The Adventures of Pinocchio

2008-02-20T09:41:00.000-08:00

Victoria Simmonds talks about life on tour.

It’s been interesting going on tour, turning up to a new venue each week and trying to orient myself in a new town or city. I remember going to Nottingham a couple of weeks ago and coming across the theatre for the first time. The Grand looks like it sounds, and there on the right hand side of the pillared frontage was a large poster of yours truly, with a rather long wooden nose! It’s the first time I’ve seen myself on a poster like that, and I have to admit, once I’d got over the shock of seeing myself up there, I felt a little bit proud. The stage itself at Nottingham is quite small and there was very little room in the wings once the set was in, but thankfully we didn’t have to change the show at all because of it. There was one point in the show towards the end when I was anxiously thinking to myself “where’s the quick change booth?” as I have an extremely quick change into being a “real boy” right before the last scene. Thankfully Sophie, one of the fantastic Assistant Stage Managers, was there to lead me by the hand to the right place! The shows in Nottingham went well, especially since we’d had nearly two weeks since the previous ones in Leeds. My first singing teacher, Coral Gould, came to see the Saturday night show with her husband and one of her current students. It was great to see her after the show, and it certainly helped to add a frisson of excitement beforehand, knowing she would be sitting out there with a critical eye. I’m glad to say they loved the show, and hopefully I shall be returning to Burton-on-Trent (where I grew up) very soon to do a solo recital.

We were in Salford last week, and I had a new theatre to get lost around. I think some of the dressers thought I was a bit stupid as I kept walking the wrong way out of my dressing room, right towards a dead end…. My sense of direction has never been that good. Thankfully, once I’m on stage for the show there is no time for me to go wandering off and get lost. The theatre at Salford Quays is very modern and colourful. There was a family fun day on the Saturday in which people could try Karaoke Opera amongst other things. I also had a few friends come and see the show on both nights, which was great as I hadn’t seen them for ages. There must have been lots of kids in on the Saturday because the audience reaction at the end was the biggest I think we’ve ever had - or at least the highest pitched!

I’m looking forward to going to Belfast, as one of my best friends (who lives over the road from me) is going to be there at that time and is coming to see the show. There’s also an opportunity for the cast to get together and go out tomorrow night as we’ve all got to fly over the day before the show, which will be really nice. Touring can get a bit boring if you’re stuck in your hotel room for too long with not that much to do, but thankfully there are usually a few other stragglers around who will meet you for lunch or coffee….in fact, all I seem to do on tour is eat and drink!

Anyway… must go as my daughter is about to wake up from her nap, and I’ve only an hour before my in-laws arrive! It’s all go!
Vicky x

2007-12-21T05:47:00.000-08:00

After months of hard work, The Adventures of Pinocchio opens tonight at Leeds Grand Theatre. Tickets are still available through the box office on 0844 848 2720.

It will go on to tour to Nottingham, Salford Quays, Belfast, London and Newcastle.

Performance dates and times are below:

Leeds Grand Theatre
21 Dec at 7.15pm, 22 Dec at 2.00pm & 7.15pm, 27 Dec at 7.15pm, 29 Dec at 2pm & 7.15pm, 24 Jan at 7.15pm and 26 January at 7.15pm

Theatre Royal, Nottingham
8 Feb at 7.15pm and 9 Feb at 6pm

The Lowry, Salford Quays
15 Feb at 7.15pm and 16 Feb at 6pm

The Grand Opera House, Belfast
22 Feb at 7.30pm and 23 Feb at 6pm

Sadler’s Wells, London
27 Feb at 7.30pm, 29 Feb at 7.30pm and 1 Mar at 2.30pm and 7.30pm

Theatre Royal, Newcastle
7 Mar at 7.15pm and 8 March at 6pm

www.operanorth.co.uk

2007-12-11T02:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Rebecca Bottone who sings the part of the Cricket and Carole Wilson who is singing the part of the Pigeon, donned their costumes for the first time to give us a sneak preview of what The Adventures of Pinocchio will look like.

