Posts Tagged: traviata

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

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.

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

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