Rigoletto sitzprobe

You are probably asking yourself what a sitzprobe is?  A sitzprobe, or seat-rehearsal, is traditionally the first rehearsal with orchestra.  By this time, the singers have learned their staging, and have been singing through their roles with piano accompaniment in rehearsals.  A sitz, as it’s commonly referred to, is strictly a music rehearsal, where the singers sit on stage instead of walking through their staging.  The objective of this rehearsal is to work out any and all musical kinks before the orchestra dress rehearsals begin.  Singers are always hungry to sing with an orchestra, so the sitz is usually an exciting step to be a part of in the rehearsal process.  Here is a sneak-peak into the March 15th sitzprobe rehearsal of Rigoletto, from Act I Scene 1.

Now just imaging all those performers in costume running all over the stage!  For tickets go to www.kcopera.org.

10 questions with Richard Paul Fink

Richard Paul Fink as Rigoletto

We recently caught up with dramatic baritone Richard Paul Fink, who will be singing the title role in the upcoming Lyric Opera of Kansas City production of Rigoletto, to ask 10 questions inspired by our readers:

1.  How did your initial interest in the art form of opera begin?

I started performing community theatre at the age of ten and always had an ear for musicals.  While I was a junior in high school I went on choir trip to see the Metropolitan Opera’s touring production of La Traviata with Robert Merrill.  A little voice in my head said, “this is what you will do!”

2.  Where did you grow up?

Massillon, Ohio.  A small steel mill and football town mid state Ohio, where I was recently honored as a “Citizen of Distinction.”  It is also home to Helen Hayes, Rose Bampton, Jan DeGaetani, David Canary, and a multitude of sports superstars. 

3.  Do you have any family?

Sharon; wife, President & CEO of Birkman International.  Three daughters; Margaret, Amy, Alexandra.  Alex/Lexi, is the singer/actress and this January/February she the lead in 42nd Street at Memorial High in Houston. 

4.  What is an average performance day like for you?

On performance days from 1:00 p.m. on, I focus on the show and maybe take a nap before a role like the title role in Rigoletto.

5. What is an average, non-performance day like for you?

When I am on the road on my days off I like to play golf and watch Sci Fi. When I am at home I like to do wood working projects and spend time with my family.        

6.  What is your favorite opera to watch/experience?

 Just about any Verismo Opera

7.  Have you performed your role in Rigoletto before?

I have performed it at; Welsh National Opera, Opéra de Montreal, Calgary Opera, and covered it at the Met.  Having three daughters, the role touches me deeply. 

8.  What language(s) do you speak fluently?

“Strasse Deutch”

9.  What facts about you would our audiences be surprised to learn?

I was a mascot, played flute, piccolo, and baritone sax in high school.  I have been a machinist, worked in welding shops, been a maintenance man at churches and apartments, loaded trucks with fabric to steel, and helped design own home.

10.  What is the opera role you haven’t performed, but would like to perform the most in your career?

I would like to be in Falstaff, Il Trittico, Kismet, Man of La Mancha, and Carousel.

Horsley adores Dunleavy

Mary Dunleavy

Paul Horsley’s review of La Traviata was just posted on The Independent’s web site. Says he:

Mary Dunleavy so completely wrapped herself in the character of Violetta …. Her gestures, interactions, expressions — detailed yet sweeping, inviting yet tear-wrenching — were so deft that they did convey the text, to the point where I found myself ignoring the supertitles. Dunleavy, a veteran of this role in houses that include the Metropolitan Opera, sang with distinguished vocal craft and a chocolaty tone…

Many more kudos were given, especially to Chad Shelton (Alfredo), Lester Lynch (Germont), and Peter Dean Beck (scenic designer). Read the entire review here,  and post your own thoughts by clicking the “comment” button below.

The Star likes La Traviata

Chad Shelton and Mary Dunleavy

Timothy McDonald’s review of La Traviata was just posted on the Kansas City Star‘s web site, and he had many positive things to say about the production. Says he:

There’s much to like about the opera and the production, with fine singing, good orchestral work, and of course, Verdi’s infectious tunes.

[Mary] Dunleavy graces the stage with a hearty soprano voice that has both power and subtlety …  her voice was stunning — expressive and quite lovely. When the orchestra played softly in “Ah, fors’è lui” (“Ah, perhaps it’s him,”) her singing was sensitive and laden with emotion.

[Chad] Shelton employed a rich, resonant tenor sound that was consistent throughout all registers. He displayed a particularly fine ringing tone at the top of his range.

Some of the strongest moments in the evening were duets by Dunleavy and Shelton, particularly “Di quell’amor,” (“Of such a love.”) a melody that returns throughout the opera as a love theme.

Music director Ward Holmquist did a fine job with the orchestra. The opening orchestral music in Acts I and III, with the high-pitched strings was particularly well performed, and the sensitive stretching of musical phrases heightened the emotional intensity of the evening.

You can read the entire review by clicking here. Disagree with Mr. McDonald’s review? Or think he was too conservative? Share your own thoughts by clicking the “comments” button at the bottom of this post.

La Traviata photos

A photo from the final rehearsals of La Traviata to whet your appetities for the live performance. More can be found on our flickr page.

Mary Dunleavy as Violetta

La Traviata preview, part 2

Director of production Tracy Davis and director of design and technical production Keith Brumley recently took some time out of their schedules to preview the upcoming production of La Traviata. Enjoy part two of their preview.

