Wolf Trap Opera

The last few weeks of our season included two opportunities to engage budding opera fans. First, the Instant Opera residency at the Children’s Theatre-in-the-Woods at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts:

The kids choose characters, locations and actions, and the cast takes it from there, mixing original language aria excerpts with improvised English recitative. My favorite improv plot of the week came on Saturday:

Scooby Doo & Elmo go to the mall and get their nails done. Darth Vader comes along and messes up the manicures. Captain America challenges Darth Vader to a duel -arm wrestling-and wins! The moral of the story is that everyone should make their own choices, and to not be so ‘judgy’ of others!

Oh, and just in case you think the young ones have all the fun, you’ll be relieved to know that Wolf Trap’s Club 66 (Young Professionals Organization) was treated to its own version of Instant Opera last weekend.

The plot was just a bit different…

In Amsterdam, Michael Phelps & Martha Stewart share a cigarette. Michael & Martha get a bikini wax, Lady Gaga takes his hair for a beard for her new persona: Abe Lincoln. Napoleon tries to claim the last bikini wax, but Martha objects. They fence (with a mallet and a headless baby) then share the bikini wax, resulting in a happy ending.

Our fearless quintet of artists tackles their craziest challenge of the summer (writing and performing their own opera on the spot…) in front of the toughest audience imaginable (hundreds of kids and parents). Outdoors.

To get ready, they hosted a trial run last weekend, in front of about 25 of their colleagues. This is what they ended up with.

A dragon walked into the Cheesecake Factory, but couldn’t decide what to order. His waitress, the Pink Power Ranger, helped him choose, and then choose again when the kitchen was out of the trout. (End recitative, interpolate Russian mezzo aria.) They did yoga as they waited for the food. (“La donna e mobile” in Tree Pose.)  Voldemort entered, turned himself invisible and froze the Dragon and Pink Power Ranger so he could eat all of the cheesecake. Simba, the King of the Jungle was just trying to pay his bill, but the Pink Power Ranger/Waitress was frozen. (To the strains of Poulenc, of course.) He used his royal crown to see Voldemort even though he was invisible, and stole his wand: he made Voldemort unfreeze the Dragon and his waitress, the Pink Power Ranger. (Toreador, en garde!)  The Pink Power Ranger asked Voldemort why he only wanted to eat cheesecake, since that would be bad for him and lead to diabetes and death. Sad ending.

The week will include 5 shows for children and be capped off with a PG-13 version for Wolf Trap’s Club 66.

This past week, members of the Wolf Trap Opera Studio took their fabulous Instant Opera! improvised opera to hundreds of children in the magical part of Wolf Trap National Park called the Children’s Theatre-in-the-Woods.  Five years ago, I was onstage with the singers, developing this incredible project with Jim Doyle (of Comedy Sportz, and now of Disney).  This year I was alternately on the road, then managing orchestra readings, so I missed all of the fun.  Still can’t believe it.

You can read more about how Instant Opera! works here.  And for your enjoyment, here are a few Mad Libs-style opera plots that the children created during Instant Opera! 2010:

Star Wars Lizard
Once upon a time in a backyard, Darth Vader and Yoda were doing yoga.
Along came Zeus and a cheetah, and they danced!

The Secret Castle
Once upon a time in a castle, a princess and a dragon were dancing.
Along came a King and a salesperson, and they cooked dinner.

Wolf Trap Superstars
Once upon a time in a forest, Justin Bieber and Hannah Montana were cutting down trees.  Along came Harry Potter and Hermione G, and they did some magic!

SpongeBob in a Castle
Once upon a time in a castle, a prince and a pig were eating lunch.
Along came a princess and SpongeBob, and they danced!

Thanks and congratulations to Claudia, Hillary, Paul, Hunter, Christopher, Patrick, Scott, Judy, Amelia, and of course, your friend and mine Jim Doyle.

(Wish I had photos, but I didn’t get to attend a single show, and someone let Melear move to Europe with his camera…)

10:18 am with Titania & Bottom in rehearsal
“Come, sit thee down upon this flowery bed,
While I thy amiable cheeks do coy,
And stick musk-roses in thy sleek smooth head,
And kiss thy fair large ears, my gentle joy.”

12:34 pm: Artist Transpo
A quiet moment waiting at the Hilton,
catching up on email on the now-indispensable iPhone

1:43pm with Hannah Montana and Bob the Builder in Instant Opera preview
Hannah & Tiffany shopped for shoes in Pisa, and Bob & Pongo played ice hockey until Harry Potter’s spell mistakenly melted the rink.

