M60 to M25

Well here we are in the last week of the tour. We spent last week in the rather space-age Lowry Centre in Salford Quays. It was great to get back to Manchester to have a look round all my old haunts and to pop in to see the in-laws. Manchester has changed a lot over the years I hardly recognised the city centre and especially the new look Royal Northern College of Music where I studied for six years.

Most of us stayed around the Quays in various Travel Inns and Holiday Inn Expresses. It was wonderful to run in to Caroline Clegg, my first movement coach at the RNCM, we reminisced over quite a few pints!

The shows were very well received by warm audiences. I now find myself an hour from home in Kent, at the Ambassadors Theatre in Woking, Surrey. Not often do I have an hour commute for an Opera North show. However with the M25 it can seem as long as driving to Leeds.

I did two interviews for local radio this morning, not too early, we talked about how Opera is accessible to all, which I do believe and judging by the people I’ve met over the last weeks Opera North do seem to attract people from all walks of life.

I took a long walk along the canal and met fellow cast members for a pizza. I’ve been on for the prologue and am now sat in my dressing room with Stephan Loges, Peter Wedd and Peter Savage who are my room mates for Roméo et Juliette. The sun is streaming in through the window as we head towards the longest day of the year. I’m looking forward to a performance of Dream on Midsummer Day.

My kids have been waiting for this week, as they are coming to see the matinee on Saturday. They are very excited! They may well add their own critique at the week-end so keep an eye out.

Three Men in a Van!!

Two hours from Gatwick is a little known piece of holiday heaven known as Whitley Bay Caravan Park. Six of us are staying in two Gold Caravans; well we would be if it weren’t for admin errors!! So we settled for a Silver and a Gold, and being the kind gentlemen that we are, the ladies have the Gold. Needless to say it rained all day and so our Silver was marooned in a sea of mud, most of which ended up on the carpet. Thank God for house-proud Baritones, (not me!). Roméo et Juliette went well last night in Newcastle’s beautiful Theatre Royal and we are all looking forward to A Midsummer Night’s Dream tomorrow.

An indoor pool, evening entertainment, a gut busting breakfast and the lure of the North Sea have made it a week to remember.

Today was a day-off so first thing we went to the Lighthouse Restaurant for breakfast and then it was off to the beach! The sun was shining and the legs were out! We found a beautiful spot on the beach and after flying the kite, it was time for a swim. Yes believe it or not we went swimming in the North Sea!!

We had lunch in the Rendezvous beach restaurant and then it was off for a round of pitch and putt. I lost! A long walk along the coast finished with fish and chips and I am now back in the caravan writing my blog hoping that someone will make me a cup of tea! Geoff Dolton and Nick Sharratt have been great caravan mates and we’re hoping that the sun will make an appearance again tomorrow so we can have fun with the kite again.

Four shows a week for the next five weeks

Well it’s been a while, but I had a few days off so raced home to Kent to spend time with the family. I’m now back in Leeds, with all rehearsals finished and just performances left.

Mind you tomorrow I have a rehearsal for a different A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Not the Britten but a concert of the Mendelssohn incidental Music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We’re not singing but just acting! Haven’t done that for a while!!

I’m sat in my dressing room having just sung the prologue to Act One of Roméo et Juliette and now have a while before my next appearance in Act Three. Roméo et Juliette opened on Saturday 17th. All went very well and the audience seemed to have a good time. As for Dream on Friday the audience had decided that is alright to laugh and have a good time at the Opera, it was a great night, everyone on good form and the audience went mad at the end.

So now its four shows a week for the next five weeks, I’m only used to doing two or three so it should be quite a challenge.

I had to force myself to sit down and book trains and accommodation for the tour. Six of us have decided to book the Whitley Bay caravan park for the Newcastle week, hope the weather is good; it should be quite a laugh. I think I spend the rest of the tour in hotels except for the Woking week when I can commute from home!!

This is my tenth week in Leeds and I need to start clearing up the flat, just as well that I have the car with me. Being away from home is tough, but I have a very understanding wife and the children love the fact that Daddy sings on stage, lots of press cutting and programmes taken into school for ‘show and tell’. Sue is bringing Ellie and Rosie to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Woking along with their Grandmother who will take them home while Sue and I go to see Yvonne Howard singing Lady Macbeth. Can’t wait!

