Last Friday, John and Paul and I flew to Washington D.C.
to hear Jessica sing as one of the three genii (or
three boys) in Mozart’s opera
The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflote), at
Saltnote Stageworks.
For a variety of complex reasons, the music festival was held in
Indian Head, Maryland, which is an hour by car from Washington D.C.
The town has many derelict buildings and almost no place to eat,
so we ended up driving to Waldorf for dinner, 8 miles away. Jessica’s
hotel was in La Plata, another 8 mile drive from the stage (she mostly
had to beg rides from other cast members). Each of the three nights we
went, the performance moved at the last minute (or mid-show) from the
outdoor stage to a small community center because of poor weather. I am
sure the whole thing could have been made less convenient for
the audience but I am not sure how… however, some of the music was very
good, the shows were fun, we enjoyed ourselves, and Jessi learned a great deal.
Here are two reviews of the overly-ambitious and remote festival:
Let the playtime begin: 17 nights of Stageworks Friday, June 13, 2008,
By DICKSON MERCER, SoMdNews.Com – Southern Maryland Newspapers Online
Fledgling Stageworks Festival Full of Ambition But Not Yet Ready to Soar
By Anne Midgette, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, June 20, 2008
Driving to and from the stage and dinner and Jessica’s hotel and our hotel
took up much of our vacation time. On the road to Waldorf, we saw a sign that
seemed to sum up the entire area. On an undeveloped old farm is
a new advertisement for Greensward Technology Campus Sales & Leasing.
So far as we could tell, the entire campus consisted of this sign:
Jessica was in five festival shows, including a role in
Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica) by Giacomo Puccini. She was also
in the chorus for
Carmina Burana,
Porgy & Bess (Concert Version), Mozart/Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, plus playing a Genii in The Magic Flute. Jessica was lucky in
her hotel roommate assignment of
Donna Gallagher (who sang The Queen of the
Night wonderfully and was a generous coach). My favorite prop was the
rhinestone-studded cell phone which stood in for Papageno’s glockenspiel
or magic bells.
See Jessi’s
FeelingElephants’s Weblog for more.
One unexpected treat was a family of of
ospreys (large fish eagles)
which had a nest on top of a light pole in the festival parking lot.
They made loud osprey comments in the background when Papageno
(the hunter / birdman) came onstage with his rifle.
Music festival photos follow…
Festival Sign
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Festival Sign
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Festival Program
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Conductor’s Music
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Osprey Audience
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Before the Show
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Three Geniis Before Show
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Jessica in Dragon Head
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Three Geniis
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Three Geniis and Papageno
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Three Geniis and Papageno
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Three Geniis and Papageno
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Donna Gallagher and Jessica
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Images Copyright 2008 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher
KatysBlog 