First Trip to Hell a Huge Success

April 13, 2008 - Opening night was a smash hit. Completely sold out, enthusiastic crowd, dynamite performances all around. Truly it couldn't have been better. Today's matinee has only four tickets left so, if you can only come today, get there as soon as the doors open (2pm). Here's a couple shots to whet your appetite. And don't forget there are performances on Thursday and Saturday at 7:30pm that are rapidly selling out. Evidently Hades is the hot ticket this week. See you at the opera. - John Bowen

TV Appearance for Orpheus: How Appropriate

April 8, 2008 - Just a quick note to alert all our fans that MPT's Artworks This Week program will feature a snippet of our production of Orpheus in the Undeworld and an interview with me tomorrow night (April 9th) starting at 7:30pm. Check it out. It shows the end of the show with everyone looking totally fierce and dancing up a storm. I give it three snaps and a runway turn.

Also, opening night is almost sold out, so if you're planning on going that night don't wait to get tickets at the door. Call or go online.

Peace out - John Bowen

TVs and Cables and Mics, Oh My!

April 5, 2008 - Our current production of Orpheus in the Underworld draws on imagery from the wild and whacky world of television, particularly so-called Reality TV. One of the things that I love about Reality TV (yes, I admit it - My name is John and I'm a TVaholic) is that it is far more surreal, over-the-top, and "operatic" than scripted television could ever hope to be. Consequently, it has proven to be a fertile design inspiration for an opera that includes a dead wife leaving a message for her husband that she is dead, a revolt of the gods due to lack of dietary variety, and a woman making love to a man disguised as a giant fly. Yes, this is all happening on the OV stage, NOT on FoxTV or VH1. The other byproduct of this design concept however is that OV has ventured into a technology realm more commonly associated with commercial/popular entertainment. Yesterday was spent ganging 9 TVs together and cabling them to a video amplifier (sometimes by way of a video converter), hanging lycos and fresnels (two different types of lighting instruments), and setting up a portable PA system for the "commercials" and "pop music tributes". Thom Bumblauskas, our set designer said (as I was testing out the PA system): "You know, I think a strange unease just rippled through the cosmic operatic ether." Well, I think Thom might be overstating the case a bit, but suffice it to say, I'm pretty sure you will see things in this production that you haven't seen before in an opera. All part of the extraordinary journey that has been OV's tenth season. Tickets are rapidly disappearing (particularly for the first weekend) so don't wait. Order today.

See you at the opera! - John Bowen

Get Your Pop Culture Fix

April 2, 2008 - Well, we finished staging Orpheus in the Underworld last night and so now we enter into the final polishing phase. I must say there is something for everyone in this show. Well something for everyone who is interested in pop culture. We have a naughty televangelist, a bi-curious midshipman, a hip-hop messenger of the gods, a feisty hottie, a totally fierce club kid with walk for days, a suave pan-sexual playboy. . . .well the list just goes on and on. Last night, one of the many highlights was watching Tony Wilson bring all these disparate characters into a fabulous hip-hop version of the (in)famous can-can. I don't want to spoil the surprise but some of the dance steps were communicated something like this: "Now ladies, at this point, we're going to open, and close, and open, and close, and wash the windows, wash the windows. Gentlemen, now snake it, and hitch-hike, then ride the pony, and lasso something." Intrigued? Get your tickets now and get ready for a wild and crazy time. - John Bowen

Back to Blogging

March 19, 2008 - First of all my apologies for the rather long hiatus in posts. Life got very hectic immediately following the close of Tobias and the Angel, and since blogging has not yet become a part of my "daily ritual", the item that slipped off the radar was unfortunately the blog. Life is still incredibly hectic, but I wanted to do at least a brief post to let our faithful readers (I know you're out there eventhough you rarely comment) know what's been going on at OV.

1) Orpheus in the Underworld - Opening night is hurtling towards us like an oncoming train but things are pretty much where they need to be at this moment. Chorus rehearsals began last week and principal music rehearsals begin on Monday. This cast is chockfull of talented, energetic, funny people so it's going to be a real treat working on this zany show with them. It truly is the most outlandish, over-the-top thing we've ever done so be prepared for a dizzingly uproarious night of theatre. The set is being constructed as I type this, but the search for some free TVs and satellite dishes (all of which will be returned to the donors after the show) continues so if you've got a spare one lying around let me know.

