Contributed by Allie Herryman
One of the most valuable aspects of the partnership between the Huntington Theatre Company and Boston University is the opportunity for students to work closely with the Huntington’s professional shops and artisans. I sat down with second-year MFA candidates John Traub and Mary Ellen Stebbens to talk about how this collaboration worked for them in the process of designing the upcoming opera Susannah.
John is studying set design and technical production, and is the set designer for Susannah. “What’s interesting about this particular opera is it has a lot of history,” he said. Last week he and all the designers had a chance to meet with composer Carlisle Floyd and singer Phyllis Curtain, who played the title role in the world premier. “It was great to meet them and get their blessing,” he added.
When working on design for opera, Traub said he begins with the score, analyzing the music and trying to see what’s going on in each scene. In this case, the analysis took him in a very realistic direction. “A lot of what we do in the theatre is pushing the limit and going wild. Realistic is nice for a change,” he said.
Mary Ellen Stebbins, a lighting design student and lighting designer for Susannah, echoed this idea. “It’s a realistic opera so the lighting has to be realistic,” she said. “The fact that we wanted it to be realistic meant that there would have to be a cabin. There would have to be a roof on the cabin, and I would have to light under it.”
But both Traub and Stebbins said they were up to the challenges presented by the project in part because they felt supported by the Huntington staff. Traub explained that, “When we’re involved with the Huntington Theatre Company there’s a lot of input on a professional level. We work very closely with the Huntington Theatre Company and with the Opera Institute. There’s a huge collaboration on all levels.”
Stebbins said, “We work alongside the shop 24/7. We’ve already established a personal relationship, so doing something big and scary isn’t as big or scary because you already have a relationship with the people you’re working with.”
But she was quick to add that working with professionals means that she needs to be on top of her own work. “If it was my friend (I was working with) I might not be as circumspect. It’s a reminder to cross my T’s and dot my I’s because it is going to cost man hours (if I don’t).”
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Susannah runs April 15 - 18 at the Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave, Boston MA 02115. Tickets available online 24/7 or by phone at 617 933-8600, or in person at our box office locations. Subscriber discount available.
Showing posts with label Susannah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Susannah. Show all posts
April 15, 2010
April 8, 2010
Susannah Load In Pictures
Contributed by Allie Herryman:
With the closing of Becky Shaw this weekend activity on the BUT stage turned to loading in the upcoming opera, Susannah. Crews have only a few short days – from now until April 15 – to transform the stage into New Hope Valley, Tennessee, where this musical drama takes place. Here are some photos of where we are in the process:
(Below) And remember that paint treatment texture? Here’s how it developed:
Susannah runs April 15 - 18 at the Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave, Boston MA 02115. Tickets available online 24/7 or by phone at 617 933-8600, or in person at our box office locations.
Subscriber discount available.
Comment on this post
With the closing of Becky Shaw this weekend activity on the BUT stage turned to loading in the upcoming opera, Susannah. Crews have only a few short days – from now until April 15 – to transform the stage into New Hope Valley, Tennessee, where this musical drama takes place. Here are some photos of where we are in the process:
(Above) The construction crew works on stage to put in the raked deck (a stage floor constructed on a slant, so that the part nearest the back wall is higher than the part nearest the edge of the stage).
(Above) Leaves are hung from the line sets to give the appearance of trees overhead. Outside the shop, tree trunks were piled up awaiting installation.
(Below) And remember that paint treatment texture? Here’s how it developed:
Susannah runs April 15 - 18 at the Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave, Boston MA 02115. Tickets available online 24/7 or by phone at 617 933-8600, or in person at our box office locations.
Subscriber discount available.
Comment on this post
April 5, 2010
Susannah in the shops
Contributed by Allie Herryman
In the shops on Huntington Ave everyone is busy preparing for the upcoming production of Susannah, which will play at the Boston University Theatre April 15 – 18, 2010. The musical drama in two acts, with music and text by Carlisle Floyd, is an Americanized version of the "Susanna and the Elders" story from the Book of Daniel in the Apocrypha. Written in 1955, Susannah received the New York Music Critics Circle award for the Best New Opera in 1956 and was chosen to represent American Music and Culture at the World’s Fair in Brussels in 1956. It is now one of the most performed and beloved American operas, ranked second only to Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.
