Keeping It Together On Stage - continued

Visibility of the conductor is a major problem for the chorus. Only the choristers in the front of the stage are able to actually see the conductor directly, as long as no principal singers are in the way. Those located behind other choristers or behind parts of the set must watch the conductor’s image in the hidden television monitors at the sides of the stage. This explains why choristers so often appear to be singing to the wrong person. They are actually singing to the monitors. But if the spotlights located near the monitors happen to be turned up to full brightness, as usually happens just as the chorus is about to sing, the monitors can only be seen by squinting, if at all. This explains the mixture of pained and blank expressions among choristers on stage that is so familiar to opera patrons.

Choristers unable to see the conductor—either directly or by squinting at the monitors—may be tempted to listen to the orchestra. This is always a mistake! Remember, sound takes time to travel from the orchestra pit to the stage, and then more time to travel from the stage back to the pit and on out to the audience. By singing with the orchestra, you are guaranteed to be at least one beat behind the orchestra, and a beat-and-a-half behind the conductor.

The prompter could be of some help here, because although he has his own television monitor with him in the prompters box, he wisely ignores it and listens instead to the orchestra via speakers. However the prompter is usually tied up with cueing the principal singers, and in any case can only be seen from the stage by stooping and squinting into the footlights. Less experienced choristers avoid looking at the prompter because they tend to become confused by the fact that the prompter’s beat always appears to be at odds with the conductor’s. Older, more experienced choristers are savvy enough to sing a beat ahead of the prompter, which adjusting for the time delay and the conductor’s upbeat downbeats, would put them in sync with the orchestra. However they are generally loath to do so because stooping toward the prompter tends to exaggerate the fatigued, tenured look.

<<back next>>