Performing | American Lyric Theater

Apr

MAKING SINGERS CRY

No, I did not yell at anyone in rehearsal. When working on an opera that strikes a deep emotional chord with the entire cast and creative team, it’s easy for emotions to get flowing!

The past few weeks, I’ve been in San Francisco staging a double bill of Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona, and Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti. Im not going to try to convince anyone that La Serva Padrona has any deep emotional message. It doesn’t. It is a fun piece of fluff from another era. What I want to focus on here is Trouble in Tahiti, because in many ways, I think it is one of the most perfect pieces I’ve ever worked on.

For those not familiar with the story, Trouble in Tahiti is the story of a couple – Sam and Dinah – who have been married for almost ten years. In the context of an idealistic, artificially utopian American mid-20th Century society, we peel back that artificial veneer of perfection to see what is beneath the surface – a deeply troubled relationship – a marriage on the rocks where communication has broken down so much that both Sam and Dinah are at a loss as to what to do to restore the love in their marriage. In this short piece, Bernstein packs some incredibly beautiful music, along side some very amusing and fun “numbers” that draw strongly from both the worlds of Jazz and the Broadway stage. By combining a deeply relevant story that pretty well anyone in the audience can relate to with a musical language that contemporary American audiences can easily identify with – Bernstein has really created an incredible piece of theater and music. Remarkably, even though the piece is over 50 years old, it doesn’t feel at all dated to me.

For audiences, Trouble in Tahiti can be both a moving and entertaining experience. For performers, getting to the heart of the piece has proven to be very easy – and a particularly rewarding process. The libretto for Trouble in Tahiti was written by Bernstein, and demonstrates remarkable craft – both in its wit and its depth. It is well known that there is a semi-autobiographical basis to the story of Sam and Dinah – and it is surely for this reason that the piece is so strong. Bernstein was writing something close to his heart. Much like La Traviata (see my earlier post), Trouble in Tahiti is also NOT an opera about a society foreign to the audience for which it was written – it is about the society OF the audience – and about characters the audience could relate to easily. The fact that these characters, juxtaposed against the idea of a storybook, idealized American society still resonates so strongly for us today speaks tremendously for the strength of the piece.

While the more flashy arias, like “What a Movie!” are a lot of fun to stage and perform, it is because Trouble in Tahiti has so much honesty at its core that it has been so rewarding to work on with the cast. While this short opera is packed full of amazing scenes, perhaps my favorite is the very moving duet when Sam and Dinah meet on the street in the middle of the day. They both make up lies just so they don’t have to spend time with each other:

Why did I have to lie – to avoid another hour together?
Is it better to sit alone in a crowded restaurant, and catch up on last week’s magazines?
What do we need to make us friends again?
We’re not so very far apart.
We like the same movies, the same parties,
We have our little child…
What makes this emptiness? Tell me when these silences began?
Why did I have to lie?
Long ago, you were all strength and life and joy to me.
All magic, all music, all life to me.
You were my charm and all delight to me;
My heart and mind;
You were my love, the sun and night to me.
That was then.
This is now.
Years have gone, nearly ten,
And what has happened to dull the mystery?
And where is our garden with a quiet place?
Why can’t we try to find the way again
To peace and life?
Why can’t we find the way, the way to life again?
Can’t we find the way back to the garden, to the garden, where we began?

As we staged this duet, it quickly became apparent that we needed to do very little. Here was a place where the words and the music are about as perfect as they can be for the dramatic situation. By keeping things simple in the staging (which is not always the case with my directing – but was certainly appropriate here!), and letting the singers really concentrate on what they were singing, a remarkable intensity started to emerge in the rehearsal room. At one point, I was looking at our Sam (the very gifted Ryan Kuster) and I could swear he was holding back tears – wow, I thought – what a good actor! I was getting a bit choked up. When he walked off at the end of the duet, and sat down, I could see that the tears were real. He had allowed himself to get so involved in the text, and it was so natural to “live” in the text, that the character of Sam really took over. It was a very powerful experience for all of us. Of course, one has to strike a balance on stage, and not get so involved in the emotional content that it makes it impossible to sing – but I was so excited that the simplicity with which we had set up the scene allowed Ryan to explore the emotional depth of the text and music. The next challenge was to find that balance – accessing the emotional truth without letting it get in the way of the technical requirements of singing, but that is so much easier to do when the emotional heart of the material is so easy to access.

