We're very excited to share the recently digitally-remastered clips from our 2002 production of Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Britten was born in 1913 and the "centenary" celebration of his works spans the 2012 and 2013 seasons of performing arts companies around the world.
Central City Opera has a rich tradition of producing the works of Benjamin Britten, which have a wide appeal for audiences. The composer himself is quoted as saying, "I write music for human beings." Central City Opera presented the North American premiere of Benjamin Britten's Gloriana in 2001, followed by this glorious production of Midsummer in 2002. Britten's work has since been performed on the Central City Opera stage in 2005 with the regional premiere of Paul Bunyan and in 2008 with productions of The Rape of Lucretia and Curlew River (the latter performed by our apprentice artists). This summer, we're proud to offer a new production of Britten's The Turn of the Screw, opening July 14th.
To whet your Britten appetite, here are four video clips from A Midsummer Night's Dream (2002):
Clip 1 - From Act One
Clip 2 - Tytania and Bottom
Clip 3 - The Rustics Perform
Clip 4 - Finale
In Paul Curran's Director's Notes for the 2002 production he wrote:
I have been lucky enough to work on the DREAM with two of Britten's own assistants: Steuart Bedford and Roderick Brydon. They have both made me look ever deeper into the music to see the piece more clearly. "If you can't see why I wrote (the music) that way, then don't conduct it" was Britten's advice to the young Steuart Bedford. "Play it again, I can't hear the colours. If there are no colours, there's no opera," another gentle encouragement. The colours of the opera and story are all in the orchestration; "every note counts, there is nowhere to hide in this score" - again, Britten to Bedford.
Steuart Bedford, mentioned above, conducted Central City Opera's 2005 regional premiere of Paul Bunyan and will return this summer to conduct The Turn of the Screw. Bedford was featured in the July 2011 issue of Opera News as "a peerless interpreter of the operas of Benjamin Britten." [The article is also available as a PDF.]Central City Operapresents The Turn of the Screw for the first time this summer with just six performances. Mark your calendar to join us on July 14, 18, 21, 29 or August 4 for this rare treat!
We've invited everyone to share their fond memories of Central City Opera with our Show Us the Love Survey. One patron, Phil Dougan, was so excited to share with usthat he asked to submit a more lengthy description by e-mail, which we are very honored to now be able to share with you. Here it is in his own words:
After the University of Colorado’s graduation ceremony in May of 1970, I tumbled out into the world and, fortunately, into my first summer in Colorado. I’d never heard of an old mining town called Central City or of its opera house, and the news that Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men had been configured into an opera had not reached me. My head was full of far more secular content – a fascination with foreign sports cars and competing in parking lot slalom races with my roommate’s Datsun roadster. I borrowed it one Saturday morning for a little practice in the mountains, which eventually led me up Eureka Street toward the Central City Opera House. A psychic ambush if there ever was one, I drove about one car-length past the sign announcing that evening’s performance of Of Mice and Men, parked the car, found the ticket office open, and decided that I must go to that performance and on that very evening if I could.
Clearly my passions had turned a corner while I was steering straight ahead, a phenomena that was presaged by an event that had occurred six years earlier, when I was junior in high school, and suburbia was all that I knew. I was bored by a world of fruit-cocktail-laden Jell-o and terrible AM radio, but when West Side Story arrived in local theaters, I was not bored. Bernstein’s stunning music and the dance and the color illuminated an expanse of my soul that had never before seen the light of day, and I was swept away. But the memories of my intense delight and longing began to recede and fell into a long slumber. That was the best that I could do in Bettendorf, Iowa, circa 1964.
But on a summer afternoon six years later, a reservoir of longing in that neglected backwater of my psyche rose up and would have its way with me; I was going to the opera and in surroundings that only deepened the seduction. I sped back to Boulder (more practice, but with purpose) to draw my girlfriend into my quest. She agreed, so we made our best attempt to dress up, drove westward, and arrived in time to purchase tickets in the balcony.
