Behind the curtain

The magical land of Britten’s opera “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” comes with several challenges: the complexity of the score, the sheer number of forces it takes to sing it ranging from fairies to six rustics, two sets of nobility and two pairs of lovers; and finally two people to wrangle the orchestra and singers.

For the opera to succeed, one must have an Oberon who is ideally ethereal, mysterious, masculine and also able to sing Britten’s role with great clarity and warmth. Did I mention that he must also be a countertenor? Countertenors are men who sing in the same range as altos, mezzos or sopranos. Alfred Deller, who created the role of Oberon for Britten, began a revival of the voice type as opera purists wanted to replicate the sound that must have been what castri sounded like (without the “chop chop.”) Opera Naples has found a thrilling Oberon in countertenor John Gaston. Here he is posing before rehearsal.



To add to the atmosphere of this production, we are performing in an unconventional space which allows the audience to be in the midst of the production. I am a huge fan of this as the audience gets to experience the world of Shakespeare and Britten from all angles. Director Cecil MacKinnon has brought this world to life. Here she is giving direction to one of the actors who will be singing from the second level and here she is finalizing details with stage management.






Soprano Heather Buck plays Tytania, Oberon’s fairy wife. She is vocally beautiful, physically alluring and dramatically assured. Here she is entering with the fairies.



The role of Bottom requires a singing actor who is able to be comedic, dramatic and at the same time endearing. Bass-baritone Andrew Gray excels in this tour-de-force role. Here he is exploring the space before rehearsal begins.



Puck, the servant of Oberon who sets much of the confusion in motion is played by dancer David Tanciar and the lovers, soprano Julia Ann Humula, mezzo Adrienne Blanks, tenor Evelio Mendez and baritone Michael Scarelle sing some of Britten’s most haunting and sensuous music as they fall in and out of love like teenagers with ranging hormones.

The beauty of the opera is that there are three separate stories and yet they weave in and out of each other. The lovers are affected by Puck, the rustics perform for the Duke and the Duke (Theseus) and his soon-to-be wife Hippolyta grant the lovers permission to drop all of their teen angst and get married. Here is a shot of the rustics, the group that performs their play for the Duke of Athens (me), all assembled.



And here I am ready to “reign” over tonight’s performance. What an exciting work to perform and in such a unique space.



Bravo to Opera Naples for producing a 20th century opera in a fresh staging that allows the audience to become enveloped in the changing lives of fairies and mortals.

From Blizzard to Beautiful

Many of my non-singing friends think I lead such a “glamorous” life with travel, dinners, special events and performances all over the country. I do admit that every now and again, I marvel at some of the opportunities my voice has afforded me. But for every great singing engagement I get to do, there is always the “just getting there,” story that seems to balance it out. This is one of those stories.

The night before leaving Long Island (I just moved here for love), we were met with Blizzard Nemo that brought cold temperatures, gusting winds and tons of snow.

10:00 am I called to get a cab to take me to the LIRR (Long Island Railroad), but was greeted with a prompt “we’re closed.” Things weren’t starting off well. Luckily, I was able to find a ride to the train and only had to walk through knee-high snow to get to the car that picked me up.

The train was set to leave at 11:35 am which I had to take because the next train out was at 1:35 and I had a 3:00 flight to catch. While sitting on the train, I was able to capture another shot of the extraordinary amount of snow that fell.

I had a chance to snap this shot as I waited for an additional 25 minutes as the train was delayed because of weather conditions.

1:00 pm, I arrived at the Jamaica train station in order to take the E train.


Somewhere between the chill of the train, the chill of the subway station and the chill of waiting outside for the Q33 bus to take me to the airport, I caught a glimpse of the sun which reminded me that I was heading to sunny Florida. This helped warm the tips of my fingers which felt as though they were getting a little numb.

2:15 I arrived at the airport, checked-in, (very easy!) and got through security in plenty of time to board my first flight. I arrived in St. Louis and had just enough time to snap this pic of my connecting flight in mid-air. Just kidding, this was just to show that I was getting warmer (literally and figuratively) to being in Florida.

5:30 pm I took this photo of my cute boots which I would be happy to put away for a couple of weeks as I was about to enjoy 70-80 degree weather. Who knew this photo would later mock me once I arrived in Ft. Myers, FL.


9:20 pm We hit the ground from flight number 2 and I was excited to meet my driver (yes, they sent a car service). I got to baggage claim and was looking forward to my suitcase filled with my cute clothes, toiletries and many shoes. But alas, my baggage had other plans. Perhaps it went to Miami.

I arrived at my host’s house sans luggage, but with a nice toiletries bag courtesy of Southwest filled with useful things like a hairbrush and Lady Speed Stick.

My host was kind enough to give me some pasta and I got to bed in hopes of starting fresh today.

9:00 am I awoke and was glad to see this view from the backyard.

And here I am with one of my best friends: coffee.

So after a nearly 11 hour trip complete with a few adventures and a good night’s sleep, I am ready for a great rehearsal (and to quote Shelia E, “The Glamorous Life”).
Peace,

Eric