Collaborative Opera Project?

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 hoe" 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.

I'm in the middle of writing my third opera now, with plans for a fourth in the works.

I know I haven't been part of the thread - but the device of the pregnant sister is BIZARRE. It really comes out of nowhere. If you want to keep it, you need to introduce it right at the beginning and use it as a parallel structure to the main story. Right now, it feels like, "Oh, we need something to thematically suggest such-and-such - okay, let's stick in this pregnant sister in the middle of the second act."

A more dramatic, less thematic, choice is to have Mary-sue become pregnant, perhaps by Billy-bob? In that way you have the downfall of her family coming from her betrayal of her lover. IS the baby mentally defective? Or is she a pariah because of who the baby's father is?

I think the sister should be the pregnant one, but as CDR said, it should be introduced way earlier, like at the first time we meet mary-sue, as in:

{sister of mary sue:} Mama, papa: I bear your first grandchild! =Definitely not in these words=

{chorus:} Oh, what wonderful news!

--Assorted singing and dancing---

{mary-sue:}--some aria that introduces her to us as a part of the "perfect family"

As for the family being sent into exile... a bit bizarre... and not in a good way.

A better solution IMHO whould be:

-billybob dies

-baby is born

-baby is found to be defective, rejected by mother

-baby is planned to be terminated

-mary sue recognises that the baby is a bit like billybob, and feels guilty for causing his death

-takes baby and runs away from her family, vowing to raise it.

BTW, hi, sounds very interesting so far, would definitely like to participate.

Dave: From my experience, just talking about it is futile, if you want to get it started, kick it out of the nest(eg. choose a plot and give everyone two days to object, do this until plot is found, then assign parts to be written by people, etc.)

I'm interested in working on this. I don't have much experience writing opera, but I'd have to start somewhere. :)

I would absolutely love to take part in this :) i would be able to write songs or incidental music or something, but i'll do anything (that sounds quite bad), as im new here it'd be nice to get involved in something like this!

Well, if no-one has started this by friday, I will take the lead.

Good?

I would love to start work on this thing. I think that it needs a bit better organization/ commitment, however.

I have an idea for the plot as well. instead of having the baby thing, perhaps we could go back to one of the beginning ideas of the play culminating in fake girl (who is really a personification of the man himself) attempting to kill the real one. I would suggest that as a fun little plot twist, he fights with the fake girl (himself) in his head (make it a monologue) and eventually tears the gun out of 'her' hands, accidentally turning it on himself, and in the struggle, pulls the trigger.

just an idea.

anyhow, I would love to see this sucker get up and running.

BTW... Hello YC! I haven't posted in a long while... my hiatus is over!

That plot device has been used before. A lot.

That movie with Dakota Fanning and Robert DeNiro...

Well, I would be glad to be the overal orchestrater and composer. A good project over the summer.

I can be coordinator if necessary too. In opera, the composer is the director of the play, he/she dictates what will happen and how it happens through the music.

My suggestion is to get a complete libretto finished, right down to the complete dialouge. Then certain scenes can be assigned to certain composers. I claim dibs on the overture and orchestrations! (since no one else has). ;)

Upon thinking, this would be the orchestra:

Picc.

2 Fl.

2 Ob.

2 Cl.

2 Bsn.

4 Hns.

3 Tpts.

3 Trbs.

Tba.

Timp.

3 Perc.

Piano/Celesta

Harp

Strings

Haven't thought of voices yet.

Well, I would be glad to be the overal orchestrater and composer. A good project over the summer.

I can be coordinator if necessary too. In opera, the composer is the director of the play, he/she dictates what will happen and how it happens through the music.

My suggestion is to get a complete libretto finished, right down to the complete dialouge. Then certain scenes can be assigned to certain composers. I claim dibs on the overture and orchestrations! (since no one else has). ;)

Well, I don't think we should have a single overall composers. But maybe just someone to piece together the parts that people have written, if that's what you mean.

That is what I mean. Sorry for being unclear.

Coolio.

As long as we are talking about positions of power, I nominate myself president of proceedings. Meaning I don't have a greater influence on the opera itself but I get to determine who gets powah. Or at least, I have more power when it comes to determining who has power. Yah?

I guess the most important things write now is to get a libretto written.

Will anyone volunteer to write a scene so that we can discuss it?

. I claim dibs on the overture and orchestrations! (since no one else has). ;)

Overture, maybe, orchestrations? I would personally like to orchestrate my own stuff.

Dan, you can take position as Supreme Lord, I mean president, seeing as you started this.

First, we need a Plot, choose one, and then give everyone a chance to object/suggest changes.

Would you set up a list of participants, so we can keep track of who is part of this?

Well, seeing as no-one has done anything...

I propose this as a plot and give till saturday( my time) for anyone to give complaints, suggest changes etc.(which you should, as I just took the plot so far and edited minutely)

After that, we should assign parts for script-writing.

Plot:

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. ( at this moment it should be introduced that they are celebrating the fact that mary-sue's sister is pregnant.

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's baby ougt to be a prodigy(because of the family's superior genes)

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 hoe" 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 takes the baby(it reminds her of billybob, and she feels guilty about causing his death), saving it from "extermination". She flees and vows to raise the child.

I would be very interested in this, I'm not yet skilled as a composer but as a POET, well, I've always been able to write poetry, in fact I won a district-wide poetry thing with my high school.

I would love to write something I'm good at and be a part of a big work such as this- I've written many poems but nothing so long, so it would be a challenge for me as well as something I love doing and have a TON of fun at. I've never done anything with an opera, I have seen one, but that's about it, so it would be a learning experience for me as well.

But I have to say I'm a bit confused: Each person is taking one a part, but does that mean that if I were to say that I take on a comic aria that I have to right for that aria or does someone write for you..? And what's a Libretto?

So.. is this position taken? And if not could I give it a go?

Libretto is the text for an opera. It's not usually in verse nowadays because there isn't a set form for the songs unlike musical theater where the lyrics typically rhyme. So I think that it would be a new and interesting thing to have actual poetry in the opera.

so does one person write the Libretto or does everyone write one for themselves?

Like in a play: does one person write the whole script or does everyone chip in and sorta improves on what they say?

and either way can I be a part?

What I had in mind was that everyone would chip into the script, but obviously, it's not like each person can chip in one word. Certain people would have to write whole scenes, and others could make suggestions.

mmkay that's what I thought :P

wel in that case (if i'm allowed) I'd want to be a comic but dark character.

So how would this be recorded? Do we have operatic singers here? :o