Theater Directing vs. Opera Stage Directing
For those of you who know me, you know I do both. Or at least I try to.
And the two art forms, while similar in foundation of competition on a stage, creating a unified world with design and acting, etc., are also incredibly different. So this may be the first of a series of blog posts dedicated to considering those differences.
I had a meeting the other day with some really nice people who run Wolf Trap Opera company. They happened to be in town for their audition tour, and they were kind enough to put me on their schedule. And Kim Witman, the General Director of WTO asked me what is one of the most important questions to ask someone who is primarily a theater director who has directed some opera: "What, to you, are the challenges or things you do differently when you approach an opera." Awesome question. I think about this a lot. I think about the challenges that the best theater directors can't seem to overcome when they bring themselves to the world of opera.
Obviously, the biggest difference is that everything is set to music. But what does that mean?
Well, in the theater, the director is listening for pacing, pauses, and drive. The director can stage action between lines or among lines wherever they see fit. No one defines that for you.
But when you approach a score, tempo and duration are already constructed. So you work backwards. There are 16 bars between when the question is asked and the answer is given. What happens in those 16 bars? The composer must have put them there for a reason.
Also, dynamics are already mapped out. And it is the director's job to discover why they are written that way. With nothing but the text one might make that "I'm leaving" soft or loud, a decimation or a surrender. But that is already dictated in the score. So again, you work backwards.
The composition of the music, the recurring themes, the changes of key, the consistency or change of tempo, these all are clues. The director has a great treasure trove of subtext to discover in the music.
Now this can be complicated if the director doesn't read music. I do, not with any expert ability, but I know enough to help me, and I'm not afraid to ask lots of questions of the plethora of musicians surrounding me. And I think this always helps me: I am not afraid to admit when someone knows something better than I do. The singers know their music, they've studied it. They have perhaps done this opera several times before. They have ideas and they are great collaborators. In my experience.
The second major thing is languages. It is so important to learn languages. And to know exactly what the language means in each moment. Not a vague understanding, but there are so many layers in how words are used. And again, people can help a director with this. And the director can study far in advance and mark their score and be prepared.
It takes a ton of study. But I think opera stage directing is totally worth the effort. Because I think it's the most beautiful art form on earth when it comes together well. And maybe that's what one really needs. That passion.
And here is a blog post I read recently that is anti-theater directors doing opera.
The comments section has a fascinating discussion on this issue.
This is about the idea of director's theater taking over opera.
I'm going to collect some more.
And the two art forms, while similar in foundation of competition on a stage, creating a unified world with design and acting, etc., are also incredibly different. So this may be the first of a series of blog posts dedicated to considering those differences.
I had a meeting the other day with some really nice people who run Wolf Trap Opera company. They happened to be in town for their audition tour, and they were kind enough to put me on their schedule. And Kim Witman, the General Director of WTO asked me what is one of the most important questions to ask someone who is primarily a theater director who has directed some opera: "What, to you, are the challenges or things you do differently when you approach an opera." Awesome question. I think about this a lot. I think about the challenges that the best theater directors can't seem to overcome when they bring themselves to the world of opera.
Obviously, the biggest difference is that everything is set to music. But what does that mean?
Well, in the theater, the director is listening for pacing, pauses, and drive. The director can stage action between lines or among lines wherever they see fit. No one defines that for you.
But when you approach a score, tempo and duration are already constructed. So you work backwards. There are 16 bars between when the question is asked and the answer is given. What happens in those 16 bars? The composer must have put them there for a reason.
Also, dynamics are already mapped out. And it is the director's job to discover why they are written that way. With nothing but the text one might make that "I'm leaving" soft or loud, a decimation or a surrender. But that is already dictated in the score. So again, you work backwards.
The composition of the music, the recurring themes, the changes of key, the consistency or change of tempo, these all are clues. The director has a great treasure trove of subtext to discover in the music.
Now this can be complicated if the director doesn't read music. I do, not with any expert ability, but I know enough to help me, and I'm not afraid to ask lots of questions of the plethora of musicians surrounding me. And I think this always helps me: I am not afraid to admit when someone knows something better than I do. The singers know their music, they've studied it. They have perhaps done this opera several times before. They have ideas and they are great collaborators. In my experience.
The second major thing is languages. It is so important to learn languages. And to know exactly what the language means in each moment. Not a vague understanding, but there are so many layers in how words are used. And again, people can help a director with this. And the director can study far in advance and mark their score and be prepared.
It takes a ton of study. But I think opera stage directing is totally worth the effort. Because I think it's the most beautiful art form on earth when it comes together well. And maybe that's what one really needs. That passion.
And here is a blog post I read recently that is anti-theater directors doing opera.
The comments section has a fascinating discussion on this issue.
This is about the idea of director's theater taking over opera.
I'm going to collect some more.
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