Now, when I watch this scene (as well as other parts of the opera), both Ryan and our fantastic Dinah, Maya Lahyani, just rip my heart out. They are so connected to the text because it is not a stretch for them to be these characters. Maya is Israeli, and in the beginning of the rehearsal process, I think she had her doubts about being such an “American” character – but what these characters are going through is so real, one need not be American to portray them or relate to them. Ryan and Maya become Sam and Dinah. And I, as an audience member, am so connected to the text because it is not a stretch for me to see parts of myself in these characters as well. When opera becomes so fully satisfying, I truly feel grateful to spend my days making singers cry!

Categories : Directing, Performing, Singers

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Dec

SMALL BUT MIGHTY – TEN REASONS TO CELEBRATE AMERICAN LYRIC THEATER IN 2010

By Lawrence Edelson · Comments (2)

As is evident from the space between my blog entries, I’ve not kept my promise to blog as regularly as I had hoped. While I intend to blog more frequently in the new year, I will refrain from making a New Year’s Resolution that I will probably waver on from time to time! For now, I’d rather reflect back on the past year – which was truly an extraordinary one for American Lyric Theater. Newspapers and television shows are full of “top-ten” lists as the year comes to a close, so in that spirit, here is my personal top-ten list of reasons for ALT to celebrate. American Lyric Theater may be small, but there are few companies that are making such a large impact on American opera relative to the size of their budget! I am very proud of what the ALT family does – especially considering our size. Small but mighty, I hope you are proud of ALT too! (This list is not in order of importance – trying to rank the value of these different accomplishments proved impossible – they are all important in their own way!)

