A post that should be panicking

[desperance]

What am I doing? I'm supposed to be cooking dinner in two days' time, for people whose good opinion I care about; and I have not shopped, I have not prepared, I have not even given it any thought! I don't know what I'm cooking! Aaargh!

Instead, I keep working, and thinking about work: about how to finish this proposal, and then about the short story I want to write straight afterwards, this weekend; and about the book just finished, that I need to be revising, and the other short story, and...

Also, I keep going to the opera. Last night Rigoletto, in a production that clearly echoed if it didn't mirror Jonathan Miller's famous Mafia interpretation; but you see this done and then you wonder why on earth no one did it before, because it suits the material so very well. And we were disappointed because Rigoletto himself was to be sung by an understudy, and we agreed we'd never seen a stellar performance from an understudy, there's none of that coming-back-a-star thing in real life; and then in the first interval we agreed that he was good, and in the second interval that if they hadn't told us we wouldn't have known, and at the end I do believe we cheered. Fab night. And tonight it's Peter Grimes (which I just typed as Peer Grimes, and now my mind is full of Ibsen/Britten crossover, which is no comfortable place to be, so I might just have to go and listen to Grieg instead), and tomorrow it's La Voix Humaine. Which I have never seen.

Dinner for eight? Oh, phooey. Dinner'll happen...

Comments

[costumeimp.livejournal.com]

I'm not completely sure how things work backstage where you are, but here in the States (more specifically on Broadway), the standbys or understudies are typically just as capable, and just as rehearsed as the principals are. In fact, sometimes the understudies are better than the one they are standing by for.

I had the pleasure of working regional opera for several years before landing on the Great White Way. Yes, it's like comparing apples to schmucks. Understudies attend all rehearsals, and usually have one rehearsal a week that is specifically for them to assume the role, instead of merely observing. This helps eliminate failures during performances due to lack of preparation. I'll say it again, it's rare that an understudy will seriously flub.

It takes a special breed of person to be able to 'cover' multiple roles, effectively. I guess it can be best explained by calling them the 'second string.' Directors take just as much care in casting understudies. They generally have much more work to do and with less rehearsal. Not to mention that they have to be prepared to step in on a moments notice. Understudies are the productions Insurance Policy.

On my current show, it is very typical that people who standby for roles, actually assume them when the principal in question is done with the show. They are often called upon to board a plane and perform their role on the tour, or in some other production.

Around the states, there are very few new people, especially in the opera world, that sing new roles. Once you have a role in your rep, you usually sing that role over and over in many different productions. In my opera experience, most standbys have actually performed the role they are covering in other productions.

Well, who knew I was going to climb up on a soapbox this morning...

Best of luck in all the writing and cooking you have ahead of you. I would worry about you, if you weren't so talented in all those arenas. :-)

Love and Light.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

That's not soapbox, it's really interesting. And, I think, as it ought to be. I don't know if practices do differ this side; very possibly not, it may just be perception that has always left me feeling disappointed by understudies hitherto. 'Specially when the missing actor or more commonly singer is the one who's made a name in that role, that production - to some extent the one I've gone to see.

But as I say, he was fab last night, and I'm only sorry I can't remember his name. Bad me.