New paintings and regular art updates.
I sang in the opera choir and the photos of us singing are now out on the website. People gave permission to be photographed but I don’t have that permission so I have blurred out their images. What a strange world we live in where we can delete or smudge out images if people we don’t want or require? The world changes quickly.
With some of the other actors in the scene.
The character Alice Beech, far right of photo, sings a wonderful mezzo soprano piece about inheriting Molly Leighs cottage, that the villagers and vicar are all gossiping about the two woman’s relationship. And laments the loss of Molly.
Part of her getting the cottage obliged her to make 46 penny loaves every week to look after the “poor, the widows” basically the needy of the parish. Three townsfolk visit her as she sings. One is Winifred who is very nosy and wants to know whether Alice has “seen anything, anything strange?” since she moved in. She is ignored and just handed the loaves. Then Lily, a widow, visits and is given a few extra loaves. Finally a young woman visits for just one penny loaf. She tells Alice she doesn’t have to pretend, she understands. And that she is a friend.
The singing by Alice is lovely and written using the “Devils interval” a discordant chord which is a Tritone (six semitones) it causes an unsettled feeling in the music.
Dough used by the soprano, Rosie (playing Alice) who was in the Alice Beech scene in Who is Molly Leigh? On the scene she pretends to make penny loaves for the widows and orphans of Burslem. When she passes away she bequeaths her cottage to Alice. The scene shows Alice baking and donating penny loaves to the poor.
One of the props every performance was some dough so she had something to represent the work at baking she did while she was singing her part. This was left over at the end of the Opera so I decided to make it into a Cottage loaf shape! No yeast involved and not cooked.
Two large blackbirds in a nest, one seeps, the other flutters. They have collected everything from apple cores to brass bells, keys to brooches. Theyay be Molly Leighs familiar. In one of the scenes of the Opera “Who is Molly Leigh”
Great props by makers at the BArts art company.
Tonight was the first performance of the opera, Who is Molly Leigh?
I enjoyed singing in the choir and got to watch a couple of scenes. We sing in the final scene and question who Molly Leigh was? Was she real, was she a myth? It’s amazing how it’s all come together. I’m pleased to say the audience enjoyed it.
I’m absolutely shattered now! I went to the fish and chip shop to get tea because I’m to tired to microwave something, but it’s going cold in the kitchen because I sat down and I’m too achy to get back up! Might have a nap.
A bread oven, table, stool, Welsh dresser, herbs and a lamp. If you come to the Molly Leigh opera you will see five stage sets.
Each scene is repeated twice, but you only have time to see three of the scenes. The opera is asking more questions than answers. The woman who was Molly Leigh might have been gossiped about, the story calling her a witch might be lies. She could have been a wise woman, a healer. The tales told about her may have been caused by jealousy. Or on the other hand she might have been evil, spiteful, possessed? That is the question.
I went to the one to one session with the opera singer. I explained that Parkinsons affects your voice and throat muscles so I’m trying to keep singing as much as I can. She got me to warm up my voice, showed me how to stick my tongue forward to relax it and allow myself to hit higher notes. I was surprised at how high I could get.
Singing in front of a professional musician was nerve-racking but she was so kind and very complementary about my voice. I don’t think I’ll ever be professional myself, but it taught me ways to improve my technique. And it was wonderful to try something new and exciting. It also made me feel less anxious about my health.
Borrowed July for today.
The last few weeks have been busy leading up to ur Mystery Play on Saturday the 5th of July. Then I’m getting involved in an opera about Molly Leigh the Burslem witch. That’s at the end of July. Between now and then I’m waiting for the results of my CT scan. Whatever happens I’ll keep going…..
I went to an event planning meeting today at BArts in Stoke. It’s going to be an opera based on the witch (wise woman) from Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, who was alive in the 17th and 18th centuries. She was buried at 90 degrees to the normal North South orientation.
From Wikipedia :
Margaret ‘Molly’ Leigh (1685–March 1748) was an English property owner in the Staffordshire town of Burslem who, in her will, left substantial sums to charity. She was also accused of witchcraft, and, after her death, her grave was disturbed following claims she was haunting the town.
We had a singing session based on some of her life and the treatment she received from her neighbours. We were also invited to create some art based on her life. (hence the tub of pencil crayons. The opera is due to be put on later this summer.
Last night we went to see the Pirates of Penzance. The comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan was a live broadcast from the London Coliseum by the English National Opera shown at cinemas throughout the country.
The story is about Frederic, a pirate whose nurse took him to the sea to learn to be a ships pilot. Unfortunately she mistook the word pirate for pilot so he was indentured to be one until the contract ran out. The story starts when he is leaving the pirates. He tells them his duty will be to stop their piratical reign when he is free of them.
Later he meets a daughter of a Major General who he falls in love with. As the opera continues he is caught in a dilemma, whether to persue the pirates or rejoin them.
Many memorable songs made up a wonderful night out. The song ” I am the very model of a modern major general” and ” A policeman’s lot is not a happy one”.
I won’t give the end away. But it is very enjoyable. The twists and turns of the plot hold your attention. Excellent.
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Mallaband-Brown