The National Endowment for the Arts awards American Lyric Theater a Grant for Artistic Excellence to support The Composer Librettist Development Program: In 2007, American Lyric Theater launched the first full-time mentorship program for emerging opera composers and librettists in the United States. As a young company (ALT was founded in 2005, and had its first public program in 2006), many looked on with more than a bit of curious skepticism at this initiative – but in three short years, the Composer Librettist Development Program has more than proven itself. Since 2007, the CLDP has provided intensive, personalized mentorship to 17 gifted emerging writers – many of whom have gone on to professional commissions and recognition nationally and internationally. The CLDP has become the subject of study by OPERA America and a number of major national Foundations, and this year, the National Endowment for the Arts recognized the artistic excellence of the CLDP through a grant for the 2010-11 season in the amount of $15,000. We are incredibly grateful to the NEA for both their recognition of the value of the CLDP, and their generous financial support which allows us to further strengthen this unique program.
The Much Anticipated World Premiere of The Golden Ticket at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis: In 2006, ALT began down the road of its first full-scale commission: a new opera based on Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which did indeed prove to be a Golden Ticket! After an action-packed development period that included two extensive workshops in New York City (in 2007 and 2009), The Golden Ticket was finally ready for “prime time.” As ALT is primarily a service organization, a core part of our mission is to develop strategic partnerships with producing opera companies to help usher the new works we develop into the repertoire. ALT’s unique development and producing partnership model was fully realized for the first time this year on June 13th when The Golden Ticket received its triumphant world-premiere at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. I first reached out to OTSL in 2008 about the possibility of working with ALT to present the world-premiere, and to see The Golden Ticket finally reach the stage in St. Louis this June was an incredibly emotional and gratifying experience. Perhaps most gratifying was to hear the laughter and cheers of the audience – which, of course, were supplemented by a wave of incredible reviews from around the world. Having had the opportunity to work with composer Peter Ash and librettist Donald Sturrock on The Golden Ticket is something that I will never forget. (Check out our PRESS page for links to the reviews and editorial coverage of the premiere.)
Our New Crop of Resident Artist Composers and Librettists: The economic environment during the 2009-10 season did not allow us to invite applications from composers and librettists to the CLDP last season, but this season, thanks in part to new support from the NEA, we were able to invite a new round of applications from gifted emerging artists. The “new crew” are incredibly diverse in their musical and theatrical backgrounds – and we are incredibly exciting to be working with all of them! (Click HERE to meet all of our new and returning Resident Artists.)
Expansion of the Composer Librettist Development Program: With the support of the NEA and our other generous funders, we have been able to expand the Composer Librettist Development Program this season to include an even more diverse faculty, more classes and workshops, and more performances of Resident Artists’ work. The CLDP remains truly unique in the opera field, and we are very grateful to everyone who helps to make that possible.
American Lyric Theater’s New Partnership with OPERA America: Starting this fall, ALT is in residence at OPERA America, the national service organization for opera. By partnering with OPERA America, we are able to provide our Resident Artists with exceptional workshop facilities, additional educational resources, and invaluable networking opportunities with industry leaders from around the country.
The European Premiere of The Golden Ticket at Wexford Festival Opera: One of the biggest challenges new operas face is being performed after their premieres. We were very fortunate that our collaboration with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis led to a third partner to co-produce the world-premiere production of The Golden Ticket - Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland. One of Europe’s leading opera festivals, Wexford is known internationally for performing an eclectic variety of unjustly neglected operas from the foreign language repertoire. In recent years, they have begun to champion more contemporary English language operas. We were very honored that The Golden Ticket was – to my knowledge – the “youngest” opera to ever be performed at Wexford – and even more excited to see that the production helped to diversify their audiences, attracting a much younger crowd than is usual for Wexford… which, of course, is an explicit part of our mission: New Operas for New Audiences!
American Lyric Theater’s First Workshop of The Poe Project at Symphony Space in New York City: In 2007, a lot of people thought we were crazy holding an extensive developmental workshop of The Golden Ticket in New York City before we had any producing partners; but ALT’s entire strategy behind the development of new opera revolves around providing an environment for writers to create, and providing opera companies an opportunity to see what is in the works before they commit to the expense of full production. This fall, we held an extensive developmental workshop for The Poe Project - our new trilogy of one-act operas inspired by the fiction of Edgar Allan Poe. The public showing of the trilogy at Symphony Space was not only sold out, but we had representatives from six different opera companies join us during the course of the workshop to consider the future of the trilogy, and how these wonderful new operas might further be developed with an eye to full production in future seasons.
The First Event in our New Freshly Brewed Series at OPERA America: This December, we began an informal new concert-brunch series at OPERA America: Freshly Brewed. Four times per season, ALT is now offering an informal concert / master-class program with members of our nationally acclaimed mentorship team – combined with a light brunch and opportunity to meet our incredibly talented Resident Artist Composers and Librettists. The first Freshly Brewed event was a master class with Mark Adamo on December 12th, and opened up the CLDP studio to take a look at new duets and trios written by our Resident Artists.
American Lyric Theater’s Wonderful Family: ALT could never do what we do without an incredibly committed family of supporters – both financial and artisic. Our Board and funders make everything possible, and our deeply committed faculty and artistic mentorship team provide opportunities for the next generation of operatic writers that continually serve as a source of inspiration to me. Our family, of course, also includes the amazing singers, pianists and conductors who come together to workshop new pieces throughout the course of the year – and I know I am not alone in thanking them for all they do for us (often with very little preparation time!).
The Future! 2010 has been an incredible year, but I am equally excited by what the future holds for ALT. We recently received word that we have received a major new multi-year grant (the details of which I cannot quite announce yet – but stay tuned!) that will directly support the Composer Librettist Development Program over multiple seasons, as well as strengthen our overall organizational capacity to serve the opera field. We also have some very exciting new commissions in the works… If you’ve been excited by what you’ve seen from ALT this year, stay tuned – there is so much more in store!

