The Show Goes On
February 10, 2009
THE SHOW GOES ON
Perhaps it was inevitable that, in the middle of one of the harshest winters on record, both temperature-wise and economically, the opening night of our new production of La bohème, directed by Jonathan Miller and set in the 1930s depression (with its own splattering of snow), should be temporarily postponed due to bad weather.
Snow being dropped from the Flys during Act III
But the Company’s spirit remained intact, the first night transferred to Wednesday 4 February (after hundreds of phonecalls!) and with it the first multi-channel broadcast of its kind.
We assembled a marvellous production team with SKY ARTS (www.skyarts.co.uk/opera) and DCD Media to produce two live broadcasts from in front and behind the stage, both going out live from the Coliseum. It was a risky project given the broadcast production team had complete access to our production, creative team and singers. With cameras present throughout the rehearsal period, it was always going to be a challenge but we never doubted it would be a success. In the event, the broadcast team became part of the production team and the Company as a whole were the stars of the show, with the broadcast revealing a truly unique insight into the workings of ENO. This came across wonderfully in the rich and varied ‘behind-the-scenes’ footage.
camera crew and cast at the live broadcast on opening night
Penny Smith, the behind-the-scenes presenter, found a surprisingly sympathetic balance between keeping the back stage interviews serious and involving for a potentially new opera audience. She touched on some big subjects such as opera in English and plenty of fascinating snippets from how singers warm up to how much perfume first-night audiences wear! Front of House, Petroc Trelawny, with his knowledge of opera and experience of live broadcasting, presented the performance marvellously.
Penny Smith backstage
The broadcasts revealed that opera is a rich art form for such a transparent approach. So many wonderful personalities; the furious paddling below the water line of technicians, singers, musicians and stage crew; and the palpable tension leading up to the first bars of Puccini’s marvellous score.
We’ve had a wonderful response to the broadcast (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sarah_crompton/blog) and from the public to the production (www.eno.org/video). Like all of Jonathan Miller’s productions (including the most enduringly popular like Rigoletto and The Mikado) the first reviews have been a bit luke warm, but the public love it and we expect it to run and run.
Meanwhile, as more harsh weather moves in this week, we turn to new challenges. John Adams’s Doctor Atomic premieres in the UK at the end of February with director Penny Woolcock (www.eno.org/video) and the superb Gerald Finley as Robert Oppenheimer and we begin rehearsals for a new work, directed by Katie Mitchell for the Young Vic theatre, which opens in April (www.eno.org/afterdido). Going to the Young Vic last year was a daring new idea at the time but it paid off – winning us the South Bank Show Awards for best new opera. Snow or no snow, the show goes on.
John Berry
The Curtain Call seen by the cameras
Shadows and silhouettes: backstage at the Boris Godunov dress rehearsal
November 11, 2008
Charlotte van Berckel from ENO’s Technical Director’s Office shares her experiences and her photographs from behind the scenes at the Boris Godunov dress rehearsal
It’s cold in the lighting box today and the auditorium lights are not on. The teams are still working on the Show and I’ve developed a panic-induced mini cold sweat. ‘But its 0945?! How I am supposed to see what I am doing and be ready in time for curtain up’ I ask myself loudly. I love these little conundrums – so different from my desk job.
Peter Rose crosses the stage as Boris Godunov
I am taking photos of Boris Godunov today for the Technical and Production Department; the show starts at 1030am so I don’t have long to set up the camera – the one thing that the success of my day depends on.
Charlotte’s photos of the performance on Flickr
Unlike the press photographers who bring vast quantities of equipment and set up in the stalls using tripods, we (the Technical Department) have a small digital Canon G9 which I attach to a bracket and fix to the lighting bar on the front of the dress circle just above the stalls. A long USB cable connects the camera to the laptop that I’ve set up in the lighting box underneath. The software allows me to operate the camera – aperture, shutter speed – remotely and I can see the photos as I am taking them, and of course compare and improve. It’s the same as taking a picture from an actual camera; instead of staring through a view finder I am staring at a screen.
Success depends on making sure everything is functioning successfully. Today I can’t log on to the laptop, which happens to be new and so learning skills are required; the USB cable isn’t in its normal place so I need an extra pair of hands which are hard to find as everyone is busy; and it’s dark (did I mention that) so I have to wait to position the camera correctly. I am probably over-worrying a touch as this is actually the first of two dress rehearsals and therefore closed to the public; meaning that I don’t need co-ordinate the complex timing of the camera instalment with the entrance of ENO’s faithful public. That always adds an edge to the procedure.
