The last 40 soldiers are cast
just before the first stage rehearsal

On November 27, following a quick audition where the last 40 soldiers were cast, we all wound our way to the stage for the first time. We’re a true army on the move as we jam the backstage hallways and stairs on the way from the depths of the Met to the stage—passing administrative staff on their way to the cafeteria, or slightly annoyed stage hands who barely have enough time to get the stage ready anyway, and who now have to wait for the entire Russian army to pass by two-by-two.

Was it W.C. Fields who refused to perform with children and animals? If so, he wouldn’t be happy being in this production, since in addition to the numerous children, there are also chickens, a goat, a dog, and a large gray horse named Goose. Nancy Novograd, who with her husband Paul owns All Tame Animals, an animal talent agency that regularly provides animals for Met productions, told me that Goose was named after a brand of very expensive vodka.

 Paul Novograd on Goose

We get our first view of the stage. What does it look like? It is an enormous round mound clearly representing the scorched earth after a major battle, and under the harsh worklights it is probably best described as looking like the top half of an 80 foot wide burnt basketball. We see peeking up from beneath the drab floor covering a beautifully painted parquet floor from the “Peace” half of the opera that precedes our “War” half.

 The troops gather around Napoleon just offstage left

All the soldiers gather in the downstage left wing and are told that in the scene we are about to rehearse we are French soldiers retreating from Moscow in a driving snowstorm—wounded, starving and injured. We climb the mound and cross the stage. Paul Novograd, who is standing in for Napoleon, rides Goose across the stage protected by soldiers. (Goose, by the way, made his debut last October in the triumphal scene of Aida.)

 Defeated French soldiers start their retreat

When we reach stage right we must quickly run down a flight of stairs, underneath the stage and down a long hallway, up another flight of stairs, and back onstage for a second cross. Getting lost is a distinct possibility in the labyrinth that makes up the lower regions of the Metropolitan Opera House, so a thoughtful stage manager posted signs that direct us back to stage left.

 Maybe this sign should say “Sortie,” oui?

Out of the corner of my eye on my second cross I catch a glance of a dead frozen horse being pulled across the stage on its back—presumably about to be a tasty dinner for some of the French soldiers.

 Casualty of war

I wonder if Goose has taken notice of this and I imagine him spitefully munching on a French soldier during his lunch break.

After a couple of times across the stage, and a couple of sprints below it, we need to position ourselves for the last scene, finale, and tableau. So, for those of us who are Grenadiers that have ended up stage right, we have one last cross to get back to stage left—this time as captured French soldiers being returned to Moscow. We’ll then have about 10 minutes to transform into triumphant Russian soldiers for the opera’s big finale, but today we move right into that big marching scene. Negotiating the hill, the cracks in the mound, and the Russian straight-legged parade step (a.k.a., “goose step”)without trampling the person in front of you, isn’t as easy as it might appear. I am right behind three gentlemen of the ballet, who, even when they do something wrong (which isn’t very often) it looks so good that we all follow along anyway.

 Even though it may look like it,
this is not the big annual sale at Loehmann’s

Following the stage rehearsal we have costume fittings on C level (three floors below the stage), in the room where the orchestra normally rehearses. It is packed with rows of costumes, boxes of hats and shoes, and patient wardrobe people helping to sort everything out.

 A properly dressed soldier from the Ismailovsky regiment should look like this

Some costumes fit perfectly, others not so.

 Zene Coley needs a hat that is just a bit larger

Blake Galler’s perfectly fitting hat gets an OK; John Sowinski is next in line

Too tight jackets and pants get switched back and forth, and after a frantic hour or so, not at all unlike the big annual sale at Loehmann’s, we each have a costume.

 Steve Trzaska is a proud and well-dressed Grenadier!

This entry was posted by Charles Sheek on Friday, November 30th, 2007 at 4:05 pm and is filed under 2007–08 Season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.