Categories : Commissions, Performing, Singers, The Golden Ticket, Workshops

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Jul

AMERICAN OPERA IN ISRAEL

By Lawrence Edelson · Comments (0)

The month of July finds me in Tel Aviv, where I am on the faculty of the International Vocal Arts Institute. My connection to Tel Aviv has a strange connection to American opera. As a young singer, it was here that I first performed one of my favorite roles, The Magician in Menotti’s The Consul. Three years ago, I was invited to IVAI to direct the Israeli premiere of Mark Adamo’s Little Women. This year, in addition to directing Massenet’s Werther (which is decidedly not American, but still one of my favorite operas!), I was asked to put together a concert of contemporary American opera scenes and arias.

Putting together this concert proved to be a very interesting and rewarding experience. When, in late May, I sent out an email to all of the singers asking what contemporary American repertoire they had studied or performed, the response was shockingly slight. The few that had sung “contemporary” American opera listed primarily works like The Consul and Susannah – which while certainly American, are not really all that contemporary any more. With the incredible richness of what is happening in opera today, I decided to focus the concert on that very theme: Opera Today. We put together a program of arias and scenes from operas that had premiered in the past 20 years – the oldest being The Ghosts of Versailles (1991), and the most recent, of course, The Golden Ticket (2010). It was impossible to include all of the music we would have liked on this program. Based on the limited time for preparation, I decided not to include some of the more complex works by Glass and Adams I had been considering, but still, our adventure had its challenges!

The reaction of the singers when they received the music a week before their arrival in Tel Aviv ranged from excitement to fear. Once we started to work on the music, the fear turned into determination. Sure, much of this music was more complicated than the repertoire they were used to singing, but they were also finding it exciting! With less than 8 days to put together the program, our coaching time was rather limited, but I was really impressed by the commitment level shown by these gifted young singers. I even had one young baritone begging for more music to sing – so I gave him a somewhat tricky aria to learn which he not only memorized, but had invested with real dramatic intensity in less than two days.

The concert itself, which took place on July 14th, was only about half full. We somewhat expected this, as the audience here is more used to Puccini and Mozart than Adamo and Bolcom – but those who came were incredibly enthusiastic. I feel honored to know that we were responsible for introducing people to composers and operas that they had never heard before – operas that they never would have had an opportunity to be exposed to in Israel. I spent as much time watching the audience as I did watching the singers during the concert, and it was so exciting and rewarding to see people hanging on every word of each scene – truly engaged in the music and the drama. So many people thanked us for putting on this program. “You must keep doing this!” said one lady with a strong Israeli accent, “I didn’t know contemporary opera could be so beautiful, so interesting!” Perhaps the most frequent response was, “I didn’t love everything, but I did love _____” – with each person having a different favorite. If every person who attended that concert discovered just one new opera that captivated them, the mad week of rehearsals was more than worth the effort.

…and as for the singers, now every day, singers in the program come up to me asking if I can recommend a good contemporary American aria for them to learn. Let’s just say… Mission Accomplished!

For those who are interested – here is the program from OPERA TODAY at The International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, July 14, 2010.

THE GHOSTS OF VERSAILLES (1991)

Music by John Corigliano; Libretto by William M. Hoffmann

Commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera

Pianist: Daniel Laor

Aria – They wish they could kill me: Figaro – Peter Kim

Quartet – Come now, my darling: Rosina – Chantal Nurse, Cherubino – Hagar Sharvit, Marie Antoinette – Kathleen Parker, Beaumarchais – Jose Cuartas

LYSISTRATA, or THE NUDE GODESS (2005)

Music and Libretto by Mark Adamo

Commissioned by Houston Grand Opera

Pianist: Daniel Laor

Prologue -Peace Now!: Xanthe – Laura Bohn, Myrrhine -Elizabeth Picker, Sappho – Marta Herman, Kleonikie – Samarie Alicea, Geezers – Eitan Drori, Jose Cuartas

Aria -You’re not my own: Lysia – Yasmine Ellentuck

Aria – Peace, yes, of course: Myrrhine – Elizabeth Picker

FLORENCIA EN EL AMAZONAS (1996)

Music by Daniel Catán; Libretto Marcela Fuentes-Berain

Commissioned by Houston Grand Opera

Pianist: Lucy Arner

Duet – Arcadio? Rosalba?: Rosalba – Rachel Mallon, Arcadio – Estaban Cordero

Aria – ¿Donde estas, Cristobal?: Florencia – Betty Allison

INTERMISSION

SÉANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON (2009)

