Guide to Opera Stage Management

GUIDE TO OPERA STAGE MANAGEMENT FOR THE ASPIRING THEATRICAL STAGE MANAGER A Thesis Presented to The Graduate Faculty of The University of Akron In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Lee Marc Molnar May, 2015 GUIDE TO OPERA STAGE MANAGEMENT FOR THE ASPIRING THEATRICAL STAGE MANAGER Lee Marc Molnar Thesis Approved: Accepted: ___________________________ ___________________________ Advisor Interim School Director Ms.Kara Stewart Mr. Neil Sapienza ___________________________ ___________________________ Committee Member Dean of The College Mr. Durand Pope Dr. Chand Midha ___________________________ ___________________________ Committee Member Interim Dean of The Graduate School Mr. Jonathon Field Dr. Rex D. Ramsier ___________________________ Date ii DEDICATION The writer dedicates this work to Natalie Simonis, who has supported and encouraged the writer these past few years to undertake and complete this degree. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writer would like to thank Kara Stewart for being so supportive and a good sounding board during my degree process. The writer would like to thank Jonathon Field and Randy Pope, thesis committee, for their support and feedback. The writer would like to also thank Brett Finley for contributing her thoughts to this thesis, as well as the many mentors and colleagues over the years, who have inspired me to write this work. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………...vii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………..…….….…...1 II. DEFINITIONS OF KEY PERSONNEL………………………………………….........4 Key Personnel .......………………………………………………………………..4 Opera Stage Manager………………………………………………….......5 Stage Director………………………………………………….……….....6 Maestro……………………………………………………………………7 Production Manager……………………………………………………….7 Assistant Stage Manager………………………………………………......8 Assistant Director………………………………………………………….9 Chorus Master…………………………………………………………....10 Rehearsal Accompanist…………………………………………………..10 Principals…..………………………………………………………….….11 Chorus……………………………………………………………….…...13 Supernumeraries…………………………………………………….…...13 III. PRE-PRODUCTION PERIOD………………………………………………………14 Approaching the Score…………………………………………………………...14 Musical Recording……………………………………………………………….18 Score Set Up……………………………………………………………………..19 v Understanding Opera Libretto…………………………………………………...20 IV. REHEARSAL………………………………………………………………………..25 Prep Week and Paperwork……………………………………………………….25 Rehearsal Room Set Up………………….......…………………………..………30 First Rehearsals. …..……………………………………………………………..32 Rehearsal Hours………………………………………………………….33 Rehearsal Process………………………………………………………...36 V. TECH WEEK…………………………………………………………………………42 Moving to the Stage……………………………………………………………...42 Tech Week Schedule…………………………………………………………….48 VI. PERFORMANCE……………………………………………………………………55 Pre-Curtain……………………………………………………………………….55 Calling the Performance…………………………………………………………58 Bows……………………………………………………………………………..61 Post Production…………………………………………………………………..62 VII. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………..64 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………….66 APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………...68 APPENDIX A: SCORE PUBLISHING HOUSE ……….………..……………69 APPENDIX B: GLOSSARY TERMS……………………..……………………71 APPENDIX C: STAGE MANAGEMENT PAPERWORK…………………….76 APPENDIX D: INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD LETTER……….…….112 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Fidelio piano vocal score page………………………………..…………………15 2. Fidelio orchestral score page…………………………………………………….16 3. La Bohème vocal score page……………………………………………………..18 4. La Bohème libretto example, Castel Series………………………………………22 5. La Bohème vocal score page……………………………………………………..22 6. Fidelio synopsis De Capo Manual……………………………………………….23 7. Tosca Who What Where snippet………………………………………………...27 8. Tosca vocal score page…………………………………………………………..28 9. Madama Butterfly score conversion chart……………………………………….29 10. Stage Management console diagram…………………………………………….48 11. Le Nozze di Figaro vocal score page…………………………………………….53 12. Top of Show Calling Checklist…………………………………………………..58 13. Intermission Calling/Checklist…………………………………………………...60 vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION “Opera stage managing is just stage managing while listening to music, what’s the big deal?” Many Opera Stage Managers would laugh or cringe, as I did, when I heard that statement come from a theatrical stage management undergraduate student at a major university some years ago. As in all disciplines of stage managing be it theatrical, opera, dance, orchestral, or musical theatre, there are core structures and skill sets that are required of anyone wishing to be a stage manager. After being in the opera world for many years and discussing with my colleagues the apparent lack of appreciation and understanding of