Collaborative Opera Project?

hmm well, but it would be insensitive to our german friends by implying the opera so, and I do hope that it stays politically neutral... no?

It's not insensitive to Germans to be anti-fascist, anti-genocide, or anti-hitler. They are too.

Might I suggest that the countertenor be changed to tenor and the tenor to baritone? For once it's way easier to get performed, and a tenor can be as easily weird as a countertenor IMO. Countertenors, especially the good ones, are way rarer than baritones.

Agreeeed. Countertenors are cool, but rare.

Originally Posted by Dan Gilbert

Agreeeed. Countertenors are cool, but rare.

wads so rare about them? Im one myself. zzzz.

Is this happening?

I'd love to get involved. Orchestrations?

sounds cool. I would be interested in contributing.

I am willing to help whereever I am wanted/applicable... (and where I can actually contribute.lol. (dont know much about operas. lol))

We haven got down and started with it. and thats well, cos everyone's saying "Oh ill be willing to help in wadeva way I can" then no one coordinates it nor even starts anything.

We need to get a comittee to get this kickstarted.

I'm pretty sure that Dan gets the call regardless what happens, since this is his idea. I really like the storyline that's been put in front of us, and I think that even more time can be spent with the lead female role. Naturally, the storyline's still in its development stages, but the show would probably be more effective if we could show a lot of emotion within her. She's torn with this new lover of hers: she knows something about him isn't right, and yet she is the only one who can see good in him.

But even though she is indirectly responsible for killing him, his death should haunt her, and she should feel extreme guilt. I'm not suggesting that she goes completely melodramatic and commits suicide; but she has to live with it. Yet, despite what has happened, she still loves him. How does that sound?

True. It would be good to end with her realizing that no matter what, she still loves him, and she made the wrong decision.

The idea isn't that I'm in charge of this - I want everyone to be in charge, until we absolutely need like an overall organizer. Then we'll pick someone.

Here's a possible idea for the layout of the scenes:

Scene 1 - Main Character, (let's call him billybob for now, so that we HAVE to come up with a new name when the time comes), wakes up and does his morning routine in what he things is a beautiful mansion which he bought on the outskirts of town. (We later found out that it was an abandoned wreck that he just sort of meandered into.) He has all kinds of imaginary (once drawn) servants and guests and everything. Perhaps he asks one of his maids to clean something up downstairs, but is dismayed to find, once he gets down there, that it is still a mess. (this is obviously because she doesn't exist.) Throughout the scenes, things don't quite add up.

Scene 2: He enters the town, where people avoid going near him. People talk (well, tehy sing) about him behind his back. Everyone spreads whatever the latest rumor is that they've heard about him. He makes his way to his love's house (we'll call her mary-sue) to give her flowers, but one of her brothers answers and tells him to go away. He sneaks around the back of the house and gets her attention at the window, but she is equally disgusted. After all, mary-sue's family is one of the finest and most genetically pure in town. Her father is on the eugenics board, etc.

Scene 3: mary-sue's father gets to work at the eugenics counsel. In the course of a meeting, the subject of what to do with billybob comes up. (note: they will NOT sing "what do you do with a problem like billybob - how do you catch a cloud and pin it down?") The trouble is, the plot of land where he lives does not fall under their jurisdiction. In order to arrest him, they are going to have to catch him doing something dangerous or illegal.

Scene 4: Billybob is back at his "mansion" with mary-sue, but we soon find out that mary-sue is just the drawing-version of mary-sue. Billybob is ecstatic, but we start to see how mary-sue is artificially infatuated with him, and how this isn't really going to work. At the end of the scene, well, let's say this is when we find out she's just a painting. He leaves the house, and says "you can't come with me, you have to stay here with the other paintings." or something.

Scene 5: Something happens that makes mary-sue warm up to billybob

Let's say that's the end of Act I

Act II then -

Scene 1 - Now that billybob is out of his mansion, mary-sue's two brothers go sneaking around his property, remarking "what a dump" - and they sing about how he thinks it's a mansion but really it's just an abandoned property that he occupied. They go inside and search for contraband, finding only paint splattered everywhere and maybe some rancid food and a bunch of large rats or something. There are paintings of mary-sue EVERYWHERE. But they don't find anything of any use to their father, so they leave and are glad to get out of there.

Scene 2: Back in town, there is a romantic scene (which I refuse to write) where mary-sue and billybob really start connecting. In this scene, they discuss how mary-sue's sister is pregnant. (because of the family's superior genes, the baby is likely to be a prodigy)

Scene 3: Once mary-sue gets home, her father asks her brothers what happened. Then the three of them start pressuring mary-sue to help them arrest billybob.
Meanwhile, back at the "mansion," billybob starts getting tired of fake mary-sue and they get in a fight. By the end of the fight, she threatens to "kill the whore" who is detracting billybob's attention. That night, when fake mary-sue is asleep, he sneaks out to meet the real mary-sue.

Scene 4: this is the meeting where he scares her by telling her that a fake version of herself is going to kill her. After he leaves, she decides she will have to turn him in.

Scene 5: (billybob doesn't exist anymore, and his house has been demolished.) Mary-sue's sister gives birth, but the baby is declared mentally defective, thus the tragic ending - mary-sue's entire proud clan is sent into exile.