Tag Archive | Opera
Timeless Lessons in Comedy
“Self-reflection” is the intention that our director, David Paul, gave our cast for the Act IV finale of our production of Le nozze di Figaro. After our final room run on Sunday, he told us that one of the challenges of this production is striking the balance between the outrageous humor and more serious aspects of […]
The Logic of Props
This quarter, I’m one of the assistant stage manager’s on the Opera Institute’s production of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, or in English, The Marriage of Figaro. Even if you don’t know opera, you’ve heard of Figaro. Please note, that one song that goes “Figaro, Figaro, Figaro” is not from The Marriage of Figaro, it’s actually from Rossini’s The […]
I did the work!
I had high hopes of writing a post a week about Emmeline, the opera I just closed, but those hopes fell away as tech and opening came and went. Now that we’ve closed, in addition to the usual reflecting on the process itself that I do on my own and with my advisor, I want to […]
Our Obligation to New Work
This week on my Facebook timeline I came across an article announcing, “Fort Worth Opera Fires Longtime General Director Darren K. Woods“. The word “fire” immediately caught my attention. In short, the company was quoted as wanting to find someone who would “focus more on business and management”, and that while they appreciated Mr. Woods artistic visions for the […]
A Visit at Emmeline
This past Tuesday we were fortunate enough to have the composer of Emmeline, Tobias Picker, join us in rehearsal. We ran Act I twice, once with each cast. Following the second run, Picker spoke up. “You made me very sad. Which makes me very happy,” he said. I could feel the room exhale. Performing an opera […]
Why Emmeline?
I am in the midst of staging rehearsals for BU Opera Institute’s production of Tobias Picker’s Emmeline, which premiered in 1996 at the Santa Fe Opera and is based on Judith Rossner’s 1980 novel. I have been considering the all-important question of why we are producing this opera here and now and through the process so far I […]
Musical Monotheism and Creative Crusades
Please excuse the title’s alliteration – I simply can’t resist a catchy title. On the topic of titles, had this blog a place for subtitles, you might find this above as well: On Allen Ginsberg’s “Jaweh and Allah Battle”: A very brief foray into poetry, religion, war, and opera. Alright, now that the topic is properly […]
The Death of Klinghoffer: The Operatic Face of Terrorism
It seems like the Met hasn’t been able to catch a break this season. After the controversy about union contracts there was the controversy of them laying off 22 of their 254 administrative staff positions. Now they are facing protests on their season’s opening night performance of “The Marriage of Figaro.” You might be asking what […]
Nine times…a charm
I was extremely heartened to read the New York Times article by Zachary Woolfe about his experience viewing a single opera nine times at the Met. His usual seat, (the Times’ reviewer’s seat, Row L seats 1-3 and likely on that early press opening-night,) had afforded him a lovely place on a lovely night to review […]
Je vous presente: The Multifaceted Artists of CocoRosie, Bianca and Sierra Casady (watch the videos)
Early in October, I spontaneously went to a CocoRosie concert at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston. With only a hunch that I’d like their music, I frantically called my musical genius brother, Ryan, to get his advice and he said I should absolutely go. So, I went. And thank the gods I did. CocoRosie […]
Drama Lit Blog 2.0: BU School of Theatre 