Pagliacci

Pagliacci

Who doesn’t enjoy a crazy, murderous clown? I have always thought clowns were a bit creepy, so this show ought to reinforce my opinion. I have searched YouTube for performances of Vesti la giubba and my favorite is a Coke commercial where a little boy is watching from backstage and walks out to hand Canio a Coke to make him feel better. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAUDHxDYMMo) You have to see it; it’s absolutely adorable!

We started music rehearsals for the chorus last Monday. There are 40 choristers and it is nice to have more people both for the voices and the camaraderie. We had about half this number in Cosi fan tutte, and not much to do in performance, so a lot of chorus members were bored during the long rehearsals the week of the show. In fact, we almost got in a lot of trouble when a baritone started a debauchery game of “Name that tune” which resulted in too much laughter in the theater while the principals were staging. It is always a good idea to keep the chorus busy or we will find trouble.

My music room is painted and put in order, but I need to sort through all my music and get it filed neatly by genre before I will be satisfied. For now I can rehearse my Pagliacci music and the concert pieces I will be playing on my flute at the end of January. I am still using a keyboard and may give up on the idea of a piano since they require a lot of care and I don’t have the resources to keep up with the never-ending tunings.

Now we have a break for the holidays and return to music rehearsals on January 4. I hope to have the music we worked on memorized by that night so I will be off to a good start. The Opera Grand Rapids office is closed from Christmas Eve until the 4th and that gives me a lot of time to work on my music room as well as my materials. As long as I don’t procrastinate, it ought to be a productive time.

Final Dress for Cosi

Last night was our final dress rehearsal for Cosi Fan Tutte and it went rather well. We are very relieved to finish in less than three hours which was doubtful when we started rehearsing. The principals really carry this show and it is definitely a group effort. The two couples are absolutely adorable and Despina (Abigail Nims) is cunning, charming and silly all at the same time. One of the funniest scenes is when the men drink poison and are revived by Despina in disguise. Jeremy Kelly and Norman Shankle act up the melodrama as Sarah Jane McMahon and Phyllis Pancella fret and flitter upon the stage. The chorus only pops in a few times and are not all that integral to the storyline; but then, the story is a bit shaky as it is so it doesn’t really matter if a group of townspeople are there for a reason or not. Don’t think too hard about Cosi Fan Tutte, just sit back and enjoy the music and antics of the show.

Costume Fitting

On Monday we had our last chorus music rehearsal for Cosi fan tutte before heading to the rehearsal space next week. The costume shop is up and running in an old storefront at CenterPointe Mall and the chorus has been fit. My costume is brown, beige and orange with a brown and green hat. It isn’t the prettiest outfit, but it doesn’t itch or pinch so I won’t complain. Tracey pinned up my skirt and took in the waist of the belt and vest so I am sure she will have it looking great by our dress rehearsals the week before the show. We won’t be wearing wigs so I need to think about how to do my hair with my hat. When I started singing with OGR we had wig and make-up people for every production. Now, our funds have been cut to the point where the chorus brings in their own make-up and we do our own hair styles. I prefer to do my hair and make-up unless my character is a Geisha (Madama Butterfly) or Spanish Gypsy (Carmen). It isn’t difficult to do a Peasant look.
Our Production Manager, Cat, is getting our rehearsal space ready for the principals to start practicing this weekend. The principals should be getting into town today and will be welcomed with a dinner party at the Irwin’s house tonight before the two weeks of chaotic rehearsal starts. The weather is cold and rainy today and may snow by Sunday night which makes for an unpleasant welcome to Grand Rapids. On a more pleasant note, ArtPrize is finishing this weekend and I hope our visitors will get a chance to see some of the great art we have on display around the city.

