Carmen – Skagit Opera 2006

carmen-skagit-opera.jpgCarmen by Georges Bizet
Skagit Opera
McIntyre Hall October 6-15, 2006

I went with friends to the opening night of Skagit Opera’s CARMEN. I was blown away. This is the third opera I have seen by Skagit Opera – they have all been very good. But this time they really showed how they are continually working to raise the bar and improve every aspect of their productions.

The orchestra was absolutely fantastic. For a scaled down group they had a great command of dynamics under conductor Dean Williamson. To me, the key to great music for a show is not to notice it, it should seamlessly interweave with the action. And this orchestra did. It allowed me to become fully engaged in the action and singing. Espcially after the first act the orchestra was gelling very well. My normal complaint with scaled down groups is the wimpy string section sound – not in this production. Sharyn Peterson was concertmaster – she and Dean Williamson performed some magic and delivered a power very unusual for the size of group they had. The pathos of the lust in the music was all evident in their delivery. Bravo!

And to my friend who says it seems like I’ve done everything – yes I did perform in Carmen with Seattle Opera as a boy soprano back in…..mmmm……I think it was 1977 or 1978. But that was a lifetime ago.

One of the people I watched the opening night with is a well cultured European who commented: “I have seen many, many Carmens. But I have NEVER seen one as sexy as this one!” I agree. Sarah Heltzel was extremely sexy in the role. Her performance was…..how shall we say…..spicy and tantalizing. She made it very believable that men were falling in love with her left and right. From reading her bio (part of which is listed below), she is just starting to make her mark. She has the makings of a very strong and lengthy career ahead of her.

Don Jose performed by Stephen Rumph. (Read more about Stephen Rumph.) Stephen is my new favorite opera tenor. I saw him perform last year, I think it was in the Magic Flute. He has such command over his high falsetto and often makes use of switching between his chest voice, to head voice and back with apparent ease. It is reminiscent of an Irish tenor, the sweetness to the note – or the sound you might expect from Schubert Lieder – then just as swift he pounces with full power and reminds you fine enough that he is a tenor for the opera house. Of all the voices I have heard with Skagit Opera, his alone is the most moving and magical to me. You truly must hear it to believe it. In Magic Flute and the beginning of Carmen he plays very straight laced, kind of “prince charming” roles – it was surprising to see him at the end turn into the love crazed psychopath that Don Jose turns into before he kills Carmen. Great acting transition and entirely believable to me.

Ron Wohl is one of the founders of Skagit Opera. I think it’s fair enough to say he earned his role in this Carmen. He blended in with the full time pros evenly and steadily. Whatever he has been studying vocally has definately paid off and he is seeing ample returns. And of course he is always a commanding presence onstage, I think he’s like 15 feet tall. 🙂

The set was static and used for all four scenes – Plaza, Gypsy Tavern, Mountains and Bull Fighting ring. Awnings were changed for scenes and a drape across the top with special lighting was used for the Mountain scene. The set was construced for this particular run by Steven Craig who is revered locally for all his wizardy in theatre, including set design. I spoke with Steven Craig about the set design and he said it was very challenging to design one set for all four locations. He said Carmen is noted for it’s monstrous set changes, I thought his solution was very inventive – typical Craig style!

PRE SHOW LECTURE
The Sunday before opening night there was a free public lecture by conductor Dean Williamson. He noted that in Carmen the word “love” is sung so many, many times in the opera – but it is best substituted by the word “want”. The opera really has little to do with love. It is more about lust and wanting ownership over the affections of another individual. He also noted that in the final grand Toreador scene it is sometimes choreographed for a group of thirty or so chorus members to keep entering through the audience and quickly change costumes backstage to re-enter again for the bull fight arena scene. This can sometimes go on for quite a while, giving the impression that hundreds of people are entering the arena.

It was also noted that Bizet’s premiere of Carmen was not received well by the public. They did not like it. Bizet died a few months later, supposedly of depression and a broken heart. As my friend in attendance said, “It’s always like that you know, you have to die before people can like it.”

I look forward to Skagit Opera’s next production!

