Principals of the Opera

Principals of the Opera

There was an ad in the newspaper about a newly formed opera workshop which was looking for singers.  It was not necessary to know Italian or French because you could be taught phonetically the French or Italian lyrics. Situated in a suburb of Chicago close to where we had just moved, others like myself were looking for a place to sing, so we all came together to rehearse in the home of it’s founders, a husband and wife who both sang with the Chicago Opera Company.   Entering through a side entrance we were told to proceed to their basement via a door off the kitchen. There was a couch with lamps on either side just before you climbed down the stairs.  The couch had a very shiny clear plastic slipcover and there were two large ornate lamps on which they had still kept the cellophane lampshade covers. Every rehearsal we followed the same route looking at the same plastic covered couch and wondered if anyone had ever sat on it or used one of the lamps which was in all probability dangerous because cellophane is prone to burn very fast.  We did joke when we were leaving rehearsals about sitting on it when the owners weren’t around to see us. This was the only part of the house we ever saw. The upstairs interior seemed small but the basement was actually very large.

The owners were an Italian soprano and a Danish baritone. I think their reason for starting the workshop was actually to recruit students for voice lessons. Their basement housed a full “summer kitchen”. In Italian homes I learned there is usually a full kitchen in the basement because there was virtually no air conditioning in the 1960’s and it was cooler to cook meals in the basement in the summer and use their regular upstairs kitchen in the winter. I still remember her showing us what she called a traditional Italian Easter cookie in which an unshelled uncooked egg was embedded in cookie dough then baked.  I have an everlasting memory of the bitter taste of the dough which she allowed us to try. It was flavored with wine and I don’t think any sugar was used.

We singers were seated at the other end of the basement close to their baby grand piano and were taught how to pronounce the lyrics. There were about 10 singers, men and women, who were to be directed by “The Maestro”. Maestro Tony was in his early thirties and he had studied singing as well as conducting. He had a beautiful tenor voice but unfortunately for him his mother usually accompanied him to our rehearsals.  We found out that he had rheumatic fever as a child and his domineering mother refused to allow him to find employment after he finished his education. In addition to being attractive he was also very nice, but he probably didn’t have much of a life. He was our pianist and conductor and we actually called him “The Maestro”.

The chorus worked phonetically on parts of Verdi’s Italian opera “The Masked Ball”.  Also in rehearsal was Gian Carlo Menotti’s one act comic opera “The Telephone” written in English and to be performed in our planned recital.  Its roles were to be sung by the Italian Soprano, the Danish baritone and their only student who had never before had a singing lesson.  We paid for our own music but the rented Marie Antoinette costumes and wigs for “The Masked Ball” were paid for by ticket sales. Costumes for “The Telephone” were just everyday dress to be worn by the three member cast.  When it came time for their student to sing her big solo, the soprano sang right along with her and drowned out her voice.  Everyone in the audience felt the whole program was a huge disaster and these people were actually our friends and families.

We were scheduled to start rehearsing the opera “Rigoletto” after our big debut.  I think this was to be a vehicle starring the Danish baritone.

Shortly thereafter, although we had already paid for the libretto of “Rigoletto” (I still have my copy if anyone wants it) the group fell apart after some harsh words, which I honestly had nothing to do with. We all left the Soprano and the Baritone but took with us the Maestro and started a new chorus which met for free in a local bank building.  We were able to pick up some new members and sang together for about six months entertaining for various social events before being assimilated into the new Broadway Show community.