In Manhattan, mid-1970s, I was studying acting at HB Studios & I was working for ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors, & Publishers). My cubicle at ASCAP had a view of the Chagall tapestries in the Metropolitan Opera House lobby. Because my shift was in the evening, I was often treated to a special of view of the art & the fountains at Lincoln Center. When the weather was acceptable, I would have my lunch on the steps of the Opera House.
NYC being one of the most expensive places to live, I jumped at the chance to have an extra income when one of the staff members of the Met told me of an opening doing part time in the box office of the famed opera house.
The Met had a series of concerts to introduce classical music & opera to school age children. These magical afternoons were hosted by Danny Kaye. At a certain point in the concert, Kaye would explain how many people it took to put on an opera production & the curtain would rise to reveal about 200 people: technicians, stagehands, designers, orchestra members, chorus, soloists, office personnel, & front of the house staff. There I would stand for 60 seconds as the audience gasped & applauded, sounds I have always loved.
I stood near to a chubby, frizzy haired gentleman with large aviator glasses. This would be James Levine, at the time, the musical director of The Metropolitan Opera Company. Today he is the Artistic Director of the company, & in rather ill health.
Levine's tenure with the company is considered it's golden era. He developed the orchestra & chorus to an unparalleled level of achievement, excellence & recognition. Levine spends more than 7 months of the year with the Company, unique in the music world. This season at the Metropolitan Opera, he leads a new production of Wagner's Tristan & Isolde, the first at the Met in 25 years, Verdi's Otello, Schoenberg's Moses & Aron, Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande & Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen & the world premiere performances of John Harbison's The Great Gatsby, commissioned in honor of the 25th anniversary of his Met debut.
Why am I blathering on & on about a figure in the world of opera, when I care so very little about this art form? Well, Levine is gay & a major musical figure & today is his 67th birthday, but mostly I am framing this post around the birthday of one of my true favorite figures of the world of Opera & Theatre: William Fregosi.
I met William "Cha Cha" Fregosi in the world of blogging when I became a fan of his- Designerblog. He is one of only a handful of fellow bloggers that I have had the pleasure of meeting in person. I spent a lovely summer evening in the Boys' Fort with him, his husband, my husband & the critters. We had some wine & told some stories.
Fregosi is an amazingly talented & celebrated set & lighting designer. He is retired as Technical Coordinator/Scenic Designer for Theater Arts at MIT after 35 years. He has also been a Visiting Instructor at University of Chicago. Fregosi grew up in NYC, & attended many concerts & theatre experiences while growing up.
He holds a BFA from Boston University & an MFA from Brandeis.Fregosi has designed for Theater Company of Boston, Hasty Pudding Shows, National Jewish Theater, & Boston Center for the Arts. He designed for the Boston Symphony Orchestra Young People's Concerts, the first 2 seasons for Boston Lyric Opera, & 5 seasons for Associate Artists Opera. Fregosi has lectured nationwide for the Wagner Societies of New York, Boston, Honolulu & San Francisco). He is a regular reviewer for The Opera Quarterly.
For Intermezzo Company in Boston, Fregosi was the set & lighting designer for Vaughan Williams' Riders to the Sea in 2009 & this season's The Andree Expedition. This spring he designed & co-wrote the libretto, along with his handsome husband Fritz "boom-boom" Bell, A Place of Beauty, an opera about Isabella Stewart Gardner.
What's up next for Fregosi? This autumn he is debuting his new work- Steve's Hot Pants, an operetta about climate change & masturbation techniques, for which he is doing the sets, lights, costumes, score, lyrics & book for The NoPo Community Players. This new work will join the repretory of my all canine production of Inge's Come Back, Little Sheba & my all naked Fiddler On The Roof *(that's some hairy Jews!).
* Footnote: I had "appeared in the Danny Kaye Concerts for Children at The Metropolitan House at Lincoln Center" on my acting resume for 20 years.
NYC being one of the most expensive places to live, I jumped at the chance to have an extra income when one of the staff members of the Met told me of an opening doing part time in the box office of the famed opera house.
The Met had a series of concerts to introduce classical music & opera to school age children. These magical afternoons were hosted by Danny Kaye. At a certain point in the concert, Kaye would explain how many people it took to put on an opera production & the curtain would rise to reveal about 200 people: technicians, stagehands, designers, orchestra members, chorus, soloists, office personnel, & front of the house staff. There I would stand for 60 seconds as the audience gasped & applauded, sounds I have always loved.
I stood near to a chubby, frizzy haired gentleman with large aviator glasses. This would be James Levine, at the time, the musical director of The Metropolitan Opera Company. Today he is the Artistic Director of the company, & in rather ill health.
Levine's tenure with the company is considered it's golden era. He developed the orchestra & chorus to an unparalleled level of achievement, excellence & recognition. Levine spends more than 7 months of the year with the Company, unique in the music world. This season at the Metropolitan Opera, he leads a new production of Wagner's Tristan & Isolde, the first at the Met in 25 years, Verdi's Otello, Schoenberg's Moses & Aron, Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande & Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen & the world premiere performances of John Harbison's The Great Gatsby, commissioned in honor of the 25th anniversary of his Met debut.
Why am I blathering on & on about a figure in the world of opera, when I care so very little about this art form? Well, Levine is gay & a major musical figure & today is his 67th birthday, but mostly I am framing this post around the birthday of one of my true favorite figures of the world of Opera & Theatre: William Fregosi.
I met William "Cha Cha" Fregosi in the world of blogging when I became a fan of his- Designerblog. He is one of only a handful of fellow bloggers that I have had the pleasure of meeting in person. I spent a lovely summer evening in the Boys' Fort with him, his husband, my husband & the critters. We had some wine & told some stories.
Fregosi is an amazingly talented & celebrated set & lighting designer. He is retired as Technical Coordinator/Scenic Designer for Theater Arts at MIT after 35 years. He has also been a Visiting Instructor at University of Chicago. Fregosi grew up in NYC, & attended many concerts & theatre experiences while growing up.
He holds a BFA from Boston University & an MFA from Brandeis.Fregosi has designed for Theater Company of Boston, Hasty Pudding Shows, National Jewish Theater, & Boston Center for the Arts. He designed for the Boston Symphony Orchestra Young People's Concerts, the first 2 seasons for Boston Lyric Opera, & 5 seasons for Associate Artists Opera. Fregosi has lectured nationwide for the Wagner Societies of New York, Boston, Honolulu & San Francisco). He is a regular reviewer for The Opera Quarterly.
For Intermezzo Company in Boston, Fregosi was the set & lighting designer for Vaughan Williams' Riders to the Sea in 2009 & this season's The Andree Expedition. This spring he designed & co-wrote the libretto, along with his handsome husband Fritz "boom-boom" Bell, A Place of Beauty, an opera about Isabella Stewart Gardner.
What's up next for Fregosi? This autumn he is debuting his new work- Steve's Hot Pants, an operetta about climate change & masturbation techniques, for which he is doing the sets, lights, costumes, score, lyrics & book for The NoPo Community Players. This new work will join the repretory of my all canine production of Inge's Come Back, Little Sheba & my all naked Fiddler On The Roof *(that's some hairy Jews!).
The Cossack Chorus from Fiddler On The Roof
* Footnote: I had "appeared in the Danny Kaye Concerts for Children at The Metropolitan House at Lincoln Center" on my acting resume for 20 years.
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