What I Did on my Summer Vacation

September 8, 2007 - Okay, so first off, I didn't really have a summer vacation. Unlike when I was the child of not one, but two educators, summer was indeed a blissful, unscheduled sequence of days. Even when I did my brief stint in the special kind of hell known as a "9 to 5" job, there was still the sense of vacation being a set aside (and predictable) period of time that one was guaranteed by contract. If you had cleared it with your boss or supervisor it didn't matter what happened during the agreed upon time of your vacation, you were not expected to fix it. Ah, who would have thought that one day I would be nostalgic for a "9 to 5" job? I'm not really all that nostalgic for it, but the one element that increasingly gets lost in the life of people involved in the arts (particularly those involved in any kind of executive capacity) is the idea that you can actually a) take the attitude that no matter what happens during your vacation, you're off the hook or b) find a time in which your organization is actually not in any way in need of you. So, during this time of "back to school" which was almost genetically ingrained in me by those two aformentioned educators, I'm often left wondering where the summer went and if it actually has any impact on me any more. I think that most artist reach a point in their lives where they realize that our basic modus operandi is "We work when there's work". And we all hope that there will always be work, and consistent work at that, or otherwise we wouldn't be able to actually support ourselves as artists. And don't even get me started on the idea of retirement. That will be fodder for a later blog, a much, much later blog.

But enough of these philosophical musings. I'm sure you're all just on the edge of your seats wondering what's been happening here at Opera Vivente since the last post. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but if you're reading this, you're probably at least mildly curious. So. . .here's the scoop:

Design work for Alcina is virtually complete at this point. The carpenter has been given his first installment so that he can begin work on the set, the costume designer is in the process of getting measurements for everyone, the lighting designer is pondering options for creating light boxes (BTW as a sidebar you might be interested to know that a big part of being a lighting designer is sitting observing the wonderful world of light. I know a fantastic husband and husband team of lighting and set designer, and the set designer has often remarked that it appears his partner is not working at all until production week. But I digress), and I'm working my thoughts about blocking out in evermore detail. The conductor has already had individual coachings with several of the singers, and the chorus will have its first rehearsal on Monday. Speaking of the chorus, we're still in need of one more soprano, so if you're a soprano reading this and you're interested, send me an email.

The first production meeting for Tobias and the Angel has also taken place. This piece continues to challenge us all to think outside the box so be prepared for many things which you may not have seen at OV before: puppetry, abstract choreography, surreal lighting, self-illuminating fabric, well the list goes on. But more on that in ensuing months.

AND - here's my own personal point of pride at the moment - this morning I finished translating the last musical number of Orpheus in the Underworld. WOOHOO! Now to whip through the dialogue, a task so much easier since dialogue doesn't have a rhyme scheme, a meter, or any of those other annoying things mentioned in my previous post about translation. So things look good for the October 1st deadline that was put in all the singers' contracts.

Finally, singers continue to send in their materials to be considered for an audition. Since my blog about that whole ball of wax, the packets have been complete and professionally appropriate. Behold, the power of the blog! Just kidding, it might just be complete coincidence, but whatever the cause, it's very nice.

So that's about it on the OV front. I hope that all of you are transitioning into the "back to school" mode with a minimum of melancholy and regret. Perhaps a trip to the local 5 and dime (now there's a phrase that certainly dates me) to buy a new notebook, some colored pencils, a fresh tub of paste and a protractor will take the edge off. It always worked for me, but then again, I was kind of a "learning geek". Anyway, I hope this post finds everyone reading it engaged in something energizing, empowering, and enjoyable, and, as always, See you at the opera!

John Bowen

Life after Little Patuxent Opera Institute

Thursday, August 2, 2007 - Well this past weekend marked the final performances of the maiden voyage of the Little Patuxent Opera Institute. I have to say that every single one of the participants not only rose to the occasion but exceeded expectations. In the context of what is essentially an academic program, the most important thing is that everyone make progress towards becoming a better singing actor. It's not that everyone gets to a completely polished, ready for the real world ratrace of auditions and callbacks, etc, but rather that each person (no matter how inexperienced they were at the beginning of the process) has gained skills, learned things about themselves, unlocked inhibitions, increased confidence, and progressed towards their goal of becoming professional singers. All the students of LPOI experienced this growth, and I'm very happy and grateful to have been a part of the that growth. I look forward to working with next year's crop of students.

On the OV front, we have now opened sales on individual tickets (as opposed to just season subscriptions), set the dates for the autumn round of auditions for the 2008-09 season, and have begun the first parts of our marketing campaign for our 10th season by securing ad space in the Fall Arts Guide of the Baltimore Sun, the inaugural issue of Opera America's new magazine, and by entering our season into various datelines and databases including the Peabody Magazine, and Operabase.com. In conjunction with this marketing campaign, we've been very fortunate to have secured a Marketing Consultant through the Baltimore Community Foundation in order to maximize the long-range impact of this very significant season in our history. The board and I are very excited about implementing the suggestions of this expert.

The designers for Alcina are hard at work crystallizing and finalizing the initial sketches that they brought to our design meeting a few weeks ago. The schematics for the set will go to the carpenter (Fisher Theatrical) at the end of this week for pricing estimates and hopefully will not require much revision so that construction can begin in plenty of time for our October 6, 2007 load-in date. More on that as details become available.

That's about it for now. I encourage all you opera lovers to get your tickets for Alcina, and all you singers to send in your materials for auditions. It's a very exciting time for Opera Vivente, and we want to share that excitement with as many people as possible. So spread the word and as always - See you at the opera!

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