AIDA update:
10 days in, and the show is completely staged (with the primary cast) and mostly staged (with the secondary cast). One more day in the rehearsal hall, and then we move into the theatre (but alas, not onto the stage until Friday). So far, the cast seems nice enough, and everybody sings pretty well. Unfortunately, the director doesn't seem to have much of an imagination, so (other than the large scenes with lots of people and animals), the show won't be terribly interesting to look at -- in rehearsals, I feel like I'm watching a broadcast from the "stand-and-sing" 1960s. Oh, well. At least I'm not loosing sleep over it. Anyway, I have other things to worry about -- the next two operas (both of which I'm directing myself), and the concert tomorrow night (which I have to coordinate, despite it technically being our "day off"). OK -- sleep now....
UPDATE (Thursday, Jan. 24): The plot thickens...
So, we have two sets of principal singers for our production (for those of you unfamiliar with the opera world, it's not uncommon to double-cast a show if there are multiple back-to-back performances, since many operatic roles are too demanding for a singer to do twice in a row -- kind of like running a marathon two days in a row). Today, over the dinner break, our General Director announced that we were replacing one of the sopranos singing Aida. Now, this is exactly one week before we open, but the new leading lady won't arrive until Saturday afternoon...so, we basically have four days to stage the main character into the opera. Hoo-boy.
10 days in, and the show is completely staged (with the primary cast) and mostly staged (with the secondary cast). One more day in the rehearsal hall, and then we move into the theatre (but alas, not onto the stage until Friday). So far, the cast seems nice enough, and everybody sings pretty well. Unfortunately, the director doesn't seem to have much of an imagination, so (other than the large scenes with lots of people and animals), the show won't be terribly interesting to look at -- in rehearsals, I feel like I'm watching a broadcast from the "stand-and-sing" 1960s. Oh, well. At least I'm not loosing sleep over it. Anyway, I have other things to worry about -- the next two operas (both of which I'm directing myself), and the concert tomorrow night (which I have to coordinate, despite it technically being our "day off"). OK -- sleep now....
UPDATE (Thursday, Jan. 24): The plot thickens...
So, we have two sets of principal singers for our production (for those of you unfamiliar with the opera world, it's not uncommon to double-cast a show if there are multiple back-to-back performances, since many operatic roles are too demanding for a singer to do twice in a row -- kind of like running a marathon two days in a row). Today, over the dinner break, our General Director announced that we were replacing one of the sopranos singing Aida. Now, this is exactly one week before we open, but the new leading lady won't arrive until Saturday afternoon...so, we basically have four days to stage the main character into the opera. Hoo-boy.
VIEW 8 of 8 COMMENTS
argene:
I thought it was lovely.
argene:
How goes preparations for the next Opera?