A Small Hiatus
Carmen is complete, and by what one would call standard measures of achievement it was a very big success all around. I’d say more than 1,900 people saw the production, and that’s a lot for this area. From the outset I did not have that much at stake artistically, as doing a semi-staged version on a concert hall apron does not allow a lot of theatrical choices. Basically I staged some very simple, pretty pictures and let the singers do their thing within those compositions. I think the larger success goes to our School of Music. The student singers and members of the orchestra were very good; the sound was rich and full. That’s were the real kudos belong in the final analysis.
So now that the production is complete, I am taking a short break to catch up with many things at school, vegetate at home (I watched two John Ford movies last night!), go to New York City to see a few shows over the coming weekend, and welcome my children home for the Thanksgiving holiday. When I return to writing, probably sometime around the 27th of November or so, I hope to begin a series of essays on the state of academic theatre. Hopefully you’ll return to read my thoughts on that subject. Til then…. -twl