3:04pm: Places, Ladies & Gentlemen!
Peering around the corner while backstage left with Amanda,
a most excellent place to be

3:08pm with CameraMan in the balcony booth,
protecting the music from the click of our shutters

3:10-5:20 Invitation to the Dance
In a future life, I want to be able to sing, play, and dance like these folks.
A terrific concert, topped off by an encore dedicated to yours truly on the occasion of my 25th summer with Wolf Trap Opera.
(Have I really not had a summer vacation since 1984?)

5:38 pm in the English Barn with this wonderful cast.
(Minus Danny, ever the working drummer, packing up his kit.)

6:25pm.  The house and lobby are clear.
(Except for RT & JB, loitering at the box office)
Time to send the cast and company off to Chef Geoff’s for a party, then head home to visit my brother, who is visiting from Colorado for just one day!

Participating blogs are listed below – links will become active throughout the day on February 9.

Where and How We Do What We Do

• The Barns at Wolf Trap via Clef Notes
• Arts Management in Reverse at Adaptistration

Focus on Repertoire

• Zaide at Roger Evans Online 
• Turk at Musical Perceptions 
• Dream at Dramma per musica 

Marketing and Fundraising

• Why Wolf Trap Needs Members at Katya’s Nonprofit Marketing Blog 
• Zaide Production Choice Becomes Marketing Hook at Butts in the Seats 

Our Young Artists and their Careers

• The YAP View via Houston Grand Opera
• Overview of 2010 FYA Roster at Miss Music Nerd
• The Career Pyramid at The Omniscient Mussel 

Interview Fun

• Operagasm (Instant Opera, Artist Profiles, Audition Advice and More) 
• The Mind of the Airstream Diva (Books, Music, Daily Life)
• Does The Fat Lady Still Sing? at The Next Hundred Pounds 

WTOC Colleagues

• Whack-a-Mole at Rahree
• Studio Artist Photo Gallery at the Melear-o-sphere 

There’s a point each summer when folks – patrons, colleagues, friends – say, “What’s wrong? You haven’t updated the blog in OVER A WEEK!”

It’s like the crazy Christmas season years ago when my husband and I decided we didn’t have time to put the requisite tens of thousands of lights on the house. A worried stranger knocked on the door and asked if we were all OK – thought that because we hadn’t decorated the house, someone must be sick.

We are all fine here at WTOC, but this last week was a struggle. No surprise – we saw it coming. Ulysses performances, Instant Opera week at Theatre-in-the-Woods, Steve Blier’s residency and Pursuit of Love recital, and the approach of Boheme tech week. It was all marvelous, but it consumed all available waking hours, with no time to tell about it!

This is our day away from the theatre, ceding the stage to Pat Benatar and Blondie. We reoccupy tonight at 12midnight, and it’s nonstop from there till Saturday. I offer in these few quiet minutes a catch-up posting.

SpongeBob, Princesses, Scooby-Doo, Captain Hook, and Harry Potter…

If our singers ever doubt that they’ve come to work in a National Park, those thoughts are erased by their first trip out to the Children’s Theatre-in-the-Woods. They hiked along the stream every morning last week, and presented 5 world premiere operas written by the children of the Theatre-in-the-Woods and brought to life by the Wolf Trap Opera Studio. These amazing singers were armed for improv battle by Your Friend and Mine Jim Doyle, joined by Pianists Grant and Jeremy, supported by Super Judy and Super Amra, and cheered on by coach Eric.

Pursuit

Steve worked his magic (and no, that’s not a euphemism) last week, and brought a slightly atypical program to The Barns. The Pursuit of Love wasn’t structured like most of Steve’s recitals – rather, it gave each of its four singers a chance to sing a complete set/cycle of songs (by Villa Lobos, Grieg, Granados, and Gabriel Kanahane), and then featured all of the singers in quartets. In the midst of an intense rehearsal week he also found time to chat with our donors and lead a master class with some of the Studio Artists. And, of course, the journey home (a needlessly epic 12-hour trip from Vienna to New York) yielded the annual brainstorming document with ideas for next year’s recitals. Six of them. (Six ideas, not six recitals. Even though I tried:))

Joining the Bohemians

We are now exclusively on the Boheme train. A few shots from the last room rehearsal and this link to the promo will have to do for now! More tomorrow. I promise.