Another Dead Soprano

Fellow chorus member, Christian Vigrass, posted a Facebook status of “Another opera sung, another dead soprano.” That sums up most tragic operas and Pagliacci is no exception. I had a good time rehearsing and performing this little gem and I wish that Leoncavallo had written more verismo operas of this caliber. It was nice to work with Mark Rucker (Tonio) and Georgia Jarman (Nedda) again. I worked with Mark in Tosca and he is set to do our Rigoletto next November. Georgia was Violetta the last time we did La Traviata and I hope she returns again someday.

The next show of our season is Porgy and Bess which has a contractual obligation to cast an all African-American chorus. Since I am Dutch-American, I do not fit into this category and won’t be onstage for this opera. Even though I can’t participate, I am excited to have OGR perform Gershwin’s story of Catfish Row again since the last time it was very successful.

Opera Grand Rapids has finally moved to our permanent home at the Betty Van Andel Opera Center. We are unpacking and trying to adjust to new phone and computer systems as well as new furniture and fixtures. My office is disorganized and I am not sure what to do first, next and last. I think I need a break from opera for a few days!

Dress Rehearsals

We have started our Dress Rehearsals for Pagliacci at DeVos Hall. Usually we have a “stumble through” on Sunday night, a rehearsal in costume on Monday and then two reads with the Grand Rapids Symphony on Tuesday and Wednesday. For Pagliacci we didn’t get our Sunday night time on the stage so Monday night became a costumed stumble. It is now Tuesday and all of West Michigan is getting hit with a lot of snow which isn’t expected to stop until tomorrow afternoon and we hope that all the local singers and musicians can make it into town from the outlying areas. I live on the lakeshore so it may take me a long time to get home tonight since Lake Michigan likes to dump more snow on the shoreline counties. For now, we will hope that God will be kind and spare this area from too much winter weather.

Opera by flashlight

Opera Grand Rapids has started the staging rehearsals for Pagliacci at an empty old storefront that we have christened Franks Rehearsal Hall and Crafts. We have used Franks a couple of times in the past, the last time being during a blizzard three years ago when only one heater was working in the entire space. Last nights rehearsal added to the lore of Franks when the power to all businesses (and traffic lights) went out on 28th street at Breton. We were scheduled to work through the big scene at the beginning of the opera which involves the adult chorus, kids chorus, principals and extras (aka supers). Instead of staging in the dark, we used a couple book lights and flashlights to go over music for an hour before determining that the power was not going to come on in time for us to get any work done. Maestro Lyall has asked that we extend tonight’s rehearsal an extra half hour to make up for some of the time lost. We only have use of this space through Friday night and there is an entire opera to stage by then so we need all the time we can beg, borrow, or steal.

Another Monday Night of OGR Rehearsal

We worked on a lot of Act 2 of Pagliacci last night. Since there was much to go over, we didn’t have a chance to review Act 1. There was a point where Maestro Davis divided the chorus up into men and women to work separately on our parts leaving the women in the care of his assistant, Bill Bokhout, as he took the men into a side room of the church. It is very helpful to have that intrinsic focus on our words and music that we may have missed if we are looking at 4 parts all at once. Robert Byrens, our piano virtuoso, also helps with correcting our Italian and we do need a lot of help. There are times when Robert stands up from his bench and says “We need to fix something here…” because our pronunciation is beyond recognizable. All together I feel it was a very effective evening with our time well spent on delving deep into the score.

There were a few announcements: on a sad note, Henry Jansma who was a long-time Opera Grand Rapids supporter and supernumerary died after collapsing at his home back in December; and on a happy note, Ashley and Art Wallace (both members of the OGR Pagliacci chorus) are pregnant.

New Year and I resolve to learn Pagliacci.

We had our second music rehearsal for Pagliacci on Monday and will continue to have weekly rehearsals until Maestro Lyall comes into town and we start staging. This week didn’t go as well as expected and we disappointed our Chorus Director with our lack of preparation as only a few people could sing without looking at their scores. I have been recording our rehearsals so I can use that along with my keyboard to study at home and hope that by next week I will have Act One memorized. We don’t have a lot of music to learn, and the Italian isn’t hard, but some of the rhythms are tricky and the true Altos are not appreciating the notes at the top of the staff which must be held for 4-6 bars. We also had some turnover in the chorus. Life tends to interrupt art at times and people are forced to decide between the two. Stacey Urbin has joined the Mezzo/Alto team and we are happy that she is singing in her first show with Opera Grand Rapids.

My future office.

Update on The Betty Van Andel Opera Center: it looks like we will be moving the office on the Monday after Pagliacci closes. Wow! That is going to be crazy! I have started boxing up things in my office, but can’t do too much since we are in production and need to use all our resources. This is also the time of year when we announce our next season and offer our current subscribers the opportunity to renew their seats. Moving the office and announcing a season in the same breath is mad! This insanity makes Pagliacci an even more appropriate show for the time. If you see one of us in pancake make-up wandering around Fulton Street humming Vesti la giubba, just point in the direction of BVAOC and send us on our way.