Lyric Opera star and director relish the role of mother

Check out the nice preview piece in today’s Kansas City Star highlighting our Violetta and director of La Traviata as working moms: http://www.kansascity.com/238/story/1069620.html

Mary Dunleavy and daughter during a break in rehearsals for La Traviata at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City

La Traviata behind the scenes: staging rehearsals

Hello readers!! We are in our final days of staging rehearsals in the rehearsal hall before we move to the stage. Here’s a little peek at what I do during those rehearsals:

Staging rehearsals are the rehearsals in which the Director (Kathleen Smith Belcher) tells the singers where to move, where to stand, what prop to hold, etc. This is called blocking. As a Stage Manager, the majority of what I do during staging rehearsals is to record the blocking into my copy of the music score. On the back of each page of music is a little ground plan where I can draw where singers move as well as write it out. I also keep every single piece of information written down in the book as well. Here in the biz, we call that a prompt book.

Writing down blocking is not as easy as it sounds. Every movement, every entrance and exit along with props and costumes need to be notated. There are a couple of reasons for this:

1.) Sometimes singers and directors forget what they did the last time. If it’s written down, there’s no question.

2.) Sometimes people can’t make it to rehearsal and they get blocked in the scene anyway.

3.) Sometimes people can’t make it to the performance either and we need to put in a cover or understudy so the show can always go on!

4.) Because operas are done so often, sometimes years later someone might want to put on the show again using similar blocking.

Imagine writing all of that down long hand. Fortunately, stage managers have devised  notations and stage terms to shorten the process up.  Each stage manager has some of their own symbols, but there are some universal symbols. I’ve listed below some of the basic theatrical terms:

SR=Stage Right ( The actor’s right)
SL=Stage Left ( The actor’s left)
HR= House Right ( The audience’s right)
HL= House Left ( The audience’s left)
US=Upstage (away from the audience)
DS=Downstage (towards the audience)
X=Cross

I use just letters to show where principals are standing and for Chorus and Supers I use their first and last name initials.  For the Lyric Opera of Kansas City production of La Traviata these are the short hand that I’m using the represent the principal characters.

Violetta=V
Alfredo=A
Germont=G
Doctor=D
Gastone=E
Annina=N
Baron=B
Flora=F
Marquis=M

So if the Director says to Violetta, “I want you to cross stage left to Alfredo” in my book it would look like this:
V X SL2 A

To some people, blocking notation looks like random letters and numbers, but to stage mangers, it’s just another way of writing. Also, remember that SL is the actor’s left and the stage manager is facing the actor. Now you know why all stage managers have a serious problem with left and right.

Next week… technical rehearsals. Now the real fun begins!

La Traviata video preview, part 1

Director of production Tracy Davis and director of design and technical production Keith Brumley recently took some time out of their schedules to preview the upcoming production of La Traviata. Enjoy!

La Traviata: A SM’s Prep Week

Greetings fantastic readers.

My name is Erin Thompson and I am the Stage Manager for La Traviata. What is a Stage Manager you ask? Well the easy definition of the job is that whenever the lights change, the scenery moves or a singer walks onstage during a performance, a member of the Stage Management staff is behind that action. Now that is just the easy definition. There are so many jobs that go into the role of Stage Management. As the weeks progress, I’ll be going into more details of the tasks that I accomplish for the production.

I know you must be thinking, “WOW” that’s a lot of responsibility. It is. That is why the Lyric Opera of Kansas City provides me with two wonderful and extremely talented Assistant Stage Managers (ASM): Hannah Stricklin and Katie Snyder. Both of the ASMs have specific duties throughout the process. Hannah is a whiz at coordinating all of the props, while Katie has a natural knack at tracking costumes. Part of my job is to make sure that all of that information gets distributed through the Company. They assist me in making sure that we have everything ready for all rehearsals and performances.

Speaking of getting prepared for rehearsals, the Stage Management team is contracted to start a few days before the singers actually arrive so that we can make sure the rehearsal space has everything that we will need. For La Traviata rehearsals, we are working in the Lyric Theatre Studio in the basement of the Lyric Theatre.

When Stage Management walks into the space, it is a bare room. So during the week, we gradually add more and more items to the space in order to morph the empty space into the rehearsal area of La Traviata. We go and buy rehearsal supplies to provide to the Company. We also start working on paperwork. (We will be discussing the different types of paperwork as we get further into the process.) Stage Management makes sure that the rehearsal space has everything that it needs. A major part of Stage Management is planning ahead and making sure that the Director, music staff, and the cast members have the tools that they need in order to accomplish their jobs.

Another main job that we do during prep week is we tape the floor. We measure every piece of scenery that will be onstage during a particular act and then we use a special type of tape called spike tape to tape out that exact piece of scenery in the floor in the exact size that it will be onstage. Pretty neat huh? La Traviata has four different acts. In order to determine if we are in Act I versus Act IV we use different colors of spike tape. Spike tape is a fiber-based tape that sticks very well to most surfaces. Spike tape comes in a TON of colors so that we have many options to choose from. For La Traviata we used: dark green, neon green, blue, red and yellow. But as I said earlier, we only have four acts so why five colors? Not only do we tape out the scenery, we also tape out the full stage, from the front edge of the stage nearest the audience to the very back wall of the theatre. Once the tape is on the floor, the Director can place the cast amidst the scenery and the cast can see where the scenery will be. This makes the transition from the rehearsal hall to the actual stage a smoother one. And that concludes our prep week. Now it’s time to move onto the next step in the process, which is meeting the cast and staging the show.

I’ll be in touch again soon to let you know how staging rehearsals are going!

SM-ERT

The taped off rehearsal floor