BEHIND THE SPOTLIGHT

One of the most common questions people ask me is, “How do you cast an opera?”  The answer isn’t simple, as there are so many factors that go into making casting decisions depending on the nature of the project and who is involved, but I’ll try to address this question by looking at a specific example: the casting of Veruca Salt for our upcoming workshop of The Golden Ticket.

As ALT is co-producing the world premiere with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, I felt it very important that Jim Robinson (who is both Artistic Director of OTSL, and the stage director for the production) have input into the casting of our workshop.  As I explained in an earlier post, singers cast in the workshop are not guaranteed to move on with the production, but we certainly want to cast the workshop with an eye towards the future. 

In mid-December, I put out a casting notice to Artist Managers with details of the workshop and future plans for the opera. We also included a casting breakdown, which provides them with information about each role, including the vocal range and certain vocal and physical characteristics we are looking for in each role. For Veruca, we wanted to find a young-looking Mezzo Soprano with considerable range (c’ to b”) and who also could embody the character of a spoiled rich little brat!  We received 37 submissions of singers to consider for this role.  Of those 37, we asked to hear 8 in live auditions in January.  To narrow the number down from 37 to 8, I consulted with Jim and the music staff at OTSL to see which of the submitted singers they might be familiar with.  Our own music staff was also familiar with many of the artists.  By looking at their previous professional experience (including roles sung and the companies with which they sang those roles), as well as a certain degree of typing-out (the process of narrowing down candidates by physical characteristics - in this case we definitely wanted a young looking singer who was not too tall) we selected the 8 singers to hear live.  Jim and I were familiar with some of those singers, while we had never heard others.  We always remain open to discovering new talent, and this is exactly what happened in the case of Finding Veruca Salt.  Enter Abigail Nims.

Abigail auditioned for us on January 7th.  For the auditions, we requested that each singer bring at least one contemporary aria in English (as this demonstrates diction and ability to communicate effectively, as well as their comfort level in contemporary musical idioms), as well as other arias that they feel best show off their voice.  We give each artist the option to choose their first aria, and if after their first aria we feel that we want to hear them sing something else, we typically choose a contrasting aria.  In this case, we videotaped the auditions so that they could be reviewed by Peter and Donald (the composer and librettist of The Golden Ticket) who live in London. Abigail very graciously has allowed us to post her audition here, so you can get an inside look at what the audition process is like.  Thanks also to Curt Pajer, her wonderful pianist, for allowing us to post this.

Abigail chose to begin with “Things change, Jo” from Mark Adamo’s opera Little Women.  Having directed Little Women myself a few time, I am very familiar with this challenging piece.  It shows a singer’s range, as well as her ability to make sensitive musical and dramatic choices .  As such, many Mezzos now use this aria in auditions, and we hear it often.  Abigail’s singing of the aria really grabbed my attention.  First thoughts: a beautiful voice, well produced, clear diction.  Second thoughts: very expressive, successful at communicating the character’s situation in the opera (which is a challenge to do in an audition room), and lovely musical choices.  Third thoughts: Charismatic. I want to hear more.

This led Jim and I to ask Abigail to sing a second aria.  She had a few to choose from on her list (forgive me but I forget all of the options).  Jim asked to hear “Smanie implacabile…” from Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte.  This is an excellent choice for potential Verucas, as it shows some of the fire that this character requires, not to mention that Mozart also shows off the voice.  Abigail immediately engaged both Jim and I in the recit to the aria, and kept our attention throughout.  Again, we heard a beautiful timbre, and saw a well thought-out characterization.  I could immediately start picturing her as Veruca. Here was the combination of charisma, fire and vocal beauty that we needed.

We continued our auditions the following week, and by the end of the auditions, Abigail stood out as the clear first choice for Veruca in the workshop. I thought it would give all of us involved in the project a chance to hear her in the complete role, and Jim agreed that she was an ideal Veruca prospect.  With that in mind, I sent this video of her audition to Peter and Donald. They agreed she had what we were looking for, so we offered her the role.

I am, of course, very happy that Abigail is joining us for The Golden Ticket.  If you want to hear Abigail create Veruca Salt in the workshop, get your tickets as soon as possible! She is just one of the stellar singers who we will be working with on this exciting project…

As I was sitting in a production meeting this afternoon at one of the two venues we are considering for the future production of The Golden Ticket in New York City (I can’t tell you which ones quite yet…) my mind began to wander.  Not that the scheduling and budget considerations were not riveting, but I began to think of how much I needed to get back to my desk to deal with upcoming deadlines!

As a small non-profit organization, ALT doesn’t have an extensive full time staff.  Our staff is small by design - lower administrative fixed costs allow us to spend more of the money we raise on programs, and I am committed to keeping administrative costs down.  That being said, there is only so much time in the day, and a lot to be done.