Photos: Richard Moran

2007-11-20T03:05:00.000-08:00

Victoria Simmonds talks about the first two weeks of Pinocchio rehearsals

I’m starting my third week of rehearsals today. So far we’ve had one week of music calls (rehearsals where the conductor gets to put us through our paces) and one week of production calls (when the director gets to put us in our places!) We also had the benefit of having the composer (Jonathan Dove) and librettist (Alasdair Middleton) for the first week, so any questions about speeds or possible word or note changes that came up could be dealt with directly. It was a good week. Apart from Mary Plazas (the Blue Fairy) who was still working in Australia, everyone was there and it was good to put some new faces to the names we’d got on our cast lists. There are some brilliant cameo roles in the piece, some taken by chorus members, and it’s really interesting to hear what people are doing with them. Some of them like the Cricket, Pigeon and Owl Doctor - to name but three - require a little bit of animal mimicry, and it was a lot of fun watching and listening to their “voices” being tried out for the first time! At the end of the music week we sang through the whole piece without stopping, which was a great feeling. Not only did we know we’d got a great piece on our hands, but I for one was very relieved to have sung through it all feeling like I could go on and sing another show (as I’m going to have to do just that a few times during the run).

Week Two began with what we call a model showing, where traditionally the whole cast and creative team come together for the 1st time en masse and crowd round a small box inside which there is a scaled down version of the set. This time though we were much more hi-tech and we had a power point presentation projected onto a large white screen, while Francis O’Connor (the designer) and Martin Duncan (the director) took us through the show scene by scene and costume by costume. We also introduced ourselves and got to meet the rest of the chorus and the dancers. I think by the end of it everyone was really excited about what we were about to embark on!

When we got into production rehearsals I was so impressed by how prepared Martin and his team were. All directors work differently but it was really great to feel like I could just concentrate on what I had to do, without having to come up with too many ideas myself. Sometimes as a singer you feel like you should be getting a credit in the programme for direction too! Not so in this case – hurrah! It’s also been really nice to do lots of rhythmic movements and dancing. So often in opera one is told not to move with the music, or walk on the beat, but in this show it’s practically a requirement! It’s keeping me fit too, I’m sure, as I have to do lots of running around the stage. There are also lots of little tricks to make some of the magic things in the show work. I can’t tell you about them though – you’ll just have to come to the show and see if you can work them out!

Anyway, it’s nearly time for rehearsals to start this morning, so I’d better go and warm up. Bye for now. Vicky x

2007-10-29T04:59:00.000-07:00

With only a week to go before the start of rehearsals, Victoria Simmonds who is singing the part of Pinocchio, talks about her journey so far...

I first heard about the project about three years ago, when David Parry (the conductor) mentioned it to me. He was conducting a production of Don Giovanni that I was singing in at the time and he asked me if I was free in 2007/8. I was thrilled to be considered for such an important project and kept the dates free for it.

I think it must have been about a year and a half ago when Jonathan Dove first contacted me to arrange to get together so he could hear my voice. We finally managed to meet at Jonathan’s flat and I sang through a number of pieces so that he could get an idea of my range and the different qualities of my voice at different registers. By that stage, Jonathan had already got quite a lot of ideas on paper and he asked me to sing a few phrases that he had in mind. By May this year, the opera was virtually finished and we got together again so that Jonathan could sing through most of my part to me and I could sing some bits for him. It was really exciting to hear it for the first time! I remember wishing that I was a better sight reader because I wanted to be able to just sing it out without stumbling but after a couple of goes it was easier to get my brain round the melodies. Jonathan decided to change a couple of notes while I was there, but on the whole I think he was happy with what he heard. All I had to do then was wait for the final copy of the score to be sent to me in July.

No sooner had the score been sent to me, than Opera North was on the phone asking me if I could come and do a recording of some excerpts of the opera for the marketing department. Of course I said yes and got to work learning the parts that had been chosen for some of the cast to record. When I came up to Leeds to record the tracks in August I was quite nervous in a way, because I had only sung through the music on my own and hadn’t had any coaching from anyone. However, we had a short rehearsal with David Parry and Jonathan and after working on it with them I felt much more confident about it. We had some lunch then went through to the big hall where the orchestra were setting up for the recording session.

It’s always exciting to work with a new orchestra – a new sea of faces to try and remember and maybe eventually get to talk to! When they started to play I was blown away by the sound. Of course in my profession I’m fortunate enough to get to hear orchestras play quite often, and even more fortunate to get to sing with them, but this was different because none of us knew what to expect. I’d had a CD sent to me of a sing through of the opera which Jonathan had recorded, and whilst it had been a great learning aid, it was only voice and piano, and gave few clues as to the final sound of the piece. Hearing those few excerpts in their full glory made me even more excited about being involved in this project.

