MT Scenes! 10/14/2008
 

Hey, I was just sent the link for the streaming video of the performance of my class's musical theatre scenes from a few weeks ago. These were so much fun! (In case anyone's interested, my scene is about 47 minutes in.)

http://digitalmedia.cua.edu//events/video/asx_dsp.cfm?event=4400&stream=4742

 

 
 

I finally have a complete cast for Magnum Opus! I'm really excited about it. It's basically the cast of one of the opreras I music directed this past summer, plus one more baritone. It's even the same director as the other opera!

We had our first rehearsal tonight. I'm making a recording of scenes 5 and 9 to send in for a competition. Scene 5 involves Melpomene, Polyhymnia, and Robert, and scene 9 involves the same three plus Schumann. It was great to see everyone again, and the rehearsal went really well- I really like working with Amy, she's a great accompanist. I'm even more excited about this opera now than I was before today!

I put the cast list on the Magnum Opus page.

 
 

No theater yet for Magnum Opus, but I have most of the cast squared away. The auditions a few weeks ago didn't have the greatest turnout numbers wise, but everyone who did show up was impressively talented. There are just a few things to work out, and I'll have a cast.

My composition teacher, Andrew Earle Simpson, has been helping me make some improvements to Magnum Opus. I'm getting more and more excited for this project.

\'ve also written four children's musical theater songs for Puppetonia. I'm looking forward to my full-length children's musical with them!

Currently I'm working on the musical theater module for my Stage Music Practicum class. I was given a scene from the musical I Can Get It For You Wholesale, of which I'm not familiar. I had to compose new music for one of the songs ("A Funny Thing Happened"). I think the song turned out well. I'll let you know how the performance goes on Friday!

 
 

I've taken a little break from composing since my last blog entry... but I haven't really been relaxing.

School started back up for me this past Monday. I'm TAing two classes: Music Fundamentals and Ear Training 1. I'm also taking 9 credits of classes and lessons. I also helped out with an architecture class: I met with a few students to help them translate the ideas of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring into the concept of a design for a home. On top of all that, I've been working to get Magnum Opus off the ground.

I still haven't found a theater for Magnum Opus, but I have an audition time set up (see the "Magnum Opus info" page about that), and I found an accompanist for the audition named Amy. She's a new graduate student in the music program at Catholic and I'm really excited to work with her.

Whew... that's it for now. Back to writing a syllabus and lesson planning for my classes.

 
 

Well, just the first draft. The entire piece clocks in at 57 minutes and 54 seconds, as of right now. I'm sure it'll get longer- but it's hard to tell, it might even get shorter, with recitatives and whatnot.

So what's next? Well, I've been listening to musicals all day- specifically I Love You Because, In Trousers, The Last Five Years, March of the Falsettos, and, currently, Merrily We Roll Along. I'm getting prepared to change gears a bit and write some children's musical theater songs, with texts by my good friend Amanda, that all have to do with the Cinderella story. I'll let you know how they go when I'm done with them.

After that, I have to find a theater in which to have Magnum Opus performed (hopefully still early February), get that date solidified, then find a pianist (to accompany auditions, as rehearsal accompanist, and to play piano for the show), hold auditions, cast the show, find musicians, orchestrate the show for them, find the rest of the artistic staff, get a crew, hold rehearsals, and perform the opera. Still a lot of work to do.

And on top of that school starts up again next week... I'm actually really excited for that, though.

 
Finished Scene 9 08/10/2008
 

Just a quick update- I finished Scene 9. The mezzo's aria proved to be kind of difficult to write, but finally today I got into a pattern for it and finished it. I'm really proud of it! It's way better than the two other drafts that I deleted, heh. So, that means the big, dramatic turning point of the opera has been composed... Only two more scenes! As of now, Magnum Opus is 51 minutes and 25 seconds long. Maybe I won't get to an hour and a half after all, but that might be for the best anyway.

 
 

I've recently been really diving into Britten's opera Peter Grimes. It's absolutely phenomenal... I've only really looked at/listened to Act I so far, but I'll get into more of it soon. My favorite part so far is the Second Interlude, when the storm is hitting the town. It's really, really cool stuff.

After still more edits to Scene 8, I've finally made some headway into Scene 9 of Magnum Opus. I'm pretty proud of my accompaniments for Schumann's little extended solo and for the Melpomene/Robert/Schumann trio. I think it could make for some really exciting theatre. I'm about to hit the climax of Scene 9... all in all, I have fewer than 3 1/2 pages of libretto to set!

School starts up again in 3 weeks. I'm hoping to have the last pages done by then so I have a month to get some good editing done before I start orchestrating. I'm looking forward to getting back to school and really putting this opera into motion with auditions!

 
 

I'm getting ready for the second weekend of performances of The Women and Signor Deluso. It's been wonderful working with such talented singers in Opera Alterna and, as always, it's great working with Jay. The first weekend of performances went really well, and we got some good press (check it out on Opera Alterna's website). I'm sure this weekend will go just as wonderfully.

I've also made a lot of progress on my opera, Magnum Opus. I've timed it out, and I have 40 minutes and 30 seconds completed so far. I can't wait to start orchestrating it, and I'm also looking forward to hearing it sung by real singers!

The most recent hurdle was Claire's big aria. In the scene Claire attests that, despite her husband Robert's concerns, she has always been faithful to him and still loves him. I was having difficulty making it sound sincere, but my good friend Sarah gave me some suggestions to fix up my libretto, which helped the music greatly. It's done now, in a slightly rough form.

So what's left of Magnum Opus? I have three more scenes to finish, and then I have to beef up some of the instrumental sections. It'll probably end up being between an hour and 90 minutes overall- which means I have a lot of work yet to do!