Shooting the breeze in Lawrence, Kansas

Got to catch up with an old friend and colleague, Dean Anthony. We ended up meeting in Lawrence, Kansas where he was going to attend some auditions at KU. We are cooking up a new operatic project--more later. Dean is a character tenor of vast experience who is now turning to stage directing and running his own prop shop. He has recently taken over running the opera program at the Brevard Music Festival.

In a contemplative mood

Back in Ames for a week,  I've been finishing up my contribution to a large commissioning project put together by Opera America to celebrate the opening of its National Opera Center. Over forty composers are writing songs--the general theme was "home." As they dedicate their new home, I wanted to pause and remember the chain of people, well known and lesser known,  who have helped make opera what it is in 2012.

While the singer, Marquita Lister, is singing, at select points the names of deceased contributors to the field is spoken. The challenge was that there is room for only eighteen names. Since the list was worked up with the help of Opera America and Marquita, I didn't actually know all of them personally, but that's ok.

Although there are some very famous and well known names, I wanted a balance. Two names that were important to me to include were composer James Legg and tenor David Eisler. Jim was a talented composer who I knew very well--we were both students of Robert Ward and I was very fond of his opera, THE INFORMER. Although I knew David Eisler less well, having worked with him only once in Miami, he was one of the many artists in our field who died all too young during the AIDS epidemic.

It's rare that you get a chance to publicly remember folks who are gone, so I appreciate the chance to do this thanks to Opera America. I'll post more about this when the whole project is about to be released.

Dragon dress

It was a splendid dress rehearsal. We had a small audience of students who really stayed with it. Here is a small clip from very near the end where Ellen Frankel (and our character, Rabbi Nathan Goodman) paraphases MLK.



Jason Switzer, Christopher Lorge, and Teresa Eickel.

Disrupting the community rally

Our pro-Klan characters disrupt a community rally and blast hate metal. This is right before they throw their "audio bomb."

Who threw kleenex through my window?

We are in the final rehearsals for SLAYING THE DRAGON before we reach the theater. Here Ava (Jennifer Braun) and Giet Long (David Koh) are expressing their angst over tissue boxes and bananas thrown through their window. (In the show they are hate messages wrapping a brick.) Vera Goodman (Teresa Eickel) looks on.

I'm pleased that OperaHub, a company in Boston is doing the second production of MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, opera a cappella, this summer. They are performing it June 28-30. Although I'm happy to be helping out my friend and colleague Valerian Ruminski with a Boheme at his Nickel City Opera in Buffalo, I'm sad that it's right on top of the DREAM, so I won't get to see it. Spies wanted!

Good luck Marciem!

Good luck to Marciem Bazell and the students at University of Missouri Kansas City tonight and tomorrow night. They are doing a scene from CORPS OF DISCOVERY from the second act where the Hidatsa women anticipate Sacagawea's return home. Marciem is an old friend, generous colleague and talented stage director.

200+ Children!

This Friday, the Ames Children's Choir will host a festival called "Celebrate Singing," where they will perform the premiere of a selection from SLAYING THE DRAGON, "Hear our Prayer." This selection is for two part children's choir. In the production there will probably be fewer than twenty children, on Friday there will be over two hundred. Should be fun!

Opera has surprisingly few great children's choruses. The one from CARMEN is probably the best, perhaps followed by HANSEL AND GRETEL. The children's choir in DRAGON is there to sing a song at a nonviolence rally, so it's a good excuse for a complete number with a beginning, end, and no adult interruption.

I've had some feedback from a publisher that the words to the piece are too strong for a marketable standalone piece, so we'll see what the kids think.

Staged Workshop

There is nothing like a staged workshop in order to tell if something works. Standing with a score in hand makes everything seem like an oratorio, lecture, or sermon. In one week, the Center City Opera singers managed to put DRAGON on its feet. The workshop was staged by Leland Kimball, OperaDelaware's General Director. Lee will direct the piece in June. Jason Switzer, who will sing the leading baritone role, made a quick study. It was encouraging to have the show come to life (honestly, some of it had gotten a bit boring) and for some of it to be very emotional.  Time for gathering a few opinions for some small changes and then on to orchestration.     

On its feet at last

After a libretto reading and two music workshops, SLAYING THE DRAGON will at last be on its feet this weekend in Wilmington and PhIladelphia. Some of the scenes, frankly, were starting to go stale without staging. Others truly benefited from the extensive workshops. Although everything flows very well, there are always things to fix. The presentations are 8pm Saturday in Wilmington at OperaDelaware and 2pm Sunday at the Prince Music Theater's Black box.