Princess Ida Production Blog: Day 4

Today, I sat in on the dialogue rehearsal for the principals. Due to the fact that it is 2013 and that the production is extremely different from the original, some cuts had to be made to the script and score. But it is life however. I will be sad that there will be no version of "The woman of the wisest wit" or 'Merrily ring the luncheon bell". Lines are cut or rewritten, songs are shortened, etc. But most importantly, the actors must enhance the dialect to match the fact they are cavemen. No victorian english accents in 50,000 BP. So add on some lovely caveman grunts. But honestly, this is necessary when you do something that isn't a normal Gilbert and Sullivan production.

Isabel Milenski is great when it comes to teaching. I took her Opera Scenes course in the previous semester. We not only took on singing, but we took on one of the toughest things I ever dealt with at school: acting. I learned so much in that class and from sitting in on today's rehearsal. Character work, playing with pitch and energy, word accent choice, etc. I personally believe that the show is in good hands with my classmates. They took great care in figuring out what makes their characters tick. The art of acting certainly has evolved since the days of Gilbert and Sullivan, especially in the opera world.

This is it for now. I will be back again on Tuesday after the first orchestra rehearsal.

Princess Ida Production Blog: Day 3

The set designs were revealed today by Isabel Milenski and Jian Jung. Consider instead of medieval times, that Princess Ida takes place around 50,000 BP (Before Present). Hildebrand's court is Primative man, Gama and his son are Wall Street tycoons, and Princess Ida resides in a ladies university that looks like the Museum of Natural History. Confused? So was everyone else. But let me assure you that there is sense in this concept.
(See future post for full details on the production concept and design).

The chorus and principals of Act 1, minus King Gama, Arac, Guron, and Scynthius, began to block the first number after focusing on their inner caveman. To instruct them on the dancing was the choreographer, Ashley Handel. She worked diligently to make sure the opening chorus was perfect, even making sure the singers had the right posture to not obstruct their breathing.

Meanwhile, the music director was faced with a dilemma, the orchestra parts were sent to another location by accident. Luckily, he began damage control and found another place to rent from. The day was saved.

Now that the cast, crew, and myself are now aware of the ultimate goal of the show, it is up to all of us to put in 110% and make it a production no one will soon forget.

Princess Ida Production Blog: Day 2

Day two consisted of the chorus working with the assistant conductor and the principals working with the music director. I sat in with the choral conductor. Boy was I impressed. He presented himself professionally and with a great knowledge of the score. He went over the notes he took yesterday and the tempos that the musical director will take during the show. It went rather smoothly, except at parts where the dividing of the vocal lines became hard even for me to decipher. At least the singers can learn each other's parts to strengthen their own.

The patter songs were a challenge at the beginning, but the singers managed to take them on with eagerness. And once they got it, they sounded amazing.

I have high hopes come show time. Tomorrow, the day of the blocking commences.

Princess Ida Production Blog: Day 1

Principals, Conductor, and Vocal Coach/accompanist run through the music for the entirety of the show in this order: Act 1, Act 3, Act 2.

It is interesting as a instrumentalist to observe a vocal rehearsal. The Conductor works with the pit and the singers separately until close to a week before showtime. Therefore, learning how the vocalists think and act as you play gives you new insight into the art of performance.

Going through each number, the singers run through the song until either they made a mistake or when the conductor had a suggestion about breathing, pacing, and tone color. In sections where words are repeated, it is important to have a different tone each time, as if the words change meaning.

In patter songs, the vocal coach suggested to accent at mid bar. The singers are actually sounding secure on the tougher/faster sections than would be expected on the first day.

We unfortunately had some cast members missing, so not every number was rehearsed.

Everyone was incredibly professional. Total focus and attention was paid to the conductor and to the others as they worked.

Tomorrow, they will combine with the chorus from Act 1. And then the next day, blocking begins. I will give details about the set design, if I can, on Friday's blog.

What is going to happen in 2013?

The new year is coming. 2013 is going to prove to be a very exciting year for me. I am doing coverage of my school's opera theatre production, Princess Ida. Also, I am expected to attend many exciting concerts, some of them being my own. And most importantly, I am going to do more interesting stories on my blog, and many episodes of some of my series on YouTube. Opera in a Nutshell, That Music History Show, and even some interviews and concert clips. I also want to know what you, the public, wants. So tell me in the comments you want me to cover in the new year? or do you know anyone who wants to work with me. I have started working as a YouTube Partner, so I hopefully can make my videos more legitimate
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Why I Am I Doing This?

It is true that what I do does not reach a wide audience. However, that is never going to stop me. I have made my blog and youtube because I want to engage the public in the world of music history. I have nothing against other genres of music, I love them all. I just focus my energy on the classics. Although my videos are not produced at a professional level, I know that people watch them and they enjoy them. If they learn something, thats even better.

I may never be a great blogger or youtuber. But that is not what I want to do with my life. This is just a hobby. My main focus in lit is to become an expert on music and conducting and to become a person who is willing to share this expertise and enthusiasm with the world. So in short, I may not be the best at what I do, but at least I am trying.

G&S: The Telephone Code

The early days of the telephone were that of discovery. It was Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor, who wanted people to say "Ahoy!" when they answered, but then decided to say "Hello" thanks to Thomas Edison. Besides making phone calls, people who subscribed to the phone company could listen to concerts and operas. But many were still suspicious of the operators who could possibly listen to their private conversations.

Such men were W.S. Gilbert, who shared conversations over the phone with Mr. Richard D'Oyly Carte. They discussed financial figures from their productions in a secret code. Each number 1-9 and 0 were replaced by a letter of the alphabet based on the word:

F = 1
A = 2
V = 3
O = 4
U = 5
R = 6
I = 7
T = 8
E = 9
S = 0

So 365 pounds would be VRU. Easy enough. Write out a math problem featuring this code and challenge your friends to decode it.