Tonight was the opening night of The Magic Flute, and I am thrilled and relieved and even a bit surprised to say that the audience absolutely loved what they saw and heard tonight. It feels odd to wrote those words – and if any cast members happen to read them, I wouldn’t blame them if they came after me with pitchforks. But the honest truth is that as our first performance loomed before us, both Matt (the stage director) and I found ourselves chasing our tails with worries of one kind or another – Matt worrying about whether or not his off-beat, whimsical concept would connect with the audience . . . and me worrying about how well the performance would go. And my worries ratcheted up by a factor of ten when I made my entrance and saw President Campbell sitting in the third row. He is not only the chief executive of the college, but also an astute opera fan with season tickets to the Lyric.
I am so pleased to say that he thoroughly enjoyed it . . . and so did my colleagues in the department who were there. . . and so did every member of the audience with whom I spoke. People seemed to be utterly charmed by the production and didn’t seem to miss the polished, glitzy costumes or dazzling lighting effects that are often part of opera productions. The simplicity and sense of fun of our production seems to have worked its magic maybe even better than either Matt or I ever imagined it could.
It was also neat to see the cast enjoying that special exchange of energy that occurs when they finally have a live audience on hand – and a couple of the singers who are so new to all this did not shrink away from the moment. It was as though a great wind was filling their sails (not to get too extravagant with the metaphors) and it was a thrilling thing to witness.
There was a mishap at the keyboard but it had nothing to do with the Roland Electronic keyboard that I was so worried about. About five minutes into the performance, as I’m pounding my way through the dramatic introduction, I heard a strange sound from inside the grand piano. . . and very quickly it became apparent that I had broken a string. And for the rest of the night, I grappled with the challenge of how to play the score of The Magic Flute without hitting the broken B-flat. It meant trading certain things down an octave- other things up an octave- and hoping all the while that the singers wouldn’t be rattled by unfamiliar sounds. Actually, I tend to play a little loose with accompaniments – even when it’s Mozart – so I guess the singers are well-conditioned to roll with the musical punches.
So tonight, I will probably be playing on the other Steinway – and perhaps playing a little more gently, although it’s hard to stem the excitement that a show like The Magic Flute inspires.
Tonight’s performance is at 7:30.
pictured above: notes being given to the cast after their final dress rehearsal.