Glory

"Design for theater is not one whit less frustrating than fashion design, and for some of the same reasons; but the long tradition of the stage borrows constant glory from the high arts of music and literature, and some serious painters have gilded the still subfusc métier of costume design by doing sketches for sate productions. Most such works by Chagall or Picasso, say, or Leonardo da Vinci - are rightly admired as pictures by the artist in question..." Anne Hollander, Feeding the Eye

Rush Kids designed, sewed and created costumes and props:



For Opera on Tap:


Papagana & Papagano:


"It was a diminutive yet fearsome two headed dragon!!"
Prince Tamino, Opera on Tap script Magic Flute



ROAR!!!

OOT at Freddy's!

Last night after delicious fare at Le Gamin, Meridita and I and our opera-lovin' posse headed over to Freddy's for another raucous round of Opera on Tap, the worlds funnest opera troupe.

Last night the theme was dumb-dumbs in opera, and the lovely ladies and lone gentleman sang beautiful arias that nonetheless were penned for stupid characters.

Many of the players wore these OoT t-shirts pictured here (I scooped this image from their website) and I thought it was particularly fitting (ha ha no pun intended) that the board behind them says "I'm with stupid."

The singing was, as always, amazing, and anyone who has not checked out Opera on Tap is even stupider than the stupidest characters in the operatic repertoire!

Opera on Tap at Barbes

Tonight I saw Opera on Tap perform at Barbes. The theme for the evening was "Don't Trust Anyone (Much) Over Thirty."

It featured the work of contemporary young composers which was very interesting for me, although I don't have quite the ear for it.

It made me once again realize how much of classical music one unwittingly absorbs from the culture. Because of this, even though opera was initially unfamiliar to me, there actually was an underlying familiarity with the classic classical material, a sort of vague sense memory.

The contemporary stuff I heard tonight is not quite as comforting. It was also unusual hearing everything sung in English, which was surprisingly unnerving. There's something about not understanding the words that somehow draws me in. Ironically, tonight, even though I could understand what was being sung, I didn't really listen to the words. What's more, all the words were adapted from poetry I was familiar with: Shakespeare's Sonnets, Whitman, Creeley.

I don't mean to sound like I didn't enjoy the night. The performances were fabulous, and I did actually get into the music. In fact I was riveted, literally on the edge of my seat the whole night. It was just a very different kind of opera going experience.

Opera on Tap at Freddy's Bar & Back Room

Last night was stupendous. Meridita and I went to see Opera on Tap perform at Freddy's Bar and Back Room on Dean Street in Prospect Heights.

This group of performers really blew me away. There were about 8 different singers, all with powerful and beautiful voices. Each sang twice and they all dramatically entered each of their arias, and are each uniquely talented.

One thing that was a real treat was hearing opera sung in English and German. I had been (and still was to some degree) resistant to hearing this type of music sung in those languages. Hearing the words in English is a completely different experience, a bit more "mundane" or less romantic. However, I began to get into it, and felt that I could appreciate what it must be like to understand Italian while listening to Puccini, for example. I now feel primed to listen to an English opera.

The German was less daunting, but a little strange on the ears. There were a couple of hard "Ks" in there that jarred me a bit. But, I eventually entered this world as well.

I was also pleased that after reading Plotkin on the different types of sopranos that I could distinguish between a lyric soprano and a soubrette.

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Opera at Freddy's
Diana and I went to hear Opera on Tap in the back room of Freddy's.
A total dive, but the singing was superb.



This was an encore number which featured the cinder block in the air for the entire aria!!


Italian and French opera seem to be our languages of preference at this point.

The soap dispenser in the bathroom also dispenses advice:


May I suggest trying an opera or two while you are at it!?

Love, Meridita

Turandot at the Met

A wonderful thing yesterday afternoon: a friend had free tickets to Turandot at the Met which got passed on to me!

I can't believe it, my second Met opera in my life, in the same month a my first!

It was tremendously exciting. This was a very full, rich, lush opera. With a full chorus and dancers (and acrobats), unbelievably stunning and ornate sets, and a powerful story.

There were fewer lovely arias than in Mme. Butterfly and Il Barbiere di Seviglia, and there was just a different sound and tone to the whole piece. My favorite performance was the slave girl, who had a lovely, very emotive voice. And the famous aria, Nessum Dorma (?) was heart-renchingly beautiful.

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Elixir of Love and Trick or Treat

The day began at Rush Kids with amazing performances by members of Opera on Tap of arias from Elixir of Love, Cosi fan Tutte, La Traviata and Mefistofele. Rush Kid Seth summed up our day listening to live opera, talking with the opera singers, designing sets and costumes by saying: "My life has changed."

I was at my desk during our lunch break when Diana called me to say we had been given tickets to see Turandot at the Met (tonight)!

HA!

All this and it's Halloween in NYC.

I hope you got at least half as many treats as I did!

Love, Meridith
(10/31/09)

The Next Excursion: Opera on Tap at the Brooklyn Museum

Written at the time (oct, 3 2009): Some friends and I went to the Target First Saturdays thing at the Brooklyn Museum tonight because the events were all opera-related. As it was the last time I went to one of their First Saturdays, the scene was confusing and kind of tedious. However, at 8 they started a two-hour open mic opera session and it was amazing. The people that got up were almost all really, really good, and it was such a fun and lively format. The majority of people who performed, however, were from a troupe called Opera on Tap that performs in bars throughout the city. I'm going to get on their mailing list and make sure to catch them again!

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The Hungarian opera was a visual pleasure and an auditory nightmare. Once you got over the cacophony there was an absurd quality (the dancers costumed in hooded Lycra bedsheets and the gnomish short-tied long-haired narrator who repeatedly walked on stage to explain the action) that pushed it into the realm of comedy.

On the other hand, the Opera on Tap crowd at the open mike downstairs were great!!

Addio, Addio, Addio, Addio, Addio......
Meridita
(10/4/09)