Ever since my college days, the Spoleto USA Festival and its little brother Piccolo Spoleto have been a point of reference in my life. For me it is similar to the Super Bowl or the playoffs or something of that nature. Regardless of where I am in my life with regards to employment, relationships, or personal well being, it never fails to stop my mundane routine. In the past I have ushered the events in order to see them. I have interned, volunteered, and I performed in Piccolo events.
During my skillful ventures at seeing as many performances on a comp ticket as possible, I would inevitably meet a former college classmate or a returning performer who has made it in the field. I would talk to them about their life touring the country, playing coffee houses and black box theaters, about their dealings with arts managers and so forth. These people are not rich; they don’t have Oscars or even SAG cards, but nonetheless they are supporting themselves by doing what they love. They do not settle; they did not sell out. They don’t use their acting skills to sell time shares. They don’t run to community orchestra rehearsals to forget about stressful office jobs. They keep the hope alive!
These encounters usually lead me to a withdrawal type of let down the week after the festival. I would recount each instance where I had trouble introducing myself or told a white lie about what I do or who I am. “I am a wannabe writer and I work for the government.” “Nothing changes in Chuck town; it’s all the same; I am doing well.”
My mother’s voice would sound in my head, “He was great, but what’s in it for you? One out of how many? What do the rest do?”
Some time after I would get an “aha” moment, remembering the best lines from plays, buy a recording or look up a composition I have heard live. I get a few chapters out, with renewed determination to make it. Then slowly I loose momentum until the next festival.
This year is a bit different. The recession has changed the main attraction of the Charleston art buffs. The ticket prices have been climbing consistently; but this year that the number of main events is smaller as well. Instead of three operas there is now only one. There are more chamber concerts where a smaller number of musicians is needed and so on. The programs consist of compositions that are faster and easier to learn. The innovative performance of the old, or the first ever performance of the new might not generate an audience, so I am once again in the cast of thousands singing the Mozart Requiem. It is one of my favorite pieces of music, but it is a very safe bet.
I did not plan to volunteer this year, since I am busy learning a skill for a new career yet again. I decided I do not fit the age group for an usher, and my motives there would be a bit obvious. And I plan to pay for one or two events. My post festival depression almost came before the festival, but then I got a phone call from the festival office.
The lead in the opera Louise needed a Russian-English translator, and I was invited to the rehearsal at the beginning of May. There is a misconception that opera divas are bitchy and that they never notice the little people. The singing community is full of jokes about the short and vain tenors, and airhead sopranos. I have studied voice and participated in the opera process enough to see where those stigmas come from, but this experience took it to a new level.
This former lead in the Bolshoi Theatre was not happy with his costume and his minimal skills in English were not enough to get his point across. The costume designer and the managing director had automatically thought that he was pulling rank. When I understood the problem, however, and conveyed the singer’s misgivings, his points did make sense to everyone. Yes, it is true, that the government supported Bolshoi theatre has a warehouse that holds two hundred years worth of costumes. Yes it is true, that the lead performers expect to have an input on what they wear on stage and want to have a flattering costume. Yet, it is also true that they are cast because they come to their role, having already researched, learned and lived it. Sergey Kunaev knew how his character dressed, how he moved, how he viewed the world, and why he ended up where he was. After seeing the costume suggested to him on a smaller character on opening night, I can say with certainty, that he was absolutely right to protest.
My help was needed for two rehearsals after which the director and the lead managed to find common ground. I strongly suspect that even though I was paid in comp tickets for my services, the management did not want to pay me for more than what was absolutely necessary. The second reason was that Sergey Kunaev, playing Julien did not need much direction. And the most important reason is, that music really is an international language.
I had very little chance to actually talk to this headliner, but in the brief encounter we did
Have, I managed to see every “diva” in the new light. Performers are actually the best listeners, and when they are in a conversation about their work they do pay attention to you. They give the impression of being ordinary people with daily problems, like phone charges and connection difficulties, or being cold with a thermostat on 60º. They joke and swear; they have complexes and hopes, and are in the same boat with us in regard to many things.
The stigma of not noticing little people and not remembering names comes form that otherworldly look that most leads have before a performance. It is not that other people are not important and that they are better then us. The absent mindedness comes from the lines, blocking, steps, music notes and costume changes that are running though their heads. If you imagine the to do list of a lead, you would probably be surprised that they are not bumping into furniture, or falling down the stairs along their way.
Years ago, I would have been upset that my glimpse behind the curtain was so brief, or that I didn’t get a chance to wish Sergey good luck. My mother’s question of “What’s in it for you?” would have upset me. Today, I am comfortable with being proud of him, and of many other successful performers I have met, and will meet this Spoleto Season.
Maybe it is because all three of the Skinny White Comics have the subject of unemployment in their routines; maybe it is because I am writing on a daily basis; or maybe it is because I have seen so many problems that artists actually face, but I think there will be no let down this time.
It is no coincidence that the theme of the festival, from the main opera Louise to the plays in the Stelle Di Domani series is the creative process. The life of the Bohemians: the daily struggle to create art while making a living is depicted in many of this year’s Spoleto and Piccolo Spoleto Events. Recession puts the arts last on people’s priority lists, and yet the seats are filled. I think the reason is that when all else fails we all look for inspiration. I have found ideas for my writing in the first two days of the festival, and I will find more. I believe that it will work the same way for other people. Just as I am working on a new career in which I can work for myself, many people decide to start their own business for the lack of an alternative. And even if the theatre is make believe and the show eventually ends, we all find something in it that we can relate to. I hope that most of us will remember it as something that gives hope as well.
