Opera Tripple Bill | Production Sound Engineer

Part of my autumn trifecta of shows

Guildhall School of Music and Drama, November 2022

• Dominic Wheeler conductor
• Rodula Gaitanou director
• Simon Corder set & lighting designer
• Laura Jane Stanfield costume & Props designer
• David Monteith-Hodge @photographise photographer

This Silk Street Theatre production was part of my engineering trifecta allocation, being PSE for 3 shows at once.

As the production sound engineer, it was my job to facilitate the sound effects and set up the orchestra fold-back system for the show. This also included the set-up and management of the conductor relay distribution, the surtitle system, show relay distribution and comms systems. My highlight of this production was figuring out how to incorporate all of the video patches for the venue due to the number of sources and outputs and the lack of patch points.

Guildhall School’s Opera department presents a triple bill of operatic works by Massenet, Smyth and Rota. All following the arc of love and identity, the three rarely performed works are conducted by Dominic Wheeler and directed by Rodula Gaitanou.

Centred on love, regret and hierarchy, Massenet’s Le Portrait de Manon is a heart-warming tale of longing and perseverance. First performed in 1894, the opera only enjoyed six years of success before falling out of the repertory.  

First performed in 1923, Smyth’s Fête Galante features libretto written by herself in collaboration with war poet Edward Shanks. Dame Ethel Smyth’s is the fifth of her six operas, based on the themes of mistaken identity and disguise.   

Though known best for his film scores, composer Nino Rota penned 10 operas in his life, I due timidi is a one-act opera originally written for radio and first performed in 1950. Best described as a romance gone wrong, this surprising and comedic work features moments of tenderness, shyness and everything in between.