What comes first, the union or the gig?

Op-ed

Don’t get me wrong, Like I said, unions have their upsides for sure. They protect the artists (anyone doing a community theatre/amateur company production who’s lived through at 16-hour tech day understands) so they don’t become slaves. That’s great. The problem is, once you reach a certain echelon of companies (Canadian Opera Company, Opera Atelier, Pacific Opera Victoria, Toronto Operetta Theatre, et al…) you won’t even be considered for anything if you’re not a card-carrying member.

Remounts, or "What did they do the last time?"

Op-ed

A remount is a weird thing for the artists involved. The sets, costumes, stagings, and (hopefully) the music stay the same, but the casting is rarely identical between productions. This means the newcomers have to insert themselves into the movements of another. This may seem like Acting 101, but the catch comes when the new singer is looking for some motivation for their movements, motivation that’s stronger than “that’s what they did the last time”.

Missing the point: the Met's 2015/16 season

Op-ed

It’s old news by now, but the Metropolitan Opera has announced its season line-up for 2015/2016. I waited a bit before writing about the season, because I couldn’t seem to shake distinct feelings of exasperation. I figured that someone with more journalistic experience than myself would soon weigh in, shedding some light on what I thought were glaringly obvious problems with the Met’s 15/16 season.

Is the Cost of a Music Degree Ethical?

Op-ed

I'm not saying that music degrees are a financial black hole, but they cost either as much or near as much as many science degrees. The disparity begs an unpopular question: is it ethical for universities to charge such similar tuition for a music degree as they do for a science degree?

The Introvert's Opera

Op-ed

opera is a fantastic industry in which to be an introvert. Those flashy singers are a small proportion of the team of people it takes to put up an opera. Assuming people fit into two broad groups, extroverts and introverts, I'd put most of the coaches, stage managers, designers, and orchestra musicians into the latter group.

Does a Good Artistic Director Read Music?

Op-ed

Do musically untrained artistic directors add to the problem of alienation between opera and its audiences? Or are opera companies right to leave arts administration to those who make it their day job, and leave the art to the artists?

The Case for Nomadic Opera

Op-ed

I'm always an advocate of up-close theatre, but the need for large-scale, overwhelming productions of Verdi, Wagner, and the likes, is legitimate. But what would happen if Canada's larger opera companies took a portion of their productions out of their main stage?

Less Really Is More

Op-ed

Yesterday I was listening to a journalist speak about her work. A journalist is meant to tell a story, and although it's impossible for any writer to be entirely unbiased, too much emotional involvement doesn't really help to get the job done. She learned quickly, she said, that she's much better at telling these true stories if she steps back from her own personal feelings on the topic.

A Tale of Big Hair at the Met

Op-ed

Who else saw that piece on Jezebel by Collier Meyerson, about her trip to the Metropolitan Opera? It's not really an article about opera or the Met, but I'm inclined to weigh in on it on behalf of opera-goers, because this story edges towards the elitism amongst opera fans.

Regietheater? Ja oder nein?

Op-ed

This past weekend, I attended The Opera Exchange, an event presented semi-regularly by the Canadian Opera Company to discuss relevant opera topics, structured around the COC’s current season. With Dmitri Tcherniakov’s production of Don Giovanni set to open on January 24th at the Four Seasons Centre, it was a good opportunity to chat about that polarizing topic, Regietheater, or director’s theatre.