Our Process
Two years ago, in Fall 2018, Sophie Carpenter and Shambhavi Mishra began their explorative journey in the realization of this production. Through extensive research and innumerable meetings, they worked together in the creation of this show.
The process began with meetings on themes and ideas that would be covered in the writing. Following the creation of the first draft of the libretto, began the devising of musical elements. However, through the beginning stages of composition, an executive decision was made to make a large alteration to the libretto and fully remove a character.
In addition to the removal of the character, there was also an additional act that was constructed. This was primarily due to the observation that the story would feel incomplete without more development. Similarly, there was a piece missing to the character development within the story. This was the relationships between the two women (Caroline and Arabella) with others, namely their husbands. Thus, the addition of another character, Kyran Decker was added to fill that void.
After the completion of the libretto, the show was beginning to take shape, and in Fall 2020, the first table read took place via zoom (as pictured below).
The process began with meetings on themes and ideas that would be covered in the writing. Following the creation of the first draft of the libretto, began the devising of musical elements. However, through the beginning stages of composition, an executive decision was made to make a large alteration to the libretto and fully remove a character.
In addition to the removal of the character, there was also an additional act that was constructed. This was primarily due to the observation that the story would feel incomplete without more development. Similarly, there was a piece missing to the character development within the story. This was the relationships between the two women (Caroline and Arabella) with others, namely their husbands. Thus, the addition of another character, Kyran Decker was added to fill that void.
After the completion of the libretto, the show was beginning to take shape, and in Fall 2020, the first table read took place via zoom (as pictured below).
During the table read, the libretto was showcased as well as a number of musical pieces from the show!
After the table read, Mishra and Carpenter worked closely together on compositional aspects, fitting the vocal lines together with the conceptualizations of each piece. This was done so in a few methods. One of which was and still is, working closely with each of the vocalists.
One of the key features of doing a new opera, is how the music sounds being sung by the vocalists and played by the instrumentalists. Mishra and Carpenter took this into close consideration as both wanted the cast to be integral pieces in the creative process.
Also coming into play, simultaneous to the musical and libretto elements, were the costume designs. Bringing the world of these two women to life would be a challenge as both the libretto and musical composition have components that reflect and hint at various time periods, despite being grounded in 17th century. Mishra and Carpenter wanted the costumes to represent a grounding in the time period but also subtly reflect a fluidity across all generations. The reason for this being, that the issues of women's rights continue to be forefront in society yet too often glanced over in discussions. The costume boards that came up as a result of these discussions are as followed:
After the table read, Mishra and Carpenter worked closely together on compositional aspects, fitting the vocal lines together with the conceptualizations of each piece. This was done so in a few methods. One of which was and still is, working closely with each of the vocalists.
One of the key features of doing a new opera, is how the music sounds being sung by the vocalists and played by the instrumentalists. Mishra and Carpenter took this into close consideration as both wanted the cast to be integral pieces in the creative process.
Also coming into play, simultaneous to the musical and libretto elements, were the costume designs. Bringing the world of these two women to life would be a challenge as both the libretto and musical composition have components that reflect and hint at various time periods, despite being grounded in 17th century. Mishra and Carpenter wanted the costumes to represent a grounding in the time period but also subtly reflect a fluidity across all generations. The reason for this being, that the issues of women's rights continue to be forefront in society yet too often glanced over in discussions. The costume boards that came up as a result of these discussions are as followed:
The costume designs are heavily influenced by the written material of each character. Arabella's costume concept originally was completed in pink but later decided against as the color generally evokes a childlike state, joy, vibrancy and femininity, rather than an aim of capturing purity and clarity (white) and optimism and enlightenment (yellow). There needed to be elements of naiveté but also ability and room for growth.
Caroline's costume concept was produced in red but switched later as the color was too demanding for her characterization. The purple and cream that is shown in the concept board above, captures both her regality and wise influence in the story as well as the role she played in real life as a feminist.
Kyran's costume concept is based on some darker elements and has a bit of a twist. Traditionally, the color blue has a sense of stability and trust, however this is far from the truth of the character. This deception is what the costume will hopefully evoke for the audience members who are watching the production.
After the costume concepts were put together, the drafting process began. Below you will find the original drawings of the costume designs as well as the newest renderings! Designed and created by Veepra Mishra!
Caroline's costume concept was produced in red but switched later as the color was too demanding for her characterization. The purple and cream that is shown in the concept board above, captures both her regality and wise influence in the story as well as the role she played in real life as a feminist.
Kyran's costume concept is based on some darker elements and has a bit of a twist. Traditionally, the color blue has a sense of stability and trust, however this is far from the truth of the character. This deception is what the costume will hopefully evoke for the audience members who are watching the production.
After the costume concepts were put together, the drafting process began. Below you will find the original drawings of the costume designs as well as the newest renderings! Designed and created by Veepra Mishra!
While the costumes were being sketched up and discussed, musical and character rehearsals were also underway. Carpenter met with each individual singer and went through character development sheets to help each singer find the truth of their character. Character Deep Dives, as they are referred to, were the first rehearsals for the singers.
Below is a photo of the first musical zoom rehearsal with the fantastic ensemble. Mishra took them through the score and discussed necessary elements to making the music come alive.
Below is a photo of the first musical zoom rehearsal with the fantastic ensemble. Mishra took them through the score and discussed necessary elements to making the music come alive.
In order to make the rehearsal process efficient and well run, both Carpenter and Mishra decided during a Weekly Production Meeting, that rehearsals would be split between the two of them in order to cover as much ground as possible. Carpenter would take the lead with the vocalists and staging elements while Mishra would direct the musical as well as technical elements to the show.
