Opera to Go! at the Heinen Theatre

Alejandro Magallon is the author of this week's blog. Hailing from Mexico, he is currently starring as Prince Jonathon in Opera to Go!'s touring production of Little Mermaid.

Performing at the Heinen Theatre, should be a real treat for every performer, at least it has been for me. Located at the Houston Community College, the Heinen is a true jewel, and not just because of its architectural design.

It has everything Opera to Go! could ask for: 1) a great space that is the perfect size for our productions, which allows for an intimate communication with the audience, 2) a wonderful and professional crew, 3) spacious and fully equipped dressing rooms from which you can keep track of your calls through the sound system while you spend the last effervescent minutes warming up, waiting for the "PLACES" call.
We did The Magic Flute there a year ago. It was my first show with OTG. This year we presented The Little Mermaid, based on Dvorak's Rusalka with a wonderful adaptation and English text by OTG's director Chuck Winkler. We had two daily performances for five days in a row, Jan. 20th - 25th.
One of my favorite things about the performance, besides all the fun I have on stage with the rest of the cast, is what we get back from the audience. We get lots of different reactions from them, which varies depending mostly on their age (They are usually kids in elementary school). Some of the reactions might be the typical crowd giggle, a loud and isolated laugh, or a shy sobbing. I find these, and all kinds of feedback that reflects the audiences' emotions, really interesting, but most of all, deeply rewarding.

*photo by Laura Sponaugle

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Little Mermaid at the Heinen Theatre

This week's blog is by Erin Bales, who recently played the lead in the Heinen Theatre Matinee performances of Dvorak's Little Mermaid.

The Little Mermaid has always been one of my favorite stories. I used to watch the Disney movie constantly as a little girl, read mermaid stories, and I always pretended to be a mermaid when I was in the swimming pool during the summer. So when I learned I was going to play Rusalka, the little mermaid herself, in this winter's Opera to Go! show, I was very excited!
But before all the fun of performing and touring could happen, there had to be some work.

We all had to get together and learn the music and staging for the show at Houston Community College. We only had two weeks to learn everything – so we had better work fast!

First, each singer met individually with our musical director Kade Smith and our wonderful pianist Youngha Guk. We worked on learning all the correct pitches and rhythms. Since opera is storytelling through song, it was very important that we get all of that right! After each of us knew our parts, we began staging – learning our acting parts and choreography. It was a lot of fun for all of us to be together learning our dance moves and really getting into our characters. And after two weeks of intense concentration and memorization, it was very rewarding to be able to perform at HCC's Heinen Theatre for one week.

The set and costumes were amazing – they really made us feel like we were under the sea. And now the show was no longer work, it was pure fun. It's hard to believe that only two weeks ago we were all just learning these parts.

Thanks to Houston Community College and Heinen Theatre, the Little Mermaid is now ready to tour!

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