Preparing for our upcoming workshop began last fall, but as we get closer to our first rehearsals, there are still some issues to be ironed out.  We have assembled an AMAZING cast for this workshop, many of whom we expect will move on with the production, whether at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, or with ALT and other company partners.  Singers who participate in a workshop do so for relatively little compensation, especially considering how intense the workshop period is.  While we pay our artists more than actors are typically paid for workshopping plays and musicals, I wish it could be more.  They are crucial to the development process, and without their generous commitment, we would never be able to do what we do.  

Putting together this cast began with auditions in the late fall, and continued all the way up to last week when we were hearing boys for the role of Charlie.  We coordinated our auditions with Jim Robinson, Artistic Director of Opera Theater of Saint Louis, because as he is going to direct the World Premiere, we wanted his feedback on the singers we were considering.  Peter and Donald (the composer and librettist of The Golden Ticket) live in London, so we videotaped all of the auditions, and after I did an extensive pre-screening, I sent video footage of the prospective candidates for each role. In some cases, there was a clear first choice. In others, there were multiple singers available who would do the role brilliantly.  We considered a lot of factors in making the casting decisions: ability to sing the role; musicality;  vocal timbre; potential to embody the character; acting ability; English diction; availability for the full workshop period; and potential availability for the premiere and subsequent engagements. For workshops, we generally engage local singers simply due to budgetary restrictions. In addition, some singers who we know we want to have sing the premiere were not available for the workshop dates, so we had to identify other artists for those roles.  

All of the singers commit to being in the workshop without any guarantee that they will move on with the project.  This just goes to show how incredible these singers really are.  Of course, in an idealistic world we’d love to keep everyone on board, but part of the purpose of the workshop is to hear prospective cast members in the full role for which they are being considered. At our last workshop of The Golden Ticket (in May 2007), we had an incredible group of singers to whom I am deeply indebted. They embraced the score with a passion and professionalism that any company director would welcome.  They also sang the hell out of the score, and allowed all of us involved with the piece to hear the areas that needed to be reexamined and refined.  It was an incredibly rewarding and useful process, and I have hired many of those artists since that time; but ultimately, only two of those singers were invited back for this upcoming workshop: Andrew Drost as Augustus Gloop, and Christopher Burchett as Willy Wonka.  Still, both Andrew and Chris know they may not move on with the production, or that they may perform it at some companies and not others, but their commitment to the piece, to Peter and Donald, and to ALT, is appreciated more than I can ever express. 

For this workshop, I had to hire 12 principal artists, including a boy to sing the role of Charlie.  That will be the subject of a future post, as “finding Charlie” was one of the most challenging, and ultimately rewarding parts of preparing for the workshop.  We also have to hire a full ensemble for the chorus and comprimario roles, and we are close to having all of those artists engaged as well.  

Beyond singers, we need a conductor, an Assistant Conductor, and a Chorus Master to bring things all together.  We are thrilled that Maestro Timothy Redmond will be joining us for the workshop, as he has been engaged to conduct the world premiere in St. Louis.  Tim is one of the most exciting young conductors around, and he will be making his American opera conducting debut with The Golden Ticket.  He is particularly well known in the UK and Europe for his work in contemporary opera, having brilliantly conducted Ades’s Powder her Face at both The Royal Opera and the Mariinsky Theater.   Tim will be supported by Brian DeMaris, a gifted young conductor in his own right, who was our principal pianist on the 2007 workshop.  Jennifer Peterson rounds out our music staff in the role of Chorus Master, a role she has taken on before for ALT in previous workshops for our Composer Librettist Development Program taught by Mark Adamo.

So, 12 principal singers, 12 members of the ensemble, 3 music staff - ready to go? Not quite.  Still, there are those annoying little details like making sure we have the best possible rehearsal space (which we do have), preparing score materials for all of the artists (even as new pages keep coming in!), coordinating rehearsal schedules and travel arrangements for our guests from London (almost complete…), inviting current and prospective funders (a crucial and never ending job), finalizing venue details for the public showing (like piano position and where the video camera should be placed), and even discussing Wonka inspired deserts with the pasty chefs from Bouchon Bakery for our post-reading reception (perhaps, the most enticing little detail remaining!).  And then there are those non-workshop related tasks, like pending grant proposal deadlines for the NEA, NYSCA, and the New York Department of Cultural Affairs!   Just when I think I’ve finished what I need to do for the day, another email pops into the inbox, begging me to work just a little bit longer… in fact, I’ve heard that pesky little inbox noise 4 times while blogging this evening!

It may be a day or two before my next entry, but in the meantime, I recommend you check out a wonderful blog post that my colleague Kim Witman at Wolf Trap Opera recently wrote about their workshop of a new commission they are spearheading. I can only imagine how little sleep Kim has gotten over the past few weeks!