2) The 2008-2009 season - We held our second round of auditions on March 7th and 8th, and I'm thrilled to report that between the two rounds of auditions and the return of some treasured past artists, OV is going to have three of the strongest casts in its history. Once I have definite contracts offered and accepted for all roles, I'll blog a bit more about the specifics. Also, my apologies to singers who were told that all casting decisions would be finalized by March 17th. Chalk it up to the best laid plans of mice and men.

3) OV11 Gala - Preparations have also kicked into high gear for our celebratory gala/fundraiser: OV11. We're throwing a fabulous party on May 17th to celebrate OV's first decade and usher in the next. It will be lots of fun and a great way for our supporters to contribute useful funding to the organization so as you plan your Spring social calendar be sure to pencil OV in on May 17th.

4) Artscape - OV has once again been asked to participate in Artscape. Having given audiences Leonard Bernstein's 20th century masterpiece Trouble in Tahiti last year, this year we're presenting two short but glorious baroque pieces complete with period instrument orchestra: Monteclair's Pyramus and Thisbe and Handel's Apollo and Dafne. At the moment, I'm engaged in translating the Monteclair while also keeping all the abovementioned balls in the air. Oh well, I guess that's why they pay me the big bucks.

Anyway, that's a brief overview of what's been going on at Cathedral and Read. I heartily encourage you to take in any or all of the offerings that are coming up. It was great to see so many new faces at Tobias and the Angel, and we hope that you all will become long-term friends of OV. See you at the opera! - John Bowen

Time

October 2, 2007 - Well, well, well, time certainly does fly when you're doing a dozen different things simultaneously. So as you've probably figured out, in spite of my stated good intentions of posting more frequent, but shorter blogs, more than a week has elapsed since my last one. Oh well, the best laid plans of mice and men. So, here's a quick update on where everything is right now.

The piano/vocal scores of Orpheus in the Underworld have been completed and most of the singers have either picked them up or sent instructions where to send them. Can't for the life of me figure out what's going on with the ones that haven't responded in any way, shape, or form, STILL, but haven't had time to really worry about them. As Scarlett O'Hara once said, "I'll that about that tomorrow, after all, tomorrow is another day".

Everything is pretty much on schedule for the frame of the Alcina set to be loaded in this coming Saturday. Many thanks in advance to the volunteers who are generously giving of their time to help "tote that barge and lift that bale" (oh sorry, that's another show).

Audition packets continue to come in, although the spate of perfectly completed packets that followed on the heals of my audition post seems to have come to an end. Note to prospective auditioners: Please take the time to read the listing completely and to make sure that your packet is complete.

I took a brief jaunt to New Hampshire last week to meet the production team at Granite State Opera where I will be directing Cosi fan tutte next May. They are a great group of people, and I had a very enjoyable and productive time.

Time has been running out for ads and other items to make it into our season program, and so much of my week has been spent chasing down facts, personnel, ad copy, etc. As you can probably guess, not my favorite activity to be engaged in the week before the deluge which is the Alcina rehearsal schedule begins. But it has to be done, and I must say that our program looks absolutely fantastic. Kudos to graphic designer par excellence Dave Cooper.

The board has had a great deal of difficulty picking a date and time for our big celebratory fundraiser gala bashapalooza, but it looks like May 10, 2008 will be the date. Center Stage is having theirs the same night but hey, I think there's enough party spirit to support two parties in Baltimore on the same night. Call me crazy.

Let's see, there must be more otherwise I'm in a quandry as to why the past ten days seems to be just one big blur. Oh yes, I've begun preliminary design/concept discussions for The Pirates of Penzance that I'm directing at Opera AACC, trained a wonderful office temp named Emily Tobias, run an OV board meeting while simultaneously supervising an Alcina chorus rehearsal, and have been getting up around 6:30am every other morning to give my garden a good watering during this dry time of year. You're welcome, chrysanthemums.

Time for bed. If you have time, I hope to see you at the opera, and I hope you have the time of your life. - John Bowen

PS. I'm still looking for a stage manager who has the time to run Alcina. If you or someone you know is interested, please contact me.

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