Wolf Trap Opera

If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber’d here
While these visions did appear.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Music by Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Libretto adapted from William Shakespeare by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears

The Barns at Wolf Trap 2010
August 13 at 8pm, August 15 at 3pm, August 17 at 8pm

Oberon, King of the Fairies – Ryan Belongie
Titania, Queen of the Fairies – Ashlyn Rust
Puck – Alexander Strain*

Lysander, in love with Hermia – Paul Appleby
Hermia, in love with Lysander – Catherine Martin
Demetrius, also in love with Hermia – Chad Sloan
Helena, in love with Demetrius – Rena Harms

Quince, a carpenter – Kenneth Kellogg
Snug, a joiner – Michael Anthony McGee
Starveling, tailor – Daniel Billings
Flute, a bellows-mender – David Portillo
Snout, a tinker – Nathaniel Peake
Bottom, a weaver – Nicholas Masters

Theseus, Duke of Athens – Michael Sumuel
Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons – Eve Gigliotti

Cobweb, a fairy – Claudia Rosenthal
Peaseblossom, a fairy – Amy Owens
Mustardseed, a fairy – Hilary Ginther
Moth, a fairy – Rachel Milligan
Fairy Chorus – Arlington Children’s Chorus

Conductor – Steven Osgood
Director – Patrick Diamond
Scenic Design – Erhard Rom
Costume Design – Camille Assaf
Lighting Design – Robert H. Grimes
Wigs & Makeup – Elsen Associates

Music Staff – Jeremy Frank, Michael Baitzer, Stephanie Rhodes
Stage Management Staff – Sean Corcoran (PSM), Rich Ching (ASM), Kat Manion (PA)

Timothy McCormick, Technical Director
Lesley Milner, Props Master
Beth White, Master Electrician
Cheryl Cordingley, Carpenter
Lindsay Cramond, Carpenter
Madeline Woods, Carpenter
Michael Jones, Charge Artist
Betsy Muller, Scenic Artist

Susan Chiang, Costume Shop Manager
Heather Lockard, Design Assistant
Franklin Labovitz, Head Draper
Laura Spears, Draper
Rachel Schuldenfrei, Draper
Leslie Cook, First Hand/Wardrobe
Heather Lockard, First Hand/Wardrobe
Jessica Mooney, First Hand/Wardrobe
Denise Umland, First Hand/Wardrobe
Sabrina Chiang, Stitcher
Mary Gonziewski, Stitcher
Lindsay Lam, Stitcher
Marie Schneggenberger, Costume Crafts
Deb Sivigny, Costume Crafts

Hair & Makeup – Jeffrey Frank, Sasha Vasiljev, Sabrina Chiang, Haley Raines

Amanda Barker, Stage Management Intern
Joshua Borths, Directing Intern
Amelia Northrup, Administrative Intern
Haley Raines, Costume Intern
Stephanie Busing, Paint Intern
Soren Ersbak, Technical Intern
Joncie Sarratt, Technical Intern
Allison Smith, Technical Intern

The Wolf Trap Opera Studio takes the stage of The Barns tomorrow for scenes from The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Barber of Seville, Turando, Love for Three Oranges, The Daughter of the Regiment, Iphigenie en Tauride, and West Side Story!

(Photos from Friday’s dress rehearsal)

Final room run-through for Turk in Italy tonight.  Into the theatre tomorrow. And since I am too scattered to string together actual words (largely because we’re trying to put the finishing touches on the 2011 season audition schedule and because Rahree and I wrestled the first draft of the 2011 budget to the ground!), it’s the perfect opportunity for a photo post.

The Turk

The Boyfriend

The Husband

Fiorilla

The Poet Puppetmaster

The Maestro

The Gypsy Girls

Plot Twist

Cat Fight!

Photo in the Piazza

The Turk in Italy. Martinis, infidelity, fortune-telling, and vocal bling under the Neapolitan sun. July 9, 11 & 13.