Last Tuesday I was invited up to Leeds to sing in their local press launch. Unfortunately Martin Duncan (our director) got on a train that decided to break down, and had to go back to London before coming up to Leeds, so between myself, Jamie Laing (who plays the Fox and the Coachman) and Tony Kraus (assistant conductor), we tried to find as many excerpts as possible to sing to the assembled throng. I really enjoyed it – it was a chance to sing some different sections of the opera to the public for the first time, and I also got to see my costume designs for the first time. Let me tell you, to someone such as myself, the words “lycra cat suit” strike fear into my heart, but after I’d got over the shock of the basis of my costume, and realised I’d be covered in “wood effect” panels as well, I calmed down a bit, and immediately vowed to do more exercise and stop eating sugar! I also managed to look at some flats while I was up, and found a nice one to stay in for the rehearsal period.

As I write this there’s exactly one week till the start of rehearsals, so it’s countdown time for me in many ways: I have to make sure I’ve learnt the whole opera by heart and thought about it a bit too; I have to think about what I want to pack and take with me to Leeds for the next 6 weeks rehearsals; I have to sort things out at home so that my husband and daughter have as easy a time of it as possible while I’m away. Quite enough for one week I think! I also have two auditions to do this week, so I think I’d better stop writing this now and get on with some practice…. Bye for now! xV

2007-09-25T04:12:00.000-07:00

The Orchestra of Opera North’s first session after the summer break was to record several extracts of The Adventures of Pinocchio for inclusion on a promotional CD.

Percussionist Chris Bradley talks about what it’s like to play a new piece of work and the preparation that goes into to it.

As a percussionist and having experienced some of Jonathan’s orchestral works at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and more recently his musical tale of The Crocodiamond, I’m looking forward to playing this new work as I know I’ll be kept busy.

Of course, as expected, the underlining theme of Pinocchio is wood. I must therefore search out my collection of woodblocks to find a high pitched one and a low pitched one, extremes at first, to see if the composer likes these sounds. One of the more unusual instruments required is the swanee whistle (slide whistle) with an incredible range. I need two for this score and having gone through my collection of eight whistles, only three short ones came close to the range I need. I contacted my suppliers in the USA and Europe but I’m still at a loss to know if I can get whistles with these ranges. If push comes to shove, and after discussion with Jonathan Dove, we’ll have to look into the possibility of having the whistles made. (If this is achievable then it will come with a heavy price tag!).

Titles for the work are extremely important. Before a note of music is heard an image is created in the listener’s mind. The first extract has the apt title The Log and sure enough it involves a xylophone (wooden keys), a snare drum rimshot (stick on stick), and an orchestral whip (wooden clapper) within in the orchestral sounds. Strong, wooden sounds along with energetic rhythms set the timbre of this movement. This is followed by the extreme opposites, Pinocchio’s Reverie which has long melodic phrases with many high, soft metallic sounds.

The next sample Pinocchio meets the Cat and the Fox, reminds me of two other, contrasting works; Rossini’s famous Cat Duet and Renard by Stravinsky. Here the two cunning animals wail to Pinocchio advising him to take his five gold coins to the Field of Miracles where once planted and watered will yield 5,000 coins. Are they fooling Pinocchio? Two more extracts followed: Assassins and Pinocchio’s nose grows. Everyone knows why Pinocchio’s nose grows and here in this extract the Blue Fairy is helping Pinocchio not to lie. I’m looking forward to seeing how the technical department create the nose growing effect!

It’s always exciting to be involved in the creation of a new work, especially an opera. I was lucky enough to be involved in Opera North’s recent community opera The Pied Piper where the children from each area where the opera toured participated as the rats and children in the performances.

Here in the UK, even with the financial risks involved, there has been a steady stream of commissions from opera companies to mostly British composers, for new work with a wide appeal. To put this popular, well-known story into the main Opera North season and to take it to the touring venues shows how committed the company is to attracting new audiences and giving children the opportunity to experience live theatre.

2007-08-03T06:42:00.000-07:00

Director Martin Duncan shares his thoughts on the production

The problem with working on a world premiere is that you can’t go into a shop and buy a CD of the music and not knowing the music well can sometimes be a bit daunting. However, the good thing about it is that when I direct a piece which has been done before, the audience often knows the piece better than I do and it means that both they, and the critics, come with a preconceived idea of what the production should be like. With a new opera, they come not knowing what to expect and as a result are more open to the music and the ideas behind the piece.

