[Menvi-discuss] Working with directors and staging

[Cristina Jones]

Hi there,
I've been in a number of opera scenes, both while totally blind and
with some light perception.
I would not suggest using your dog to orient you onstage.  The stage
can be a very dangerous place.  Although I trust my dog obviously, I
don't think it would be useful for me to try and orient myself to the
more interesting places on the stage.  Ask the assistant director or
director to meet with you beforehand or whenever you need to to get
yourself oriented.  Do not be afraid to ask.  Remember ...  You either
be annoying and ask now, or you be really annoying and make them fill
out paperwork later when you fall off the stage and hurt yourself.
One thing, too, is depending on the  kind of scene you're doing, feel
free to ask them if they can tape down either chord or some kind of
tape you can feel with your foot that'll orient you.  I've worked on
platforms before and have fallen off a platform.  Hence the advice and
the voice of experience.  So they taped down something every several
yards or whatever which let me know I was actually going straight, and
if I wasn't, I wasn't discrete about what I was doing with my feet.
Just have fun with it and make it part of your character, particularly
since you're playing a blind character.  Type casting much?  Lol
THe otehr thing, too, is if you have some vision, even light
perception, the stage lights are ridiculously strong.  If you can see
light, ask them to bring out a white rug or somehting to put on the
ground, and you might be able to see the light bouncing off the white.
 I did that with a rug, and I also did that with a sofa.  It happened
to be white and I was able to see that at the time.
Also, if you're working with people onstage and you need to walk
toward them or something, they can either sniff, move their foot,
stomp their foot, etc., either in character or discretely and you can
orient yourself in that way.
Use the live music as an orientation device.  That sounds obvious, but
you'd be surprised how often I don't think about it.  I'm probably
dumber than the average Joe, so that's not saying much.
If it's in character, feel free to use props as a semi mobility tool.
I was Despina from COsi Fan Tutte once, and she's ridiculously active.
 I had to skip in figured eight patterns, run off stage, run back on,
lunge at a character and pretend to throttle her, etc.  Depsine is a
maid.  So I used a duster as a prop, and that's perfectly in
character.  I used the duster to "dust" things aggressively.  Haha
Also, always remember that if you do things discretely onstage, it's
going to look weird and obvious to the audience.  If you do things
with gusto and make it a part of your character, they don't know the
difference.  For instance, I was Cunegonde from Candide and they
wanted me to run in circles around a couch, skip around, etc.  The
problem was that there was a platform right beside the couch and I
would've--and did--smack my ankle on the corner of the step.  Ouch.
So I decided that I needed to hug the couch more.  The director
suggested I exuberantly trail the couch in multiple ways.  I did.  And
we put jewels and stuff on the couch to make it work.
If the director is a bit reluctant to let you do anything and tells
you he or she doens't feel safe with you doing this, that and the
other thing, pull them aside later and ask them honestly ...  "Are you
uncomfortable with me doing this because you wouldn't be comfortable
allowing anyone else dtodo this, or is it because I'm blind?"
Hopefully, they'll think about it for a sec and be frank with you.
Just tell them: "With all due respect, I'd like to ask that you give
tme the chance to do this one or two more times.  If you're still
uncomfortable with it, then we'll compromise.  As of now, however, I
feel this is how I interpret this character's actions, and I feel to
do otherwise would be untrue to the character.  I've been blind for
some time now, and I feel like I've gotten really decent at being able
to tell what I can or cannot do."  The director may or may not be open
to it.  If they're not, it sucks, but there's only so much you can do.
 They're the director, it's their show.  Just be open with them, and
I'm sure they'll be appreciative of your candidness.
Sorry.  I know this was ridiculously long.
Cristina

On 1/2/13, Kelby Carlson <kelbycarlson at gmail.com> wrote:
> I haven't been in any opera productions, but I have some
> suggestions for a situation like this nonetheless.  Can you get
> the guest director's e-mail or phone number? Calling in advance,
> explaining who you are and what kind of adjustments you might
> need is never a bad idea.  I like e-mailing because I can write a
> "script" so to speak so tx doesn't come off the wrong way.  Are
> there other faculty who are involved that know you in the
> project? You might want to make sure they've got your back.  I'm
> sure they probably do already, but letting them know can also
> help.
>
> You might also be at an advantage based on your part.  Since
> you're playing a blind character, you might actually be able to
> bring some of your "tricks" onstage.  A guide dog or cane not
> might work well, but what about people you're with onstage? I've
> found even in parts where I'm not blind (which have been all of
> them) you can do the equivalent of a sighted guide sometimes
> without being obtrusive.  Will there be landmarks on the stage
> you can use as reference? Setpieces, blocks, raised platforms, et
> cetera? You can try orienting yourself around those.  I'm sure
> there will be intensive blocking of the scenes as well, and in my
> experience if you're really involved you end up getting a lot of
> it into your muscle memory.
>
> I hope this helps!
>
> Kelby
>
>
>
>  ----- Original Message -----
> From: Julie McGinnity <kaybaycar at gmail.com
> To: This is for discussing music and braille literacy
> <menvi-discuss at menvi.org
> Date sent: Tue, 1 Jan 2013 20:15:03 -0600
> Subject: [Menvi-discuss] Working with directors and staging
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> I hope you all had a nice new year.  Unfortunately, I have to be
> back
> at school tomorrow night because I have rehearsals for my opera
> scenes.  That brings me to my questions.
>
> My university does opera scenes every year at this time.  This
> year, I
> have a lead in one of the scenes.  My situation is rather
> complicated...  The opera is called Iolanta by Tchaikovsky.  It's
> about a blind princess.  If you're curious, I'll give you a link
> to a
> description of the opera.  Here's the wikipedia article
> describing the
> plot:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iolanta
>
> This role has been a challenge for me on several levels.
>
> We have a guest director come in to direct the opera scenes.
> This
> year's director worked with us two years ago, but I was never
> able to
> work with him  individually.  He doesn't know me, and I don't
> know
> what to expect.  Do you all have any tips on how to work with
> directors?  More specifically, relating to blindness...  Showing
> them
> what I can and can't do.  I don't want to contradict the person
> who is
> essentially my boss, but given the role, I feel it might come up.
> Does anyone have experience with this?  Any suggestions?  Also,
> any
> suggestions on techniques for navigating a stage would be
> appriciated.
>  I plan to use my dog and/or cane to navigate the stage in the
> beginning, but I can't bring either of them on stage for the
> performances.  Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome.
> Thanks.
>
>
> --
> Julie McG
>  Lindbergh High School class of 2009, National Federation of the
> Blind
> of Missouri recording secretary,
> Missouri Association of Guide dog Users President,
> and proud graduate of Guiding Eyes for the Blind
>
> "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
> everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
> life."
> John 3:16
>
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