Courtisans, dwarves, gun-fights, telekenetic powers, mechanical girls, evil laughter, spilled libations, and one very stressed bartender.
That was just Tuesday afternoon.
I no longer believe in sunlight: I don’t believe that anyone else on the cast does either. We have seemingly left the black-box theater in the Cohn building only for coffee, beer, or dinner for the better part of a week. I am told that Halifax is beautiful – when I have a day off I hope to find out for myself.
I have scarce had a waking moment where someone else’s part has not played in my mind or sounded in my ears for the last seven days. But, what we have done is impressive: the Tales of Hoffmann sung, blocked, and re-worked inside of eight days. I have never done so much work in such a compressed period of time. Already it feels tight, and we haven’t even run it more than twice: our paying public is in for a treat, I think. I feel blessed to have such excellent colleagues.
There is a quote board on the wall: I will check it before I leave town to discover what I have to dissavow having said. God I love this show.
Week Two has begun! Magic Flute is trekking along. We’re nearly all staged, and it’s thrilling to see things coming together.
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We have a fun modern concept that we’re playing with, and it’s been a good time trying different things out, and whatnot. I have my first costume fitting this evening, and based on the sketches I shared several posts earlier, I’m excitied to see what kind of a costume we’ll come up. (I’m crossing my fingers for a tiara.)
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We had a day off yesterday (Sunday), and us HSOW’ers all had fun trying various Nova Scotia experiences. My housemates and I trekked out to the Bay of Fundy. We arrived at Blomidon Provincial Park about half an hour after low tide, and hiked our way out (waaaaaaay ooouuuuuut) to the ocean edge, and played in the sand and water for a bit, admiring the gorgeous red cliffs, juxtaposed against blue sky, white clouds, and green trees. It was thrilling. And then, after a meal in Canning, we went back out, to see how much the tide had come in. It was INSANE!! Even as we stood and watched, we saw the things we’d drawn in the sand earlier get eaten up in a matter of minutes. It was a beautiful, beautiful day.
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Other castmates had fun excursions as well, like whale watching (although the rumour is, no whales were seen), going to the market, and playing along the harbourfront. Halifax, and Nova Scotia in general, have so much to offer, that we look forward to more days off to explore!
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And one final note: Casts are cast! It is really nice to have a solid set of people to work with, because we’re already arranging how we want to do specific things individual to our casts. When two different people are developing a character, they of course have different ideas (both valid) of how they see their character reacting to situations, etc. So for example, Janaka Welihinda, my cast’s Papageno, and I are planning how and when we want to bump into each other when we’re trying to escape from Monastatos. It’s just a little thing, but I think it’s the little things – the touches, the gestures, the last look back that take an opera from good to great. So if you’re hoping to catch a specific person in the show you’re coming to see, check out the website, Nina posted cast lists!
When I last left you, we had just begun staging. Well, after another long day in the shop, we bring you another completed act! Hooray! This show is coming together so quickly! It’s madness, I tell you!
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Staging is going well! There are so many fascinating concepts coming together and it’s going to be not only audibly interesting, but visually too. I can’t wait!
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Mostly I am super excited for the costumes. It is going to be Victorian Steampunk. If you are unsure of what that means, google it up. Am I going to have to pay copyright for using “google” as a verb? I hope not. That would be silly. Anyway, the best reference I can think of at the moment is the movie “A Series of Unfortunate Events” . This still may not help a lot of you, but essentially the concept is Victorian garb with “modern” gadgets…but not so much modern as what the Victorians may have thought would be modern in the future? It sounds far more complicated than it actually is but it is going to be awesome! Lots of leather and crinoline and flight goggles and scarves and, basically, all things that are good. The Nicklas costume concept (what I and Maureen Ferguson will be wearing) is based on an “air ship captain” which is going to be so wicked. Think Amelia Earhart punk-ed up. So exciting!
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On an entirely different note, a large amount of us went to see the final installment of Harry Potter last night. It is so much fun to go in a big group, it was a hilarious bonding experience. (ie) At a very serious and quiet part of the movie, when I was probably crying, all you can hear from down the row is Darrell Hicks (one of the Hoffmann’s) put his hand into the bag of popcorn and rustle around for approximately two minutes and then crunch loudly. During this time, William Ford (tenor, playing multiple roles) and I were chuckling to ourselves. We had a good laugh afterward and laughed even harder when Darrell asked us in a woman-ly British voice, “Do you want anythin’ from the trolley?” We laughed. Really hard. For most of the walk home. It probably isn’t nearly as funny since you can’t hear the inflection in Darrell’s voice and aren’t aware that he is nearly 6′ 5″ with long hair and a beard. Maybe you had to be there. But my point is that it has been so great getting to hang out with fellow work shoppers outside of rehearsal. There are just so many wonderful personalities and we have so much fun together. It’s an amazing experience and I am loving every minute of it!
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Well, I hope that didn’t bore you. If it did, I am sorry and I will try to gather some more interesting info for next time. 🙂
Tenor Jeff Boyd has kindly agreed to be our third blogger (all we need is a baritone now, and we’ll have a quartet :)) Jeff is singing the title role in Les contes d’Hoffmann.
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This is from Jeff’s website:
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My name is Jeffery Michael Boyd: I sing tenor.
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My core value is creativity: I believe that with intelligence, emotion, humor and attention people shape the world.
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During my studies in performance at McGill and the University of Western Ontario, I learned that active minds and interesting people make the best music. I have been privileged to study under some of Canada’s best musicians and want to share my passion for performance with you. Take a listen here.
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I have performed with Opera McGill, the McGill Savoy Society, UWO Opera, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Voces Boreales, Coro Vivo Ottawa, Choralis Camerata Niagara, the Canadian Opera Company chorus and many others.
