By Ellen Sturgill
Staying up all night can do some funny things to a person, and we here at The Atlanta Opera would like to share all the hilarity that ensued at the 24-Hour Opera Project! Participants in the event had to either stay up all night, or rehearse for hours to complete their opera scenes in the 24-hour period, and we captured the creative processes of our five teams through our “Confession Cam.” Think of it as “reality TV meets Verdi.”
As the weekend went on and participants survived off coffee and shear willpower, they were able to take a minute or two from rehearsals, and confess their thoughts, fears, and funny quotes from the last 24 hours. Below, we’ve included some of our favorite confessions. With operas about everything from butter to bugles, these videos are as entertaining as the opera scenes they refer to. Enjoy!
Composer Timothy Brown of The Accidental Affair talks about this exciting “operatunity.” ©Emmalee Iden
Lyricist Vynnie Meli of Krispy Kremes and Butter Queens proves that butter and opera make a tasty combination! ©Emmalee Iden
Megan Fitzgerald, lyricist of The Grass is Always Deader, talks about the unexpected challenges of this project. ©Emmalee Iden
Watch as Stage Director Frances Rabalais discusses the artistic licenses her team takes with their opera, The Layover. ©Emmalee Iden
Stage Director Beth Suryan discusses how working on The Grass is Always Deader is a different experience than her participation in 2011’s 24-Hour Opera Project. ©Emmalee Iden
Hilarious quotes from Bass-Baritone John Elliot Yates and Soprano Sondra Collins, two of the singers from Krispy Cremes and Butter Queens. ©Emmalee Iden
Christine Lyons, Soprano, confesses how fun and challenging it is to play “Butter Queen” Paula Deen in the opera Krispy Cremes and Butter Queens. ©Emmalee Iden
As Stage Manager of The Layover, RaMia Green talks about what has made this a great experience. ©Emmalee Iden
Baritone Ivan Segovia and Soprano Katie Adams, singers from The Grass is Always Deader, talk about how the opera came together through the use of poison, love triangles, and… lollipops? ©Emmalee Iden
More “Confession Cam” videos are available on our
Youtube channel. To see pictures of the event, check out our
Flickr page. If you weren’t able to attend the showcase, you can still view the performances on the Atlanta Opera’s
Ustream channel.
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