The stage crew taking a bow at the end of Kaija Saariaho's Innocence.
Photo: Matthew Shilvock, courtesy of San Francisco Opera
June, 2024
Here's an article I've been working on for a while––perhaps since Matthew Shilvock inadvertently handed me the lede back in June. It's about everything that happens during an opera––or any theatrical performance––that you don't see, but which is vital to whatever you do see.
The photo above didn't make it into the article, but I have such admiration for what the stage crew did during Innocence.
Enormous thanks to everyone at SF Opera who helped me: Jeff McMillan and Teresa Concepcion, SFO communications; John Keene, chorus director; Andrew King, prompter/music staff; Darin Burnett, stage manager; Jeanna Parham, wig, hair, & makeup; Lori Harrison, properties head; Matthew Shilvock, general director. I also spoke with John Fulljames, who directed The Handmaid's Tale, and Poul Ruders, who composed it. I wish I had been able to speak with the late Kaija Saariaho about Innocence.
Huge respect to Chloe Lamford, who designed the sets for both Innocence and The Handmaid's Tale. The Innocence set is particularly amazing. Watching the opera from backstage––only half-hearing it, seeing the reverse of what the audience saw––was a great experience.
I want to also thank Matthew Shilvock and SFO for bringing both of these operas to the War Memorial Opera House. They are complex works on difficult subjects, but so necessary in these times.
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