September 24, 2007
Backstage at the MetOpera for Open House
The MetOpera tonight premieres its new production of Donizetti’s "Lucia Di Lammermoor" (and broadcasts it live, for free, into Times Square and Lincoln Center Plaza,) but last week a few thousand lucky folks got to see it for free for the final dress rehearsal at Open House.
(There are two more free Open House events scheduled for this season, both on Fridays: December 21 for "Hansel and Gretel" and April 18 for "la Fille du Regiment.")
 After the rehearsal -- which included a few do-overs -- the audience got to walk across the stage, ask questions, and so did the cast.
"Why did you laugh during the contract signing scene?" star Natalie Dessay asked from the stage during the Q&A session. Indeed, a good portion of the audience laughed when Lucia finally capitulates to her brother's wishes and agrees to marry a man she doesn't love to save the family's fortunes. In the scene, her brother rushes to her side and forces her hand to sign the marriage contract, adding something of an extra exclamtion point to her woes.
Dessay was unsatisfied with the answer from the audience.
"Of course he signs it for me! But why is it funny? It is terrible!"
Also during the Q&A, set designer Daniel Ostling said the backdrop of the creepy trees are actual photographs he took in Scotland (the setting for the opera) while researching the production. And costume designer Mara Blumenfeld explained that her research led her to the fact that it was not uncommon for wedding dresses to be red in the period the opera is set, so she chose a "a blood sacrifice" red for the dress worn in the contract-signing ceremony. (But white for the nighttime wedding.)
Maestro James Levine, also on hand for the Q&A, said he had been looking forward to working on a full production of Lucia for many years. "It simply hasn't got a weak spot in it," he said.
Standing room tickets for $20 are available starting at 10am on the day of the performance through the box office, online or by calling (212) 362-6000.
Earlier: Guillermo Kuitca opens opera season at Gallery Met
September 24, 2007 08:36 AM in Cheap Stuff, Romance, Sightsology, Upper West Side
Comments (0)
®Copyright 2006, All Rights Reserved
|
