Jeannette and I have just returned from three glorious days in New York City, and we took along with us OA dancer Jack Rennie for his 21st birthday. (You may know Jack as the young man on the cover of our 2011-2012 season brochure!) We made this trip in order to visit a special exhibition [...]
Posts under ‘Art’
Iconic Beauty
I’ve just seen the gorgeous photograph of Jeannette taken by Tara McMullen for Rosemarie Umetsu’s upcoming show Iconic Beauty 2010. The shot is a wonderful contrast to the big hair and gigantic gown of Opera Atelier’s 25th Anniversary image. Rosemarie has an uncanny knack for matching her creations to the ideal person to model them. [...]
On Monday I attended the press conference for Drama and Desire…
On Monday I attended the press conference for Drama & Desire at the Art Gallery of Ontario. I would never have believed that a press conference could be so exciting. Drama and Desire focuses on paintings inspired by the theatre, from the late 18th, 19th and early 20th century – primarily by French artists. This marvelous [...]
A must-see this summer at the AGO…
I don’t know if you had the opportunity to look at Martin Knelman’s feature article in the Toronto Star today, but the headline alone would be enough to pique anyone’s interest… “LUST AND MURDER AT THE AGO.” Although the title could be a byline for practically every opera and ballet in existence, “lust and murder” [...]
Guess the name of the opera and win!
Yesterday evening we had a photo shoot (something I adore) with the incomparable photographer – Bruce Zinger. I’m not at liberty to divulge the name of the opera the resulting photograph will represent as it will open Opera Atelier’s 25th anniversary season, but I can at least tell you a little about the shoot itself. [...]
Last Thursday Gerard Gauci and I flew to New York…
Last Thursday Gerard Gauci (Opera Atelier’s set designer) and I flew to New York in order to meet with Ralph Rucci – the extraordinary couturier introduced to us by Jeanne Beker. It was Jeanne who originally suggested that Mr. Rucci would be the ideal designer for a special production slated to take place as part [...]
The artists begin to emerge
Rehearsals for Iphigénie are just around the corner and my favourite artists are beginning to surface. Jeremy Nasmith (one of the founding Artists of Atelier Ballet) has just returned from Japan where he was teaching, choreographing and performing. Jeremy is one of our best fencers and will consequently be extremely busy in the upcoming Iphigénie [...]
In Response to a Letter…
Earlier this month Jeannette and I received a letter from a charming couple who are OA subscribers. In their letter they assured us “we love what you do, and we hope to be back” – and they then went on to express their concern that our upcoming season was made up of two operas they [...]
What I’m reading…
“Manon Lescaut has it’s assured place among the immortals; and it is the most perfect story ever written just as Madame Bovary is the most perfect novel ever created” – Percy Shelley I’m not certain I agree 100% with Mr. Shelley, but having just finished re-reading Manon Lescaut (by the Abbé Prévost) for the [...]