Tag: Lyric Opera Baltimore

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Une Voyageuse Fabuleux

 

 

The Charles Theater is presenting The Metropolitan Opera’s live HD broadcast of Massenet’s Manon tomorrow & I’ll be on hand to greet audience members, hand out “swag”, & enjoy the show. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday, right? It gets better. Sara Stewart, a wonderful, talented woman who’s a member of the Met’s regular chorus  – & a longtime friend of Jim’s & mine – has a solo in this opera.

We first met Sara during Young Victorian Theatre Company’s 2001 production of  H.M.S. Pinafore. If you saw that show, Sara was Josephine, I was Cousin Hebe, & Jim was The Handsome Dark-Haired Guy in the Chorus. Jim & I know a lot of extremely talented singers, but even so, Sara’s voice always impressed us. We’re all too aware that there are no guarantees in any business, especially in the arts, yet we (& many others) had a feeling she’d go on to do great things.

From 2002-2009, Sara & I sang in the Baltimore Opera Chorus together; she also had several small roles with the company during that time. In 2009, Baltimore Opera went bankrupt, which was devastating to everyone who’d worked there, both artistically & financially, but far more so to someone at Sara’s level.

In 2010, Sara announced that she’d auditioned for the regular chorus at the Metropolitan Opera… & that she’d gotten the job! To put this in perspective: if you’re a professional opera chorister, the Met is the best gig in the country. It’s the only company I know of at which such work pays enough to make a living – no office job, teaching, retail, or restaurant work required. Compensation aside, hello, it’s the Met.

Once a season, the Met, like other professional companies, has auditions for chorus members who wish to be considered for small roles. The character Sara is portraying in Manon is referred to simply as “Une Voyageuse” in the score, but Ms. Stewart, with the sense of humor I recall so well from our many productions together, has re-named her “La Voyageuse avec les Oiseaux Morts.” Apparently the props department has given her a birdcage to tote around the stage & its fine, feathered inhabitants are on their backs at the bottom of said cage. I do hope the “deceased” critters are clearly visible on the big screen tomorrow!

Singing in the Met Chorus is nice work if you can get it, true, but it’s also hard work, & the schedule can be somewhat erratic. One’s workload during a given week depends largely on casting. No chorus member sings in every show that happens in the season. Some operas have no chorus, others just men, others a smaller chorus. The small chorus operas get divided up among the regular choristers so that the work/pay is fairly close to even. Staging rehearsals typically begin at 10 or 10:30AM, with more music or staging work possible in the afternoon; the rehearsal day typically ends around 5PM. If a singer is in rehearsal for one show & simultaneously performing in another, which is not uncommon, they will need to be back at the theater around 7PM. The Met presents 7 performances a week, Monday through Friday and two on Saturday; there are usually four productions running concurrently. In Sara’s words, “Bottom line, it takes a master’s degree just to understand the schedule!”

Bravissima, Sara; we are so proud of you & can’t wait to catch your performance on the big screen tomorrow! For those who are planning to join us at The Charles, we’ll be there at 11AM; the opera begins at 12 Noon.

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hey figaro, can your aria wait? gotta check my facebook!

Last Sunday, Jim & I had the tremendous pleasure of seeing Lyric Opera Baltimore’s production of “The Marriage of Figaro.” We loved absolutely everything about the opera – casting, sets, costumes – well, every aspect but one: the behavior of certain audience members. Having seen the opera a few times, I’m well aware that “Figaro” is a long song, but really, who among us urgently needs to check his Facebook – more than once – during a live performance? The guy seated in front of me, that’s who. Guess he wanted to be sure his status was getting enough “likes”.

Mr. Facebook & his companion also had a few conversations during the opera, as did a number of people seated near us. Perhaps he was asking her what he missed while posting online. I don’t understand that sort of behavior at all, but it’s commonplace at any kind of live performance these days, & the situation is often worse in movie theaters. As a performer, of course I’d love to think that audiences are hanging on my every word, note, or both, but I know better. Sunday’s disruptions probably seemed especially annoying because Jim & I are friends & colleagues of a number of the folks onstage.

