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.