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Submitted by Portland Opera To Go on Mon, 01/17/2011 - 12:09

The morning of Jan. 11th, 2011 began cold, gray and damp, with the threat of snow. Inside the Camerata Room at The Hampton Opera Center it was warm and inviting. The artists and tour managers were introduced to each other over coffee and bagels. Before the meeting had officially started we were honored with a visit from General Director Christopher Mattaliano. He told us of his love for education and outreach, and how important Portland Opera to Go is to him and the company. He truly inspired us to dive in head first.

After that treat, we were able to meet our director, and creator of this version of Elixir, Kristine McIntyre. We dove in and started singing. The music is timeless, and coupled with the witty translation by our director, incredibly funny! Singing through the score was a treat! Our accompanist David Saffert is amazing!, and singing with Erik, Dan, and Ainsley is awesome! What a group of talent.

After lunch (pulled pork sandwich at Tennessee Red's, Located at 2133 SE 11th Ave) we were able to spend some time exploring our amazing set. I think Dr. Dulcamara’s cart is my favorite prop piece! This set is a visual treat, and great fun to play on! We started staging that very day. We are all looking forward to performing for thousands of kids all over Oregon and Washington. Also, thanks to McMenamins for being the sponsor of our tour!
 

Stacey Murdock

Till next time,

Stacey

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new year

Submitted by dramma per musica on Thu, 01/13/2011 - 15:48
First of all, a very belated Happy 2011 to all of my loyal (and extremely patient) readers! Thanks for sticking around, especially since content has been mighty thin lately. (By the way, I know you’re out there because I still get site stats. Hello, Michigan!) I’d like to say that I’ll be posting on a more regular basis this year, but we’ll have to see how things go. I will try to put something up at least twice a week, even if it’s just a video clip, some sound files, or a random piece of information that I find interesting. I’m looking at the possibility of vlogging or podcasting a significant portion of my contributions, mainly as a way of mixing things up a bit, so stay tuned. Speaking of podcasts, I’ve received confirmation from Portland Opera that my pre-performance talks will continue to be recorded for the remainder of the season. Next up is Turandot on February 6, followed by the double-bill of Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole and L’Enfant et les Sortileges on April 3. I’ll be setting up an archive for those as well, so if you have a hankering to check them out after the fact, you’ll soon have a place to go. I’ll be a Portland Opera’s 2011-2012 season reveal tonight – more on that later!

Countdown continues....

Submitted by Portland Opera To Go on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 13:34

Well, the countdown continues!  Today I went to the warehouse to check on what I might need to bring with us and got a wonderful preview of our set.  The folks at the warehouse were excited to show me all of the bells and whistles, and I have to say, it may be our cutest set ever!  Not only is it adorable, but it is beautiful and painterly, based heavily on the artistic style of Thomas Hart Benton.  

More important to me while wearing my tour manager hat, is the amazing and ingenious ease with which it has been designed and executed.  No tools are needed in the set up or strike.  Our shop has truly outdone themselves.  Kudos to Jim Sisemore, Jonah Stagg and Linda McGinnis for a fantastic set and an enthusiastic and informative introduction to it—I cannot wait to see the cast’s faces when they see the world that has been built for them!

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