A few months ago, the internet was abuzz with stories about “tweet seats” – special seating areas in theaters for those who wish to share their experience of a performance with the entire (online) world while the show is still going on. Despite assurances offered by several venues that tweeters would be seated in specific parts of the theater & given little covers for their phones to keep non-tweeters from being distracted by said devices’ brightly lit screens, I hate the idea of tweet seats. Not only is posting online during a show rude to the performers, it renders the tweeter unable to fully connect with what’s being said, sung, or played onstage, & isn’t that supposedly why we go to the theater or concert hall in the first place?

Proponents of tweet seats claim that this sort of gimmick is the only way we’re ever going to get young people to attend live theater or classical music events, but Mr. Facebook & his companion didn’t appear to be much younger than myself & I am… um, not a kid. A couple of years ago, Jonathan told me that he’d gone to a play at Center Stage & was returning to his seat after intermission when he spotted a youngish couple seated in the bar, watching another current production on a TV monitor, texting away the entire time. The fact that they weren’t in the same room as the actors didn’t seem to bother them. Maybe tweet rooms, not tweet seats, would make everyone happy? Let’s put the talkers in there, too.

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Opening night, but no jitters… yet!

Baltimore, are you ready for some opera?

Lyric Opera Baltimore’s “La Traviata” opens tonight & I am as excited as a five-year-old on the night before Christmas. So many people have worked so hard to start this brand-new company, but in my opinion, the biggest kudos should go to the fabulous James Harp, LOB’s Artistic Director. Mr. Harp has put his heart & soul into this production, as always, & it shows.

There’s a great deal of concern in the classical music world – & especially among those of us who perform & produce opera – about the graying of audiences & the need to bring in younger ticket-holders. The internet is full of articles claiming that the operatic art form will die out sometime today if we don’t start doing all new rep, in modern dress, to bring in 20- & 30- somethings. Apparently period costumes, music by the likes of Verdi & Puccini, high ticket prices, & the common perception that opera is “elitist” are what’s keeping younger folks away.

I’m not so sure those points are valid, or at least that they’re all that’s turning people off on opera. A couple of weeks ago, my husband & I attended an excellent student production of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” at Towson University. The incidental music was rather movie-score-esque & the fight scenes were a bit more intense than one sometimes sees, but otherwise, this was classic Shakespeare, in period dress. The house was packed & the vast majority of the audience was under 25. Not only were they extremely quiet & attentive (many theatergoers in my age group could have taken a lesson from them in that regard!), when the show was over, they applauded wildly, gave a most genuine standing ovation, & shouted for joy as if they’d just seen a rock concert. Shakespeare isn’t opera, you say? True, but the mostly-student audience at this week’s “La Traviata” dress rehearsal reacted in exactly the same way. I remember the young folks who came to final dress at Baltimore Opera being just as enthusiastic, & Mr. Harp loves to talk about the way kids who see his opera outreach performances react to the presentations – many say they want to be opera singers when they grow up!

As for the music, I will agree that operatic singing is a tough sell for some. During my days as a student announcer at WSUI/KSUI in Iowa City, Iowa, I had a colleague who was a punk rock fan (The Clash, etc.) & had only listened to opera on the air if he was board-opping for one of our broadcasts. He found the singing style off-putting & just didn’t understand what the big deal was. For some time, I urged him to attend one of the UI Opera Theater’s productions, & finally, he did. He came back to work the following Monday & said he’d had a blast! Even his misgivings about operatic singing had gone away. In his words: “I didn’t know one guy could do that with just his voice! No microphone! Nothing!” My colleague may not have become a hardcore opera fan, but his idea of the art form as stale & only for wealthy older folks (since this was a university production, there were quite a few students in the house) had changed, indeed.

I love hearing wonderful new music, but I certainly don’t think we need to shelve “La Traviata”, “La Boheme”, etc. Longtime opera fans may feel jaded about such repertoire, but we need to remember that most people haven’t heard or seen these shows multiple times, or even once. The music may have been written over a century ago, but it’s brand new to them. Also, like it or not, there is a segment of the opera audience that is not fond of newer music, & we need to present shows that will sell tickets in order to finance edgier fare. When I go to new operas or avant-garde productions of older works, my fellow audience members tend to be my colleagues… people who already love opera & just want something different tonight. Oh, & how about the fact that warhorses stick around for decades because they’re great works of art?

