Cinderella, Peter Grimes, Simulcasts, Intimacy and the Mind's Ear

People often ask me if I was a singer and when I say no they then ask me how I got started working in opera.

After graduating as a theater major form college I started working for small companies in New York as a Stage Manager (including a very small opera company that did a production of La Cenerentola). I had been doing this for a couple of years when a friend from school called me to see if I could come to Houston to join him as an Assistant Stage Manager at Houston Grand Opera. When I told him that I didn’t know that much about opera he said it was okay because I knew how to stage manage and that’s what he needed help with.

I really didn’t know that much about opera when I got to Houston. To me opera was something that was sung in a foreign language and performed by large singers who weren’t particularly good actors. Imagine my surprise, then, when I arrived to begin work on Peter Grimes starring the most famous Peter Grimes, Jon Vickers. The production was directed by Ande Anderson, a resident stage director at Covent Garden, and conducted by the amazing John Pritchard. This was not opera as I thought it would be. It was sung in English. The words and the music were wonderfully woven together. The cast were not only great singers but wonderful actors. Add to this 60 members of the chorus and 60 plus in the orchestra pit and my friend was right when he called to ask me to come to Houston--opera was the next biggest thing after the circus and I was blown away.

As often as I have listened to Peter Grimes (enough to be able to sing almost the entire piece from beginning end) I never had a chance to see another production of the opera so when the Met announced that it was to be one of the simulcasts this season I couldn’t wait to see it. The Met production was all that I could have wished for. The set is dark and imposing and though I didn’t love it I found that it worked well for this production. The costumes were incredible (with careful detail that was explained during one of the intermissions by the costume designer). And until last week I couldn’t imagine ever seeing anyone who could bring Peter Grimes to life as well as Jon Vickers but Anthony Dean Griffey came pretty close. Grimes is not an opera just about one person, it is about a community and what a community can do to a person’s life. The rest of the cast were all equally terrific in bringing this community to life, including the chorus. And so after many years I got to see another production of an opera that has meant so much to me because it’s what started my professional career in opera. Anyone who did not have the chance to see this production should keep an eye out for it since it should eventually come to TV.

I love the Met simulcasts. You arrive at the theater, buy your popcorn, take your seat and when the lights go down you get to watch opera bigger than life. And this production of Grimes was bigger than life. Don’t get me wrong, nothing beats seeing a live performance of an opera but the simulcasts run a close second. It’s not just that they are bigger than life but as an audience member you feel a kind of intimacy both visually and aurally that you don’t feel in the 3,500 seats that are the Metropolitan Opera House.

Last year I saw The First Emperor just before we debuted in the Belding Theater at the Bushnell. That simulcast reinforced for me our decision to move into the Belding because you get the same kind of intimacy in there that you get with the simulcasts. This year I saw Peter Grimes the afternoon of our last performance of La Cenerentola in the Belding. Grimes was bigger than life and gruff and grey and Cenerentola was small and charming and peach and in both instances I was sitting the same distance from the stage and had the same incredible, intimate experience that left me loving opera and wanting to see more.

And the Mind’s Ear. You know how you get a song in your mind and it just plays over and over and over again. Well, after Saturday I spent the next week with different sections of Peter Grimes and La Cenerntola stuck in my ear. Until Thursday night when I watched Madame Butterfly Live from Lincoln Center. Un bel di.

Our first Talkback!

After a truly magical (and sold out!) matinee of La Cenerentola (Cinderella), the cast and Directors came back out on stage to see what the audience thought. About 150 ticket holders stayed to give their opinions and ask their questions... Maria even came out to the edge of the stage to sign an autograph for a young fan. Dandini, performed by Michael Mayes, when asked how he prepares for this type of performane, cleverly quipped that he "doesn't go for the laugh," making fun of his over-the-top comedic expressions and actions throughout the opera that made him a crowd favorite.

It was interesting and experimental to offer a talkback, something that is very common in theaters, but is just starting to show up in opera companies and classical arts as a way to connect with patrons, to receive feedback, and to allow audiences to feel more involved in the performance. In an opera, the feedback is always immediate... did they laugh or not, did they clap or not... and the performers can feel that, it energizes them to bring more to their performance. Other feedback can be harder to gauge unless you ask the audience directly what they thought. Some questions that the audience asked were about the details of the scenery and where it came from, how are the costume changes made so quickly, and how difficult was it to sing and act so fast.

It was the first "talkback" I've ever witnessed, and it was very enjoyable. I guess if the performance hadn't been so wonderful, maybe I wouldn't have liked the "talkback" as much. :) And Christopher Devlin made an excellent moderator, thank you so much!!

La Cenerentola Meet & Greet

This past Wednesday was our Board Meet & Greet with the artists of La Cenerentola. This is something that we do for each opera of the season. It takes place right after a board meeting, usually early on in the rehearsal process. It’s a time for board members and their guests to meet the artists and vice versa.

The board meeting ended a little after 6:00pm, and the artists finished their three-hour rehearsal at about the same time. Once everyone had arrived, Willie introduced the singers and Director. From that point, everyone was free to mix and mingle and eat! It was a casual atmosphere, with a light supper catered by Café Louise. (I knew pretty soon after I started working for Connecticut Opera that I was not ever going to go hungry at our events! I have not been disappointed yet!)

Things finished up around 7:00. Everyone seemed to have had a good time, and left looking forward to getting to see the artists in action in our production of La Cenerentola.