Women Are Like That

Così Fan Tutte.
Thus do all women.
Mozart’s comedy opera portrays women as being fickle and untrustworthy creatures which, back in the day, was an acceptable theme. Today, the feminist in me feels insulted, but then I calmed down and realized that it is all just a bit of fun. And we plan on having some Victorian-era fun!
The chorus began music rehearsals last week where we discovered that we have a very small part in this opera and that our rehearsal times will be less than normal. This makes blogging about the show a little more difficult. We went through all the music and pronunciation last Monday and now we have been entrusted to work on our own to memorize everything by the next time we meet. Recently I changed my “computer room” over to be a “music room” so I do have a space to work with a keyboard (still looking for a piano) at my house. I also play flute and piccolo in a concert band so it is nice to have my music set out and my instruments readily available for when I can find the time to practice. A friend suggested that I paint the room green because every performer needs their own “green room” so I hope to get it painted and everything put in its permanent place soon. I’ll try to post a photo when I have it all completed.
On another note (pun intended), the Betty VanAndel Opera Center is taking shape. We have walls and the electric lines have been moved so that the second floor construction can start. We plan to have the building ready for Porgy and Bess rehearsals at the beginning of 2010. In the meanwhile, our beloved Dunham’s store has been rented so the Production Manager is back to finding a suitable space for staging rehearsals

Ground Breaking

On June 17, 2009, Opera Grand Rapids broke ground on its new office/rehearsal space. It was a cloudy day with drizzling rain, but nothing could dampen the spirits of the Chorus and Board members who celebrated the occasion that was eight years in the making. Executive Director, Michael Havlicek, welcomed everyone and started off the days speeches of thanks. Other speakers were our Board President, Bill Fehsenfeld, David and Carol VanAndel and Maestro Robert Lyall who flew into town just for the afternoon festivities. A group of Chorus members sang the Bridisi from La Traviata while accompanied by a French Horn quartet from the Grand Rapids Symphony. After the speeches, shovels were handed out to select choristers as well as the speakers and the dirt was officially turned for the new opera center. Attendees were then treated to cake and strawberry punch. It was a lovely time and smiles were abundant.
Now as you drive by the corner of Fulton and Carlton you may notice some changes; a few trees are gone and the power lines have been moved. It is beginning at last. If all goes as planned we should be moving our offices into the new building at the beginning of the new year.
Even though we have reached our goal for the building campaign, Opera Grand Rapids is still in need of sponsorships for the 09-10 productions as well as general operating donations. It is the life of a non-profit arts organization that we always need more support. So, after a day of celebration, we are back to the everyday life of fundraising and ticket selling. Show your support; send a donation or buy a season ticket.

A Fond Farewell to a Fast Faust

Faust is over and it is a bittersweet end. I did not think I would grow to love this opera as much as I have. When I first started working on the score I was mostly interested in getting the language correct since the music was not too difficult. The chorus rehearsals and my private practice all flowed easily and I entered staging excited to turn it all into action. The staging went very quick, just four days, and the technical rehearsals resulted in some sleep deprivation for many of us who had to be at work early in the morning, but it all seemed to fly by too quickly. Now the show is over and I can read the newspaper, go through my mail, and stare into my empty refrigerator. I almost forgot to go home after work yesterday, expecting to walk over to DeVos Hall once again and prepare for an audience. Once home I did notice that my house doesn’t look as clean by daylight as it does by the light of the moon and that the laundry does not clean itself or the lawn mow itself (though I do believe someone else is mowing for me today).

The Opera season is over and I am very thankful that I was able to participate in each of the shows. I would like to thank the principal artists who were so kind to the chorus and worked with us to make great opera. Everyone who had anything to do with the productions should be very proud of themselves for we had a great run!

For Faust in particular I need to thank Joe Gladstone for being a great stage manager, Jon Mull for being my personal masseur when my back had a spasm during the Dress Rehearsal, Christian Vigrass for his work on the dance scene, Jill Marrese for the language help, and Tina Williams for being a professional dresser. I could go on, but this sounds like an academy award speech so I will end with saying that I enjoyed working with everyone associated with Faust and I hope to work with all of you again.

Final Dress

Our final dress rehearsal was last night and went quite well. The show is about 3 hours long which includes 2 intermissions. The chorus had to stay longer to work on sound checks and to receive notes from the conductor/director so it was another late night for us. Tonight is a “dark” night so there is no rehearsal and the performers can relax for a day. Some of the production team still works today, but not everyone. That is one nice thing about working in professional opera; a day off before performance.
I tried to take some pictures backstage and will post some when I can. I have a great shot of our Faust (Bryan) showing off his tights, but I think I will preserve his dignity and not post that one!
For now, it is a night off and hopefully everyone will get some rest.

