Directors and Designers for Carmen
The director, Marianne Clement began the discussion by reviewing what we expect to see since Carmen is one of the most performed operas worldwide. The story is a well-known love story that ends tragically. It combines fun and violence, making it a double-faced story. Carmen’s starting point is fun but its ending is a crime of passion. Within the plot death is very prevalent. In addition, there is an overall theme of freedom. This freedom is ambiguous: What does freedom really mean?
The basic idea in developing the ideas for the opera was to make Carmen a three-dimensional character, make her “real.” One addition to the overall opera was the inclusion of a little girl who appears in the dreamlike sequences of interlude followed by reality. Who is she? Is she a young Carmen? Is she a ghost? Does she see visions of what she will experience as an adult? Each person is advised to seek an individual interpretation.
The setting for Carmen is an amusement park. It still contains all the elements of the typical Carmen: the cigarette factory, the bullring and so forth. The stage revolves to show the important element. In this production, we are told to look for broken elements. For example, the rollercoaster is broken signifying is disconnect between fantasy and reality. To complement the setting, Duanne Schuler commented that the lighting changes from the dreamlike state and reality. Julie Hanson said the choice of costumes represent humans but retain their colorful appearance.
Two characters exhibit violence. Don Jose comes from a violent past. It appears that he is a bad boy trying to reform by joining the army. However, that does not work. He remains impulsive. It should be noted that Carmen has a knife with her in Act I when she attacks her supervisor but has no knife to protect herself at the end. Since Carmen is killed with a knife, is it her own knife? The death scene is a brutal, ugly death, but like the Greeks its violence is not seen on stage.
Directors and Designers for The Barber of Seville
The director Stephen Barlow stated that The Barber of Seville is a farce and should be done emphasizing fun. The team began working on this concept in 2016 which was the 200th anniversary of the opera. Therefore, the costumes are a combination of 1816, 1970 and the twentieth century. The costuming is done deliberately with no one era chosen. Disguise is important in this opera. The Count doesn’t want Rosina to know his status and be swayed by his position. In addition, much lying takes place in the opera. The only character who doesn’t lie is the maid. The audience should see two people finding each other and falling in love.
This production was scheduled for 2020 and much of the scenery was already done. With the rising sun, a giant head appears rising from the back of the stage. It is Rossini, but he is now a house, with his mouth a door and his eyes windows or “windows of the soul.” Moreover, the head revolves to show the interior of a house. The arches on either side of the stage represent a square in Seville. However, the barbershop poles are original to the production. The lighting is enhanced with footlights, not often seen in Santa Fe.
All in all the team wants the audience to have fun, to smile, to laugh and enjoy the performance.
Directors and Designers for M. Butterfly
This production was scheduled for the 2020 season and, consequently, all the sets and costumes were ready with no changes necessary, and the team could concentrate on the performance and its message.
The play and/or the opera sees the East through the eyes of a Westerner. The world becomes a fantasy world. In the process of creating the opera from the play, the music will often remind the audience of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, pieces inserted from the public domain. As expected the music adds much to the play.
How does the opera move? There are many locations and scene movement can be beautiful. The opera opens with a flashback. The countertenor is positioned close to the audience so that his sound is clear. The scenes should develop smoothly without starts and stops. The apartment scene especially emphasizes the fantasy world of the East as seen through the eyes of a Westerner. Therefore, the narrator cannot be trusted as a reliable reporter. Pay special attention to the floor of the apartment, which is lighted plexiglass. Throughout the opera the various surfaces are used for projections that illustrate states of mind. They are designed to convey ideas. The settings revolve around the Cultural Revolution from 1966 through 1976. The costumes come from the 1960s until the 1980s.
The choreography is distorted to reflect the fantasy aspects. The Peking Opera Dance emphasizes the movement of the dancers’ joints. The military dance has the dancers march with their fists in the air which was influenced by the Russian military. The dancers carry fake guns so they move only their lower bodies.
The opera, like the play, has multiple levels. A challenge to the audience may be to question what is real, what is not.
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