Rehearsal Clip from Act III scene ii of DREAM

A clip from a rehearsal of Act III scene ii in which the lovers, Hermia, Helena, Demetrius and Lysander quarrel. Oberon chastises Puck for having confused his instructions. Scene has Laura Stracko, Emily Bodkin, Robert Legge, and John Dooley in it as the lovers, and Kyle Huey and Jeremiah Johnson as Puck and Oberon. Directed by Gary John LaRosa.

It's always challenging but important to create ensembles in opera...

A cappella lessons

When we first set about creating an a cappella opera, one of the concerns was that the voicestra would tire out. I may be speaking too soon, but this has turned out not to be the case. We have had two very long work throughs (four hours each) and the group is still going strong. So it appears that as long as the registers are reasonable for the voice types, an a cappella group has a lot of stamina.

The way the piece was written, I put lots of breaks in it--places for people to rest out. Sometimes, I have alternated sections--sopranos for a bar, then echoed by mezzos, for example. This actually creates learning confusion. With a cappella it appears that "the more the merrier" is the best policy. If everyone is singing frequently, it enhances the intonation and everything sounds more assured.

Live and learn. And edit. Edit!

Back at rehearsal

After several snow delays, it is good to be able to be back watching rehearsal. Director Gary John LaRosa has been wonderfully collaborative with the cast and also very detailed in getting the text to work just right. For example, he made the useful suggestion that we change lanthorn to the modern lantern.

We had our first rehearsal with both the cast and voice orchestra present (except for getting ready for the preview). Although it might have been a bit scary in a handful of spots, it is clear that the opera acappella concept is going to work well, even spectacularly in some spots.

Preview

A nice blog post from Chris Davis at Memphis Flyer about last night's preview of DREAM in Memphis.

Midsummer set

Director Gary John LaRosa and Designer Nick Mozak have been encouraged to create a design that has some nod to traditional elements--a beautiful, evocative forest. A musical setting of Shakespeare already provides quite an adventure.

Music Music Music!

Last night, we had music rehearsal with the "rude mechanicals." They are performers from Deltacappella and Riva who are in the voice orchestra and they will come up from the pit for their entrances.

In the picture, TeKay (Flute), Toney Walsh (Quince) and Charles Ponder (Bottom).

Weather outside is frightful...

The rehearsal period for MIDSUMMER has a holiday break in it. Back here in Memphis, it is lovely southern winter, but a heavy snow on the east coast has made it so the director, Gary John LaRosa and several cast members are stuck, waiting for an available flight to come or come back to Memphis. So the first day after break--scheduled for a major music run thru--is now going to be meagre.

I have a widow aunt

This is a demo of Laura Stracko (Hermia) and John Dooley (Lysander) singing "I have a widow aunt," from the first act of MIDSUMMER. We are now near the end of the first week of music rehearsals. It doesn't have Deltacappella and Riva in it, but it gives a good idea of how the acappella opera will sound like. Laura is a musical theater singer and John comes more from the opera world, but they sound great together! (Note the mp3 player shouldn't autoplay--it shouldn't play until you click it.)

A music rehearsal

Today was the first reading of the MIDSUMMER, or at least the first one where any continuity was attempted. Here is a section from the end of the first act of the play with Helena (Emily Bodkin), Hermia (Laura Stracko), Lysander (John Dooley), conductor Curt Tucker and pianist Stephen Carey. I need a better video camera!

Readthru with the voicestra

Yesterday we had an extensive rehearsal of MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM opera a cappella with the Deltacappella and Riva singers. We the first two acts with comparatively few stops. The singers singing roles in the opera don't have the hardest parts--those are in the voicestra.

Today's rehearsal gave me (and Jay Mednikow, Deltacappella's founder and Artistic Director) the confidence that this project definitely can work!