Grand opera is expensive to produce, & as such, it comes with high ticket prices. I’ll give the hand-wringers that. However, have you looked at ticket prices for a Broadway show, a Lady Gaga concert, or a professional sporting event lately? Yikes! If ticket prices are what’s keeping younger folks out of the opera house, perhaps it’s that they can afford to go to far fewer events these days, of any kind, & their favorites take priority. (Now, how do we go about making opera a “favorite?” Hmm.)

As for the perception of opera’s “elitism”, I would lay the blame for much of that squarely at the feet of popular culture. How many movies, TV shows, & commercials have you seen in which the bored husband is dragged to the opera (or ballet) by his socially ambitious wife & either falls asleep during the performance or spends the entire evening listening to a ballgame on headphones? I fume whenever I see such things.

While I certainly agree that we need to keep attracting new patrons, I don’t know that it’s realistic to expect them to be young folks, at least not entirely. Most people don’t embrace any form of classical music in their 20’s or 30’s. Concern that audiences are dying off has been rampant in the classical music world for at least 50 years – Leonard Bernstein’s “Young People’s Concerts” are but one example of attempts that have been made to reverse that trend, & guess what? If you remember when those concerts were on TV, you are now well over 50! I understand & share the concerns of those who are trying to make classical music, & especially opera, attractive to a new generation; I just don’t think we’re going about it in the best ways at this point. I will also freely admit that I don’t have all the answers, but I will keep my eyes & ears open, continue chatting with colleagues, & blog about such matters in the future. Please feel free to share your thoughts on this subject!

When I digress, I do it big-time, don’t I?

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Production week: it’s not for sissies

More news from Lyric Opera Baltimore’s “La Traviata”: we’ve been on the Lyric’s stage since last Friday & had a fabulous final dress rehearsal with an audience (mostly students from area schools, but also some friends & family of cast members) last night. The audience certainly seemed to enjoy the show; we received such enthusiastic applause & so many “bravos” that we took four – four! – company bows. So much for opera not appealing to younger folks.

In addition to our passion for singing, most of my colleagues in the Lyric Opera Baltimore chorus have full-time day jobs, kids, or both. Needless to say, when you add those things to the production week schedule – at least three rehearsals in a row, some or all of which may end around midnight – life gets interesting. (This week’s rehearsals have all ended around 10pm; a most civilized hour.) My on-air hours at WBJC are perfect for a performer & I have a great deal of flexibility in scheduling & editing the interviews that I do with various artsy folks, but even so, at this point in a show, I sometimes find myself throwing laundry in the washer around 5am (before I go to the gym) because that’s the only time I have to do it. Sleep tends to go out the window during this time, which makes staying healthy a challenge. I’m always wired when I get home from rehearsal, even if it’s late, so I like to sit up with Jim & have a glass of wine; chances are we haven’t seen each other since around 8 that morning. I try to get to the theater early so that I can score free on-street parking, eat dinner (brought from home) with a colleague or two, & take my time getting into makeup & costume. Rushing to get wigged, painted, & gowned is no fun!

Speaking of Jim, I am very fortunate to have married a performer. Not that people who don’t do this sort of thing can’t be good spouses to those of us who do, but it can certainly help. If your partner doesn’t understand why you can’t go out to dinner on the night of your final dress rehearsal, no matter who has invited you, there’s likely to be trouble ahead. I’ve both seen & been in relationships that have broken up due to one person’s lack of respect for the other’s love of being onstage, & sad to say, I find it’s usually women who give up performing for a certain portion of their lives due to family obligations. However, I have several married couples among my colleagues who manage to juggle onstage work & family concerns with great finesse. Either one parent does a show while the other minds the kids, then they trade off, the kids spend a lot of time with grandparents or other relatives while both do a show, or, if young performers/supernumeraries are appropriate to the production, the kids end up in the show.

In our house, there are only two humans (both fully grown) & two cats to think about, which makes things easier. I actually get to make dinner & eat with Jim tonight – woohoo! – & we’re joining a group of friends for cocktails at the Owl Bar later. A bit of normality in the midst of production week chaos is always much appreciated, but I am also very much looking forward to opening night – can’t believe it’s tomorrow!