Pictures at Last!!!

Pictures are here at last! Here are a few to start... more to follow...

remember me, but forget my fate

glen dance

wayward sisters

It is done

Well, what a wild ride this has been! Our show has opened and closed, and my friends, I must say, I thought it came off really really beautifully. It was such a thrill for me to sit back and see all these things that I have imagined for the last year and a half in "the little theatre of my mind" ACTUALLY COME TO LIFE! As a director, I have this picture...almost more of a feeling than an image...of what I want to convey, but especially as a person so young in the biz, there is a worry that what I imagine will not be as wonderful when it is "live".... but it really was!
The ensemble sounded great, they looked great, they acted like "real people", the dancers were breath-taking, the costumes were beautiful and gleaming, the lighting was lovely, the witches were creepy and wierd, and when the set piece turned around for the first time (with Dido lying on it) I heard audible gasps in the crowd.

THIS IS WHY I LOVE THEATRE!

I am going to share with you an email that was forwarded to me by one of our performers.... I don't even know the person who wrote it, but truly, it is one of the most special "reviews" I have ever received, by an ordinary audience member.

Last night's performance of "Dido" was exquisite. I can't stop thinking about it. So beautiful visually and musically. The combination of modern dance and Baroque music was surprising and powerful, especially in the last lament. I have a short list in my memory of performances throughout the years -- maybe half a dozen which were really momentous. "Dido" has joined that list.

Ok, enough gushing. I hope you were able to see the show and if you enjoyed it half as much as I did, then you had a great night at the theatre! I will share some of the "official" photos when they are available, but here is one more amateur shot to send you off on your day...


(why do men have a need to hold their boobs?)

How godlike is the form he bears

It is all coming together!!!
I won't tell you what this is, but leave you to wonder. Suffice it to say, I am very pleased so far.

Tomorrow is "load in" at the theatre which means moving all of the components of the show into the space. Set pieces, props, costumes, orchestra, lights. Then our lighting designer begins to place the lighting instruments so they light the stage properly so he can design cues during our technical rehearsal that evening. A lot of things have to go really smoothly in a short period of time tomorrow. This is where good preparation really is key. This is where a nice margarita at the end of the day is almost a requirement.

So soft, so sensible my breast...

Part of my "process" when working on a show involves gathering up lots of images. Here are some Minoan priestess images.... one from an ancient mural, one a bronze figurine. Note the color palette and the (bare breast!) silhouette.

Tell us, how shall this be done?

So, working on a new show. Where do I begin? RESEARCH.

First step:

• If there is a recording, I get it (There are several good ones listed to the right). It is really important to me to live with the music, and ideally over a period of several months. With a good composer the music tells a story that goes far beyond the text! If there is more than one recording (happily there are several for Dido) I try to hear them all, as each version may offer its own little bit of inspiration.
A small example: in one recording the guitar was strummed a particular way in “Oft she visits”, and for me, it called to mind not a royal entertainment but a casual, youthful campfire setting…. A group of friends and lovers, sitting around a fire, telling ghosts stories, singing songs… it really informed the way I view that scene. I wouldn’t have heard that had I stopped with the first recording I listened to, and thus that scene might have shaped up quite differently.

Then these things happen in no particular order…

• If there is original or good secondary source material, I read that. The Aeneid, Ellen Harris’s intensive study, Michael Burden’s Purcell Companion. Google reader can be very helpful on this.
• I spend a LOT of time on the internet, looking at pictures. Like the ones on this post. The one at the top is of Tyre (Dido's birthplace) and the one below is of Carthage in the 2nd century. Beautiful, eh?
• I find myself gravitating towards certain colors, images, and words. Sometimes I find one particular image that I feel is the key to the whole piece. For Dido & Aeneas, it was this:

Isn’t she lovely? I love everything about her…. The colors, the mosaics, the sensuality. You will see that all of these things play hugely in our production!

Coming up: Filtering the Research… what does it all mean?

The Queen of Carthage...whom we hate...