I assume that it was opening night, because a surprising number of patrons had flowers tucked under their seats that they would launch at the end of the evening. I can report with more certainty what happened to me. Starting early in third act, I began to have what to this day I can only describe as a transcendent experience. My sense of separateness melted into an ecstatic sense of communion with everything and everybody. Whatever this was, I did not resist coming down with a serious case of it, and I would want to say that I was not under the influence of anything but that opera. Only after I began to study mysticism several years later did I have some context for understanding that window of Grace that opened for me on a summer night in the balcony of the Central City Opera House.
This is how the evening ended: We held our collective breath as George raised a pistol to Lennie’s head; a fatal shot was fired; and the ballad singer fell silent and left the stage. The curtain fell in silence, and as it was lifted again, the entire house rose in an explosion of applause. But what I remember most vividly was that on the stage, it rained flowers, and on me, a little more ecstasy. These days, when a performance has ended, I carry a taste of that evening with me still. Perhaps that is why I like to be the last person to leave.
You can be" the last person to leave" this summer. Subscriptions are on sale now and single tickets will be available beginning April 1st. Check out CentralCityOpera.org for information, including artist profiles for each opera.
Have your own story to tell? Submit your entry to the Show Us the Love Survey. If a picture is worth a thousand words, we've got an even better option for you - submit your story by video! We'd love to hear from you.
In honor of this summer's production of The Turn of the Screw, we are delving into the haunted history of our historic properties like the Opera House, the Teller House and Williams Stables. Check out one of the fabulous tales from the Teller House.
The Teller House
If you have any spooky stories of ghostly encounters in Central City, please share them with us! Send your tales to me at hbrecl@centralcityopera.org and we will find fun ways to share them throughout the season.
As December 25th approaches, you can’t help but
hear Christmas music and wintery tunes in stores and on the radio.
Rodgers and Hammerstein, the musical partners who wrote Oklahoma!, have a tune
that’s often heard these days – the classic “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music.
While the song has no mention of Christmas or gift giving (other than mentioning brown paper packages),
somehow this musical favorite has become acceptable as a holiday carol. Certainly
the lyrics of warm woolen mittens, sleighbells, snowflakes and silvery white
winters fit the season – but it’s not exactly a yuletide song. I suppose you
could say that people are listing
their “favorite things” that money can’t necessarily buy. However, for many
years there have been traditional television broadcasts of the classic Julie
Andrews movie during the Christmas and Easter seasons. I certainly remember it on a black and
white screen in my grandparents’ basement while we of the younger set played a
cutthroat game of Hi Ho! Cherry-O on the floor. Perhaps this song is just
ingrained in our subconscious feel-good memories of the holidays?
I have learned this week that Rodgers and Hammerstein actually
did write their very own Christmas carol. In the spring of 1952, Life magazine commissioned a yuletide
song from the duo, published under the title “Happy Christmas, Little
Friend” in the December 29th issue later that year.
The article featured complete lyrics and music, as well as
an article on the creation of the song. [Read the article here in a Google Book search.] In the same working style
they used on projects like Oklahoma!,
Hammerstein tackled the song first, writing a complete set of lyrics - in the
middle of the summer, no less - before handing the words over to Rodgers to
compose the music. Incidentally, the fee for writing the song inaugurated the
Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation which served to provide training for
young musical theatre artists.
Rosemary Clooney sings "Happy Christmas, Little Friend" as shown in this picture from a follow-up article in Life.
The song was never incredibly popular, though it was
recorded by Rosemary Clooney and became the official song for the National
Tuberculosis Association’s Christmas Seal campaign. There doesn’t appear to be
a single YouTube entry for the song, but you can hear brief audio samples on
the Rodgers and Hammerstein website.
Check out this Rodgers & Hammerstein tune for your
holiday listening…and get ready to tap your toes to the memorable Oklahoma! this summer.
The following blog post is from the co-chairs of this year's L'Esprit de Noël Holiday Home Tour, Pam Bansbach and Brooke Maloy.