the art form from the assistant stage managers fresh out university, I feel it is time to start a study into the world of opera stage managing and delve into how and why it differs from “legitimate theatre.” Legitimate theatre is a term used to describe non-musical plays. The original definition came from the licensing act of 1737 in England which allowed only plays sanctioned by the Lord Chamberlain to be presented. This was an attempt of censorship in the theatres of England and many theatres were forced to close as they were not considered “legitimate” under the licensing act. Satire and musical comedy were not considered legitimate in the eyes of the Lord Chamberlain. (Crean, 239-255) 1 The need for this thesis grew out of the fact that there are few specific research books on stage managing opera. Lawrence Stern states in his book, Stage Management: If you do not read music, tell your director and don’t attempt to fake it. With the director’s help you can sometimes get around your deficiency by using a stopwatch. Rather than listening for a note, you would time how far into the music that note occurs and then take the cue from the stopwatch. If there is a fast series of cues from subsequent notes, you would substitute mental counts for listening to notes. Sometimes you can look for concurrent cast movements rather than notes from which to take your cues. These are all cumbersome methods, and learning to read music is preferable-and usually a prerequisite for stage management jobs in opera and ballet (Stern 216). I mention this quote not to diminish the quality work that Lawrence Stern has written, in fact it was the first book on stage management that I read in high school and knew after reading it that this is what I wanted to do for a career. Certainly, Stern is correct in identifying music reading as an important skill to calling an opera, however, there is much more to understanding opera production that just calling cues effectively. This analysis offers the aspiring theatrical stage manager a guide to understanding the world of opera from the point of view of the stage manager. This thesis does not explain each step of stage managing an opera production; it highlights differences and nuances of how opera production is constructed from the perspective of the stage manager. As Brett Finley, longtime opera stage manager and colleague, related to me about working with new college-aged assistants: “what they found most challenging to figure out is how to manage all the minutia [an opera] stage manager needs to have in their head at one time” (Findley interview). The research for this thesis was conducted by combing through existing books on stage management, holding discussions with colleagues, and by examining my own 2 experiences of twenty years in the opera world. This work is limited to the study of the differences and nuances of running an opera production for a student with theatrical stage management experience. It is not designed to teach stage management but to point out the special skills and traits needed to work as an Opera Stage Manager. Gerald Freedman, Great Lakes Theatre Festival Director, says of stage managing: Timing is everything. I need musically sensitive stage managers. It helps if they read music and are musical (not one who plays an instrument, but who can feel the music). Stage Managers have caused disasters when they called the show in an erratic, non-musical way (Schneider, 31). Though Mr. Freedman was discussing legitimate theatrical stage managers, his sentence about ‘feeling the music’ is a key tenet to being a good opera stage manager. It is more than notes on a page and counting rhythms, it is immersing oneself in the music and the way the stage director and maestro shape the piece. This assumption will start by explaining the key personnel with whom the Opera Stage Manager works with on a daily basis and will then detail the production process from pre-production work through post- production. 3 CHAPTER II DEFINITIONS OF KEY PERSONNEL As Lawrence Stern explained: There is no definitive list of duties of a stage manager that can apply to all theaters and staging environments. A stage manager for a comedy performed in a theater in the round might carry out specific duties that are totally different from those of a stage manager for a traveling pantomime troupe. But the function is the same (Stern, 4). Opera is no exemption to this rule. Maestro Lyall of New Orleans Opera often remarked to his stage managers “Opera has a lot of moving parts, it’s your job to keep them greased and running.” In his book, Stern lists eight characteristics of good stage managers: “assume responsibility, keep their cool, keep their mouths shut and ears open, think ahead, have a sense of humor, are considerate, are organized and efficient, and finally punctual

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