I’m flattered to be featured in the Arizona Opera blog this week. Thanks, Ryan Taylor! My dear colleague and friend’s generous writing is only one of his many talents; he runs his company with an almost unique blend of innovation and judiciousness.
Our rehearsals have been developing in the most surprising, random, wacky, and ultimately satisfying ways. None of us have ever done the piece before, so we’re all more open to every possibility. So if you discover that a chorus member does rope tricks? That your central couple are super good dancers? That one soprano has no fear about falling backwards off a table?
You go for it. As we sing in the finale:
Wild and strong and so inviting/still untamed and still exciting/Arizona’s for me!
If you’re anywhere near us, get out to the show. I promise you, nobody in Arizona will be having as much fun as our audiences on the nights we play.