After taking a tour of the Met opera house yesterday I now want to become a opera diva/journalist!!
I went to take a backstage tour of the Met with a very dear friend of mine and unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures, if I was able too I would have posted them here and have let the pictures tell the story!
Any how we saw the schematics of what goes into running a opera at the Met and making it run smoothly and it was really fascinating and very inspiring!
All costumes and scenery are made in house and one of the first places that we saw was were the costumes are designed and made. There are in house designers and in house seamstresses and each person who works in wardrobe is given a book with the fabric samples and designs for each costume for every cast member in all the operas for the season and if ever there is a fire the wardrobe people are to grab one of those books and run out of the building! But seeing the detail that goes into these costumes up close is just truly amazing!
Then we saw the scenery workshop which was pretty interesting, within the scenery workshop there is a department that is the quote un quote special effects department. They do things such as fray dresses, make blood stained sheets.
After that we then saw how scenery is moved from the lower levels (there are three one is below subway level) to the stage. A massive elevator that can hold a 747 airplane moves the scenery.
We also got to see the performers warm up rooms, they looked an awful lot like the chorus room in my high school, windowless with drab brown brick and risers. We also heard the performers warming up which was a real treat!
My favorite part of the tour was watching a rehearsal of "The Magic Flute" on the main stage from were the director of that particular opera would sit to give cues.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
One non music related post and one semi music related
One friday night show that I make sure I don't miss is "Real Time With Bill Maher", I find Bill to be sexy, I love a smart man with a sense of humor!! Any how I'm sure as all of you read or saw on youtube, Bill threw out two people who disrupted the show, the protesters who believe 9/11 was an inside job.
I have to say that the whole 9/11 conspiracy about 9/11 being an inside job bothers me on so many different levels. First off the Bush administration while they may all be seriously evil I do believe their not that smart to pull something off on that grand of a scale. And what really bothers me the most about all this is the whole human factor, I grew up on the South Shore of Long Island and many of the people who lost their lives that day were Long Islanders and I unfortunately knew people who were killed, I grew up with them, they were members of my parents church, friends of my cousins, went to high school with my sister etc you get the idea. It bothers me not only about the whole 9/11 conspiracy but also the fact that 9/11 was used to justify invading Iraq (that is a whole other post), I can only imagine how someone who lost their father, mother, brother, sister, wife, husband, daughter and son on 9/11 must feel every time they hear or read these 9/11 conspiracies.
Okay onto the music.....
Did anyone watch "America's Next Big Band" or what ever that show is on Fox? It's from the producers of "American Idol", I believe. Seriously "American Idol" and their producers are single handily ruining the music business. My big complaint about "American Idol" is that it leaves no room for anything that is unique and I really find it funny that Paula Abdul is judging people's musical talents!! I would imagine "Americans Next Big Band" would do the same thing, they'd pick some generic cookie cutter band. I read a little review in the paper and like most of the shows produced by the AI folks it seems as if there is a "Simon" judge (mean, blunt and nasty), a "Paula" judge (way too nice) and a "Randy" judge (indifferent), I read the "Simon" judge on this show is some guy from the Aussie version of AI, the "Paula" judge is Shelia E. and the "Randy" judge is Johnny Resnick from the Goo Goo Dolls. The formula for all these reality shows is becoming one in the same. I didn't watch but I read that there was another music reality show on VH-1 called "Rap's Next Superstar" the premise is "celebs" who aren't associated with the world of hip-hop compete to become rap's biggest superstar. Now I read that the country music TV station is planning on doing the same type of show but with country music. I don't know I can't watch any of these reality shows, the musical ones all seem to have the same formula!! One non musical reality show that I read is in the works is one called "The Philanthropist" were "celebs" go to third world countries to try and "save" the world's poor! I read the first celeb trying to "save" the world's poor will be Paris Hilton, she supposedly is going to Rwanada in Africa. She's such a good role model! Me thinks the "celebs" participating in this show will be people like Mini-Me, Vanilla Ice, some chickie from "Baywatch", Fred Durst and Kevin Federline. Don't think Brangelina, George Clooney, Oprah and Bono will be participating in that show! And this is just one of the many reasons why were hated around the world!
I have to say that the whole 9/11 conspiracy about 9/11 being an inside job bothers me on so many different levels. First off the Bush administration while they may all be seriously evil I do believe their not that smart to pull something off on that grand of a scale. And what really bothers me the most about all this is the whole human factor, I grew up on the South Shore of Long Island and many of the people who lost their lives that day were Long Islanders and I unfortunately knew people who were killed, I grew up with them, they were members of my parents church, friends of my cousins, went to high school with my sister etc you get the idea. It bothers me not only about the whole 9/11 conspiracy but also the fact that 9/11 was used to justify invading Iraq (that is a whole other post), I can only imagine how someone who lost their father, mother, brother, sister, wife, husband, daughter and son on 9/11 must feel every time they hear or read these 9/11 conspiracies.
Okay onto the music.....
Did anyone watch "America's Next Big Band" or what ever that show is on Fox? It's from the producers of "American Idol", I believe. Seriously "American Idol" and their producers are single handily ruining the music business. My big complaint about "American Idol" is that it leaves no room for anything that is unique and I really find it funny that Paula Abdul is judging people's musical talents!! I would imagine "Americans Next Big Band" would do the same thing, they'd pick some generic cookie cutter band. I read a little review in the paper and like most of the shows produced by the AI folks it seems as if there is a "Simon" judge (mean, blunt and nasty), a "Paula" judge (way too nice) and a "Randy" judge (indifferent), I read the "Simon" judge on this show is some guy from the Aussie version of AI, the "Paula" judge is Shelia E. and the "Randy" judge is Johnny Resnick from the Goo Goo Dolls. The formula for all these reality shows is becoming one in the same. I didn't watch but I read that there was another music reality show on VH-1 called "Rap's Next Superstar" the premise is "celebs" who aren't associated with the world of hip-hop compete to become rap's biggest superstar. Now I read that the country music TV station is planning on doing the same type of show but with country music. I don't know I can't watch any of these reality shows, the musical ones all seem to have the same formula!! One non musical reality show that I read is in the works is one called "The Philanthropist" were "celebs" go to third world countries to try and "save" the world's poor! I read the first celeb trying to "save" the world's poor will be Paris Hilton, she supposedly is going to Rwanada in Africa. She's such a good role model! Me thinks the "celebs" participating in this show will be people like Mini-Me, Vanilla Ice, some chickie from "Baywatch", Fred Durst and Kevin Federline. Don't think Brangelina, George Clooney, Oprah and Bono will be participating in that show! And this is just one of the many reasons why were hated around the world!
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