An important bit of news for all of us: the National Endowment for the Arts will receive $50 million in the stimulus package, after it looked dubious for the last two weeks. We’re especially proud it was a Wisconsin representative who stood up for the arts! Note well that Madison Opera’s beloved production of The Tender Land last year, and this year’s Opera in the Park (which reached over 13,000 people last summer), were partially funded by the NEA. Hundreds of people are employed to bring our productions to life, and they’re just doing their job like anybody else, something that is often forgotten.
Yesterday I had the unique pleasure of attending a “Who’s New in Madison” luncheon at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens on Madison’s East Side. Madison Opera’s Hair and Make-Up Supervisor Jan Ross was the guest speaker, and she was invited to give a demonstration on geisha make-up. You can see how the process unfolded above. (It just so happened that the “Who’s New in Madison” member transformed by Jan was Madison Opera volunteer Martha Abrams.)
Jan has been involved with Madison Opera from the very start, having worked behind-the-scenes at the company’s first full production of La Boheme in the East High School auditorium in 1963. She’s worked with the San Francisco Opera, Indianapolis Opera, and pretty much every performing arts troupe in Madison along the way, but Madison Opera has always been her home. At the luncheon, she walked guests through the make-up process for the geishas in Madama Butterfly, something she’s done professionaly at least eight times! Jan says that geisha make-up is relatively easy, though it can be tricky to create the perfect shapes for the eyes and lips. One of her all-time favorite make-up jobs was doing the broken nose on Rigoletto in the 2006 Madison Opera production (see below), and she also let it be known that the make-up room is the place to be for backstage gossip…
Cosi fan Tutte is just over a month away. Here’s a recap of recent Cosi related posts:
Somebody is playing a cruel trick on us here in Madison, melting all of our snow, shining the sun, raising temperatures to above 50 degrees. We are still on record pace for snowfall this winter, and it was only 2 weeks ago that I heard a weatherman say “High of zero,” but all of a sudden it feels like spring is upon us. I was at a barbecue on Lake Monona this past Saturday; I think that captures the current climate confusion pretty well.
And with the changing weather has come a change of pace in the opera office. Cosi is now very much so upon us. All of the text for the program is due next week, rehearsals start the 23rd, and we’re off…To top it off, this is right when plans for next season need to be finalized. Oy!
Four Seasons Theatre presents Leonard Bernstein’s Candide at the Wisconsin Union Theater tonight and Sunday. Madison Opera’s chorus master Andy Abrams is directing the production, which also features Madison Opera chorus members Doug Swenson (as Candide) and Megan Cullen (as Paquette). Really, a whole slew of Madison Opera friends are involved with Candide, too many to list, so check it out! You can read more about the production in 77 Square.
And don’t forget that the ever glamorous and in-demand soprano Danielle de Niese will be making her way to Wisconsin in just two weeks, performing at the Wisconsin Union Theater on Thursday, February 19 at 8 p.m. (Madison Opera is a presenting partner for this event). She’s also doing a master class with the UW School of Music on the 18th at 4:30 in Morphy Recital Hall. It seems Lindsay Christians was busy last week; read her interview with de Niese in 77 Square here.