During my skillful ventures at seeing as many performances on a comp ticket as possible, I would inevitably meet a former college classmate or a returning performer who has made it in the field. I would talk to them about their life touring the country, playing coffee houses and black box theaters, about their dealings with arts managers and so forth. These people are not rich; they don’t have Oscars or even SAG cards, but nonetheless they are supporting themselves by doing what they love. They do not settle; they did not sell out. They don’t use their acting skills to sell time shares. They don’t run to community orchestra rehearsals to forget about stressful office jobs. They keep the hope alive!
These encounters usually lead me to a withdrawal type of let down the week after the festival. I would recount each instance where I had trouble introducing myself or told a white lie about what I do or who I am. “I am a wannabe writer and I work for the government.” “Nothing changes in Chuck town; it’s all the same; I am doing well.”
My mother’s voice would sound in my head, “He was great, but what’s in it for you? One out of how many? What do the rest do?”
Some time after I would get an “aha” moment, remembering the best lines from plays, buy a recording or look up a composition I have heard live. I get a few chapters out, with renewed determination to make it. Then slowly I loose momentum until the next festival.
This year is a bit different. The recession has changed the main attraction of the Charleston art buffs. The ticket prices have been climbing consistently; but this year that the number of main events is smaller as well. Instead of three operas there is now only one. There are more chamber concerts where a smaller number of musicians is needed and so on. The programs consist of compositions that are faster and easier to learn. The innovative performance of the old, or the first ever performance of the new might not generate an audience, so I am once again in the cast of thousands singing the Mozart Requiem. It is one of my favorite pieces of music, but it is a very safe bet.
I did not plan to volunteer this year, since I am busy learning a skill for a new career yet again. I decided I do not fit the age group for an usher, and my motives there would be a bit obvious. And I plan to pay for one or two events. My post festival depression almost came before the festival, but then I got a phone call from the festival office.
The lead in the opera Louise needed a Russian-English translator, and I was invited to the rehearsal at the beginning of May. There is a misconception that opera divas are bitchy and that they never notice the little people. The singing community is full of jokes about the short and vain tenors, and airhead sopranos. I have studied voice and participated in the opera process enough to see where those stigmas come from, but this experience took it to a new level.
This former lead in the Bolshoi Theatre was not happy with his costume and his minimal skills in English were not enough to get his point across. The costume designer and the managing director had automatically thought that he was pulling rank. When I understood the problem, however, and conveyed the singer’s misgivings, his points did make sense to everyone. Yes, it is true, that the government supported Bolshoi theatre has a warehouse that holds two hundred years worth of costumes. Yes it is true, that the lead performers expect to have an input on what they wear on stage and want to have a flattering costume. Yet, it is also true that they are cast because they come to their role, having already researched, learned and lived it. Sergey Kunaev knew how his character dressed, how he moved, how he viewed the world, and why he ended up where he was. After seeing the costume suggested to him on a smaller character on opening night, I can say with certainty, that he was absolutely right to protest.
My help was needed for two rehearsals after which the director and the lead managed to find common ground. I strongly suspect that even though I was paid in comp tickets for my services, the management did not want to pay me for more than what was absolutely necessary. The second reason was that Sergey Kunaev, playing Julien did not need much direction. And the most important reason is, that music really is an international language.
I had very little chance to actually talk to this headliner, but in the brief encounter we did
Have, I managed to see every “diva” in the new light. Performers are actually the best listeners, and when they are in a conversation about their work they do pay attention to you. They give the impression of being ordinary people with daily problems, like phone charges and connection difficulties, or being cold with a thermostat on 60º. They joke and swear; they have complexes and hopes, and are in the same boat with us in regard to many things.
The stigma of not noticing little people and not remembering names comes form that otherworldly look that most leads have before a performance. It is not that other people are not important and that they are better then us. The absent mindedness comes from the lines, blocking, steps, music notes and costume changes that are running though their heads. If you imagine the to do list of a lead, you would probably be surprised that they are not bumping into furniture, or falling down the stairs along their way.
Years ago, I would have been upset that my glimpse behind the curtain was so brief, or that I didn’t get a chance to wish Sergey good luck. My mother’s question of “What’s in it for you?” would have upset me. Today, I am comfortable with being proud of him, and of many other successful performers I have met, and will meet this Spoleto Season.
Maybe it is because all three of the Skinny White Comics have the subject of unemployment in their routines; maybe it is because I am writing on a daily basis; or maybe it is because I have seen so many problems that artists actually face, but I think there will be no let down this time.
It is no coincidence that the theme of the festival, from the main opera Louise to the plays in the Stelle Di Domani series is the creative process. The life of the Bohemians: the daily struggle to create art while making a living is depicted in many of this year’s Spoleto and Piccolo Spoleto Events. Recession puts the arts last on people’s priority lists, and yet the seats are filled. I think the reason is that when all else fails we all look for inspiration. I have found ideas for my writing in the first two days of the festival, and I will find more. I believe that it will work the same way for other people. Just as I am working on a new career in which I can work for myself, many people decide to start their own business for the lack of an alternative. And even if the theatre is make believe and the show eventually ends, we all find something in it that we can relate to. I hope that most of us will remember it as something that gives hope as well.
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