I get it done and sit in the lighting box testing it. ENO staff and the creative team trickle in to the stalls just before curtain up. There’s always a bit of buzz at this time; moments of chatting before the darkness and the orchestra. I make sure I have the sound turned up in my little tardis so I get the full experience.
Boris is not an easy show to take photos of. The lighting is subtle and low (and people keep moving. Don’t they know I am trying to take a photo of them? Low light + people moving = blurry blurs) with lots of strong visual contrasts. As I am primarily here to take reference photos of the set (for when we put the show on again or for companies who might rent it from us) I need to make sure I record all the elements and in all the different configurations; today that means overexposure. These don’t make for pretty pictures so I also take a set of more visually balanced photos. It’s a good learning curve and a challenge for me – the quest for perfect exposure is eternal it seems – but it’s also useful to have these photos for directors, agents, or our production department: anyone who might need copies.
I go backstage the following day; to observe the other side and to see how the magic is made. There’s a lot of waiting. Talking. Movement. People whisper, others don’t. I feel a bit nervous. Don’t want to get in the way of activity or interfere with any zone that the performers may be in, waiting. It’s all a bit dark. How does everyone else see where they are going? Best if I just keep still for a while and watch. Got my camera with me after all and do not want to make a fool of myself. Lots of activity going on but not sure what it means. Seems that everyone plays a key role. Activity begins and ends out of nowhere. The back stage show seems to consist of sequences of moments.
There are no scene changes in Boris; only opening and closing of doors and things. Staff and performers stand together; performers waiting to cross the threshold, staff ready to assist and facilitate. This makes for wonderful shadows and silhouettes and glimpses of the stage and audience beyond. And standing in the background I get to see this show within a show.
The Pursuit of Happiness – Photography competition
July 11, 2008
The image above was chosen as our winner. Photographer Jaynel was inspired by ‘Make our Garden Grow’ from Leonard Bernstein’s Candide.
“Let dreamers dream
What worlds they please
Those Edens can’t be found.
The sweetest flowers,
The fairest trees
Are grown in solid ground.”
Winner Janel recieves a funky fifties style Diana camera, a year’s membership to The Photographers’ Gallery (London) plus two free tickets to see Candide and a bottle of champagne.
Many thanks to everyone who uploaded a photo!
Here are some more of our favourites:
To see all the images http://www.flickr.com/groups/candide/pool/
ENO Interactive www.eno.org/eno_interactive
Write a review www.eno.org/eno_interactive
Read our blog https://englishnationalopera.wordpress.com
Candide Culture Minute
July 7, 2008
Check out Candide covered by Telegraph.TV’s Culture Minute:
- Candide on Telegraph.TV\
Click on the image to see the video.
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Thanks to the West End Whingers for their review of Candide including a link to our audience reviews: http://www.enoinsideout.org.uk/eno/?page_id=97
ENO Interactive www.eno.org/eno_interactive
Write a review www.eno.org/eno_interactive
Read our blog https://englishnationalopera.wordpress.com
Candide: The Pursuit of Happiness??...
Calling all budding photographers! English National Opera, in association with The Photographers Gallery would like to offer you the chance to win a funky fifties style Diana camera, a year’s membership to The Photographers’ Gallery (London) plus two free tickets to see Candide and a bottle of champagne.
Voltaire’s Candide is a naïve optimist whose travels around the world in pursuit of happiness are challenged by a series of adverse circumstances – to great comic effect! Inspired by Voltaire’s masterpiece, Leonard Bernstein (West Side Story, On the Town) wrote the musical Candide which maximises the deliciously rich content of the novel by combining the philosophical, the dramatic and the comedic in one witty and entertaining masterpiece.
ENO is delighted to be staging an outstanding production of Candide at the London Coliseum from 23 June to 12 July and in this adaptation, Director Robert Carson has set the story in post-war America of the 1950s offering a new angle on Candide’s optimism in the wake of the international horror of WWII.
Voltaire’s Candide has, therefore been an inspiration to creative talents across the centuries! How does it inspire you?
We want to see your photographs inspired by Candide’s travels in pursuit of happiness. Taking inspiration from this story in its various guises we’d like to hear what Candide’s philosophy means to you!
