The Barber of Seville is in full swing

The Barber of Seville photo by Matthew Staver for Opera Colorado

The Barber of Seville is just over two weeks away, and everyone involved in the production is hard at work preparing for this Rossini classic.  Just last weekend all of the principals made it to town and full rehearsals began.  The costumes from Washington National Opera arrived a few days before the singers and are getting adjusted to fit the singers.  The set, from The Minnesota Opera, will be arriving next week and will be unloaded right onto the Muriel Kauffman Theatre stage where it will undergo some adjustments of its own to fit the stage.  Rest assured, all will fit well and the entire production has a classic Barber look.

Since all of this is happening behind the scenes right now, we wanted to make sure all of our patrons knew about some of the ways they can learn about The Barber of Seville and quench any curiosities (or ticket needs)!

On Monday, April 16 at 7 p.m. the Lyric Opera Guild will hold the last of its 2011-2012  At Ease with Opera presentations.  This one is titled, A Cut Above: Rossini’s Barber of Seville, and will be given by Guild member Dr. Debra Karr.  The presentation is held at the Kauffman Foundation conference center at 4801 Rockhill Road, KCMO.

An In-depth Guide about The Barber of Seville is also available.  Written by Stu Lewis of the Lyric Opera Guild the guide covers: the opera plot in great detail, bio information about the librettist and composer, and some background on the historical context of the opera.  Click here to read this fascinating guide to The Barber of Seville.

Also, in case you did not hear, due to popular demand a 5th performance has been added for The Barber of Seville on Monday, April 23 beginning at 8:00 p.m.  If you don’t already have tickets, Monday has the best seats available.  Click here if you are interested in purchasing tickets to The Barber of Seville.

Julius Caesar Lives

The Julius Caesar set from the Lyric Opera's 2008 production

If you happened to attend the 2008 Lyric Opera production of Handel’s Julius Caesar you may be interested to learn that the set is alive and well.

The set, featuring staircases and platforms, was designed by Ming Cho Lee for the New York City Opera in the 1960′s.  Since then it has traveled who knows where and was purchased from Cleveland Opera for the Company’s production in 2008.   The Lyric Opera, in turn, recently sold it to Fort Worth Opera for their production, which opened last Saturday and runs thru Sunday.  You can read a review, here, of the Fort Worth production, which sounds like an entertaining opera.

Lets hope the set still has a few more productions in it.  After all it is quite the stage veteran by now!  Have thoughts about our Julius Caesar production?  Write them in the comment section below.

Backstage Notes: Music Preperation

Musical Preparations for the 2011-2012 season are already in full swing!  About two weeks ago, the orchestra string parts for Turandot arrived.  Elena Talley, our Music Librarian is already busy at work marking the bowings into the string parts.

Elena Talley with some of the orchestra string parts

Have you ever noticed when watching the string sections at a Symphony concert that all the bows of the violins are moving in the same direction at the same time?  Well, that’s no accident.  The process starts with the Concert Master and the Music Librarian.  The Concert Master will mark “bowings” into the entire first violin part.  The bowings tell a string player what direction to move the bow in and in what style to move the bow.  After the Concert Master is done with the part, it will move on to the 2^nd violin, violas, cellos and finally to the Principal Bass player.  The music librarian will then take the bowings and make sure it is marked in each and every string part.  This is why Elena is already working on the parts, 128 days before the opening performance of Turandot.  It is a very time consuming process

Sarah Zsohar with some of the Chorus Music

The Chorus for all of our productions has been cast and is ready to roll.  Chorus Music Rehearsals will start in mid-August.  The past few weeks, our Production Associate, Sarah Zsohar, has been busy preparing copies of music for the Chorus. Chorus members are already coming into the office to pick up their music and start learning the many notes that they will sing inTurandot.

Our principal Rehearsal Pianist and Chorus Master, Mark Ferrell, would probably not like the site of a piano on its side.  Generous donations have led us to own not one, but two grand pianos. We have a baby grand piano (donated by R. Keith Brumley) and a concert grand piano (donated by Dorothy Warenskjold) over at our Production Center.  These are used for Mainstage rehearsals, Education rehearsals, and Coaching’s with singers.  Since our Production Center is under construction this summer and there is certain to be a fair amount of dust flying about, we have put our pianos in Storage with Gerber Moving & Storage.  Dear Gerber, please take good care of them!!!

