Backstage at the Opera
In the days leading up to the Peabody Opera Theatre production of Leoš Janáček’s The Adventures of Sharp-Ears the Vixen in November, 34 men and women in Peabody Elderhostel had a front row seat on the action...
By Sue De Pasquale
Photos by Will Kirk
They came from all over the country, many already fans of opera, most veterans of the Elderhostel program, which lures those over age 55 to college campuses nationwide for week-long immersion in topics ranging from Shakespeare to archaeology.
Weber (left) with students
Peabody's Elderhostel program, which offers courses 44 weeks a year, is particularly popular, and the participants in "Backstage at the Opera" quickly formed an easy rapport with tenor John Weber, whose daily class presentations offered a solid grounding in the Czech composer Janáček and the beguiling characters (both human and animal) he created. "The opening of this piece is unbelievably genius in capturing the sound of the forest, of crickets, birds, mosquitoes," said Weber during one of the first classes. The group was an attentive and knowledgeable one (several had prepared for their week in Baltimore by reading the libretto and watching Vixen on DVD); a few interrupted the instructor throughout the class period to clarify a particular point or ask a question. "John is very thorough in covering the story and voice types. He's always got interesting stories to tell," Marie Finelli, of Akron, Ohio, would say afterward. Bill Schwab, of Pennsylvania, praised the instructor for providing "a depth of knowledge with humor and wit. It really added a wonderful dimension," he said.
By Wednesday afternoon, with opening night of Vixen just a day away, the group is eagerly anticipating a backstage tour, led by Douglas Nelson, Peabody Opera's production manager. Since their arrival on Sunday, the Elderhostelers have heard from Peabody Maestro Gustav Meier, who described the conductor's unique role in opera, observed students in the Graduate Conducting program hone their skills in a lab orchestra session, and listened raptly as soprano Carolyn Pelley (Vixen's Woodpecker) described the highs (and occasional lows) of being a graduate voice student.
Now, as they ascend the steps to the stage in Friedberg Hall ("Don't fall into the orchestra pit!" cautions Nelson good-naturedly), they gather around the enormous tree stump that dominates the space, its roots splayed like giant fingers. The stump, now facing the audience, is bolted to a revolving plate. When it's time for a scene change, thanks to the creative artistry of set designer Misha Kachman, the axis will rotate 180 degrees to reveal a forester's cottage. Made primarily of plywood and steel (with glue-soaked muslin for bark-like texture), the set was constructed in Richmond, Virginia, Nelson explains. "By Monday morning at 10 am, all of this will be cut up and in a Dumpster," he says.
"Can't you sell it?" asks one gentleman. "You want to buy it? I'll cut you a deal," Nelson jokes in reply. He explains that it's prohibitively expensive to store the set—and there's little chance another opera company staging Vixen would want to adopt the very same set design anyway. The Metropolitan Opera routinely spends $1 million per production for its set construction, Nelson says, so comparatively the Peabody set is a bargain, at just $13,000 plus labor.
As the tour backstage continues, the group pauses near the stage manager's seat, where a music stand holds a copy of the score and a video monitor is set to display the action on stage. Later, a few people, including Carol Corwin, break away to inspect the prop table, where everything from tin drinking mugs to artificial loaves of bread are neatly laid out.
Karen Allen takes to the conductor's podium
Carefully descending to the darkened orchestra pit beneath the stage, Nelson invites the Elderhostelers to take a seat. "You guys are the low brass back there," he says to Judi and Bill Schwab. Pointing out the microphones hanging in strategic spots, Nelson notes that students in Peabody's Recording Arts program will be recording the Vixen performance for a class project. When Nelson asks if anyone would like to take a turn at the conductor's podium, Karen Allen's hand shoots up. Some stiffness in her legs makes the big step up a bit difficult. But once atop the podium, Allen's face brightens into an enormous smile. She raises her arms and begins to conduct with vigor. "Yay!" shout a few classmates, while others break into applause.
Makeup stations, mirrors, and multicolored wigs make up the dressing room
Next it's further down into the bowels of Friedberg Hall, to the dressing rooms. "This is where we do wigs and makeup, and it's the Green Room," says Nelson, gesturing around a cramped space filled with makeup stations, mirrors, and multicolored wigs. "We heard from the Woodpecker earlier today and look, there's her wig!" says Joe Russell, pointing to a scarlet hairpiece. The vibrantly hued wigs are costume designer Kristina Lucka's inexpensive solution for helping to differentiate Vixen's various animals, Nelson explains. "This is the Badger," he says holding a wig aloft. "Just remove the center piece and, voilà! He's the Parson."
Later that evening, after the group has rested up from the backstage tour and a late afternoon tour of the Walters Art Museum, many accept the invitation to sit in on Vixen's final dress rehearsal (while a few choose instead to attend one of two trumpet degree recitals in Griswold Hall). In Friedberg Hall, Peabody opera director Roger Brunyate is an energetic presence onstage and off, as he works closely with the cast members to perfect their singing and staging. "These are not Disneyfied animals, but the real thing. There is violence and death out there in the forest as well as the more gentle emotions."
The student orchestra, led by Peabody's Hajime Teri Murai, works its way through the challenging score. And the youngest members of the production, singers and dancers from the Peabody Preparatory, get their final instruction from Peabody Dance Artistic Director Carol A. Bartlett and Peabody Children's Chorus Director Doreen Falby.
The Elderhostel participants who sit in on the dress rehearsal were later glad they did. "I would have been lost without it," said Marie Finelli.
On opening night, the 34 members of the Elderhostel program take their seats in a packed Friedberg Hall and delightedly watched the action of Janáček's little known opera unfold. "Because of the preparation [in class and dress rehearsal] I was able to sit and enjoy and concentrate on the music," said Finelli afterward. "I didn't have to wonder: Who's that? Who's that?" Concurred Ugo Volpati, "It was such a wonderful thing to gradually get to know throughout the week what was going on in an opera I'd never heard about. The orchestra was so vibrant and so strong. To see everything come together at the end.... It was marvelous".
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