But for us, Susanna is this year’s iteration of an annual collaboration between the Huntington Theatre Company, the BU School of Theatre, the BU School of Music, and the BU Opera Institute. Those of us hard at work on the production are aware of just how much hard work and communication are required to pull off such an endeavor.
In the costume shop, Becky (left) cuts apart a old and worn dress to use the fabric for quilt squares, which will appear as props. “This is what they (the characters) would have done, too,” she said of the project.
Meanwhile, in the paint shop, student Stephanie Huck (right) applies a coating of texture to the walls of the set. Charge Scenic Artist Corey Shipler described the texture as a mixture of “potters clay, liquid latex adhesive, sand and sil.” Sil, he said, is a product similar to talcum powder, which is added to the clay to help make it less heavy. “It’s all about the texture,” he added, describing the way future coats of paint on the walls will settle into the cracks of the texture, creating a surface that the lights can play off of. “It will look like there’s about a million coats of paint on here,” he said.
Both the paint shop and the scene shop have been working on several trees for the stage, complete with brightly colored fall leaves. The bark of the trees is created with a variation of the same texture mixture used on the walls, then painted. Shipler said that at the beginning of the season it took the shop almost two weeks to make one tree. For Susannah, they turned out seven in just one week!
Stage direction for the production is undertaken by Sharon Daniels, Director of the Opera Institute, while William Lumpkin, Music Director for the Opera Institute, handles the conducting. The designers are all BU School of Theatre students (Design and Production): Scenic design by John Traub, Lighting Design by Mary Ellen Stebbins, Sound Design by Andrew Will, and Costume Design by Liz McLinn. Construction of the designs is the responsibility of the Huntington Theatre Company shops, providing the exciting opportunity for students to collaborate with local professionals. The cast is made up of Opera Institute students, and the 37-piece chamber orchestra members are students of the School of Music.
Allie Herryman is a graduate student in Production Management/Technical Production at BU’s School of Theatre, and works part time in the Huntington’s Production department.
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In the shops on Huntington Ave everyone is busy preparing for the upcoming production of Susannah, which will play at the Boston University Theatre April 15 – 18, 2010. The musical drama in two acts, with music and text by Carlisle Floyd, is an Americanized version of the "Susanna and the Elders" story from the Book of Daniel in the Apocrypha. Written in 1955, Susannah received the New York Music Critics Circle award for the Best New Opera in 1956 and was chosen to represent American Music and Culture at the World’s Fair in Brussels in 1956. It is now one of the most performed and beloved American operas, ranked second only to Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.
But for us, Susanna is this year’s iteration of an annual collaboration between the Huntington Theatre Company, the BU School of Theatre, the BU School of Music, and the BU Opera Institute. Those of us hard at work on the production are aware of just how much hard work and communication are required to pull off such an endeavor. In the costume shop, Becky (left) cuts apart a old and worn dress to use the fabric for quilt squares, which will appear as props. “This is what they (the characters) would have done, too,” she said of the project.
Both the paint shop and the scene shop have been working on several trees for the stage, complete with brightly colored fall leaves. The bark of the trees is created with a variation of the same texture mixture used on the walls, then painted. Shipler said that at the beginning of the season it took the shop almost two weeks to make one tree. For Susannah, they turned out seven in just one week!
Stage direction for the production is undertaken by Sharon Daniels, Director of the Opera Institute, while William Lumpkin, Music Director for the Opera Institute, handles the conducting. The designers are all BU School of Theatre students (Design and Production): Scenic design by John Traub, Lighting Design by Mary Ellen Stebbins, Sound Design by Andrew Will, and Costume Design by Liz McLinn. Construction of the designs is the responsibility of the Huntington Theatre Company shops, providing the exciting opportunity for students to collaborate with local professionals. The cast is made up of Opera Institute students, and the 37-piece chamber orchestra members are students of the School of Music.
Allie Herryman is a graduate student in Production Management/Technical Production at BU’s School of Theatre, and works part time in the Huntington’s Production department.
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