Next week, I will be busy monitoring renovations on our Production Center.  I will return on June 9^th with a story about the Kansas City Symphony’s first rehearsal with Maestro Ward Holmquist in the Orchestra Pit of the Muriel Kauffman Theatre!!!

Backstage Notes: Readying the Production Center

Many people may not know this, but the Lyric Opera of Kansas City is a very unique company in that we have our own scene shop to build scenery.  Many companies are forced to rely primarily on renting scenery.  In doing so, you lose a certain amount of artistic control of what you choose to put onstage.  In a typical season, we will design and build 1-2 new productions.  This past season, both Carmen and The Marriage of Figaro were new productions.  Beyond having artistic control over a production, sometimes we will choose to build a new production that we think other companies will be interested in renting, and that generates revenue for our company.  For example, in the 2011-2012 season, you could see our production of Carmen at Seattle Opera, La Cenerentola at Madison Opera, and Tosca at Lyric Opera Ottawa in Canada.  Yes, we are an international company!!!

Production Center - Before

Of course, all this scenery needs to be stored somewhere.  In the past, our scenery was stored in an old school down in the East Bottoms that also housed our scene shop.  Despite its sketchy location it worked just fine until last summer when part of the roof caved in and water starting leaking into the building.  So, we had to move all of our valuable scenery to different buildings.  The majority of it was stored in our Production Center.  This past week, our local IATSE Stage Crew has cleared all of this scenery out of the Production Center so construction can begin on Monday.

Production Center - After

Where our scenery should be stored was a significant point of discussion in planning the design of the Production Center and the Administrative Offices.  The final design of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City Opera Center Complex includes our scenery being stored right next to the Production Center, enabling us to rehearse on actual scenery pieces before the artists move to the stage of the Muriel Kauffman Theatre at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.  Again I say, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City is a very unique company to be able to do so.

Next week’s story – you know the opera needs musicians in the orchestra pit, correct?  Well, what else goes into getting an opera company musically prepared?

Backstage Notes: First Notes/First Steps

Benjamin Gulley

Have you ever wondered what the Lyric Opera of Kansas City staff does during the “down” months of summer?  What does the Production Department do when there are no rehearsals or performances onstage?  Well I, Tracy Davis-Singh – Director of Production, am here to answer these questions.  In the next 4½ months (135 days!!!), the Production Department will be clearing our warehouse building on 18^th street to begin renovations on the Production Center, listening to first orchestra rehearsals in the Muriel Kauffman Theatre, moving our scene shop from the East Bottoms to the Production Center, begin building our new production of Turandot (designed by our own R. Keith Brumley), and move 41 years of history out of the Lyric Theatre into our new home.

Kristee Haney

To start this journey from Lyric Theatre to Muriel Kauffman Stage, Lyric Opera of Kansas City Apprentices Benjamin Gulley and Kristee Haney received an opportunity yesterday that will enable them to forever say “I was the first professional singer to sing before an audience at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts!”  On May 11, the Kauffman Center hosted a private event for several of their donors titled “First Notes/First Steps”.  Ms. Haney sang a few notes of Una voce poco fa from Rossini’s The Barber of Seville in the Helzberg Concert Hall.  The sound of her voice absolutely resonated in the golden wood of the Hall.  Mr. Gulley gave a preview of bigger sounds to come with Nessun Dorma from Puccini’s Turandot in the Muriel Kauffman Theatre.  I personally had goose bumps on my arms and tears in my eyes just imagining what the stage will look like and sound like on October 1, 2011 when we have our opening performance of Turandot.  The acoustics of the Muriel Kauffman Theatre are going to give the audience members the opportunity to hear opera more clearly than ever before possible in Kansas City.  Amidst all the donors, staff members of the Lyric Opera, Symphony and Ballet were several construction workers that were seated way up in the balcony during this event – observing what will occur in the buildings that they have spent 2-3 years building.

