All About Opera - The Cliff Notes for Beginners

Etiquette 

What should I wear to see an opera? 
In Europe the dress does tend to run very formal (black tie) for every performance. Here in America, people do choose to make it a night out with fancy dress for a night at the opera, but honestly you can wear whatever you want. Here though, Silicon Valley work attire is just fine. Lo Speziale is an opera about drug dealers and wacky hijinks so whatever makes you ready to laugh is fine!

Most operas aren't sung in English so how will I know what's going on? 
Nowadays most operas project English translations (called surtitles or supertitles) above the stage. For Lo Speziale the production team has even updated the supertitles to reflect their Breaking Bad parody. 

Can I bring kids?
Generally, opera is better suited to older children because the stories often contain adult themes, and following the supertitles can be difficult for new readers. When bringing a child to the opera, it is helpful to explain the story in advance and instruct them on proper audience behavior - things like no talking and no kicking the seats. Lo Speziale is rated PG-13 for drug references, and adult language and gestures. 

How long does the opera last? Is there an intermission?

Running times vary per opera, but most run 2-3 hours in length, like most Broadway musicals. Some operas have two intermissions. Lo Speziale, however, is quite short as it has an approximate run time of 95 minutes which does include one 15 minute intermission. 

When should I clap?
At the end of big arias (solos) during an Italian opera (not during a heavy Wagnerian type opera - it's considered rude), at the end of each scene, and, of course, at the final curtain call. If you really enjoyed a singer's performance, during the curtain call feel free to shout out "Bravo!" (for a male performer), "Brava!" (for a woman) or "Bravi!" (for a group) - every performer loves an appreciative audience!

Any thing else I should know?
Please remain quiet from the time the orchestra starts (the overture is part of the opera, too!) so that everyone around you can enjoy the music. Don't open candy or gum wrappers, talk, use your cell phone or anything that lights up or goes beep during the performance. There is no photography or unauthorized recording during the show. Please do not sing along, tap in time, get up and move around or try to read your program while the performance is in progress - it's really distracting to the people around you! It is, however, quite alright to laugh! Lo Speziale is a comedy so enjoy it! Actors love to hear laughter in the audience! 

Opera Terms

Act. One of the main divisions of a drama, opera or ballet, usually completing a part of the action and often having a climax of its own.

Aria. [ah-ree-ah] A song sung by one person. In Italian, aria means "air," "style," "manner." The aria had a central place in early opera and throughout operatic history, arias have been used to highlight an emotional state of mind and accentuate the main characters.

Baritone. The most common category of the male voice; lower than a tenor, but higher than a bass. Baritones were more commonly used in during the Romantic opera era.

Bass. The lowest male voice. Many bass roles are associated with characters of authority or comedy.

Buffa. Opera buffa is a genre of opera that began in Naples in the mid-18th century. It's an exaggerated comedic opera that developed from the interludes performed between acts of the more serious operas. Opera buffa tends to have only two acts whereas opera seria (the more serious tragic operas) generally have three acts. The best known opera buffa is Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. Lo Speziale is an opera buffa.

cadenza - Near the end of an aria, a series of difficult, fast high notes that allow the singer to demonstrate vocal ability.

coloratura soprano - A very high pitched soprano. also the description of singing which pertains to great feats of agility - fast singing, high singing, trills, and embellishments.

Composer. The person who writes the vocal and/or orchestral music (score).

Conductor. The person in charge of all the musical aspects of an opera; both orchestrally and vocally.

crescendo - Getting progressively louder.

diminuendo - Getting progressively softer.

Dynamics. The degrees of volume (loudness and softness) in music. Also the words, abbreviations, and symbols used to indicate degrees of volume. Piano (soft) and forte (loud) are most common.

Duet. Two people singing together.

finale - Last song of an act, usually involving a large number of singers.

Harmony. Harmony is the chordal or vertical structure of a piece of music, as opposed to melody (and polyphony, or multiple melodies) which represents the horizontal structure. The succession of chords in a given piece is referred to as a chord progression.

Librettist. The person who writes the text (words) of the opera.

Libretto. [lih-breh-toh] The text of the opera. In Italian, it means "little book."

Lyrics. Words of an opera or of a song.

