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!!

The Duet

This morning, Jason Hardy, our Don Magnifico for the upcoming show, was asked to do an interview with Scot Haney on Channel 3. The link to the interview is here. Whenever a singer does a TV interview for me, I adamantly tell the anchor/host that they will NOT be singing on the show. This is for lots of reasons including needing several hours to warm up their body, not having an accompanist, not knowing the space they are singing in, etc. etc. not to mention potentially blowing out the TV station's tiny microphones. :) So when you see Jason singing on this clip, it is not because I said it was okay.... (Jason, this is all you, honey.... you gave Scot Haney an inch....) you'll see what I mean. Regardless, it came out great, and he didn't have to balance a couch on his chin.

Renewals

We mailed subscription renewals this week. This is a big task for the staff. After the season is approved by the board, Aric has to build the season into ProVenue which includes setting up each performance, seating chart, price structure and moving last year’s buyers into their respective nights and seats. After he’s done that, he produces a report which I then convert into invoices and mail along with a letter and flyer about the upcoming operas. For some reason our lovely ticketing system will not recognize that we have two theaters on our series, so Aric had the unenviable task of manually changing the theater on everyone's record. And he only complained once. :)

We’re all excited about next season and we hope you are too. We’ll be back at the Palace in Waterbury for one performance of Don Giovanni, followed by two of the same opera at our “home” at The Bushnell. Then we’ll be back in the Belding Theater at The Bushnell (what a great intimate space!) for two operas: Daughter of the Regiment (Donizetti is my favorite composer) and La bohème.

Great season, great renewal mailing, great week at the office.

Have a good weekend!