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City hopes to share our excitement for our new home with you via these regular updates.  Next week we will take a look at what happens to the scenery that we build when it is not on our stage.

Nine Days

The crew assembles the Rigoletto set

Rigoletto opens in nine days!  For an opera company, nine days can seem like a long time.   Right now the Company is busy preparing for Rigoletto and a flurry of activity can be found on the Lyric Theatre stage as the production takes shape.

 Just a few days ago the crew began preparing the technical aspects of Rigoletto starting with hanging the electrics and scrims.  The set for Rigoletto is from the New Orleans Opera Association.  Because of the size of the Lyric Theatre, sets aren’t loaded in until all of the electrics and scrims are hung, so everything has to happen quickly on stage.  After a day for hanging, the set in its many pieces was unloaded.  The pieces are being assembled by the crew, quickly putting together what amounts to a giant 3-D puzzle.  The good thing is that the crew has done this before, and even though they have never assembled this specific set, they will be finished with the main assembly by Friday.

Richard Paul Fink and Mary Dunleavy chat between photos

Because a part of the set has already been assembled it can be used by another part of the Company.  Today, the marketing department held a photo shoot with two of the principal performers.  With opera, the visual aspect is just as important as the audible aspect.   Lighting, sets, costumes, wigs, and makeup are all part of the visual aspect.  Being able to show the public as many of those aspects as possible helps portray an accurate visual of what to expect on stage.  This photo shoot of Rigoletto (baritone Richard Paul Fink) and his daughter Gilda (soprano Mary Dunleavy) is in full costume on part of the set.  The most dramatic images from the shoot will be used with advertising, and when combined with audio can give a quick summation of what the opera experience is like for both eyes and ears.

While sets are being assembled and cast members are posing for photos behing the curtain, Artistic Director Ward Holmquist rehearses with the orchestra in the pit.  Rigoletto has a large orchestra so it is a tight fit in the pit.  Each morning this week Maestro Holmquist and the orchestra will work their way through Rigoletto, focusing on one scene or act at a time.  Did you know the orchestra only rehearses 2 times without singers before the final dress rehearsals?

By next week rehearsals will move from our Production and Education facility to the Lyric Theatre stage where full stagings with the orchestra and singers will begin.

Goodbye, Gary

Lyric Opera of Kansas City House Manager Gary Blashill retired from his duties with the Company when the final curtain for HMS Pinafore fell on November 15. Before the production ended, Gary shared with us the answers to 10 questions most often posed to him.

When did you begin house managing for the Lyric Opera?
Around 1997.

What is your favorite part of the job?
Meeting the patrons for each opera. I have many friends that I look forward to seeing at each opera.

What do the ushers do on performance nights? 
We start by stuffing all of the programs and place them at the head of each aisle. All volunteer ushers are briefed on that evening’s opera and assigned their aisle or ticket place.

Are all of the ushers volunteer?
No. We have six paid ushers the rest are volunteers.

Are you planning to take up shuffleboard during your retirement in Florida?
There will be no shuffleboard at any time, however I will be relaxing and enjoying the good life.

What is your most commonly asked question as a house manager?
“Can I go back stage after the show?”  The answer is No. 

Have you ever met someone famous at the Lyric Opera?
Garrison Keiller and John de Lancie (played Q on Star Trek).

What is your favorite opera?
Die Fledermaus

There are rumors of the Lyric Theatre being haunted, can you confirm or deny the allegations?
I have not had a personal encounter, however there have been a few times that could be questionable? Cold air spots, dimes laying where there was nothing there earlier, moving shadows when no body else was in the house, all occur in the upper balcony.

If you could tell our patrons one thing about their attendance at the Opera what would it be?
Don’t wait to hear if the Opera gets a good review, it always does and come early for parking.

Dick Deadeye!

“Dick Deadeye!” This name, emphasized with sharp diction and a hint of evil is the character Matthew Treviño portrays in this season’s production of HMS Pinafore.