The characters are so vibrant in the story even though they come and go so quickly. Many of them are only in it for about five minutes and Pinocchio is the only character who is in it the whole way through, although some characters appear and re-appear at different stages, such as Gepetto and the Blue Fairy. I really like the Fox and the Cat. They’re not the nicest characters around and they come to a sticky end but they’re so funning and bungling in their dealings that they’re like a double act in a pantomime.

I don’t really want to make too many allowances just because it’s a family opera as I don’t want to be patronising towards children. That said, there are some very dark elements to the story and I wouldn’t want to take them too far and in doing so alienate children from it. At one point, Pinocchio actually gets hanged and both Frances O’Connor the designer (who has young children) and I wanted to make sure that it’s treated appropriately and that anything which does have darker undertones is taken into account.

There are two things which I’m especially looking forward to about working on this production. The first is entering into the world of Pinocchio; it’s such a weird, wonderful, dark and funny place, with a tremendous variety characters. The second is the actual people that I get to work with. I’ve known Jonathan Dove a long time and I think he and Alasdair Middleton are a formidable force when it comes to creating new pieces. I’ve worked with the conductor David Parry in the past and he’s fantastic to work with; he’s a real man of the theatre and always ensures that there’s no conflict between the music side of a production and the staging, which can sometimes cause tensions and be problematical.

The things that concern me the most at the moment are practical considerations as I’m not sure how we can actually achieve some of the things which are written in the libretto! For instance, Pinocchio’s nose needs to grow six times during the performance so I’m working very closely with Francis to make sure we can make it look as convincing as possible. In a lot of ways, Pinocchio is an adventure story which is split into lots of different sections (during the story he is swallowed by a whale, he flies, there is a water scene and he turns into a donkey) and it’s a real challenge for me as a director and for Francis as the designer to transform what’s written down into something real which can happen in front of a live audience.

I think all opera companies should be looking ahead to the future and catering for the next generation of opera goers, otherwise it won’t survive as an artform. Pieces such as this pull in new audiences as they’re so lively and widely appealing. I think this production is going to be the perfect ‘first theatre’ event for children; it’s in English, it’s a story children can identify with and I’m going to make sure that all the words are audible so that the story can easily be followed. It’s a fantastic production for Opera North to be doing.

2007-06-28T04:43:00.000-07:00

Composer Jonathan Dove has finished the score for The Adventures of Pinocchio. Here, he talks about why he wanted to create the opera and his thoughts as he began to compose it.

Carlo Collodi’s 1883 book The Adventures of Pinocchio made a vivid impression on me as a child, and I have often thought of its intriguing characters; the irresistibly naughty puppet; the trickster Cat and Fox; the frightening puppet-master, Fire Eater; the coffin-carrying rabbits; the giant shark in whose belly Pinocchio rediscovers his maker, Geppetto and of course the mysterious Blue Fairy.

For a long time, I've thought this tale would make a marvellous opera that could appeal to a whole family. There are not many operas in this category (Hansel and Gretel and The Magic Flute stand out) and it would be wonderful to attract quite young people to the opera-house, whilst giving adults plenty to think about and enjoy.

Talking about the story to other people, I discovered that few people have read the original book. Most have encountered the story in Disney’s version, or one of a number of similarly sentimental adaptations that always seem to miss the strange and quirky magic of the original. They are surprised, for example, that Pinocchio squashes the cricket (Jiminy Cricket in Disney) with a mallet almost as soon as he has opened his mouth, or that the Blue Fairy first appears claiming to be dead, in a house full of dead people.

Opera has no problem embracing the strange and the magical. Writing an opera of The Adventures of Pinocchio is an opportunity to rescue some of the peculiar enchantment of Collodi’s imagination. The dramatic incidents and extraordinary characters call for colourful music teeming with invention and vivid contrasts. Marionette-dances, fairground-rides, thieves giving chase; terrifying men and a captivating girl; crime and punishment, remorse and reconciliation – it’s all a gift for a composer.

The title-role is exciting for a singer, demanding physical agility and stamina, and a big vocal range. At the end of the book, Pinocchio gets his wish and becomes a real boy. But this is not an entirely happy ending for us: we have become attached to this wilful, spirited, determined creature, who breaks all his promises and never manages to resist temptation. When life finally forces him to grow up and surrender his wooden nature, something is lost.

I look forward to making the musical journey, from the first sounds made by a talking log to the bitter-sweet rapture of Pinocchio, looking down at the puppet he used to be.