Skagit Opera Carmen Program Cover
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Erich Parce – Stage Director
erich-parce.jpg Baritone Erich Parce has been a frequent guest of opera companies throughout North America and Europe, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, Seattle Opera, Greater Miami Opera, L’Opera de Nice and L’Opera de Montreal.

Dean Williamson – Conductor
dean-williamson.jpg Dean Williamson, one of the country’s foremost emergin opera conductors, has conducted all of the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program productions. He conducted Tales of Hoffman for Seattle Opera in 2005 and has conducted at Wolf Trap.

Sharyn Peterson – Concertmaster
sharyn-peterson.jpg Sharyn Peterson, Skagit Opera Co-founder, Orchestra Coordinator and Concert Master, will again be the backbone of our wonderful Starry Night Orchestra and will conduct our production of Amahl and the Night Visitors. She holds a B.A. in Fine Arts and an M.A. in Violin Performance / Pedagogy from the University of Washington.
Julie Benzinger – Mercedes
Mezzo Soprano
julia-benzinger.jpg Mezzo Soprano Julia Benzinger has been a featured performer with the Sarasota Opera, Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, Yorke Trust, Opera Pacifica, Bellevue Opera, Concert Opera of Seattle, Maud Powell Festival, Seattle Opera Guild, Rome Festival, Rainier Symphony, Seattle Symphony Chorale and Mancester Camerata.

Charles Crowley – Morales
Baritone
charles-crowley.jpg Baritone Charles Crowley has received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in vocal performance from the University of Oregon and Western Washington University respectively. He has performed in many operatta, musical theater and opera productions in the Seattle area.

Sarah Heitzel – Carmen
Mezzo Soprano
sarah-heltzel.jpg Lauded by the Seattle Weekly for her “perfectly polished and vivacious” singing, American Mezzo-Soprano Sarah Heitzel makes her role debut as Bizet’s Carmen with Skagit Opera. Heitzel made her Seattle Opera debut in 2005 as Siegrune in their acclaimed Der Ring des Nibelungen, also replacing an ill Rhinedaughter in Das Rheingold at the last minute.

Signe Mortensen – Micaela
Soprano
signe-mortensen1.jpg Signe Mortensen has quickly made her vocal and theatrical mark in the Pacific Northwest region and beyond. She has worked with companies and symphonies including: Tri-Cities Opera, Skagit Opera, Bellevue Opera, Music of Rememrance, Off-Center Opera, Northwest Opera in Schools, Opera Pacifica, Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Northwest Savoyards, Hans Wolf Community Outreach, and the Rain City Symphony.

Timothy Proctor – Remendado
Tenor
timothy-proctor.jpg Originally from Santa Ana, California, Timothy Proctor makes his Pacific Northwest operatic debut as Remendado in Skagit Opera’s production of Carmen. Timothy received his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance in 2000 from CSU, Fullerton.

Richard Riddell – Dancairo
Baritone
richard-riddell.jpg A graduate of Anacortes High School and Skagit Valley College, Mr. Riddell studied theater arts at Washington State University, the National Shakespeare Conservatory, and the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford. After graduation, Richard went on to a successful professional career singing roles with the Connecticut Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Opera Pacific, Michigan Opera Theatre, the Bronx Opera and Opernhaus Zurich.

Stephen Rumph – Don Jose
Tenor
stephen-rumph.jpg Stephen Rumph has established himself as a leading tenor in both opera and oratorio. Last season he sang Rudolfo in La Boheme with Tacoma Opera, and the tenor solo in Mozart’s Requiem with both Northwest Sinfonietta and the Walla Wall Symphony.

Morgan Smith – Escamillo
Baritone
morgan-smith.jpg Originally from White Plains, NY, Morgan Smith received his training from Columbia College and the Mannes College of Music in New York City. The baritone made his professional operatic debut in 2001 , singing the role of Donald in Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd with Seattle Opera.

Carl K. Turner – Lillas Pastia
Tenor
carl-k-turner.jpg Carl K. Turner comes originally from Tennessee and was a vetern performer at Opryland USA where he logged more than 300 performances as Captain Andy in Showboat. He studied acting under William Ball at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and subsequently performed with San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Eureka Theatre, San Mateo Civic Light Opera and various fringe theaters.