Opera. A staged musical work in which some or all of the parts are sung. In Italian, the word "opera" means a work which is derived as the plural of the Latin opus. Opera is a union of music, drama and spectacle.

Overture. An orchestral introduction played before the action begins. The overture is often used to set the mood of the opera. Many composers used the overture to introduce themes or arias within the opera and sometimes the overture became more well known than the opera itself.

Pants Role. A young male character who is sung by a woman, usually a mezzo-soprano, meant to imitate the sound of a boy whose voice has not yet changed. In Lo Speziale, the role of Volpino is traditionally a pants role. 

Quartet. Four people singing together.

Recitative. Dialogue which is "sing-speak." The recitative helps get through a lot of text quickly and moves the action along. Often precedes an aria or ensemble.

Soprano. The highest female voice. The soprano is commonly the lead female character.

Tempo. The speed of the music.

Tenor. The highest natural male voice. Often the lead male character within the opera.

Trio. Three people singing together.

Local TV Ads

One thing we've talked about in regards to Lo Speziale is the fact that the apothecary in the show is a big news junkie, so the team has been kicking some ideas around on how to show this throughout the opera. TV leads to talk of ads, of course, which in Breaking Bad terms leads to a "Better Call Saul" ad. If you're not familiar with the show, here's what I'm talking about: 

Hilarious right? And of course everyone in America recognizes this as the parody of the local business ad that routinely runs in their area. In my hometown this was the ad that everyone recognizes: 

It doesn't get any better than Becky Queen of Carpet. I remember one year at Halloween we ran into some kids dressed up as Becky and Wanda out trick or treating. They scored massive amounts of candy. 

In college it was this ad: 

Downer downer downer! Where you always get a free onion! (I've never understood that.) 

In the comments section post YOUR hometown TV ad! You might just win something... 

Fact of Fiction: Creative liberties?

PBS interviewed playwright David Auburn and asked about creating a story based on real people. Here's what Mr. Auburn had to say:

How did you try to strike a balance between the portrayal of real-life figures with a true history…and the demands of creating your own character for a play?

David Auburn: Navigating the line between being true to broad historical facts and working on a character was one of the challenges. I think the story is historically compelling…other people can say how it feels to them when looking at the history. I think people can come away from this play with a pretty accurate portrayal of the situation at the time.

The relationship with the Russian man [who is part of a blackmail scheme] is speculative. That’s probably the biggest liberty I take. [Editor’s note: Alsop was blackmailed over his closeted homosexuality, but the Russian man in the play is a fictional character.] Alsop’s marriage did dissolve but that all did happen later in the `70s. I moved it back earlier to try to draw some contrasts. His daughter in the play is a composite of a number of stepchildren he had.

Fact or Fiction: How was this created?

PBS ran a great interview with playwright David Auburn when The Columnist opened on Broadway in 2012. Here's what David himself said about the inception and creation of The Columnist.

Art Beat: Why did you decide to write a play about Joseph Alsop?

David Auburn: It’s sort of a long process. It partially began about eight or 10 years ago when I realized I didn’t know anything about the Vietnam War and set about the process of trying to learn about it. I read a number of histories. And the Alsop name kept popping up in footnotes. On the theory that sometimes the minor characters in the quarters of history are the most interesting characters. I read how influential and famous they (Joe and his brother, Stewart) were at the time to the world of journalism and foreign affairs – especially Joe. And it interested me how forgotten he was now. And I asked myself: How does someone go from being so central and so essential to the political dialogue to almost being forgotten? I wanted to get at what a magnetic and flamboyant and complicated person he was, how mercurial he was, how polarizing he was as an individual.

I imagine that one of the tough challenges about writing this play is that he often seems like a very tough man to like. He’s arrogant, he can be a bully, he comes off as a hawk on Vietnam who sticks his head in the sand.

David Auburn: It was one of the compelling things about him. One of the things that I read about Joe is that people had a great attachment to him despite all of the things you mentioned. I’m not really all that interested in writing about characters you like. I’m trying to put interesting characters on stage in a way that shows all their complexity. Writing about someone whose views are so different from your own and showing the complexity of that person can be difficult but it’s a challenge I like.