I had forgotten how much I enjoy opera.

There is a feeling of coming almost full circle for me with Master Class, a play about Art, Opera and Divas. You see, when I was eight years old, (I will not impugn myself with giving you the year,) my parents introduced me to a Soprano named Joy McEntyre. She was helming an English language production of Puccini’s La Boheme and was looking for some children to sing in the chorus. I got an audition slot, went to the USU music department and belted out “Memory” from Cats at the top of my lungs (I did mention I was eight). I made it into the children’s chorus and began my short lived career of various “pants parts”, playing a boy urchin in this production and donning knickers again for the role a year later in the Italian remount. I’m sure I had seen opera before, well, light opera anyway, a local production of Pirates of Penzance, and some Gilbert & Sullivan albums had certainly rotated on my Fisher Price record player. But I had never felt opera as Puccini made me feel it. I had never experienced the soaring, empty chest feeling of joy and happiness and sorrow and humanity all rolled into one as I did when I first heard “O soave fanciulla”--“Oh gentile maiden”. It did something to my soul! And I had never met a Diva before. I wanted voice lessons! I was infatuated.

Adolescence and high school subculture and peer pressure super ceded my attraction to opera, there simply wasn’t enough time. It wasn’t until I was in college that I was able to work in opera again. One summer, I was hired as properties designer for Utah Festival Opera’s production of Pirates... and as assistant designer of I Pagliacci and Gianni Schicchi. The passion! The drama! The music! The backstabbing divas and the insanely jealous tenors! The tattling! The orchestra! The art!

Luckily, a decade later I have yet another opportunity to work in opera. When I heard SLAC was remounting Master Class with the incomparable Anne Cullimore Decker as Maria Callas and with (my favorite) David Mong again at the helm, I asked them to keep me in mind as stage manager. I knew I had no chance to audition as one of the students since my opera soprano days were long behind me (I’m really a mezzo/belter now) but I wanted to somehow be a part of it all. Thankfully, the stage management job came my way and here we are, mere days before opening, in a play that echoes all I know about opera while teaching me more about it than I ever dreamed.

It has been a pretty smooth rehearsal and tech process. Keven Myhre again has designed a fantastic set. It’s classy and a clean contrast to the one we just saw in The Caretaker. Jim Craig’s lights are always amazing, a character unto themselves. Brenda Van Der Wiel’s costumes complete the characters without overpowering them. David Evanoff and Maria Callas conspired on the highly theatrical sound design. And David Mong… This is my second opportunity to Stage Manage for him. Though I have only acted under Mr. Mong’s direction in staged readings he has quickly become one of my favorite and most trusted directors. I hope to work with him again soon.

The actors are a joy to watch and work with. I have adored Josh Martin in his stage debut and am happy to have him in the backstage cubby with me as well. Paul Dorgan is a consummate professional and a wealth of knowledge. Stefanie Londino and Natalie Blackman are lovely to watch and listen to in their naturalistic and honest performances as the two female students. And I will never forget the first time I heard Shane Haag sing. That empty chest, exalted feeling of hearing such a powerful sound, at a singular, beautiful moment in time. There were tears. These pure moments of art, defining and elevating the human condition. And Ms. Anne Cullimore Decker! Oh! I have loved watching her process, research, dedication. How she inhabits the role. Shine a light on her in wig and scarf and Anne disappears, Maria remains. It’s going to be phenomenal.

I am lucky to have been involved in opera from so many sides; as an audience member, an actress (or actor, I guess) and behind the scenes as a designer, stage manager or on deck crew. And I have learned that there is nothing like someone who sings every note as if she feels it, honestly, properly researched, a soliloquy that bursts out in song because mere words aren’t enough. Maria Callas the Diva did that. Come to Master Class and see exactly what I mean. It will be good for you and your soul. I mean that.