Cristina Villareale – Frasquita
Soprano
cristina-villareale.jpg Seattle native Cristian Villareale has performed all over the Northwest with organizations such as Seattle Opera, ACT Theatre, Skagit Opera and Village Theatre. Cristina began her career in musicals and plays. She was introduced to opera as a teenager, making her Seattle Opera debut as the young Gretel in Massenet’s Werther.

Ron Wohl – Zuniga
Bass-Baritone
ron-wohl.jpg Ron Wohl sang Don Basilio in our Barber of Seville, the Major General in our Pirates of Penzance, Ko-Ko- in our Mikado and the Learned Judge in our Trial by Jury. He is a member of the Seattle Opera Supplementary Chorus and sang in their August 2003 production of Wagner’s Parsifal and in Gotterdammerung in 2005.

Skagit Opera presents Carmen
Music by Georges Bizet
Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy after the novella by Prosper Merimee
English Libretto and Dialogue by Mr. Sheldon Harnick

Premiere: March 3, 1875 at the Opera-Comique, Paris

This performance October 6 and 13 7:30pm – October 8 and 15 at 2:00pm
McIntyre Hall, Mount Vernon, WA

Conductor – Dean Williamson
Stage Director – Erich Parce
General Director – Ron Wohl
Set Designer – Steven Craig
Technical Director – Bruce Weech
Stage Manager – Rebecca Heilig
Concertmaster – Sharyn Peterson
Costumer – Charles Caine
Costumes – Malabar Limited, Toronto
Costume Coordinator – Lynne Rittenhouse
Choreography – Sara de Luis
Chorus Director – Scott Rittenhouse
Hair and Makeup Designer – Mary Bingham
Assistant Stage Manager – Breanne Desmarais
Accompanist – Glenda Williams
Rehearsal Assistant – Carl Turner
Properties – Carole Lindberry
Light Design – Steven Craig
Sound Engineer – Jerry Fortier
Light Operator – Don Willcuts
Stage Crew – Dave Mumford, Spencer Desmarais
Master Carpenter – Phil Brown
Publicity – Ron Wohl, Bill Arnett, Nancy Peterson, Ellie Slabodnik
Program – Ron Wohl, Scott McDade
Photography – Eric Hall, Gary Brown
Lobby Display – Robert Slabodnik
Cover and Season Graphics – Scott McDade
Special thanks to Talisman Productions

Ensemble Chorus
Lynne Rheinhardt, Chris Galbraith, Lydia Randall, Micke Rickert, Beth Wallace, Betsy Senff, Phil Trautman, Brian Myrick, Eric Hall, David Cross.

ORCHESTRA
Violin I
Sharyn Peterson
Danae Otterness
Tara Stewart
Andrea Talley

Violin II
Marcus Talley
Ann Glenn
Christine Wilkinson
Jessica Marshall

Viola
Rachel McGuire
Natalie Muri

Cello
Matthew Rehfeldt
David Jones

Bass
Thomas Mayes
Linda Peragine

Flute
Kimberly Breilein
Lindsey Peterson

Oboe/English Horn
Jonathan Peterson

Clarinet
Eugene Zoro
Brian Madsen

Bassoon
Pat Nelson
David Stangland

French Horn
Robin Stangland
Beverly Soler

Trumpet
Malcolm Peterson
Kipp Otterness

Trombone
Colby Wiley

Harp
Gabrielle Holmquist

Percussion
Mary Ellen Hodges

Disney’s High School Musical coming to Skagit County, WA

logo_high-school-musical.gifPre-production work has started for the Theatre Arts Guild presentation of Disney’s High School Musical to be performed at McIntyre Hall in 2007. I’ll have information posted later on audition dates and info for musicians. Auditions will probably be in November. You can also visit the Theatre Arts Guild Website.
Here is the orchestration:

Instrumentation:

Drums
Electric Bass
Guitar 1 (Acoustic and Electric)
Guitar 2 (Acoustic and Electric)
Keyboard 1/Conductor
Keyboard 2
Marching Band: Brass (OPTIONAL)
Marching Band: Drum Corps (OPTIONAL)
Percussion

American Idol Film Crew at McIntyre Hall

dsc01115.jpgThe American Idol film crew arrived at McIntyre Hall today (Mount Vernon, WA) to shoot footage of new contestant Skye Dahlstrom rehearsing with the kids from the upcoming Seussical The Musical show. Skye showed them choreography for songs from the show and taught them very hip dance moves.

