The Joy of Sitzprobes vs. The Call of Duty

October 22, 2007 - Well folks, I'm back. Now I know what you're thinking: Wait a minute, just a mere 3 days ago he was so busy he actually secured the services of a guest blogger. Yet here he is, suddenly not busy and the show hasn't yet opened. What's up with that? Well, what's up with that is this evening (and this afternoon as well) was the sitzprobe, a glorious lull in every opera director's schedule during production week in which the singers just sit with the orchestra and sing. That's right, they just sit and sing. So the director has the luxury of basking in the glorious sounds without worrying that the singers might forget their blocking, walk into some part of the scenery, break a valuable and potentially irreplaceable prop, or set themselves on fire. I kid you not, all of these things, including the last one, have happened to me in one production or another. Don't worry, the singer involved with the last mentioned incident is okay and still singing fabulously.

Anyway, while I was basking in the painfully beautiful suspensions (the musical equivalent of frottage) that infuse Alcina's Act II aria "Ah, my heart", I was reminded by a certain mezzo (who also occasionally guest-blogs and whose character is the only voice of conscience in this decadent work) that this would be the perfect opportunity to blog. "Think of the immediacy this will have", she said, her eyes glinting with the excitement that only veteran bloggers can muster. "Okay," I said, "I guess a director's work is really never done". So here's my short report from the sitzprobe: The singers all sound fantastic and the period instrument band Harmonious Blacksmith is totally rocking the house, particularly the wild and raucous natural horn solo in Ruggiero's Act III, flashback, post traumatic stress syndrome, freak-out aria which ends with him hold a gun first to his own head and then pointing it at his fiancée and tutor. Rock on Elspeth and Michael.

Alright, now having dutifully fulfilled my blogging duties, I'm going to go back to basking in Handel's astonishing music. But first, let me say, tickets are selling very rapidly (particularly after today's attention grabbing preview article - thanks Tim Smith) so if you're thinking about coming to join us on this totally far-out trip to "mystic crystal revelation" get your tickets soon!

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