Join the Central City Opera Guild in celebrating the season with the 35th Annual L’Esprit de Noël Holiday Home Tour and Boutique. L’Esprit de Noël rings in the holiday spirit when this well-loved historic home tour returns to Capitol Hill’s Historic Morgan District November 18th and 19th. The Morgan District is a hidden gem encompassing roughly three blocks just south of Denver Botanic Gardens. Five historically significant and meticulously maintained homes will be on display and will feature some of Denver’s top florists and table designers.
Nearly all of the florists and table designers have participated in past L’Esprit events, with the exception of Encore Style, making its debut to the event this year as both the florist and table designer for Home #2. Last year’s floral and table designer winners (The Plum Gallery and Patina) will be featured in Home #1. In addition, Wild Flowers, The Lark, HMK Designs, Bouquets, and Villa Home and Gifts (previously International Villa) will all decorate each of these homes bringing out the best of the season.
House #1
House #2
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK…
These stately homes of the past are rich in historic architecture and represent the solid construction and cultural dynamism of the roaring 1920s. The introduction of new technologies like a central vacuum system and providing a “home” for the automobile were incorporated into these magnificent residencies. While all of the featured homes on the tour where built around the same time, each are unique in their form and presence.
House #5
SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP
L’Esprit also offers a fabulous boutique, free to the general public, located this year in the prestigious Cherry Creek North shopping district at 105 Fillmore Street in a vacant store space next to Hermes. The Boutique is open from 10:00am until 4:30pm daily during the Tour dates. A variety of vendors offer unique items, including gifts, clothing and jewelry. Shoppers can easily get a jump on their holiday gift buying, while supporting Central City Opera.
BE MERRY!
Tickets for the Tour are $18 in advance and may be purchased at all area King Soopers stores and at the Central City Opera Box Office (303-292-6700) or for $20 at Home #2 (825 Vine St.) during Tour hours (10:00am-4:00pm). Tour maps are available at the Boutique. For additional information, visit www.centralcityopera.org/lesprit.
Do you remember Central City Opera's dynamic West Side Story in 2008? The creative team who brought us that fabulous production, as well as 2011's Triple Bill of one-act operas (Director Ken Cazan, Scenic Designer Cameron Anderson, Lighting Designer David Martin
Jacques and Costume Designer Alice Marie Kugler Bristow), have reunited for Vancouver Opera's West Side Story. A recent review proclaimed, "this co-production of Vancouver Opera and Colorado’s Central City Opera can even be said to outshine the mostly brilliant movie version."
The Vancouver West Side Story is artistically based on our 2008 production and indeed uses many of the scenic elements featured previously on the Central City Opera stage. This week, I caught up with Cindy Maupin, Central City Opera's assistant carpenter, who traveled to Canada to assist with the scenic transfer and load-in to the theatre.
Cindy Maupin, Central City Opera's assistant carpenter, enjoying the sights in Vancouver.
Prior to arriving in Canada, Cindy spent several weeks pouring over blueprints, refreshing herself on the intricate details of the scenery and consulting with David "Mick" Jackson, Central City Opera's head carpenter, on what to anticipate during the tech process.
The Colorado scenery was shipped by truck to Vancouver.
Vancouver Opera has a much larger stage than ours in Central City, so Scenic Designer Cameron Anderson expanded the design. The "working" pieces of scenery - like Maria's entrance and Doc's door - are generally pieces from the original Colorado set, but additional elements have been added to fill out the stage.
The original Central City Opera production used one arch; the design has been expanded here.
The tip of this wall came from Central City, but the rest of the diagonal was added for Vancouver.
"Working" parts of the scenery, like the door above, were installed from the
Colorado production, but the rolling wagons on which they were placed
were increased in size. The pieces roll so smoothly, however, that the
crew remains essentially the same size as the one used in Central City.
With Cindy's
guidance, the second wall was smoothly assembled in roughly half an
hour. (It still took a lot of teamwork to get it in the air!)