The Inspector workshop lasted just six days -intense, full of laughter, and infused by the good will and hard work of our cast and staff.  Any just description deserves more time and space than I can afford here, already engulfed as I am by the beginning of our summer season.

Let it be said that the integrity of the piece is astonishing for an opera still in development.  We sang it beginning-to-end for an invited audience on Saturday, and the response was enthusiastically positive.  John and Mark are in the process of rolling out tweaks to the libretto and the music; they are tightening up a few of the moments that we felt sagged for one reason or another, filling out the exposition of one of the characters, tweaking or deleting a few of the comic bits that didn’t land, and clarifying some musical moments that were a little too rushed or busy.  All in all, detail work.  Critical detail work, especially for a comedy, but fine tuning nonetheless.

These adjustments will be made within the next month, then John will start orchestrating, and directors and designers will give the piece a visual shape.  Look for the launch of The Inspector website next fall – with video trailers, audio samples, design sketches and more!

A sincere and hearty thank you to the wonderful people of The Inspector Workshop 2010:

Composer: John Musto
Librettist: Mark Campbell
Conductor: Glen Cortese
Director: Leon Major
Mayor Fazzobaldi: Michael Anthony McGee
Bernadetta: Heather Johnson
Beatrice: Anne-Carolyn Bird
Tancredi: Andrew Bidlack
Cosimo: Chad Sloan
Board of Directors: Amanda Opuszynski, Sarah Larsen, Patrick Cook & Eugene Galvin
Bobachina & Bobachino: CarrieAnne Winter & Madelyn Wanner
Sister Anjelica: Gabriele DeMers
Pianist: Michael Baitzer
Stage Manager: Laura Krause

The perfect positive storm for the end of our season – Puccini’s Boheme, Operascape production, NSO, Wolf Trap Opera, and some of the best weather of the summer. Resulted in standing ovation from just under 6,000 folks – a huge number of them new opera-goers (just under 4,000 in the house, and almost 2,000 on the lawn).

I’m hoping to dig myself out of a personal and professional backlog for the next week or two, without the adrenaline that has shepherded me through the last weeks. Wish me luck. I plan to be back by the end of August with a clear mind, posting some wrap-up thoughts on the season and the upcoming fall auditions. (Audition applications and web pages should be ready within a week.)

In the meantime, enjoy these Boheme performance photos by Carol Pratt.

Stephen Lord, conductor
Kevin Newbury, director
S. Katy Tucker, video projection design
Cameron Anderson, scenic design
Jessica Jahn, costume design
Mark Stanley, lighting design
Elsen Associates, hair/makeup design

Diego Torre, Rodolfo
Hana Park, Mimi
Ava Pine, Musetta
Daniel Billings, Marcello
Matthew Hanscom, Schaunard
Carlos Monzón, Colline
Nicholas Masters, Benoit/Alcindoro

It’s difficult but necessary to distance myself from the music I love – to be fair and impartial when approaching possible rep for the company, and not to steer us exclusively toward things that speak to me. For no one’s taste is truly catholic, and there are plenty of operas that I can barely abide (and no, I won’t tell you what they are:)) that other folks adore.

But once a piece is up and running and my contribution is reduced to that of taking the blame or credit for what other folks lay at my feet, I can be selfish. In this case, that means taking in every moment – elegant, gutsy, wrenching, and bawdy. Because Monteverdi is in my top ten. Hell, top five. I’d give up a lot just to be able to hear this stuff the rest of my life. Gary Wedow has worked miracles, concocting an approach that honors both the letter and the spirit of the law and the music.

And, we’ve waded into doing scenic design with projections. A scary thing in a small venue with a smaller budget. But the design team (Eric Allgeier, S. Katy Tucker, Andrea Huelse & Bob Grimes) and director James Marvel have created a visually arresting and wonderfully integrated environment for this story.

Three more times in the next 5 days. It doesn’t get any better than this :)

Ulysses finishes up its time in the rehearsal room.

