Well, that happened. And it was better than it had any right to be. I’m still not quite sure how to talk about it without sounding insufferably enthusiastic. But it was a magical night, from all perspectives. We inhabit a long-standing, venerable and demanding art form. The pressure to hit all of the marks is
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Traviata Liveblog: 42 Hours to Curtain
Overnight rehearsal #2. Projections, props, light cues. Assistant stage managers “light-walking” until the sun comes up. Putting the Keurig machine into motion at 1:45am. Quiet in the theatre, with middle-of-the-night slow modulated talking into headsets.
Read MoreTraviata Liveblog: 49 Hours to Curtain
We’re in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall for the “Sitzprobe” – when we bring together all musical elements: National Symphony Orchestra, Washington Chorus and Wolf Trap Opera. I’m a musical animal, having entered this business through my life at the piano. The shaping and shepherding of lights, costumes, sets and projections is exciting to be
Read MoreTraviata Liveblog: 68 Hours to Curtain
Ian Anderson loads out of the Filene Center, and Verdi moves in. Welcome to Wolf Trap. In order to tech opera – to focus and cue lights and projections – you need darkness. Ergo, overnight rehearsals are a reality of amphitheater opera. The obvious negatives (goodbye, normal sleep cycle…) are mitigated by adrenaline and by
Read MoreTraviata Liveblog: 76 Hours to Curtain
Leaving the Rehearsal Room… The team is completely assembled for the very first time, and the production designers (costume, scenic, projections, lighting, wigs, makeup) watch a run-through. It’s 4pm on a Tuesday, the singers are working through the opera in street clothes in a regular room. And you still cry when Violetta dies. Rehearsal ends,
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