Sunday Night Stumble Through

Last night was our first rehearsal on DeVos Hall stage with the set and most of the props. This was the night when we discovered that there are poles and stairs that we had not envisioned previously. I felt like everything went rather well. We had to re-work a few areas and place people differently on the stage at certain moments, but for the most part it seemed to function as planned. One scary aspect of this set is the platform which is made of steel grate with large holes. The women cannot wear heeled shoes so we all now have to get flats to go with our costumes. I will be trying out a couple of pairs of shoes tonight to see which will work best on the set. When the whole chorus climbs onto the platform it sways and some of us have found it a bit disconcerting, but so far we have not had a casualty.
I am feeling better about my knowledge of French; I can actually understand some of what the principals are singing without reading the libretto first. Some day I would like to be able to comprehend Italian and French well enough to follow a conversation. Fluently speaking French will take a while, but understanding the language is a big step for me. Once again I regret not taking French and/or Italian in college; but I was a theater major and never even dreamed of being an opera singer!
Tonight we are adding costumes and other technical aspects to the production. I am trying to get by on only 4 hours of sleep from last night so my goal is to stay alert and not make too many mistakes.

A Devilishly Good Show

Staging for Faust began this week. We are back at the old Dunham’s store which has plenty of space for our rehearsal needs. The principals are here and it has been fun interacting with them. Marguerite Krull (Cherubino, The Marriage of Figaro) has returned for another pants role. This time she is the young boy, Siebel, who is in love with Marguerite (the character; not herself). The other leads are new to Opera Grand Rapids. Pamela Armstrong (Marguerite) was originally booked at this time to sing for another company that cancelled their season. Their loss is our gain. Bryan Griffin is our Faust, Quinn Kelsey is Valentin (Marguerite’s noble brother) and Kirk Eichelberger is the “cute, but creepy” devil Mephistopheles. Having heard all them sing a bit at rehearsals, I am looking forward to the sitzprobe on Saturday when we sing the entire opera with the Symphony for the first time. It will be the first time the chorus will get to hear the principals in full voice sing all the arias that happen when we are not on stage. No one should miss that!
Tonight we are running through the whole show in the rehearsal space. The principals don’t have to sing full voice in staging rehearsal, but sometimes they do just for the practice. This is our last chance to work on staging before we get to DeVos Hall on Sunday evening where the whole show takes on a new dimension with the technical aspects of lights, sound and real set pieces.

Fittings and Faust

Another week has past and my memorization of Faust is coming along. I didn’t use my music during this Monday’s rehearsal and I felt rather confident with the notes. I hope I had the majority of them right! I don’t have the new part memorized for words, but I think I have the notes locked in. Now I need to work on the dynamics and mood of the music. I know that will all fall into place when the principals come into town and we start staging, but it is nice to have the atmosphere set before we hit the rehearsal hall. The opera always takes on a whole different feeling when we put our bodies and minds into the moments we are performing.

The costume shop is up and running and most of the women have been fitted for their dresses. I was supposed to have gone last Friday but they were not ready for me so I still need to make an appointment this week. I know we are peasants so I don’t plan on having a beautiful gown; probably something brown or earth-tone. The nice thing about being a peasant is that the costumes are usually light-weight unlike the ball gowns we have to wear for shows like La Traviata. If the dress is very pretty it most likely will be cumbersome. As long as my Faust outfit doesn’t itch or pinch, I won’t complain.

More French!

Just as I thought I was progressing with my music and language nicely, Maestro has added music for the women. The women are now singing along with the men on two pieces which should be fun. I prefer to have more to sing and do rather than less. The first piece we join in is the Chorale of the Swords when Mephistopheles is repelled with the broken sword held up as a cross. This is a powerful moment and full voices are definitely needed so I can see why Maestro would add the women. Most companies would use a chorus of 40 or 50 men, but we are confined to use only 24 so the additional 16 women will help with the double fortissimo that is called for in the score. The second men’s piece that we join is the Soldiers chorus. This is the music that is most recognizable (to me at least) from this opera and it is a great triumphal moment which, again, is double fortissimo. This extra music should not be too taxing and it should be fun to sing on stage. I am looking forward to starting staging in a couple of weeks when the Maestro and principals come into town. We have a shortened rehearsal period for this show, so we will be doing all the preliminary staging in four days rather than the normal eight, before we hit the DeVos Hall stage for the technical rehearsals. Things are going to get crazy real soon!