Skye made it through the first round of auditions in Seattle, WA early this week; competing with over 9,000 other hopeful contestants I’m told. She then made it through the second round the following day. Her next round will be to audition for Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson.. We all wish her the best and to “break a leg” at the audition. GO SKYE!

As you can imagine there’s a lot of buzz about this locally and the news has spread like wildfire. Skye is a total pro and made everyone feel totally comfortable while supporting her for the film shoot.

And much to our pleasure, the film crew from American Idol was TOTALLY cool and ultra nice to work with. You might think being in this business they would be a bit jaded, but that is not the case. They made the kids feel comfortable and everyone gave them a big THANK YOU yell at the end. Nice people.

Why the interest in Skye’s choreography? That’s how Paula Abdul started, as a choreographer.

So here’s a rundown of our shoot. Of course I’m not going to tell you details about what we did, you’ll have to watch Skye on American Idol to see that!

We did the shoot on stage at McIntyre Hall, which is where we’ll be performing for Seussical the Musical in November 2006.

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Parents sign all the legal stuff for their kids to be in the shoot.

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Director Dave James does the ultra cool pose while waiting. Dave James is co-directing Seussical the Musical with his wife Carrie James. Skye Dahlstrom is the choreographer and I am the conductor and musical director. The show is produced by Kate Kyporus for META Performing Arts.

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Kids hang out in the lobby at McIntyre Hall waiting to enter the theatre.

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All lined up at the door and waiting to enter the hall. Many of the kids hadn’t seen McIntyre Hall yet, so it was very exciting all around for them.

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The view of the stage from the front of the audience. McIntyre Hall also has beautiful box seats along the sides, a full balcony section and rear loge.
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The view from my piano onstage. I played the music for the kids to practice Skye’s choreography. Very fun stuff.
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Directors Carrie and Dave give instructions to the kids about stage etiquette and safety.

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Steve Craig, stage manager at McIntyre Hall and all around theatre guru. Everybody loves Steve!

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Our reason for being here today – Skye Dahlstrom!

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Film crew scouting the stage out

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Skye working with the “Who’s” on choreography
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American Idol film crew talking things over with the directors and Ms. Dahlstrom.
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The kids in the cast give Skye a big send off.
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Dave James, Carrie James, Skye Dahlstrom and me (Conrad Askland)
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I’ll let you know more as more information is made public. I’m only going to post things that are public knowledge.

Until then – GO SKYE!!!!!!!

Seussical the Musical META Rehearsals

Everyone asks me how Seussical rehearsals are going. The rehearsals are going fantastic. The kids are very focused. We have most of the music for the first act down pretty good and are adding choreography and character development.

I am SO happy about the casting, I think the show is perfectly cast.

Here are some pictures from rehearsals:

Kids practice improvised theatre

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Director Dave James hams it up

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Bianca Campbell as Gertrude

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Bird girls practice choreography with Mayzie played by Ashley Henning
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Skye Dahlstrom gives choreography tips

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Mike Marlin plays the Cat in the Hat

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Nate Young plays the Mayor

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Paige Woods as Mrs. Mayor

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Matt Olsen as Horton the Elephant

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Carrie James leads the board meeting

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Carrie James co-directs the show with husband Dave James

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Skye Dahlstrom showing the citizens of Whoville some choreography

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Skye Dahlstrom – Choreographer and Singer

skye.jpgI have the honor of working with Skye Dahlstrom on the META Production of SEUSSICAL which will run at McIntyre Hall, Mount Vernon, WA the first two weeks of November 2006. Skye is the choreographer and has a great imagination for choreography and working with kids.

I first saw her work this last summer in Guys and Dolls which performed in Stanwood and the Kirkland Performance Center. She was choreographer for that show and also a lead dancer in the Havana cabaret scene. A real standout for that show was the choreography she did for the “Luck Be a Lady” dance sequence.

