I received an email from an audience member asking why we were producing The Marriage of Figaroin English. This is a legitimate question and I take for granted if one person is asking, there are another hundred silently wondering the same thing.
The fact is, Opera Atelier has always produced comedy in English whenever possible.I firmly believe that comedy moves at a different pace than tragedy. There is less time for the audience to reflect on what is being said, rather the audience is drawn in to rapid-fire dialogue, particularly in eighteenth century scenarios. Revelations (such as Figaro … Read more
Jeannette and I have just returned from our week in Rome. As always, it was overwhelming and exhilarating. We averaged a trip to 3 galleries or special exhibits per day and were on our feet from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sometimes we were looking for specific references but often we were simply letting impressions wash over us like waves. A great deal of our time was devoted to the development of images for Opera Atelier’s 25th anniversary season next year.
On Monday morning as I made my way down the stairs at the subway I was stopped by … Read more
As I am not a computer literate person, I frequently ask colleagues in the office to navigate through the intricacies of the internet for me. In particular, at one point or another everyone in the office has been corralled into ordering books for Jeannette and me. Consequently, I was amazed when Nancy Hitzig mentioned to me that she had never heard of ABE (the advanced book exchange). I can hardly imagine what life was like before I discovered this astonishing resource.
There is virtually no book that I have ever looked for which ABE has not been able to identify … Read more
Very soon Jeannette and I will be leaving for a week in Rome – something that I would love to be a yearly event for the rest of my life. This is our fifth trip to Rome in the past decade and I still have an overwhelming sense of anticipation. The city is so extraordinary, and the emotional impact so enormous that I find it impossible to think of “preparing” myself for this trip.
There are so many Roman galleries, museums and churches that we have come to know intimately and yet their fascination never palls. I think this is … Read more
It’s always a relief to have another major project on the burner while getting over a show which has just closed. Our new production of Figaro will have to be completely built and painted by the new year and you would think this would be enough to keep all of us fully occupied. But as it is, Gerard Gauci, Jeannette and I are becoming more and more engrossed in a gorgeous pastoral(TBA) which will open our 25th anniversary season. This is a tricky genre of theatre which can so easily veer toward the cloying and adorable. Our goal … Read more
