Backstage at the Opera

Rating:
Summary: The minutiae of staging Xerxes
Review: "Backstage at the Opera" is a book about people involved in work that they love---the staging of an opera. The author is both a writer and a cartoonist and her lively drawings decorate the book from the casting and initial set designs, through the final production of Handel's "Xerxes."

Even if you didn't see the original English National Opera production of "Xerxes," you can purchase the Home Vision video of the same production featured in "Backstage at the Opera." It was fun to read about, say the construction of the stage props and then actually see how they were used during a performance. The author was particularly fond of the twelve cactuses. They had to be brought on stage with "dignified haste" and then struck in something like five seconds while the chorus sang the ritornello of the chorus, "Long live Xerxes." Needless to say, "the cactuses led a very tough life indeed."

David Fielding's stage design re-created Vauxhall Gardens as it was in Handel's time, and he specified that the cactuses had to look 'serious' and 'real,' which meant that they had to be relatively heavy (the largest cactus was eleven feet high). The author visited the Props Department to see how they were made:

"The chorus, it was felt, might have their minds on their music, so they opted for having the cactuses light enough to carry but heavy enough to make it quite obvious that their porters were using some effort. They were given a metal core of two steel rods and carved in foam rubber with an electric carving knife. The whole cactus was then covered in fine muslin which, given its fine weave is extremely difficult to tear, and finished with a latex skin. Finally they were painted and provided with extras such as bristles and pith balls."

Follow Sarah Lenton as she visits the dressing rooms, Wigs and Make up, Lighting, the Stage, and the Crew. The opera production needed eighteen stage hands to run it: four Prop staff, ten techs, and four Flymen. The author was backstage for many of the rehearsals and production performances, so she got to see how everything and everyone worked together. Her description of the live productions, as seen from the wings, will familiarize the reader with what's going on both in front of and behind the scenery.

"Backstage at the Opera" is an excellent look behind scenes for anyone who is in love with 'The Queen of Music.'

Rating:
Summary: The minutiae of staging Xerxes
Review: "Backstage at the Opera" is a book about people involved in work that they love---the staging of an opera. The author is both a writer and a cartoonist and her lively drawings decorate the book from the casting and initial set designs, through the final production of Handel's "Xerxes."

Even if you didn't see the original English National Opera production of "Xerxes," you can purchase the Home Vision video of the same production featured in "Backstage at the Opera." It was fun to read about, say the construction of the stage props and then actually see how they were used during a performance. The author was particularly fond of the twelve cactuses. They had to be brought on stage with "dignified haste" and then struck in something like five seconds while the chorus sang the ritornello of the chorus, "Long live Xerxes." Needless to say, "the cactuses led a very tough life indeed."

David Fielding's stage design re-created Vauxhall Gardens as it was in Handel's time, and he specified that the cactuses had to look 'serious' and 'real,' which meant that they had to be relatively heavy (the largest cactus was eleven feet high). The author visited the Props Department to see how they were made:

"The chorus, it was felt, might have their minds on their music, so they opted for having the cactuses light enough to carry but heavy enough to make it quite obvious that their porters were using some effort. They were given a metal core of two steel rods and carved in foam rubber with an electric carving knife. The whole cactus was then covered in fine muslin which, given its fine weave is extremely difficult to tear, and finished with a latex skin. Finally they were painted and provided with extras such as bristles and pith balls."

Follow Sarah Lenton as she visits the dressing rooms, Wigs and Make up, Lighting, the Stage, and the Crew. The opera production needed eighteen stage hands to run it: four Prop staff, ten techs, and four Flymen. The author was backstage for many of the rehearsals and production performances, so she got to see how everything and everyone worked together. Her description of the live productions, as seen from the wings, will familiarize the reader with what's going on both in front of and behind the scenery.

"Backstage at the Opera" is an excellent look behind scenes for anyone who is in love with 'The Queen of Music.'