For more inspiration, check out our interview with director Robert Carsen: www.eno.org/candide/video.html or watch our series of behind the scenes films: englishnationalopera.wordpress.com
To Enter The Pursuit of Happiness competition
Upload your photograph entitled ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’ to our Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/candide. Deadline is Thursday 10 July. A winner will be chosen and notified by Friday 11 July 2008 and the winning image published in our blog englishnationalopera.wordpress.com.
We look forward to receiving all your entries and wish you the best of luck. You can enter as many images as you like, but the winner will be chosen on its relevance to the title ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’ and to ENO’s production of Candide. www.eno.org/candide
englishnationalopera.wordpress.com
ENO Interactive www.eno.org/eno_interactive
Write a review www.eno.org/eno_interactive
Read our blog https://englishnationalopera.wordpress.com
ENO’s Candide: Behind the Scenes [Part 3]
July 1, 2008
ENO Interactive welcomes you back to the third and final instalment of The Pursuit of Happiness – our freshly made sneak peek at ENO’s final production of our 2007/08 season – Candide by Leonard Bernstein which opened last week to great reviews!
This week, after getting some fantastic and informative vox pops from audience members at the premiere, we hang out at the opening night party, getting some feedback from the cast and eavesdropping on some of their conversations!
As usual, its all presented by your delightful host, the lovely Marnie Breckenridge who plays Cunegonde for the final 9 performances of ENO’s production of Candide.
For find out more about Candide including podcasts, our funky digital widget and more: www.eno.org/candide
ENO Interactive www.eno.org/eno_interactive
Write a review www.eno.org/eno_interactive
Read our blog https://englishnationalopera.wordpress.com
Listen to our podcasts www.eno.org/podcasts
ENO’s Candide: Behind the Scenes [Part 2]
June 25, 2008
ENO Interactive welcomes you back to the second instalment of The Pursuit of Happiness – our freshly made sneak peek at ENOs final production of our 2007/08 season – Candide by Leonard Bernstein which OPENS TONIGHT!
This week, we have an exclusive interview with director Robert Carsen, as well as our usual video diaries from the cast, and fly-on-the-wall rehearsal footage in our ‘Candide Camera’ section – all taken in week 6 of rehearsals – they’ve come a long way even since then. And it’s all presented by your delightful host, the lovely Marnie Breckenridge who plays Cunegonde for the final 9 performances of ENOs production of Candide.
For find out more about Candide including podcasts, our funky digital widget and more: www.eno.org/candide
ENO Interactive www.eno.org/eno_interactive
Write a review www.eno.org/eno_interactive
Read our blog https://englishnationalopera.wordpress.com
Listen to our podcasts www.eno.org/podcasts
Watch a video! www.eno.org/video
ENO’s Candide: Behind the Scenes [Part 1]
June 16, 2008
For more about Candide: www.eno.org/candide
ENO Interactive www.eno.org/eno_interactive
Write a review www.eno.org/eno_interactive
Read our blog https://englishnationalopera.wordpress.com
Listen to our podcasts www.eno.org/podcasts
Watch a video! www.eno.org/video
The Pursuit of Happiness is presented by Marnie Breckenridge who plays Cunegonde for the final 9 performances of ENO’s production of Candide.
CHECK OUT ENO’S FIRST EVER DIGITAL OPERA GUIDE!
May 13, 2008
Alongside invaluable information about the Autumn Season, this new digital format also enables us to feature fascinating interviews with the cast and creative teams working on upcoming productions, as well as audio clips to give you a taste of the great music in store.
To view the guide visit http://www.eno.org/operaguide
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more from ENO:
ENO Interactive http://www.eno.org/eno_interactive
Write a review http://www.eno.org/eno_interactive
Read our blog https://englishnationalopera.wordpress.com
Listen to our podcasts http://www.eno.org/podcasts
Watch a video! http://www.eno.org/video
The Merry Widow Reviews
May 1, 2008
Evening Standard ****: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/show-23387255-details/English+National+Opera:+The+Merry+Widow/showReview.do?reviewId=23480840
Independent ***: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/the-merry-widow-coliseum-london-818716.html
Financial Times ***: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/36586578-1716-11dd-bbfc-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1
Guardian ***: http://music.guardian.co.uk/classical/operalivereviews/story/0,,2276559,00.html
Times ***: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/opera/article3828005.ece
Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/04/28/btwidow128.xml
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