Bluebells and wild garlic

We’re now in our final week of rehearsals and the sun has been shining on us. I spent another weekend in Leeds and a few of us got in the car and drove to the countryside. The National Trust is an opera singers best friend while on tour. The bluebells and wild garlic were intoxicating and the ice cream with two flakes and chicken salad for dinner has left me raring to go.

We have four ‘stage and orchestras’ and a final rehearsal for Roméo et Juliette plus two A Midsummer Nights Dream performances this week - so busy again!! The production of Roméo et Juliette is in stark contrast to A Midsummer Nights Dream. Black shiny sets, dark costumes and a tale of tragic love. Beautiful!!!

‘Dream’ has received some wonderful press and the audiences seem to love it. It’s quite a shock to see your picture in the broadsheets looking like a donkey. But it’s great to have reviews that appreciate the team effort involved in putting on such a wonderful production. So the warmest congratulations and love to all on the Dream Team.

Well I have to get my costume and make-up on now, so I’ll blog again soon. Love to all and enjoy the sun.

What a Week!!

I’ve been running like a mad thing between a forest in Athens and a wedding in Verona!

It was the first night of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Saturday. The audience seemed to enjoy our efforts very much and everyone was very pleased. The asses head and tank-top are two of the hottest things I’ve worn on stage, it’s like having your own personal sauna. The weight is falling off, hurrah! (Photos of me as Bottom on stage - photo credit: Tristram Kenton)

I drove back to Kent straight after to catch a weekend with the family. Having finally arrived home at 4am I was dragged out of my pit to help with home work and play tennis on the new Wii with my girls who have missed Daddy quite a bit. A good Sunday lunch and a bank holiday May Fair at their school and then the long drive back to Leeds to continue rehearsals for Roméo et Juliette.

We have our final rehearsal for Roméo et Juliette in the studio today, just working through notes taken by the director at the final run on Friday.

Like the run for ‘Dream’ it was great to sit and watch the rest of the show. Two very emotionally charged performances from Romeo and Juliet and it must be said some luxury casting in the smaller roles!

We’re all off to West Park again tomorrow to work with the orchestra on Roméo et Juliette. This should be a very different sound world to ‘Dream’. Right now though the weather has cheered up and I’m off to lunch in the church yard opposite the Grand Theatre. Enjoy the sun and more news anon!

All Go!

Another week has flown by, and what a week. On Monday I went to the dress rehearsal of Macbeth. What an evening! Some fantastic singing and the Opera North chorus at their best. The production is very powerful and dramatic.

On Tuesday we spent the day out at West Park with the orchestra for the ‘Dream’ sitzprobe. It was a great day. Stuart Stratford is on fine form and got some great music making from the orchestra and singers. Britten’s score is full of atmosphere but also full of whit. I can’t wait for Tuesday this week when we have our first of four ‘stage and orchestras’ when all the elements of the production come together.

We spent Thursday and Friday on stage for the first time. My word this opera is going to be hard work and very warm. Wearing four layers of costume and an ass’ head doesn’t help! The design is fabulous the lighting is beautiful and the kids as fairies look very creepy.

Stage and pianos allow us to solve the problems of transferring the production from the studio to the stage. Getting used to the: costumes, makeup, wigs, the set, props, lighting plus, of course, singing and acting and trying to avoid corpsing- not too much to think about! However, when one of us appeared on stage in their act three costume for the first time, the entire cast started laughing and couldn’t stop. The production team and others watching were also helpless - so a tea break was called.

We worked through the entire opera over two days and we’re now ready for the ‘piano dress’ tomorrow and then we start over again with the added dimension of the orchestra.

Roméo et Juliette is going really well too. The scheduling has been a nightmare for all concerned as many singers are involved in two, if not all three operas. So lots of running from one rehearsal to another!

On Saturday morning we ran Roméo et Juliette without the chorus. I think it is going to be a very dramatic evening that will tug at the heart strings. So bring your tissues!

