The build-up in excitement and tension during the final week
of show rehearsals is always significant. On this occasion, when we are
performing a work by Jommelli that has been performed only a handful of times
in the last 300 years, in a new production by the Intendant Jossi Wieler and
his directing partner Sergio Morabito which is being seen as one of the biggest
events of the season, those feelings are even stronger.
Constants
For the singers, and I guess I include myself in that
despite not singing much in the show, the final week of rehearsals is a chance
to cement the work we have been doing for many weeks back in the rehearsal
room. A chance to settle into the theatres space, acoustic, lighting and so on.
It isn’t made easy though. From rehearsal to rehearsal things are added,
changed and taken away with the various decision makers doing their final
tinkering, for me it can feel a bit unsettling.
The first time we get the complete set and costumes is
during the piano-dress, a complete run accompanied by piano. This is the first
time you realise that certain costume changes are impossible with the real
costumes, or that the real costumes don’t have the flexibility for you to move
in the same way when you are, for example, cleaning blood from the stage floor.
I tend not to worry anymore when I hear the odd rip in the new costume as it
settles into its working life with me.
After the piano dress everything ‘real’ is taken away and we
return to using rehearsal props and costumes, in the knowledge that they are
quite different to the real thing. For this show we then had 5 stage and
orchestra rehearsals. That’s 5 three hour rehearsals continuing to develop the
show on stage whilst the orchestra gets used to the piece and the conductor
settles into the pace on stage. With so much action on stage the conductor
always needs to be alert. Often, early in stage orchestra rehearsals, little
pauses that have been rehearsed for weeks in the practise room disappear and
the well established pace of the scene is lost, only to return towards the end
of these rehearsals.
After each stage and orchestra rehearsal we singers have
notes from the Director. In the case of this show, notes have tended to last an
hour or so with every little detail noted and discussed. This is not a show
that is under-cooked, there has been so much time and care taken to make each
scene as strong as possible. The care
and time is extended to the two Imperial guards too, we have been made to feel
part of the process throughout, and this week extra time was found to add depth
to many of our new silent stage appearances.
Following the end of the stage and orchestra rehearsals we
then have the pre-dress rehearsal, which was last night. Back come all the
original set and props and on again comes the original costume, though with a
few additions to make movement even more difficult though also with an
extremely comfortable pillow sown into the jacket which would make leaning
against walls a breeze.
Big team
One of the niceties of these final few rehearsals is that
you get to see all the people that go into making the show. For weeks on end
the company feels tiny, the 8 singers, Directors and music staff creating the
piece miles away from the theatre. Then, as the stage and orchestra week
develops, more and more people turn up and you realise how much work has gone
in to creating the piece.
I may have mentioned before but Stuttgart is the biggest
multi-discipline theatre in Europe, with theatre, ballet and opera all on the
same site and over 1000 people working here. Everything is done within house
and so when I stand and stare at the stunning art work that is the backdrop of
our set I know that someone within our theatre team has created it. I know for
a fact that the intricate material used for our jackets in the show was made by
hand in the theatre (I’ll show you a picture next week). Its stunning work and
we are very lucky in Stuttgart to have such skilled craftsmen.
What else
In addition to all the stage rehearsals this week we had one
performance of Nabucco, my 30th performance of the season. I also took some time away from the theatre
to enjoy the start of the 6 Nations Rugby Championship in which England made a
very good start.
Having chosen to watch the match in the Irish bar in the
middle of town I was surprised to be the only Englishman. A scattering of
red-Wales shirts appeared just before
the match but the bar was mostly full of locals whose response to the big
tackles and hard hits was more shock and horror than anything else. They were
also quite alarmed by my vocal support and string of expletives when England
finally started playing well. This weeks game is an earlier kick off so I
imagine the bar will return to being almost completely empty, I hope so.
Next
Tonight is the final rehearsal, or Dress Rehearsal, or
General Rehearsal (whatever it is called in the different theatres) for the
Jommelli with the opening night on Sunday. I am excited to finally be
performing it and to get onto other projects again. I have a couple of
auditions coming up and a little trip back to the UK at the end of the month which
will come just at the right time!
Hope you all have a good week. Thank you for reading.
Tom
ps: Weight gone in the right direction this week. Happy face
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