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Director & Designer Presentation:
Lucia di Lammermoor

The members of the creative team attending were Director Ron Daniels, Scenic Designer Riccardo Hernandez, Lighting Designer Christopher Akerlind, Projection Designer Peter Nigrini, Costume Designer Emily Rebolz. (June 19, 2017)

Lucia ModelDirector Ron Daniels had never seen or studied Lucia di Lammermoor until he was asked to direct it. In contrast, this was the first opera Scenic Designer Riccardo Hernandez attended, at the age of seven.

The opera is a story about men, tough angry hunters. The raucous male singers contrast with the pacifying and calming female singers. The design of this production breaks away from tradition. It is a collaborative effort from the design team to be “not anything like you’ve seen before.” The focus is on women trapped in a world dominated by men. Lucia is in a psychological box that becomes compressed. The lack of space is used to create tension, and to mirror the nightmare inside Lucia's head. It is also a ghost story and a story of doomed love.

Lucia StageThe projected organic imagery transforms the geometric physical set. The video is continuous since the projections are integral. The room becomes a character. The set transforms as Lucia's feelings and emotions change. It is nature as Lucia perceives it, reflecting her desire to escape her confinement. The lighting and projection design work together to set the mood and light the singers with subtle followspots and footlights.

The fountain scene is probably the most beautiful with the fountain made out of glass. It represents simple reality, keeping an iconic image as though Lucia is seeing her future. The only real organic element used in the opera is the water in the fountain. The fountain connects to the last scene when Lucia becomes the ghost of the fountain and the water turns to blood.

The costumes are from the 1840s. However, there are no kilts and no plaids used in this production. It is a dark, gloomy world but beautiful. Families are isolated. The women are dressed as dolls. In the first scene the men are wearing their trophies, fur collars from their hunting success.

This production features the glass harmonica, invented by Benjamin Franklin, that Donizetti first wrote the music for in Lucia’s mad scene, adding a beautiful eerie quality.

The designers discussed the challenge of projected images. Modern projection began in the late 1990s, with the creation of computer-driven digital projection which is much faster than the previous use of film produced in a lab. Projection craftspeople are still learning to work with the new tools, both technically and aesthetically. The language of theater is changing, and the designers are conscious of not letting projection upstage the singers, instead working with lighting and set design to create a coherent whole.


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