Early in my career, I was told that survival meant finding something to love and appreciate in each show - the music is beautiful, the company is made of lovely people, the design is gorgeous, props include a giant stuff monkey, there's a chorister dressed as a cupcake - something.
Every once in a while, the elements align and I find myself working on THAT show. The one with exactly the right company, story, production, and people - the one that makes me excited to get to work everyday and finds me talking non-stop about the work we're doing.
That's where I'm at right now.
In the midst of a stunning design, gorgeous music and words that capture incredible emotion, a company that quickly became family (in all their goofy glory), an insanely well-choreographed battle scene, and a story that is important and heartbreaking at exactly the right time, you find Silent Night.
An opera by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell, Silent Night focuses on the Christmas truce of World War I - the story of soldiers who had been trained to kill each other suddenly finding peace and common ground in the middle of hell, and the aftermath of what it means to see the enemy as human.
At a normal time, it's a stunning, beautiful, important piece.
Getting to perform it on Sunday, November 11, 2018 - 100 years after the Armistice - and prefaced with the orchestra playing and audience singing the National Anthem? Words fail to describe the pertinence.
We fly through shows so quickly in this business that they all start to blur together. However, I have no doubt this one will stick with me long after we close on Sunday.
Every once in a while, the elements align and I find myself working on THAT show. The one with exactly the right company, story, production, and people - the one that makes me excited to get to work everyday and finds me talking non-stop about the work we're doing.
That's where I'm at right now.
In the midst of a stunning design, gorgeous music and words that capture incredible emotion, a company that quickly became family (in all their goofy glory), an insanely well-choreographed battle scene, and a story that is important and heartbreaking at exactly the right time, you find Silent Night.
An opera by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell, Silent Night focuses on the Christmas truce of World War I - the story of soldiers who had been trained to kill each other suddenly finding peace and common ground in the middle of hell, and the aftermath of what it means to see the enemy as human.
At a normal time, it's a stunning, beautiful, important piece.
Getting to perform it on Sunday, November 11, 2018 - 100 years after the Armistice - and prefaced with the orchestra playing and audience singing the National Anthem? Words fail to describe the pertinence.
We fly through shows so quickly in this business that they all start to blur together. However, I have no doubt this one will stick with me long after we close on Sunday.
RSS Feed