I spent my first Sunday in Leeds, you’d normally see me on the M1 racing home to the wife and kids but, with so many rehearsals I thought it best to stay and rest. A few of us were staying, so we got together for Sunday lunch and a few glasses of wine and we’re about to settle down in front of the telly then and early night.

Bring on the Orchestra

Well Friday was our last day in the rehearsal room for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We ran the entire opera and all seemed to go very well. It was a chance to sit and enjoy the other scenes and I must say it was great fun.

Everyone is very excited about moving on to stage and getting into costume and onto the set. I crept into the theatre the other day where Martin (Duncan) and his team were lighting the set for the first time, it looks beautiful and gives us a huge space to work on.

On Tuesday we will meet the orchestra for the first time. We will work through the opera just singing and playing and with such a talented group of players as the Opera North Orchestra it should be quite a day.

Last week was also my first week of rehearsals for Roméo et Juliette. Quite a contrast to the jolly summer of love that is 'Dream'. Roméo et Juliette is a tragic tale, but full of beautiful tunes. Having spent Friday morning running around an enchanted forest and cavorting with fairies; that afternoon I found myself in Verona, at the wedding of the doomed couple.

I drove home Friday evening and had a relaxing weekend at home, the last for a while I think as rehearsals are getting pretty hectic.

Tomorrow we have the ‘sitzprobe’ for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I love these rehearsals we can concentrate on the music all day and reconcile any problems we may have when performing on stage. It is a day for Stuart Stratford to guide us through the score. He is a talented young conductor with some exciting new ideas. Can’t wait!

After the rehearsal we are going out to celebrate another important birthday. Annette Saunders our répétiteur is celebrating a landmark! I am a gentleman so can’t reveal how old!! Annette is one of the unsung heroes of Opera; she spends weeks sat at the piano playing the score over and over as we get it wrong again and again. She is a great support and I would like to wish her a very Happy Birthday.

Macbeth has its dress rehearsal tonight. I will try and pop in for the first half, as I have to be in Verona by 7:30.

Dream Team

Nearly 20 years ago I sang Bottom in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. It was directed by the then Head of Vocal Studies Joseph Ward, who was the original Starveling at the world premier in 1960. He told me that it would be a very useful opera to know and indeed it has been. I have sung ‘Quince’ in five different productions all over Europe but I am so pleased that I am back in the north of England for my professional debut in the roll of ‘Bottom’.

The last four weeks have been full of laughter and a lot of hard work with a “Dream Team” that are all a pleasure to work with. Martin Duncan has been a joy and full of ideas and fun. One of the dreads of anyone playing one of the ‘mechanicals’ is the bergamask dance performed in Duke Theseus’ court at the end of the play. We are very lucky to be working with Ben Wright a well established choreographer and a wonderful dancer himself, without giving too much away, yes it does hurt, yes it is hard to keep a straight face and yes my daughters will be proud that their dad can dance like that considering he is so old!!!!!

Yes last week, much to my daughters delight, I hit the big 40 but with the fun that we are having in rehearsals it feels like the new 18!

This is our last week in the Linacre Studio so we are starting to run acts and have a full run at the end of the week. At the beginning of next week we work with the Orchestra for the first time and then we move on stage!

Opera North, as I am sure you are aware, are having a mini-Shakespeare season and as Macbeth moves on stage this week, Roméo et Juliette moves into the studio. Many of the singers this season are singing in more than one opera, Peter Wedd is in all three! I am singing Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette too so the next few weeks is going to be pretty busy.

I’m sharing a flat with my old friend Colin Judson (singing Flute) our flat is down by the Canal where half of the casts seem to be staying, so a jolly time is had by all. Yvonne Howard is a great baker, Colin is a great cook and I mix a mean Gin and Tonic, so our wives will be happy to know that we won’t starve.

Opera North's Spring 2008 Season

Opera North's Spring season features three new productions based on Shakespeare plays: Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Roméo et Juliette.

All three are masterpieces, yet each is a very different response to the original; a tribute both to the originality and imagination of the composers and to Shakespeare’s infinite variety.