Compare the photo above to the first design shown in the following video of preliminary designs from Scenic Designer Cameron Anderson. Note the original red paint on the wall and how the design has been extended to our left.
A few mementos of the Central City Opera production remain, including this playful message from crew members regarding a certain performer's offstage ritual before entering the scene.
This was Cindy's first real experience in Canada, other than the brief memory of a trip when she was four years old. She took advantage of her free time away from the opera house, spending time exploring Granville Island and other sights, as well as checking out the local karaoke bars (a favorite pasttime). This original "Gulf Coast gal" particularly enjoyed eating fresh seafood every day, from salmon to raw oysters - a treat she's missed while living in the Rocky Mountains. However, if you ask her what her favorite part was about the experience, it was simply the opportunity to travel for Central City Opera in this position. In a heartfelt moment, Cindy expressed her complete gratitude towards
Festival Production Manager Karen T. Federing and Technical Director Nathan E. Thompson for choosing her. "I cried when I was given this opportunity - overwhelmed that they trusted me."
Cindy considers this trip the pinnacle of her career - so far. Calling herself "just a girl," Cindy first worked with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (Denver Local 7) in January of 1999, straight from being a stay-at-home mom. On Father's Day of the same year she was assigned to Central City Opera. New to the business then, she credits guidance from Mick and her fellow union brothers and sisters for making her a familiar face backstage now in venues throughout the Denver metro area. She has held the title of Assistant Carpenter at Central City Opera for the last four years.
Cindy can't say enough about her fellow union members on the Vancouver
Opera crew (Local 118), either. "They were great - very nice," she said. "I went straight to
the crew room the night of rehearsal and told them so, to which Scott,
their head carpenter, replied, 'Well, we're Canadian - we're supposed to be nice!'"
Vancouver Opera's West Side Story runs through this Saturday, October 29th. Video of the production, showing the completed scenery, can be
found on the Vancouver Opera
website. Compare the finished product with Cameron Anderson's preliminary designs.
Okay, technically it's still officially fall, but WINTER has come to Colorado overnight. Gilpin County Schools in Central City are closed for the day. Down here at the Denver office we're still plugging away, but there's certainly a white layer on everything. Here's a shot from my office window, overlooking Colorado and Alameda Boulevards in south Denver.
Yes, the Denver office keeps working away all year long and things are quite busy around here! Applications have come in for our 2012 Bonfils-Stanton Artists Training Program, so the Music staff is busy sorting through them for our upcoming auditions. (Applicants will be notified if they have been accepted for an audition by November 18, 2011, or October 28, 2011, for Denver auditions.) The Education & Community Programs Department, myself included, has just returned from a mini-tour in Lander, Wyoming, and is prepping for our Opera Rocks the Rockies tour. This yearly collaboration with CU Opera will start off with a public performance in Parker, Colorado on November 4th, then head north to several communities in Wyoming. We're also keeping busy with additional performances like our brand-new school show Eureka Street, visiting community groups with Opera on the Go and a great number of performances of Inside the Orchestra in collaboration with the Junior Symphony Guild. Down the hall, the Development Department is busy writing grants, securing donations and gearing up for Colorado Gives Day on December 6th. Meanwhile, Marketing is working on ad campaigns and artwork for our 2012 Festival and of course the Box Office is busy with subscription renewals.
You can renew your subscriptions from the comfort of your own home, either by mailing in the form you received or calling the Box Office at 303-292-6700...Or, if you want to venture out in the snow today, it's now even easier to find us thanks to the new sign with the Central City Opera logo in front of our building.
That's 400 South Colorado Boulevard, at the southeast corner of Colorado and Alameda in southeast Denver. Look for the blue mirrored building, then use the elevator on the East side of the building (towards the Super Target and Sports Authority) to the fifth floor. The Box Office is Suite 525 and the Administrative Office is 530 (both are connected - we've got two entrances). Stop in and see us sometime!
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