Carolyn lives both sensibly and theatrically: by profession, she is a civil engineer; by avocation, she is an adventurer. When I received the Damnation de Faust audition notice, I realized that the role of demonic mime might prove exotic enough to lure Carolyn into the San Francisco Opera: “Those offered engagement . . . must be able to wear custom, form-fitting, flesh-colored/transparent, latex/rubber fetish wear.” She answered the call, and I am pleased to introduce her observations as a recent opera company initiate. — Lynn

First Day of Rehearsal
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My first, overwhelming impression is that of all the people wandering around—there are dozens, if not hundreds of them: chorus, supernumeraries, production staff, costume department staff, prop people, carpenters, set designers, electrical people, administrative folk, general staff, and half a dozen directors—assistant directors, associate directors, directors of chorus, directors of dancers, directors of whatever. It seems like my main task is to stay out of the way. I assume everyone has a job and knows what they are doing, but their roles certainly escape me at the moment.

The stage is a lot smaller than I thought it would be. At one point, all the dancers—about fourteen of us—and two directors were onstage, and it was crowded. And then the director roped off one corner and said, “That's where Faust will be, singing his heart out.” Oh yeah, right, there's going to be a singer, too.

We didn't get to be demons the first day. Instead, the men rehearsed a scene with guns: they pointed weapons at an imaginary enemy, and a few got shot. The women worked on the “bride scene,” which is basically the same scene we ad-libbed during the audition. Soon, the men joined the women to complete this scene. Each woman marches onto the stage and is selected by a man. I am the second woman to be chosen, and I guess I get to be the village slut. I take a long walk (the director likes the way I “waggle around when I walk”) and look the guys up and down before I am selected. We spent a couple of hours deciding the order in which the women walk on, with which guys they pair up, how long it takes for each of them to be chosen, and how the scene works in general. We made a lot of progress and left early.

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First Day - 1 2
Second Day - 3 4
Second Week - 5 6
Third Week - 7 8 9
Final Week - 10 11 12