Saturday, January 22, 2011

Opera In A Warehouse


Playing opera in a warehouse is fun - great orchestra, soul stirring singers, magnificent conductor, stellar crew. Long Beach Opera rocks, plain and simple. Still haven't seen the blood, though. Maybe Monday...

Monday, January 10, 2011

That's Opera

Bob went to the first production meeting of Long Beach Opera's Medea this morning, where he's back doing Sound Design.  Among the fascinating subjects discussed were the practical requirements of what kind of (fake) blood to use, where and how to store it on stage, and how to get it out of the costumes.

This harkens back to another Long Beach Opera production years ago.  My favorite conductor's comment of all time, made during a rehearsal for Janacek's From the House of the Dead: "Could you stop spraying blood on the orchestra?"

That's opera for you...

Performances of Long Beach Opera's Medea:

Sat. January 29, 2011 - 7:30pm - limited availability
Sat. February 5, 2011 - 2pm - just added, great seats available
Sun. February 6, 2011 - 2pm - limited availability
EXPO Building, Long Beach

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

The Spider Trap


With Bob freezing in Yucca Valley until late Friday, I have the house to myself. Last night before I crawled into bed, I was occupied plugging in my cell phone, i-pod, and e-reader for a good night's re-charge. As I reached for my ear plugs, I saw it - a large, rather substantially built spider had claimed part of the night stand that I had been bustling around for the last several minutes. If Bob was home, I would but have to summon him and the beast would meet an instant end. As it was, I was too interested in preserving the relaxed, sleep-ready state I had been cultivating for a dramatic dive into spidery demise. Instead, I hit upon The Spider Trap. Bob made a special trip to Disneyland to buy a Monsters Inc snow globe for me one Christmas. I have always been struck by the impermeable bubble of protection around Boo, who is blissfully unaware of the (terrified) monsters behind her. Clinging to that image, I clapped a small cup over the large spider. To ensure my peace of mind, I placed the snow globe on top of the cup and went to sleep. This morning I took the spider outside. Even though the violin shape on its back revealed it as a Brown Recluse, I couldn't bring myself to squash it. Don't assign any noble motives to me, though. Despite my desire to be rid of it forever, it was just too big for my shoes to stomp. I hope it doesn't come back to haunt me like Haman haunted Esther after King Saul failed to put an end to Agag. That, however, is another story.