We all know Skye is going to do great things.

🙂

Conrad

********************

Info on Skye from the web:

Skye has been dancing since she was 2 years old, when she first saw Michael Jackson on TV. She began dancing formally at age 6 and continued to study Ballet and Jazz until she was 12. Skye has been choreographing for 6 years, beginning with routines for her cheer team at age 11.

Since then, she has choreographed for competitive cheerleading, talent shows, and school productions (2004 Stanwood High School’s Grease). She has previously taught hip hop dance at the Stanwood Sports Club, and is currently an instructor for Kid Stage in Everett.

Skye has won many awards, including 1st place at nationals in the dance division, and 1st place for choreography of her cheer team. At age 12, she took first place at the Stanwood-Camano fair lip sync impersonating Michael Jackson. Skye is currently a back up dancer for Raz B from B2k. They have performed at half time shows in Sacramento and toured of Europe in 2006.

Kirkland Performance Center – Orchestra Pit and Theatre Info

DSC00888.jpgLast weekend was my first time conducting at the Kirkland Performance Center in Kirkland, Wa. I led a 14 piece orchestra for Lyric Light Opera of the Northwest production of Annie Get Your Gun. The show had previously run for three weeks at McIntyre Hall in Mount Vernon, WA – so the whole set was moved over to the Kirkland PAC. Visit the Kirkland Performance Center website for more info and technical specs.
Kirkland Performance Center has a very intimate feel. It seats 402 in 13 rows with a house rake of 3 feet horizontal to 1 foot vertical. Distance from back row to front of house is 40 feet.

The orchestra pit is mainly situated underneath the front of the stage. We had the lid down on the sides of the pit and I would conduct from a roughly 6×6 hole at the front of the stage. Took a little bit to get used to. I am six feet tall and my eyes just about matched the bottom of the stage – so watching the pit below and keeping track of stage action was quite a lot like wearing bi-focal glasses.

The downside with the limited room was that I didn’t get a panorama view of the orchestra and stage, so aesthetically was lacking a bit. But for functionality it worked fine. A couple spots I had to lean to one side to conduct certain groups like a couple male choruses that needed clear visual direction. And was a little awkward when actors were at the very front of the stage, because I was looking at their toes. My cues had to be very high, don’t know if it was distracting for the audience or not.

For any downside caused by the limited square footage, it was made up for by the control of the audio and the intimacy of the room. Because the orchestra was completely covered like in a sound booth, the audio engineer was able to have greater control over the final mix. It was also a lot of fun to be so close to the audience – I think myself and the cast really connected with the audience interaction,

Backstage was well equipped with four dressing rooms, ample rest rooms, a main “green room” and laundry facility. The sound system at Kirkland PAC was very good. Overall I enjoyed our run in Kirkland very much. A very nice concert hall that this Eastside community should be proud of.

The staff at the Kirkland Performance Center is very professional and friendly, well stocked refreshments available before show and at intermission, and the lobby is very classy and clean. Seats are comfortable. Only side aisles for seating, no center aisle.

I just read a blog posting by the Cowboy Junkies who said they loved their double header shows at the Kirkland Performance Center – it is well suited for both stage shows and band performances.

Our full orchestra at McIntyre Hall was 18 pieces, we downsized to 12 for the Kirkland run. I would roughly estimate the maximum number of players for this orchestra pit to be about 15 people, maybe a couple more if they don’t take up too much space, like clarinets or flute.
Outside front view of Kirkland PAC

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Outside Ticke Booth

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Outside billboard at Kirkland PAC

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Three visitors peering into the pit conductor’s podium

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View during show looking up from conductor’s podium

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Inside front doors of theatre lobby
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Looking down at stage at top entrance of theatre

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Front of audience, standing peering into orchestra pit, sides closed
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Bottom corner of theatre looking across theatre seating, seats 402

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Curtains from conductor’s podium
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Down in the orchestra pit

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Part of the Annie Get Your Gun orchestra between shows at
TGIFriday’s, a couple blocks from theatre.
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Orchestra pit dimensions: Width: 40
Depth: 15
Height: 9