When the sun shines here *

Day 26 - Friday

Morning: I wake up around 8am to see thick clouds outside the window. Having nothing scheduled until 11.30, I decide to grab a coffee and despite the grim weather, go for a walk to clear my head (it's been a hard couple of days... and nights). I'm very thankful that I did, as just as I get down to the Bow River, the mountains play their little game of 'we are mountains, and we can change the weather in an instant!' (I've been watching Eddie Izzard lately, hence the change in style). The clouds lift, not quite in an instant, but with a fairly brisk, flowing motion, revealing the view. It's a stunning 10 minutes, I stand rooted to the ground, even forgetting to take out my camera until almost the end of the show. All this with the river practically splashing at my feet, with the distant rumble of Bow Falls providing the continuo for the birdsong that begins to fill the air (is there any literary prize for blogs?). The rehearsal in the Church barely deserves a mention after that perfect walk.

Unforgettable...

Afternoon: we take what we staged this morning (crowd scenes in Act 2 of Lillian Alling) and try it out in the theatre. Kelly ends the rehearsal with some sage advice: take any opportunity you may have to 'be onstage' outside of rehearsals (or in breaks), not just to walk the set and blocking, but to get a feel for the auditorium, the darkness behind the conductor, to make sure that come showtime we 'make the audience come to our space, rather than perform in the audience's space'.

Costumes!!!

Evening: piano dress of Lillian Alling. It's our first go at getting all the costume changes right and there's definitely room for improvement. On the plus side, the show looks fantastic, so the frantic quick changes aren't in vain. The principals have another go at singing the whole opera out in full voice, no mean feat, and in fact I'm left there picking my jaw off the floor after Melanie's performance (she's Lillian, the titan title role).

Dan enjoying his costume

Tomorrow we're in for fill runs of both operas, which I'm sure will be a tough day, hence I decide to have an early night for once.

Photos from today start here.

* This is a quote from a chorus scene in Lillian Alling