En Français

Music rehearsals for Faust are going well. The men have more to sing than the women this time so they had one more rehearsal than we did. We still have three more music rehearsals with Maestro Davis before Maestro Lyall comes into town for staging.
My studies in French are developing at a slow pace. Our Production Manager, Cat, said a simple sentence to me in French the other day and I had to ask her to translate. Some days it feels like one step forward and two steps back. My goal is to be able to understand the French of Faust in my head as I am performing rather than just singing the words with only a concept of the text. I wish I had taken French in college rather than trying to learn it on my own now. Faust and other French operas would be a lot easier to sing if I knew what I was saying!
The music of Faust is not difficult. There are a couple of possible tricky parts, but I don’t see any train wrecks so far. We have two sections that are sung rather fast, depending on Maestro’s tempo, and at least one part that is very slow, again depending on Maestro. The fast parts make the language difficult and the slow parts make breathing (breath control) hard. I plan on using repetition to get the fast language to flow fluently and staggered breathing to make it through the slow moments.
So far I feel rather confident with the memorization of the words and music. I hope I am not being overly optimistic. Only time will tell how well I learn French and Faust.

Faust

Faust rehearsals have begun. Last Monday we had our first look at the music of Gounod’s Faust (not to be confused with The Damnation of Faust by Berlioz). This production is sung in French, which can be intimidating at times, and we are fortunate to have a French teacher, Jill Marrese, in our chorus to help with the language. Jill has recorded a language tutor for each of the voice parts and that is always a great help!

Most people have heard of the phrase “he sold his soul to the devil” which is the story of the scholar Faust, his love Marguerite and the devil Mephistopheles. Faust is an aging scholar who laments that he is tired of living and welcomes death until he hears a song of springtime and praise to God. He then spurns God and calls on Satan in his despair. So begins the downward spiral of events which culminates in Marguerite being raised to Heaven after committing murder and Faust being left to serve his debt with Satan. Not exactly a happy ending; but very powerful and definitely great theater.

Personally, I believe that Satan should not be taken lightly. The story of Faust should be a warning call to all who believe they can get what they want with evil ways. Fortunately there is a moral/religious line running throughout the opera which keeps the story from being too macabre. Moral of the story: don’t mess with the devil!

I will now take up my broken sword in the sign of the cross and stride forward to the challenge of French, Faust and Mephistopheles.

Finale

The Elixir of Love performed its magic. All the hard work and late nights finally paid off and we had a fun weekend run. I really did enjoy the performances and the performers who joined in the frolic of Donizetti. There were times when we were not sure how this was going to end; but at the final curtain we were all very proud of our little comedy. One of the hardest scenes that the women of the chorus had was what we called “chasing Nemorino”. After Gianetta informs us that Nemorino is now a millionaire, we all suddenly want his attention and chase him around the stage en masse. This was also affectionately referred to as “the amoeba” since we were grouped closely together. During rehearsals there were many times when we stepped on each others feet and even a time when Gianetta was almost trampled as she fell in the mass of women because someone had stepped on her foot and she had no where else to go but down. By the final dress rehearsal we had the scene worked out, with the help of soprano Kristin in the back of the pile directing traffic, and Nemorino dictating the flow with his movements. This was a scene that I dreaded in rehearsal, but became my favorite once we hit performance.
Now I am proud to write down Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love on my resume and seal it with a red kiss from the last bits of blood still left in me.
Salute!

Comedy Tonight!

Tonight is opening night for The Elixir of Love. We had a "dark" night yesterday which just means that we get a night off to rest before we open. Since opera is theater that is totally sung, the performers benefit from resting their voices before a performance. I have to admit that I did not rest last night. I did run through all of the chorus material to make sure that I was confidant on my notes and words. This opera is a lot of work for the chorus and we did make mistakes at the final dress rehearsal on Wednesday so I needed to do some more work rather than sleeping!
Usually the chorus has a lot of "down" time during the show as the principals have their big aria moments. In Elixir we have some of that time during the second act. For this show we don't have enough time to go sit in the dressing rooms, so we sit in the wings and listen to the leads do their thing. Needless to say, sometimes we also get a little carried away with antics while waiting back stage. During Tosca last fall, those of us in the nun habits got a little warm during our scenes and sat in the wings with our costumes pulled up above our knees in order to cool off. It must have been interesting to see the "sisters" looking so decadent! In Elixir, one chorus soprano is about 5 months pregnant so the rest of us always make sure that she has a chair back stage and that nobody bumps into her as we run around on stage. It is always a different show from the stage perspective than from the audience. Even a serious drama can turn into a comedy beyond the curtain. Just imagine what a comedy romp could escalate into!