They got together and devised schedules for cast and ensemble that would fit the musicians needs. If time would allow, the scheduled slots for rehearsal would enable both Carpenter and Mishra to attend each other's rehearsal on specific days. Examples of the planned schedules are shown below.
They got together and devised schedules for cast and ensemble that would fit the musicians needs. If time would allow, the scheduled slots for rehearsal would enable both Carpenter and Mishra to attend each other's rehearsal on specific days. Examples of the planned schedules are shown below.
In addition to the schedule preparation, Mishra and Carpenter also planned with help from Production Manager Kanvi Shah, meetings with Production Staff, Individual Director meetings and Advising Sessions with their advisor, Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh.
All of the schedules as well as other necessary show needs are shared through a google drive, which all Production Staff, Cast, Ensemble and Crew have or will have access to. It includes design elements, production elements and any other information. Below is a photo from the drive to give an example of what Production Staff can see in the drive.
All of the schedules as well as other necessary show needs are shared through a google drive, which all Production Staff, Cast, Ensemble and Crew have or will have access to. It includes design elements, production elements and any other information. Below is a photo from the drive to give an example of what Production Staff can see in the drive.
AoTH (Angels of the House) Cast Information is the folder in which all ensemble members have access to. It displays resources such as music MIDI files, musical scores, the finalized libretto, dialect resources, schedules and more.
This week, the shows focus is beginning the staging of Act One and musical rehearsals for Act One in preparation for a March 1st Musical Table Read of Act One.
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This week, the shows focus is beginning the staging of Act One and musical rehearsals for Act One in preparation for a March 1st Musical Table Read of Act One.
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The biggest shift that the production has taken is the direction of performance. The plan that was in place initially was designed to have a live streamed performance in the Alumni Concert Hall of Carnegie Mellon School of Music.
The initial set design ideas are pictured below.
The initial set design ideas are pictured below.
After considering the necessary COVID precautions and elements going into performing live in a room all together, Mishra and Carpenter decided to take a different approach to the production. They met with the School of Music Dean as well as the Dean of the College of Fine Arts to discuss other approaches and methods of conserving the story telling and live aspects but staying safer and more cautious with COVID. A picture from the meeting is shown below left.
The outcome of these meetings as well as internal production meetings lead Carpenter and Mishra to fully shift gears to an online platform. This online version of the show will combine both in person shots and pre-recorded individual shots.
The reconstruction of the show shifted the timeline around quite a bit and forced the production team to re-evaluate aspects of the show. For example, in the auditorial experience. After much deliberate the consensus was that the audio should be prerecorded and placed over the visuals. This would enable the production team to play with sounds as |
well as overlapping soundscapes, in addition to being able to manipulate the sound quality without worrying about the visuals.
Many aspects of the show had to be re-imagined which for Mishra and Carpenter has been an exciting challenge. The overall schedule and timeline had to be redone as well as tactics on how to create the world of this show without doing a continuous live performance of it. The newest version of the vocalist schedule is pictured below.
Many aspects of the show had to be re-imagined which for Mishra and Carpenter has been an exciting challenge. The overall schedule and timeline had to be redone as well as tactics on how to create the world of this show without doing a continuous live performance of it. The newest version of the vocalist schedule is pictured below.
The beginning of this process was the decision on which scenes would need to be filmed with more than one person and which could be done by the actors in the comfort of their homes.
Carpenter and Mishra then set out to create a storyboard, dividing it by scenes, thinking about shot angles, filters, lighting design and overall feeling/mood of each scene. Below you can see a slideshow of a select number of slides from the storyboard.
Carpenter and Mishra then set out to create a storyboard, dividing it by scenes, thinking about shot angles, filters, lighting design and overall feeling/mood of each scene. Below you can see a slideshow of a select number of slides from the storyboard.
Moving forward with the production, Carpenter and Mishra will be presenting the show to the College of Fine Arts Dean's Advisory Council Meeting.
The general timeline of the production is as follows: March (recordings being completed by the vocalists and instrumentalist), April (filming all scenes around Pittsburgh including St.Pauls Cathedral, the Incline, Mellon College of Science and the Cathedral of Learning), and May (production crew works on assembling the show for the final product. The show is set to premiere at the end of May.
Currently, the production team is beginning to receive first costume pieces, is starting with fittings in the upcoming week, continuing to stage the last scenes being filmed at home and creating an action plan for promotional materials. In addition, they are also working on getting the full scores printed, photoshoots with costumes planned and posters to be made!
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After receiving costume pieces, the production has decided to begin with photoshoots for individual characters. This week, there was a photoshoot with Kyran in various locations in Oakland, Pittsburgh.
The general timeline of the production is as follows: March (recordings being completed by the vocalists and instrumentalist), April (filming all scenes around Pittsburgh including St.Pauls Cathedral, the Incline, Mellon College of Science and the Cathedral of Learning), and May (production crew works on assembling the show for the final product. The show is set to premiere at the end of May.
Currently, the production team is beginning to receive first costume pieces, is starting with fittings in the upcoming week, continuing to stage the last scenes being filmed at home and creating an action plan for promotional materials. In addition, they are also working on getting the full scores printed, photoshoots with costumes planned and posters to be made!
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After receiving costume pieces, the production has decided to begin with photoshoots for individual characters. This week, there was a photoshoot with Kyran in various locations in Oakland, Pittsburgh.
The next stage that the production is headed into is more photoshoots for promotional material as well as the beginning of the filming process. The filming will take place over the next two weeks, followed by the editing process and eventual premiere of the show!
This page is being updated weekly! Please come back to read more of our journey to the stage!