Just Another Day at the Office

I love my job. The other day I got to hang out and chat with our two awesome Turandot leads - Othalie Graham and Randolph Locke. Can I just say that they are fab-u-lous! Opera singers are so cool (I mean, not as cool as blogging opera cows, but pretty darn close).
Here I am posing with our talented and marvelous stars. "Mimi, why on earth are they wearing sunglasses inside," I hear you asking. Well, let me explain:

1. The sun (that bright object in the sky that usually provides heat) actually made an appearance in Columbus (shocking, I know).
2. We have a real problem with Opera paparazzi outside our office (they often want to snap our photo as we dash off to another exciting Opera Columbus event *sigh*) so the glasses helped to disguise our artists.

From what I hear, practices are going extremely well. In just two days (TWO DAYS!) they already have act one blocked. Needless to say, it's gonna be a good show. Have you bought your tickets yet? NO? Get on it! Call 614.469.0939 or visit Ticketmaster.com to buy tickets today. Enjoy 20% off single tickets by using the code: FRIEND.

Turandot - Day 1

Moooooooo - opera makes me so excited!

Here I am. Excited & waiting for rehearsal to start.

This is one of my favorite days during production time - the first day of rehearsal. This is the first time all the singers have come together to sing for this production. I was lucky enough to sit in on today's rehearsal. Let me tell you - these amazingly talented artists did not disappoint. Powerful and beautiful voices filled the rehearsal space (which is a church community room - ha, you thought opera was so fancy!).

Press greets the artists. From Left to Right: Gene Allen (Emperor Altoum),
Mark Andrew Baker (Ping), Dean Anthony (Pong), Eric Johnston (Pang),
Othalie Graham (Turandot), Randolph Locke (Calaf), Diana McVey (Liu),
Sun Yu (Timur) & Eric McKeever (Mandarin).

Day one is the only time where the artists sit and sing through their parts. Speaking of parts, they come with their part memorized so they can dive right into the rehearsal process. Which they do almost instantly. Can you believe we mount a full-scale grand opera in only three weeks? That's pretty incredible!

These are the incredible folks that help make the opera magic happen.
From back to front: Ed Bak (Pianist), Bill Boggs (Artistic Director/Conductor/Chorusmaster),
John Hoomes (Stage Director), Kevin Lohr (Director of Production/Stage Manager)
& Alicia Boggs (Assistant Stage Manager).