Music and Libretto by Stephen Schwartz

Commissioned by Opera Santa Barbara

Pianist: Efrat Levy

Scene -First Séance – A message…A Little Lie: Myra – Sharee Seal, Mrs. Wintry – Marta Herman, Miss Rose – Lindsey Blackhurst, Mr. Bennett -Laurence Bianco; Mr. Cole – Peter Kim, Bill – Jonathan Estabrooks, Irish Tenor – Jonathan Blalock

Aria -You didn’t know her: Bill -Jonathan Estabrooks, Adrianna – Kasondra Kazanjian

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE (1999)

Music by William Bolcom; Libretto by Arnold Weinstein and Arthur Miller

Commissioned by Lyric Opera of Chicago

Pianist: Mark Ensley

Aria – But you do not know this man: Catherine – Rebecca Blinder

MCTEAGUE (1992)

Music by William Bolcom; Libretto by Arnold Weinstein and Robert Altman

Commissioned by Lyric Opera of Chicago

Pianist: Daniel Laor

Aria – Jehosophat!: Schouler – Jose Cuartas

THE GOLDEN TICKET (2010)

Music by Peter Ash; Libretto by Donald Sturrock

Commissioned by American Lyric Theater and Felicity Dahl; Premiered at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

Pianist: Mark Ensley

Scene – Fit or Fat: Augustus Gloop – Charles Blueweiss, Candy Mallow – Mikki Sodergren, Violet Beauregard – Lauren Jelencovitch

Scene: Mummy Yummy: Augustus Gloop – Charles Blueweiss, Willy Wonka – Austin Kness, Mrs. Gloop – Sharee Seal

Scene: Bye Bye Violet: Violet Beauregard – Lauren Jelencovitch, Willy Wonka – Austin Kness, Mr. Beauregard – Yannai Gonczarowski, Veruca Salt – Mikki Sodergren

Special thanks to those who made this music available to IVAI: G. Schirmer Inc. and Associated Music Publishers; Music Link International; Michael Jackowitz and Stephen Schwartz.

Categories : Performing, Singers, The Golden Ticket

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Jun

LEADING UP TO THE PREMIERE

By Lawrence Edelson · Comments (0)

The Golden Ticket has been a daily part of my life for almost four years. After we delivered the orchestral parts, the conductor scores, and the piano vocal scores to OTSL, everyone at ALT breathed a collective sigh of relief, because the most significant part of our role as the commissioner of the opera had reached a turning point. We had taken the plunge in 2006 and embraced the potential in this incredible new opera; we workshopped an early draft in 2007; we worked through revisions with Peter and Donald through 2008; we presented a more extensive workshop in 2009; and when Peter and Donald had completed their performing edition for the world-premiere, our copyist created all of the performance materials required to provide OTSL with everything they needed from a musical perspective to bring the production to life.

Underlying all of the wonderful and deeply rewarding artistic work, the past four years included daily fund raising stress, complicated intellectual property negotiations to make the commission possible, and perhaps most important, telling the world about this incredible new opera, and how they really wanted to be a part of it!

In Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, we found an experienced producing partner that was able to make it possible for the opera to make its way from the page to the stage. As ALT is primarily a service organization, we rely on strategic and creative partnerships like the one we have developed with OTSL to help usher the works we develop into the repertoire. Without OTSL, the opera would not have been produced – and without ALT, they wouldn’t have had the opera to produce – so it’s a win/win situation for both companies – but more importantly – it’s a win/win situation for the composer, librettist, the opera itself – and of course, audiences!

So, in turning over the performing materials to OTSL, we could breathe a sigh of relief, because the ALT team knew that we had done everything in our power to to get the opera ready for its premiere – and now we were handing it over to our producing partner to take the reigns and breathe full-scale production life into it. While I have actually had a few months of “down-time” from The Golden Ticket, it has actually been a few months full of electric tension for me personally.

