Chorus women rehearsing in the dressing room before the orchestra dress rehearsal.  Yes, we do act like this.

A Change of Tenor

Opera is always an adventure.  The best thing about live theater is that it is always changing.  Sometimes the changes surprise you.  The tenor we had hired to sing Samson had to leave because of personal reasons (it's personal, so I didn't ask) and Maestro Lyall had to call in another tenor to step in and assume the title role.  This isn't the first time that I've been a part of a show where someone had to be replaced and I'm sure it won't be the last time, either.  This is life; people get sick.  Life interuptus.  But, the show must go on.  Frank Porretta, a natural Samson (long hair and all), has jumped into the role and is taking contol of the DeVos Hall stage. We are very fortunate that Frank has agreed to come sing with us considering that this is the time he scheduled off to be with his wife and newborn baby.  Here's a link to the Press Release: Grand Rapids Press Article.

Time to dust off the Blog again!

It's been some time, but I finally decided to get back to the blog.  Opera Grand Rapids is in chorus rehearsal for Samson + Delilah by Saint Saens.  Once again I am dealing with the French language.  I actually really love the language; I just have some issues memorizing it. I would love to spend an extended time in France to learn the language, but that isn't going to happen any time soon so now I have to work on repetition instead.  So far I have been working on my notes (I sing the alto line) with a keyboard and rewriting the French on my computer so I can make note cards for when we start staging.  One more chorus rehearsal with Maestro Duane Davis on Monday and then we start staging on the weekend.  Time to buckle-down and get comfortable with this score!

operagr.com

Final Dress

Tonight is our final rehearsal for Manon Lescaut before we debut the show on Friday night. Tonight will be the test to see if we have everything ready and how an audience will react. We expect around 1,500 students from local colleges, middle schools and high schools to attend. It is exciting to do a show that has never been performed here before, and you would think that after over 40 years we would have done every Puccini out there, but there still are a few that we haven’t performed. I hope that we can do La Fanciulla del West some day but, like Manon Lescaut, Faciulla is a work that is not often presented by companies the size of Opera Grand Rapids. A successful Manon Lescaut may lead to more variety in our repertoire. I sure hope it does.

Sturm und Drang

The principals came into town on Monday night. Poor Jill Gardner (Manon) was delayed a number of times and didn’t make it until after 9pm! So we went ahead and worked through most of Act 1 without her. On Tuesday we finished Act 1 and worked on Act 3 with an impending blizzard bearing down on Michigan. Wednesday was Act 2 and now we have to go back over everything to make sure we all know what we are doing. Act 4 doesn’t involve the chorus so the principals will work on those scenes during the daytime rehearsals with Maestro Lyall. From what I could hear from my office this afternoon, I do believe that Marco and Jill were going over Act 4 today. On Friday night we will run the whole show for the Tech people to watch and on Saturday we will sing the whole opera with the Grand Rapids Symphony for the first time. I always love that first sing with the orchestra because it really brings the music to life.

Hopefully we won’t encounter any more storms to interrupt our drama.

An Early Start

Opera Grand Rapids started the staging of the chorus for Puccini’s Manon Lescaut last week. This is a new twist to our normal schedule. Usually the chorus meets a couple times in December to get our music and run through the score. After a holiday break, we gather again on Monday nights in January with Chorus Master Duane Davis. Then, a couple weeks before the show, Maestro Lyall comes into town and we work on staging the production. For Manon Lescaut, Maestro has opted to come into Grand Rapids early to work exclusively with the chorus and supers. I have to admit that I like getting the staging earlier because it helps with musical timing and memorization. Some people find the “stand and sing” to be easy, but I need to move around and have a motivation to really feel the words and music. In Manon Lescaut the chorus is involved in a card game which may prove to be a challenge both musically and theatrically. Have you ever watched a production where the characters are obviously just standing there waiting to sing? Ugh! My favorite director’s quote is “If you don’t have a purpose to be here, get off my stage!” So everyone should be actively doing something at all times on stage and the challenge is to make it all seem effortless and natural. Opera is so much more than just singing pretty!

Puccini's First Hit

Opera Grand Rapids has started chorus rehearsals for the February showing of Giacomo Puccini’s Manon Lescaut. In recent years we have presented the more famous works of Puccini: Tosca, Madama Butterfly, La Boheme and Turandot. Maestro Lyall and the Board of Opera Grand Rapids decided it was time to try the very first success that the master had composed, Manon Lescaut.

Since Opera Grand Rapids has not performed this show before, none of the chorus singers, or the pianist, or the chorus master has a past in which to refer. Usually Maestro Davis can recall tempos and cuts in music that Maestro Lyall has done in previous performances. Now the two Maestros have to have long phone conversations about particulars in the score.

And that leads me to the score itself. Whoa. I have been working on this music for most of the past two weeks and I don’t feel like I have even made a dent in my memorization or knowledge of the notes! I am very grateful that we started music rehearsals this early because if we had started at our normal date, mid December, I would be very scared. We are a chorus of 42 men and women who are divided into characters of students, girls, citizens, and villagers. Some of the chorus members also sing a Madrigal part and others are coupled as Beaus and Abbes. The confusing aspect is that we are all interacting at the same time, but singing different parts based on our characters. Our rehearsal last night was challenging, but then I remind myself that the challenge is why I started singing opera.

Am I up to this challenge?