way, I'm John Bowen, the General Director of Opera Vivente.

At this point, our 2007-2008 season has been completely cast. Indeed casting was completed in early April. As is usually the case, however, the various and sundry pressures of life that affect us all also affect singers causing all sorts of changes in their personal lives, their professional lives, and their finances. Consequently, this time of year invariably finds me looking for replacements of singers who for one reason or another have had to withdrawal from one of our upcoming productions. The first week of July was occupied with two such recastings. I am pleased to say that I have succeeded in finding replacements and am keeping my fingers crossed that this will be the end of cast changes. Hope springs eternal, eh?

This week, I have been busy assembling the props, furniture, and costumes necessary for our upcoming production of Leonard Bernstein's jazz-infused short opera Trouble in Tahiti. Opera Vivente will be performing this short 20th century masterpiece at Baltimore's annual arts festival, Artscape. It's a rather sarcastic look at the American Dream through the eyes of a 1950s couple who are having trouble in their marriage. Since the budget from the city is, shall we say, modest, I'm totally thrilled that I've been able to find most of the requisite items for cheap or, even better, for free. However, I have to say, prop shopping continues to be one of my least favorite tasks. It's time consuming, and often involves days of driving from thrift store to thrift store in search of things like a vintage toaster, a psychiatrist's couch, a locker room bench, or a tiki cup (to name just a few of the items that I've recently been on the prowl for). Ah, how I dream of someday having the budget to hire a full-time props master or mistress! But I digress. Trouble in Tahiti is now basically totally planned and shopped for and ready for rehearsals next week. Since our rehearsal space is not air-conditioned, all I need to do now is pray to the weather gods for less sauna-like conditions.

Anyway, in addition to rehearsals for Trouble in Tahiti next week, I'll also be meeting with the design team for the show which opens our 2007-2008 season in October: George Frideric Handel's decadent baroque masterpiece, Alcina. This fantastic piece deals with the tension between a pleasure-driven utopian society that hides a violent, selfish underbelly and a harsh, duty-bound "reality". Consequently, I've chosen to set this 18th century opera in the psychodelic 1960s. I've met with the lighting designer, the costume designer, and set designer individually to give them my take on the piece. They've now all gone off and done research, sketches, etc. Next Wednesday, we all come back together for what I'm sure will be a very exciting brainstorming session by the end of which all the pieces have to add up to a coherent whole. Unlike prop shopping, these design meetings are one of the great joys of my life. The energy sparked by putting a group of creative people in a room together is incredible and almost always ends up with each of us expanding our perceptions beyond what we had imagined individually. This will probably be particularly the case working on an opera being set in a decade which was highly focused on mind-altering experiences.

In my spare time (he said with tongue slightly inserted in cheek), I'm also stage directing a scenes program for a new organization called The Little Patuxent Opera Institute, which is performing at Howard Community College at the end of July. Tonight will be the first staging rehearsal and I'm anxious to see how all these talented operatic newbies that I auditioned back in June with the voice faculty of HCC have risen to the challenge of the scenes we've given them. Although I mostly work with professional singers, I always find working with amateurs or beginners highly rewarding. Everything is new and exciting to them and their learning curve is often a wonder to behold. No jaded cynics or haughty divas in this crowd!

Well that's it for now. I'm off to rehearsal. But look for more behind the scenes info in the coming days. And if you have any questions about anything or would like to hear about anything in particular, let me know.

See you at the opera! - John Bowen