At left, a composite from this week’s artist panel.

Costume shop supervisor Sue Chiang shared sketches and fabrics for this show’s amazing range of everything from leather to gauze. (Can’t wait to share production photos with you…)

Conductor Gary Wedow talked about the quasi-democracy that is working with a terrifically talented and independent group of early music specialists.

Cast members Chad Sloan (Ulysses’ son Telemaco), Rena Harms (the old nurse Ericlea) and Jamie Barton (Ulysses’ wife Penelope) filled us in on everything from ornamentation to barbeque.

Final Designer Run – Photos

Cast Brings Ulysses to Lunch Music

Così is sold out. Has been for weeks. A donor gave back a pair of tickets, though, and we’re holding a contest to give them away. The tickets are for closing night, Tuesday, 6/30. If you want them, all you have to do is go to the Hotspot and tell us about the craziest thing you ever did in the name of love.

(Click to play slideshow.)

Me? Well, I’m far too boring to have ever done anything even remotely crazy for love. But it’s been an interesting week with my Mozartean friends, and I gave my all to try to understand what all the fuss is about.

The real singers protraying the six people onstage have been amazing – going from strength to strength as they work through this most thorny of singing and acting assignments. (Don’t let anyone tell you Mozart OR comedy is easy.) I’ve enjoyed their company immensely and have been amazed at their energy, talent, humor, and generosity.

It’s those other people with whom I’ve had an “interesting” time. Fiordiligi, Dorabella, Ferrando, Guglielmo, Despina & Alfonso. Depending on what kind of day I’m having, they either amuse, intrigue, bumfuzzle or infuriate me. (The latter being my reaction when I’m cranky and just want them to grow up.) The first act is always fun, but the second half’s adolescent overreactions wear thin when my mood is dicey to begin with.

Get a grip, ladies. Man up, guys.

This is not my typical reaction to these folks, and I’m afraid that it probably comes from getting older. (Yes, folks, I had a birthday this week, and I’m feelin’ it:)) It’s also about trying to reconcile the depth and strength of these young people’s musical and dramatic actions with the actual subject material. No one died, nothing tragic happens, yet these folks go at it like it’s the end of the world. And I guess that’s the point. It is, for them.

I don’t know what your long term memory is like, but mine is nonexistent. I retain nothing of what it must’ve been like to be a teenager in love. So empathy is hard to come by. I watched my own teenagers suffer, and I love them, so I tried to sympathize. But I don’t truly understand.

Mozart was 34 when he wrote this opera. Young, for us, but more than middle-aged for the time. Certainly not an hysterical teenager. But while he wrote Così, his 25-year-old wife (pregnant for the fifth time…) was away from him. And he wrote her letters that repeatedly implored her not to cheat on him.

For me, in the middle of my stable, unremarkable middle class American existence, the potency of the emotion lavished on wondering whether or not Fiordiligi and Dorabella will fool around with other guys is over the top. But I guess for Mozart (and most certainly for the colorful Da Ponte, a Jew who became a priest then took a mistress and opened a brothel, and eventually became a grocer and a professor at Columbia University…), these things were life and death. Mozart wasn’t stretching. Or amplifying or exaggerating. He just got it.

The 19th century had huge issues with this piece, and although we don’t have the identical ferocious opposition (and we do have an even deeper appreciation for the genius that was Mozart), we still have our own distorted lens through which we sometimes see Così. A casualty of the age of irony, I guess. Alfonso excepted, these characters don’t do irony. And God bless ‘em, they do get hurt. And when they sing about it, Mozart tears our heart out.

There’s a slight twist near the end of our production – one that I accepted but didn’t really understand until tonight. I spend most rehearsals multi-tasking – answering email, taking notes, taking photos, doing paperwork. So I never really developed good traction it until tonight. But now I have to say that I don’t ever want to do it any other way :) Not all of you will agree, but it certainly is great good for thought.

So…. what’s the craziest thing you ever did in the name of love?