Putting it all together…

Submitted by Stephen Raskauskas, Production Dramaturge

Rehearsing is a bit like getting dressed; first you start off with the basics, and slowly add accessories.  The past few days rehearsing Acis and Galatea have been about adding details, particularly since more items have been added to the stage as Production Designer Chelsea Warren completes certain props (see below). 

Slowly, the world of Acis and Galatea that we’re creating acquires layer upon layer of detail, until the final dress rehearsal when all elements will be in place.

Conductor Francesco Milioto has been visiting rehearsals regularly to make sure that as the staging acquires more pieces to the puzzle, the singers aren’t forgetting about important musical details.

Checking in With Chelsea

Submitted by Stephen Raskauskas, Production Dramaturge

Production Designer Chelsea Warren has begun fitting the singers for costumes for Acis and Galatea.  Below, tenor Brian Hoffman tries on shoes just after his pants have been fitted. 

Of course, Chelsea wouldn’t be able to complete her work without her assistants.  Below, Craft/Speciality Items Assistant Gwen Smuda (right) and Props & Paint Assistant Katherine Greenleaf (left) are busy constructing a costume element out of pages from a book.  The details in their work are truly astounding; a wedding dress made out of books which Chelsea mentioned in an earlier post, for example, uses pages from a 1950s manual on motherhood!

Working Preston Bradley Hall

Submitted by Stephen Raskauskas, Production Dramaturge

This week, we had the opportunity to rehearse Acis and Galatea in Preston Bradley Hall, where the first three performances of the opera will take place.  We learned a lot about the space, visually and acoustically, and have begun making certain adjustments. 

In the picture below, the Brian Hoffman, Scott Brunscheen, Caitlin McKechney, and Susan Nelson sing a chorus around Wilbur Pauley (seated), while ribbons of mellifluous melisma pour out of Brad Jungwirth’s mouth (upstage).

Wilbur Pauley, who stands a towering 6’4 and bellows with a booming bass, plays the perfect Polypheme.  He’s standing tall not just because he’s been blocked there; his wife August Tye just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! 

Since opera singers rarely smoke, the Summer Opera celebrated with chocolate cigars.  Stage Manager Kathryn Eckert saves her cigar for after rehearsal, since she’s usually busy diligently taking notes of Joanie Schultz’s stage directions as she watches each scene unfold.

DirectorsLab to Auction Director’s Memorabilia

DirectorsLab Chicago Benefit to Auction Autographed Memorabilia by Some of the Biggest Names in American Theater

DirectorsLabChicago, founded in 2005 by Chicago-based directors Elizabeth Margolius and Karin Shook, has grown into an international yearly event at the Chicago Cultural Center where directors from around the world gather to exchange ideas and discuss what it means to be a director.  This year, the inaugural event on Monday, July 27th at 7pm at the Chicago Cultural Center in the Cassidy Theater, open to the public, brings a frank and in-depth conversation with some of the city’s most prominent stage directors as they discuss the varied approaches to their work.  But the excitement doesn’t end there!  Immediately following the event there will be a reception and benefit silent auction, to assist their mission of bringing the highest level of quality to the Lab.

In the spirit of directing for the theater, items up for auction are pages of notes written during the rehearsal period of some of the most important productions by some the rising stars of American theater, as well as autographed memorabilia by some of the biggest names in theater.  Items to be featured include autographed notes (notes actually written on-stage during a performance!) from the off-Broadway production of Our Town, directed and starring David Cromer, signed notes from Tony© award-winning Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Barbara Gaines-directed production of MacBeth, autographed notes from Charlotte Moore’s Irish Repertory Theater off-Broadway production of The Yeats Project, and signed notes from the Tony© award-winning Mary Zimmerman’s original 1996 and 2009 revival of the currently running and much-praised Lookingglass Theater production of The Arabian Nights.  But the centerpiece of the evening is a poster from the recent one night only Lincoln Center event A Life in the Theater, a One on One Conversation with Stephen Sondheim, Hosted by Frank Rich, autographed by both Mr. Sondheim and Mr. Rich! 

Read more »

A little bit of everything

Submitted by Stephen Raskauskas, Production Dramaturge

Joanie Schultz has almost finished staging Acis and Galatea.  The opera contains a little bit of everything, from love songs to battle cries, and course, what opera would be complete without a dramatic death scene? In the pictures below; Wilbur Pauley (Polyphemus) imprisons Amy Conn (Galatea); John Zuckerman (Acis) prepares for battle as Rob Boldin (Damon) tries to convince him to tame his passions; John dies while Amy mourns.

All of the arias in Acis and Galatea are da capo (italian for, from the head); once a singer has sung the first two sections of the aria, called the A and B sections, he or she returns to the beginning (the head) to repeat the A section.  The repeats allow singers to showcase their virtuosity, adding embellishments and occasional cadenzas.  Because the raison d’ etre of da capo arias is virtuosic display, often staging these pieces can be a challenge.  However, Joanie has crafted some clever staging for these arias, after spending much time exploring these pieces with each of the singers.  In the picture below; Joanie discusses da capo form with tenors John and Rob.