At a recent afternoon rehearsal Treviño, along with Daniel Belcher (Captain Corcoran), Jon-Michael Ball (Ralph Rackstraw), Stephen Fish (Bob Beckett), Robert McNichols, Jr. (Bill Bobstay), Ava Pine (Josephine) and Deborah Fields (Little Buttercup) were gathered in the Lyric Opera rehearsal space to block several scenes for the upcoming Gilbert and Sullivan comedy.

Treviño, dressed in his everyday attire, gave a taste of his character and the strong presence Dick Deadeye has on stage. As stage director William Theisen blocked a scene involving Ralph Rackstraw, Little Buttercup and Bill Bobstay, Treviño’s character leapt on stage calling attention to himself as he called out his own name “DICK DEADEYE!” in a way that caused the other characters to tremble in fear. With his hunched back and wicked facial features, this character is going to be quite entertaining to watch from the audience.

The rehearsal continued with a scene involving the male characters Captain Corcoran, Ralph Rackstraw, Bob Beckett, Bill Bobstay, and of course Dick Deadeye. When in character, the quintette fed off each other’s energies and were each fully involved in their individual characters. When out of character, it seemed like five good friends sharing laughs and enjoying one another’s company. There is no doubt about it that there is chemistry across the board in the HMS Pinafore cast and you can witness it yourself on opening night!

Ball, Fish, Treviño and McNichols

Treviño accosts Fields, while Fish looks on

Tivol is a diva’s best friend

Tivol has generously provided the gorgeous jewelery worn by our dynamic diva in Act II of the Puccini classic, opening tonight. Here’s a sneak peek at the beautiful pieces — and the process behind selecting them — before they make their Lyric Opera debut. Thank you, Tivol!

Mary and Ryann consider choices

Tracy and Mary display the goods

A close-up view

Lisa models Tivol jewelry

Guest blogger: Week 2, blocking

Our amazing cast has worked so hard for the past week and a half, and I’m happy to announce that as of this evening, the entire show is blocked! What does that mean?

Well, it means that more or less, every person in the show is supposed to know where to go on stage (cross downstage left on this phrase, do a waltz for eight measures on that phrase, draw swords on the second beat of this measure, twirl parasol for one and a half measures on this high note, etc) at all times.

What does that really mean?

Although we may not be able to improvise many moves on stage because of the great choreography, dance numbers, and large number of pointy, drawn, swords in the show (for fear of poking an eye out!), as actors, our job is to make sure that our movements are motivated by choice, by our character, by our music, and our own intensions.

As a singer and actor, it is now my job to look at my music score every night before I go to bed, and make sense of all of the little markings that I’ve added into it this past week of staging rehearsals. Not because I’ve been told to go somewhere at some point in the show, but because my character, Mabel, in her aria, motivates all of the moves, dances, twirls, jumps and turns, as she gushes about her newfound love through song.

Currently, I’m open to a page that shows the following:
Enter SL w.Parasol
XDCsteps
XCtoF.
Back to F.
XDR to E.R.
R,L,R,L, DC v.2

Which means: Enter from stage left with parasol. Cross Downstage Center on the steps. Cross Center stage to Frederick. Have my back to Frederick. Cross downstage right to Edith and Ruth. Right foot, Left foot, Right foot, Left foot, Downstage center for beginning of verse 2.

Within the guidelines of ‘blocking’, we are able to do a lot of character work. Asking why is always a good place to begin.
Why would I skip to the right here? (I’m so excited and a bit scared about being so close to Frederick!) Why do I address my sisters in this section? (They are looking at me like they don’t believe me!) Why do I look at Frederick and then immediately look away in the beginning of the show? (I just professed my love to a total stranger!) Why at the end, am I able to always be looking for Frederick? (I have realized that he has risked just as much for me as I have for him).

When you see us make a move on stage, whether it is a XDR (cross downstage right), or a twirl of a parasol, a waltz, a two-step or a leap over part of the set, know that everything has been planned and rehearsed to a tee, so that in the performance, every aspect of ‘blocking’ will look like a natural impulse and instinct of the characters interacting with one another on stage!