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| ROMEO |
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| ROMEO |
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| top Roméo and Juliette declare their love and make short-lived plans for the future in the operatic version of the Balcony Scene duet - much the same as in the original play... or Tony and Maria in West Side Story... or Will and Viola in the film Shakespeare in Love. [soprano Rosemary Joshua and tenor Richard Leech] |
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| second row Lord Capulet and dancers, at the masked ball that opens the opera. [bass James Scott Sikon] |
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| first row in block - left Juliette's Nurse, who in the opera is called Gertrude, looks after her charge with humor and affection - here, after the ball, with Roméo watching from the shadows. [mezzo Martha Jane Howe with Rosemary Joshua and Richard Leech] |
first row in block - right Mercutio, playfully "knighting" his best friend Roméo, during the Queen Mab aria - as in the play, a showoff piece for the actor playing Mercuito. [baritone Jeff Mattsey] |
| second row in block - left to
right Count Paris at the Capulet ball. [Joseph Pechota] Benvolio is a member of the Montague gang crashing the Capulet ball. [Joseph Hu] The Prince banishes Roméo after the deadly fight. [David Downing]
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| the fight - middle left Tybalt and Roméo attack in a furious and lengthy swordfight in Act III - then they have to sing. [tenors Beau Palmer and Richard Leech] |
upper right Roméo has just killed Juliette's cousin and faces the consequences of his actions - duels and death between the feuding families are punished by permanent exile. [tenor Richard Leech] |
| lower left Tybalt, the hot-headed Capulet cousin, picks a fight with Mercutio, and after killing him, is attacked by Roméo. [tenor Beau Palmer] |
lower right Tybalt's death, following the fight. Gregorio and Lord Capulet hear his last words. [tenor Beau Palmer, baritone Duane McDevitt and bass James Scott Sikon] |
| - go behind the secenes for a look at fight choreography - | |
| Frére Laurent or Friar
Lawrence, as in the play, is a kindly man of God, interested in helping bring peace to the
families of Verona. After Roméo has fled, he brings Juliette news of an alternative to
solitary banishment and death. As he exits, Juliet sings the spectacular coloratura "Poison Aria,"
restored to this production by Maestro
Richard Bonynge, a long-time devotée of this type of music. [bass Mark S. Doss as Frére Laurent with soprano Rosemary Joshua as Juliette] |
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| bottom Act IV final scene in the tomb, and at curtain: Death of Roméo and Juliette. [soprano Rosemary Joshua with tenor Richard Leech] |
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| above right: Jeff Mattsey (Mercutio) and Richard Leech (Roméo)
test the grip of various swords as the Property Master, Assistant Director and Assistant
Stage Manager look on. above left and below right: Fight choreographer Kenneth von Heidecke (in black) works with Beau Palmer (Tybalt) and Leech on safe sword techniques. |
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| In Roméo, there
are three fights: a simple one between Gregorio and Stephano; the intense but brief
Tybalt-Mercutio fight; and the third between Roméo and Tybalt. The fight choreographer's job is to create movement that conveys the sense of a fight in a realistic way (since audiences are accustomed to a high level of "realism" from film and TV), working with the ideas of the stage director and the skill level of the singers... always keeping in mind that the singers need to be able to sing afterwards... and especially keeping safety in mind. The trick is for the fight to look real without being dangerous for the performers. while the swords are blunted, the only way it looks real is for the actor to use it with nearly full force rather than gently tapping his sword against that of his opponent |
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The dramatic action of the opera requires several swordfights, culminating in the fast-and-furious lengthy battle of Roméo and Tybalt. Since this last fight is followed almost immediately by extended singing for Roméo, it's clear that the actor-singer must be in excellent physical condition, not only to execute the choreography - in character all the while - but to be able to recover and retain enough breath to sing afterwards. |
| above, Ken's hands can be seen at left guiding Duane McDevitt (Gregorio) and Kate Butler (Stephano). | below, Roméo shoulder-rolls to his feet to pursue Tybalt upstage. |
| Palmer and Leech, both experienced in swordsmanship and stagecraft, were able to provide a fight that left the audience gasping with the adrenaline and fear that must have been present in such a battle.) In some ways, it was the best part of the opera.) The choreography of the fight took them to specific parts of the stage floor, but each performance was a bit different, and groups of choristers as townspeople and friends often had to scoot out of the path of the two fighters, as the action came their way. |  |
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| TOP OF PAGE | |
| San Diego Opera presents | ||
| ROMÉO & JULIETTE by Charles Gounod | ||
| April 1998 | ||
| Conductor | Richard Bonynge | |
| Director | Bliss Hebert | |
| Set Design | Pasquale Grossi | |
| Costume Design | Allen Charles Klein | |
| Roméo | Richard Leech | |
| Juliette | Rosemary Joshua | |
| Friar Laurence | Mark S. Doss | |
| Mercutio | Jeff Mattsey | |
| Capulet | James Scott Sikon | |
| Tybalt | Beau Palmer | |
| Gertrude | Martha Jane Howe | |
| Gregorio | Duane McDevitt | |
| Stephano | Kate Butler | |
| Duke of Verona | David Downing | |
| EXPLORE MORE | ||
EXPLORE |
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| Opera Basics - An Introduction The Opera Project - What's It All About? Explore More: Top 10 Ways to Fall in Love With Opera Principal Singers
& Singing WORDS
& MUSIC SHOP |
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 Explore more about opera and art in ML Hart's award-winning The Art of Making Opera "There’s never been any other book like this out there before… but there is now.." |
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