While I continue to advocate for the opera wherever I go, the production has really been in the hands of OTSL. How would it all come together? Arriving in St. Louis earlier this week to see the production in rehearsal for the first time was exciting, somewhat stressful, and deeply moving.

The first rehearsal I saw was a tech rehearsal on stage – the period of time where the design team is busy working on lighting and refining the technical elements of the show. Anyone who has ever been involved in a theatrical production knows that tech week can be incredibly challenging. With an opera based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it should come as a surprise to nobody that the tech rehearsals were a whirlwind of activity. There was a lot of problem solving going on! As a director, I’ve been through enough tech periods to know that this is all par for the course – but I think being an observer to a tech period (as opposed to being an active participant, as when I’m directing a production) is even more stressful. Fortunately, we have an incredible team on this production, but I had to restrain the director and producer in me. My role was to sit back and watch, and trust that all was being addressed.

And of course, it was. By the next rehearsal, enormous strides had been made. It was then on to the piano dress rehearsal – essentially, the last time to run through the opera before the orchestra is involved, and a time where the cast not only gets to feel the full pace of the show, but the design team is able to see all of the elements coming together, including the costumes (which I have to add, are absolutely magnificent in this production – Martin Pakledinaz has truly come up with brilliant designs that are so true to the spirit of Dahl, but so original and witty in their own right!). After the piano dress, there was some more tech time for the design team to continue working on the physical aspect of the production (ie. lighting, projections, how set pieces move on and off, transitions between scenes etc.), and then the first orchestra dress.

While tech can be a stressful time, hearing the orchestra play through the score in the theater for the first time was one of the most moving experiences I have had in years. I know Peter has an amazing gift for orchestration, but to finally hear it all come together, not in a workshop setting, but IN THE THEATER, where thousands of people are finally going to get to enjoy it – well, there were moments during the rehearsal that tears were running down my face.

But then – I had to leave! Yes, zip to the airport, and on a plane to Los Angeles for the OPERA America conference! While I love OPERA America and all it does for opera, I wasn’t thrilled that the annual conference was planned for this week. I seriously thought about not attending, and in fact, some of my colleagues here were surprised to see me in LA today since they know that The Golden Ticket is in the midst of its last few days of rehearsals in St. Louis – literally, as I type. But, at this point, the production in the hands of OTSL, and I can do more for The Golden Ticket, and for all of the other projects ALT is working on, by being here – in LA – meeting with my colleagues from other opera companies all over the country.

So after arriving at LAX just minutes after midnight, and getting to my hotel shortly after 1 AM – I got about 6 hours of sleep, woke up, and started my day with an 8:00 AM meeting – the first of 4 meetings, and 3 general sessions that have been crammed into an incredibly productive day. There was an option to go see Die Walküre at LA Opera tonight, and as tempted as I was, jet lag is not a pretty thing – so I opted out of five and a half hours of Wagner to go back to my hotel room and catch up on a bit of work and call it an early night so I could be fresh and awake for my first meeting tomorrow morning – once again at 8:00 AM (for the record, I am not a morning person, and any functional meeting for me before 9 is pushing it – but sacrifices must be made for art, provided coffee is close at hand!).

Tomorrow promises to be another invigorating and exhausting day. Early Saturday morning, I’m back to St. Louis, where I have a meeting with my colleagues from Wexford Festival Opera who are producing the European premiere of The Golden Ticket this October. All leading up to Sunday… the world premiere!

Categories : Arts Administration, Commissions, Performing, The Golden Ticket

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Jun

VERUCA’S VIDEOBLOG

By Lawrence Edelson · Comments (0)

As I get ready to head to St. Louis for the final week of rehearsals of The Golden Ticket (with a quick trip to Los Angeles for the Opera America conference in the middle!), I was excited to see that Jenny Rivera – Veruca Salt in the OTSL premiere of The Golden Ticket – has been up to her old tricks again and has created a wonderful little trailer for the production with some footage from rehearsal.

If you haven’t read Jenny’s blog I highly recommend it! Next post from St. Louis – where the Oompa Loompas are waiting…!

Categories : Commissions, Performing, Singers, The Golden Ticket

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MAKING SINGERS CRY

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