Just can't get enough sparklers

I PROMISE that the next post after this one will include photos of something OTHER than Majel with sparklers, and Ursula rehearsals.

But for now, I have one more set of the same that really needs to go up. (Once again, Jon, Majel and Griffin.)

God tells Ursula to remain a virgin. (She's very cute.)
***

Ursula meets Julian.
*****

Julian is plagued by visions of a giant black rabbit.
*****

God looks on, mostly unamused, as Santiago Rocinante (Pope of Rome) hits on Ursula.

****

Santiago and Ursula.
All saints are hotties.
*****

Definitely my favorite shot of Majel.

****

Ursula beseeching....something.
****

(n.)

In Memoriam Mstislav Rostropovich

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/28/arts/28rostropovich.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

http://www.time.com/time/europe/hero2004/rostropovich.html

Rostropovich died yesterday at age 80.
Tonight I listen to his recording of Rachmaninoff's Vespers.

(n.)

Fighting operatic post-partum depression

For all of the avid followers of Opera Cabal's doings, I'll just go ahead and throw out there that I'm probably not going to get more than one post a week up until we start to roll with the next project. If I manage to get more up, awesome. If not, trust that the excitement will keep coming, just at longer intervals. If Homestarrunner can be successful posting once a week, so can we.

(And in case you're curious about the dark, sad truth behind the facade of "not enough time to post more frequently" - there's always a sad truth behind the facade - life after the festival is grim all around. To fill the deep dark void left by its completion, I've fallen into a vicious downward spiral of match.com binging and purging, and Majel has sunk into an almost vegetative state, compulsively watching Dirty Dancing over and over and over again. I thought for a few days about chugging nyquil, but then I remembered that they took out all of the good stuff.)

So the progression of history continues to march past. Today I thought we'd revisit some of the pre-production excitement that began when we "moved into" the Zhou Gallery on Monday April 2. Excitement was in the air, white spandex began to cover everything, and so, logically, we started cutting magnets and lighting as many sparklers (the legality of which in the state of Illinois is somewhat dubious) as we could find.

Joseph's white spandex backdrop for "Architect of Catastrophe"

Lisa cuts magnetic poetry while we rehearse. Handy platform construction work by Barnaby.



Jon in a break from Lamia rehearsals.
(More Lamia rehearsal pics below in a post from a couple of weeks ago.)

Majel, Jon and Griffin in Ursularia rehearsals. Griffin is practicing making use of his authentic train sounds.


Jon demands that Majel prepare for the terrors.


The moment we've all been waiting for - the first run of the vision sequence WITH the lit sparklers. Majel was somewhat skeptical.


Griffin moves like the hand of god to secure Majel's protective eye ware. I promise that the look of terror on Majel's face was no act.



"I'm a birthday cake!"


"Now! Say something profound!"

Majel was so proud of herself for surviving the miraculous ordeal.

Let the reruns begin

Having received the first batch of photos from the Collusions Festival last week (from Lisa), I thought maybe we could take one of those strolls through the good-old-days like the way they do on day 14 of the Olympics, or day 14 of Wimbledon, or...right, you get the idea...a tear in the corner of the eye, a contented sigh for battles fought and tragedies overcome, all set to an austere fanfare by John Williams.

There will be no John Williams for this stroll.

We'll start off today with some photos of our first collective visit to the now infamous second floor of the Zhou Gallery back in February...at that time just a cold, lifeless warehouse.

Collusions Review

Thanks to everybody who played in / attended / otherwise supported the Collusions Festival.

Over the next week or so we'll post photos / clips / reviews / whatever....and then we'll quit it with the sentimental reminiscing for the good old days and late nights in the freezing warehouse with not enough extensions cords or working electrical outlets and we'll move onto the next adventure in ridiculous-making.

Here's a reveiw by Marc Geelhoed, who writes for Time Out Chicago, and caught the Thursday night performance.

I've quoted his final paragraph below:

"Not to get terribly absolutist and set into an either/or mindset, but was this concert, with a small audience and a cast of relative unknowns, worth seeing if it meant missing a "once in a generation event," as Andrew Patner, one not normally given to hyperbole, described Dudamel's CSO debut, or the cross between Bernstein and Barenboim, as John von Rhein dubbed him? Yes, it was, unless you believe that the number of zeros in an IRS filing determines musical worth."