WE HAVE A GRANT!!!!

Last night was a very important evening. The Chelmsford Cultural Council met to decide which grant proposals would be funded and we are very happy to announce Illumination Opera is one of the recipients! It feels wonderful to be able to say:

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Chelmsford Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

You can see the official logo (it looks like it was made just for us) at the top of the page.

We can now start our Hansel & Gretel countdown. Only 373 days to curtain.

How many people does it take to put up an opera?

Hansel & Gretel doesn't have a huge cast, only seven named roles. However, when you add up all the people it takes to actually be able to bring up the curtain, we are at 101 and counting. This includes the co-producer, orchestra, lead singers, chorus, dancers, conductor, director, choral directors, choreographer, costumer, set builders, stage hands, video crew and ushers (so far). Not a small undertaking.

On January 1, the Metropolitan Opera production of H&G will be simulcast in movie theatres. We are sure there will be many more than 101 people behind the scenes at the Met! All the simulcasts we have seen have been breathtaking and we highly recommend them. We will be there to see their H&G and to hear the very same translation we will be singing here in Chelmsford. Every time we attend an opera we learn more about the art of singing. It isn't just hearing, but seeing too.

14 Angels...the icing on the cake...

We are hoping to find a ballet instructor who would choreograph what we think of as "The 14 Angels Dance" for young ballerinas.  We know there is a lot of competition with the various "Nutcracker" productions, but we think our production has a lot to offer young dancers. How often does a non-professional get to dance to a live orchestra rather than canned music? Answer: About as often as we avocational singers get to sing with an orchestra - once in a blue moon. For both the audience and the performers nothing compares with it. When we find a choreographer we will pretty much beside ourselves with joy, because the Angels will be icing on the cake, or should we say gingerbread?

Funding and Education

Next week is the presentation to the local Cultural Council regarding our grant application. We are facing everything large arts organizations face in microcosm. For example, the true cost of 2 dress rehearsals and 2 performances in the public school theatre for a total of 12 hours is $2873.50 or $239/hour. The cost for renting the facility is only $900 (90 adult tickets would cover that cost), the rest is paying for 2 custodians, 3 technicians, 5 ushers. We have to sell 200 more adult tickets to pay for the added help. This is where blind faith comes into play. Right now we need to focus on the Cultural Council grant. That money will insure that we can pay our professional musicians and will help us should we need to find other patrons.

This kind of venture is a far cry from, "I know, let's do a show. My dad has a barn and your mom has a curtain." (apologies to "Babes on Broadway".) Over the past 10 years we have heard over and over, "Why isn't there a community theatre group?" "Why aren't there more music programs?", etc. It isn't because of lack of talent or just because people are so busy. It isn't because it is difficult to costume a show or find props or build a set (simple is always better and among just a few of us we can costume just about anything). It is because of $239/hour. It is so easy to give up when faced with that number.

Our main goal is to educate children and adults about opera, but we also want to educate the grown-up segment of our audience about the true cost of putting up a production that really is for our local community. $239/hour will be an eye-opener.