DeVos Hall, here we come!

We are on stage at last! Sunday night was a true “stumble through” as we all dealt with real buildings (rather than plastic) and stairs that take more time to walk than flat flooring. The chorus is doing a lot of the set changes and we are not familiar with having to move tables, chairs and full buildings on rollers! Try this; walk through a couple rooms in your house, then run around the perimeter, now move a large piece of furniture that is set on rollers, turn around and SING! That is how I am starting “The Elixir of Love”. I’m sure that after a few more tries it will become easier and we will all be joking about how nervous we were at first. We did not get to run through the whole show last night so I am hoping that the rehearsal flows better tonight without all the stops and starts of scene changes. One of the best moments is when the car comes on stage. We are all holding our collective breath that the car will start, keep running and then not hit any scenery. Trent does a great job driving so I am not all that worried. The car and Dulcamara’s elisir wagon are fabulous to see and I think the audience will love the gags and gimmicks. This show has a lot of funny moments, and a few tender and loving moments also. If you are still looking for a romantic idea for this weekend, look no farther than The Elixir of Love.

Drunk on Love

We are in the middle of our staging rehearsals and things are going well. There is a lot for the chorus to do in this opera. Some of our responsibilities include moving set pieces while singing in character. Since we are in our rehearsal space right now and do not have our actual set pieces, we have to mimic the action with large sheets of plastic and other rehearsal props. Our rehearsal space has large windows facing out to a parking lot adjacent to a Best Buy store. I am sure that anyone who happens to walk or drive by probably wonders why these people are wandering through an old Dunham’s store carrying large sheets of plastic.

The scene we worked on blocking last night is when the townspeople fall for Dr. Dulcamara’s “elisir” and get drunk on what is really just wine. At the end of the first Act, the town meets the good doctor and is sold on his “remedy for whatever ails you”. The second Act starts with the townspeople falling all over each other in a drunken stupor, thinking that they are cured of their troubles, and celebrating the marriage proposal of Adina and Belcore. We sing a "brindisi", which is a drinking song. Our Stage Director, Matthew Lata, uses every opportunity to add “shtick” where he can and the chorus is having fun interacting with the principals. The women of the chorus have the best part; we get to hug and surround Belcore (Baritone, Matthew Worth). We are definitely fighting for position when called on to cluster around a handsome man! Being in the chorus does have its bonuses, after all. To see what all the fuss is about, check out Matthew’s web page http://www.herbertbarrett.com/artist.php?id=mworth. Not only is he handsome, but he also wears a very soft sweater that we were all petting last night. Who says opera isn’t fun?

The chorus has a night off and then will finish staging this week. On Saturday we will have our sitzprobe, which basically means sit and sing, with the Symphony. It is nice to hear the full orchestration before hitting the DeVos Hall stage in a “stumble through” on Sunday. We will then have a couple more rehearsals in which we add costumes, make-up, more props, and lighting. It is always amazing how much the show evolves from Sunday until Wednesday, which is our final rehearsal before opening night.

It will be a long 10 days, but always worth the hassle.

