DESIGNING AN OPERATIC FAIRY TALE

I go into rehearsals for Knightly News next week with The Atlanta Opera. The opera is composed by Jonathan Stinson and will be performed by a cast of four singers who will travel to schools all over Georgia starting on February 13th. 

For the past few months I have been working with an incredible team of designers to bring this mixed up operatic fairy tale world to life. As the stage director, I am responsible for helping to shape the look of the opera and to direct the action of the singers on stage. Below are a few storyboards, sketches, and renderings to give you a taste of the process. The costume designer is the dynamic Joanna Schmink, and the scenic designer is the incredible Kat Conley! 

For more information on booking a show for your school, or to see the dates of the community performances, please visit The Atlanta Opera  website.

PUPPET DESIGN

One of my first steps in conveying my ideas to the design team was to draw up storyboards for each sequence in the opera. The panel above outlines an aria sung by Alexsandra Pygowski, a feisty construction worker pig, who relates a story about her missing brothers. Since she is referring to events that occurred the previous day, I decided that it would be fun to see what happened via a "puppet flashback". These storyboards were given to scenic designer, who drew a plan that specifies the dimensions of each puppet element. A crew will be responsible for cutting the puppets out from wood and attaching rods and joints as needed. 

Kat Conley © 2014

COSTUME DESIGNS 

Little Red

Pyg

Prince Charming

The Wolf

Joanna Schmink © 2014

I talked with the costume designer, Joanna Schmink, early in the process about the overall look for the opera and the attitudes of each character. Her costume sketches and fabric choices reflect a modern world but still offer a subtle nod to traditional fairy tales. Instead of adding animal ears and features for the pig and wolf, we have decided to focus on color palettes and interesting props that allude to animal characteristics (i.e. pink hat, boots, and pig snout coffee cup for the pig, and a sleek dinner jacket for the hungry wolf). 

SCENIC DESIGN

Kat Conley © 2014

The main action of the opera takes place at the "Big Bad Bean", a coffee establishment owned by a family of wolves. These are building plans from the scenic designer, Kat Conley, who envisioned a Starbucks-esque coffee shop in the woods. The drawing above is called a "ground plan" and shows the set from a birds eye view. The drawing below is a "front elevation" and shows the dimensions of various curtains that will be used on the set. These drawings will help the crew build the set to the correct specifications. 

Kat Conley © 2014

Check back for photos from the rehearsal room after next weekend!

-PC