In case you didn't catch it, I'm only being half serious.Well, who knows about ghosts and all those things really. But I do believe there are dark forces at work in our daily lives, and that this place is getting aired out, and that I think I will breathe again soon.
It's lucky I have flatmates here I can talk to about this stuff. Last night I felt quite driven spare; it was so good to let it all out, and it meant I could finally fall asleep around 3 am.
This week was pretty great - Friday night I got to hit the road for evening drinks with the cast and crew of Macbeth and had the opportunity to bend Paul Whelan's ear further on talking shop. Went out to lunch with the dudes from Macbeth too, a Korean and a Welshman, and these guys cracked me up with their stories about Bryn Terfel and Anna Netrebko. Classic. Our Macduff showed everyone how to do card tricks while certain assistant directors who shall remain nameless chainsmoked and drank craft beer. Our director pronounced Jung Soo's hat "too blue" for public consumption. An interesting fact I found out about this fun-loving guy: he goes to Korean church.
Our Lady Macbeth, Kelly Cae Hogan, is a fascinating vocal personality and mad as a hatter. I'm trying to convince her to add my patented "crazy eyez" to her interpretation. I didn't even realise but Kelly and Paul have graced the stages of the Met. Kelly will be singing Shostakovich's Lady M at the Met this year but was too modest to mention it! She and I have both sung the role of Carlotta in Phantom of the Opera. When I asked her where she studied singing, her answer was "life." I later found out online that she learned with none other than Anna Moffo!
Last night was the first official stage run without stops and starts of Fanciulla and I got to catch it in the final stage of its germination before it emerges fully formed It's hard to believe almost 8 weeks of rehearsal and gut-slogging have passed, and this baby is ready to be let loose on the road. This show really has everything: the gun-toting tart with heart, the redeemed cowboy, and enough swoon-worthy melodies to send you riding off into the sunset a million times over.
I'm sad that the rehearsals for Fanciulla are ending, and now the hard work begins for me as I have to manage to capture and interview the principals and directors and ask probing questions while I can before everyone disappears off in different directions.
John Rodger sang from the wings last night as our lead tenor walked through the part onstage. My feelings on the evolution of the rehearsal period for this show? Well, it's the little things that have now become integrated. I'm realising as performers that consistency is key - things seem to have more of an internal logic and therefore there's more of a flow to the production now, rather than seeming stop-start or tacked on. There's elements that in earlier stage rehearsals this week seemed a bit jolting, as again another layer was added on by putting the production in the Grand Theatre and out of the rehearsal room for the first time this week. So a couple of things got thrown as people adjusted. But now you couldn't imagine this show without the little things, like Rafael remembering to shut the door when he puts his coat in the closet in Act 2.
The minor adjustments to lighting, positioning etc. to reset the production in the Grand Theatre space are fascinating to observe. There's a new sound world component added to the mix - we now hearing Minnie's gunshots rather than seeing them mimed. New considerations have to be taken into account with the positioning of the male chorus when they sing backstage to ensure they are heard, and the computer projections which comprise a vital component of the set make their first appearance. This is another intelligent way Opera North gets the most out of their touring productions and gets around stage space restrictions by using transport-friendly set innovations.
There's adjustments of projections which form a major part of the backdrop in this production. Blood packs have to be jostled to ensure our characters bleed convincingly, and fake snow is let loose. Wigs and extravagant facial hair render the men onstage virtually unrecognisable. The costuming adds yet another layer of detail to characterisation - Jack Rance is the only one onstage in a three piece suit.and this immediately distinguishes him. Ribbons and corsages presented to Minnie have to be bright enough to register with the audience. And our young pregnant woman in the production showed me her prosthetic baby bump - when I knocked on it it sounded like a drum, and she said she can't rest her hands naturally on it as it makes too much noise onstage!
A Midsummer Night's Dream
I want to quickly talk a bit about this show as I realised I never reviewed it and it was one of the first things I saw at the Grand Theatre.
I missed the rehearsal period for this show but got to enjoy several kiwis in the title roles, including Andrew Glover as Lysander and Sky Ingram playing Helena, picked fresh out of music school by Opera North (well, okay, she's actually Australian.)
This was certainly more lavish than most ON productions I've seen so far - there's usually the air of utilitarian about them - but the set design team had definitely designed an experience that was more other worldly than extravagant. You couldn't really get lost in the set in and instead had to immerse yourself in the dilemmas of the characters and the dynamics of their relationships. At times you felt you were in taking a trip through a children's playground of slides and tunnels. There were a lot of metallic colourings, bright surfaces and long spherical tubes that went on forever into parallel dimensions, stiletto shoes and a disco vibe with an update to the late 1960s in costuming. However there was a neo-classical balance to the wedding scene.
It was great to hear some of the more characterful voices in the ON chrous make their star turns as the "play within the play" characters such as Bottom. I really do think most of Opera North's productions have excellent casting decisions, and as 2013 was the year of Britten here at ON it's been a moment for the more idiosyncratic members of the company to let their true personality shine. Kiwi Andrew Glover seized his character tenor dreamrole moments with alacrity in playing Lysander, his earnest and high-lying tenor ringing out sweetly across the audience.
The house was packed the night I attended, and there was a palpable buzz in the great old Victorian Grand Theatre. When this place is full the atmosphere is electric, and because there were lots of young people around me there was a real energy to the theatre going experience. What's more, these kids loved it - there's nothing like a man in drag to capture their attention I find - and the laughs from the audience were very genuine, proving that in this age of instant entertainment gratification Shakespeare's plays are still the thing (with apologies to Hamlet.)
The mixture of straight acting and singing and the outstanding comic timing of the ON chorus who took on the smaller roles made it more than another night at the opera. It was a production that successfully straddled the dual realms of dreams and reality.
Music: Theme from Jacques Cousteau's 'Silent World'
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