Rapping with Donizetti

We had our last chorus rehearsal at the Church last night. On Wednesday we start staging at our rehearsal space which is a big empty building that used to be a sporting goods store. The principals have arrived in town and are enjoying the low temps and driving in the snow. Our “Adina” flew in from Texas. I hope she brought her long underwear with her! I met her last night and she is very lovely. I can’t wait to hear her, and the other principals, sing in rehearsal.
The chorus as a whole is plugging along on our music and language. I know a couple of choristers who are spending the entire day going over and over their music so they will feel comfortable when they have to do staging tomorrow. I am tentatively optimistic about my knowledge of the score. There are parts where I stumble, but I think I can make it through this week with “cue cards” in my hand. I saw a few other singers holding their cards last night so I know more of us are getting weaned off the full score. It can be intimidating to put down your binder and trust your memory. A lot of the language is repeated for the chorus and so is a lot of the theme music. Problems arise when the language repeats but the music changes slightly. This happens a few times and it is tricky to remember the changes. Sometimes it helps to work the staging into the music. I have been known to remember a musical change based on my stage position or the position of a principal. Being able to act out the music is very helpful to me. My degree is in Theater, so the acting always comes easier to me than singing or dancing and I can use characterization to help with rhythm and notes. Maestro Davis commented on my dancing in the church pew last night. I had to explain that it helps me keep up with the 16th notes if I put the rhythm into my body. I don’t think that our staging director, Matthew Lata, is going to appreciate my hip-hop, so I hope I can come up with a time period appropriate movement to go with the music. Until then, I will be “rapping with Donizetti”.

New Recording Device

I recorded our rehearsal last week with an old mini-tape recorder. It was good enough to practise with but a bit irritating. I tried using my mp3 player but found it to not have enough memory so now I purchased a new digital recorder. I am praying that it is clearer than the old recorder so that I don't get a headache trying to hear the piano. With that being said, it was helpful to hear Chorus Master Duane Davis' comments and instructions over again. I should have done this from the first rehearsal. Oh, well, now that I have my spiffy new digital recorder I will be using it for every rehearsal. I play flute and piccolo with a concert band that has a rehearsal tomorrow night so I will be using my new gadget for that also. I hope I get a lot of use out of the purchase, but I don't want to be the "weirdo with the digital recorder".

Even though I could relive last weeks rehearsal over and over again, I am still having a hard time with the language. The chorus' first piece in the show is complicated as far as fitting the Italian into the music. I'm sure if we were fluent in the language it would all make sense, but I find it confusing. There are a couple of moments in another chorus piece that the music is quite fast with a lot of language which gets mumbled if you don't have it right on the 16th or 32nd note. While going over the language in rehearsal I began to feel like it was "rapping with Donizetti" as we droned on in rhythm without singing the notes. In order to remember the words, I have to "rap" it out in staccato and by phrase. I don't believe I will have a second career as an Opera Rap star, but for now it makes the memorization a little fun.

Donizetti isn't that easy

I find that learning a new composer is not as easy as it sounds. I have sung in Italian many times, but Donizetti doesn't use the same phrasing as Verdi or Puccini so it feels almost like a different language. Therefore, my memorization of The Elixir of Love is not going all that great. We have music rehearsal tonight and I plan on recording everything on my MP3 player so I can replay it all week. I always find that group rehearsals help me a lot more than studying alone or even with a vocal coach because other people can find problem areas that I might not be seeing. Sometimes the language dictates how the music is sung and we change phrasing to make it flow better; this is something that we discover in rehearsal that might not be found in private practise. I don't think anyone in this chorus is fluent in Italian, though many have been to Italy and have studied the language. It is great to be able to ask "is that a 'j' sound or a 'g' sound?" when faced with 'giu' or 'giorno'. We always strive to be accurate with the language in order to keep the integrity of the music.
For now; buongiorno.

The Elixir of Love!

The chorus rehearsals for The Elixir of Love have begun. This is my 12th production with Opera Grand Rapids and I am excited to be working on a Donizetti piece. I am always looking for new roles, languages or composers/writers to tackle. My Italian needs work, but I find it easier than French and German. For this production it is nice to see a couple of new faces in the chorus along with the "senior" members. It is always fun and exciting and challenging to start a new opera. The language obstacle adds a little danger to the mix when you are trying to get music memorized before the Maestro and Director come into town. There have been times when I was not sure what was going to come out of my mouth once I had to put the score down and rely on my memory. I would like the opportunity to do Turandot again and get it all correct next time! My second time doing Carmen was great because the music and words all came back to me and I could enjoy doing the fight scene without worrying about what I was singing. The chorus is on stage a lot in The Elixir of Love and that is always fun because we get to work more closely with the principal singers. One of the perks to being an opera chorus singer is that you get to work with professional singers who travel all over the world performing and many of them are willing to share their experiences with us. I always look forward to the rehearsal time that we get with the principal cast because that is when all the work happens and the show starts to take shape. For now we are rehearsing in our borrowed space at the local church once a week with our esteemed Chorus Master Duane Davis.