Here are some exclusive pics taken backstage at Don Giovanni:

A view of the stage which is basically a big white box (a blank canvas, if you will) that showcases the drama of the opera.

A view from backstage showing one of the entrances to the stage and lighting.  Light plays an important role in this production.

Masks and guns on the prop table.

Candelabras lined up on a prop table.

Buy tickets to DON GIOVANNI today www.pbopera.org

One of our Don Ottavios, our very own Vale Rideout took some beautiful photos in rehearsal the other day and I’d like to share them with you.  More are available on our Flickr as well.  Enjoy!

Rehearsals have started for our production of Otello (January 22-25) and I want to give you a first hand look at the rehearsal process.

Musical rehearsals have ended – this is where the singers rehearse just with Maestro Aprea and work out the musical aspects of the show.  Staging rehearsals have started – this is where the singers work with the director and Maestro Aprea to physically stage the show.

First the director (here is our director Bernard Uzan) talks to the cast about the scene that they are about to stage:

Then, he works with the cast and shows them where to go on the stage:

Then, the singers practice the directions they have just been giving while singing the music:

All of these rehearsals are accompanied by piano – in this case our Assistant Conductor & Chorus Master Greg Ritchey is playing:

Stay tuned for more exclusive rehearsal photos from Otello!

AN INTERVIEW WITH VALE RIDEOUT

Palm Beach Opera: Tell us a bit about your hometown.
Vale Rideout: I grew up in Fort Collins, CO. It’s a town halfway between Denver and Cheyenne, WY. I was very fortunate to have a very musical family and a musical/theatrical community there. The school system was very supportive of the arts and I created many lasting friendships in the performing opportunities that were provided me. Fort Collins was a wonderful place to grow up for many reasons – my favorite reason being the accessibility of the mountains and all activities associated with them: Skiing, hiking, camping, canoeing, biking, etc.

PBO:What is your first musical memory?
VR: I remember singing with my parents and sister when I was very young. We would sing songs together as my parents would play instruments. I’m not sure of an exact moment, but singing around the campfire was always one of the strongest memories of mine growing up.

PBO: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
VR: I knew when I was 12 that I wanted to be on the stage. My parents got my sister and me involved with theater in school and in the community and I knew from an early age what I wanted to do.

PBO: What is your favorite music to sing?
VR: This is a difficult question to answer because I have grown to appreciate so many types of music. I also have performed quite a few different styles in my college education and the time since. In opera, my favorite composers are Mozart, Britten, Donizetti, Gounod and some of my favorite roles are Edgardo, Romeo, Peter Quint, Tom Rakewell, Belmonte, Rodolfo and Faust. I’m sure I’ve forgotten many, but the difficulty in coming up with a few favorites is that with the fantastic quality and variety of operas, the one you’re seeing or performing at the time has the tendency of becoming my favorite.

PBO: If you weren’t a singer, what career would you try?
VR: I have thought about this a number of times and there are a few careers I think would give me satisfaction (though not like being on the stage). I would enjoy being an architect, a sound designer, computer programmer, photographer, teacher of music or a lawyer. It is quite a varied list, but it reflects the range of things I think would challenge me like being a singer challenges me.

See Vale in our production of DON GIOVANNI in February 2010.

AN INTERVIEW WITH MORRIS ROBINSON

Palm Beach Opera: Tell us a bit about where you grew up.
Morris Robinson: I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and I think it provided me with a wonderful upbringing. Atlanta had enough urban/city life coupled with a great suburban life! I always said it was a large city with a small city feel!

PBO: What is your first musical memory?
MR: My first musical memory was playing those little cardboard records that came on thecereal boxes as a prize! I had a little stereo in my room and I ALWAYS wanted to play a record. My parents often said that I called everything round a record! (Do kids nowadays know what I mean when I say record? I think they only know about CD’s and MP3 files.)

PBO: When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?
MR: As a kid I went from wanting to be a doctor, to pilot to the customary boy careers of fireman etc. I do remember wanting to work at the gas station as a youngster. These were the days when guys actually pumped your gas. I remember they ALWAYS had a HUGE wad of cash! I thought that was REALLY COOL … but that only lasted for a moment! Then, it was all about football. I wanted to be a football player. I was once tricked into eating beets (I abhor them) because my dad’s god-mother had them with dinner at her house one evening and proceeded to tell me that ALL football players ate beets!

PBO: What is your favorite music to sing?
MR: I think that when one does something for a living, you tend to appreciate things that you CAN’T do. So, in my truck, I am always singing gospel and R&B … in falsetto! I can harmonize with the best of them and I make a really good gospel choir tenor.  I always sing the tenor parts of gospel music. It is commonly known that a good tenor section holds a gospel choir together!

PBO:  If you weren’t a singer, what career would you like to try?
MR: If I weren’t a singer I would probably be doing motivational speaking to youngsters encouraging them to dream big, and realize that anything is possible if they believe in themselves and work really hard!

For the past few years, our face to the public has been defined by our stunning opera illustrations.  Many people inquire about them and who creates them.

All of the illustrations are commissioned by Palm Beach Opera from Mark Stutzman.  You probably have seen his work and not even known it.  He is best known for creating the “Young Elvis Stamp” for the US Post Office.

The artistic and marketing staff at Palm Beach Opera, along with our ad agency The Boner Group, work with Mark over the course of at lease a couple of months to create the illustrations.

The first part of the process is to have a phone conference wtih Mark in which we go over all of the upcoming operas including plot and character information.  From this inital conversation,  Mark creates the first pencil sketches.   Here is an example of an initial pencil sketch for last season’s Norma illustration:

From there, we make some slight changes and Mark submits a new “tight pencil” sketch.  You’ll notice that the illustration is much more detailed:

After this stage, we move ahead and Mark adds basic color to the illustration.  Here is the same Norma illustration with the rough color added:

Finally, we move to the finished product:

Our illustrations are then used in all of our print ads, web ads, brochures, postcards, and they are even turned into posters.

We’re currently working on the illustrations for the 2009-2010 season so stay tuned to our website on July 15 when they are unveiled.

All illustrations were created by Mark Stutzman and are property of Palm Beach Opera. Unauthorized reproduction of  any image contained in this blog post is strictly prohibited.