Sympathy for the Devil

I remember as a younger singer hearing the story of Mirella Freni singing Madama Butterfly. Freni couldn't stop crying when she was singing the part, and it was one of the reasons why she rarely attempted to sing the entire opera live.

This story raises a major point in creating a character for the stage: If we are to create a fully-dimensional portrayal of a flesh-and-blood character, we can't stand on the outside and look in, sympathizing or weeping for the character's plight. When we first listen to or study a score and libretto, we may find ourselves laughing at things that the characters do (when they're NOT laughing), or crying at the tragedy of their circumstances (when their eyes are DRY).

Examples are vast in the operatic repertoire. When Susanna and Cherubino are in a plight to find a way out of the locked room, they find their situation as ANYTHING but funny. They should be too busy in trying to find a way OUT!! (Aprite presto, aprite) But we in the audience laugh because we are looking into their world as OBSERVERS. Actresses who play this scene over the top only for laughs, or wink to the audience, have gone deeply off track in maintaining their artistic faith in the circumstances of the scene. And it's BAD acting - in my opinion.

Another example can be found in Toscas that broadcast the emotional tragedy of Act III, even before the firing squad shoots Mario Cavaradossi! Just because the audience knows what will happen, doesn't mean that TOSCA DOES! And Tosca's mood at this moment is one of relief - she is GOING TO GET AWAY! Playing the "mood" of the tragedy lessens the real horror of the moment she finds Mario dead.

As singing actors, we need to be less concerned about an "emotional state" and more concerned with what the characters are DOING, both physically (Destination) and mentally (Inner Objects).

As singers we need to be very careful of our first exposure to the opera and the role. Be on guard that you don't form any preconcieved notions of the character. It's even worse to fall into easy stereotyped portrayals (villain, hero). This will ALWAYS stand in the singer's way from a dramatic standpoint. Some of my favorite portrayals of villains were those that didn't PLAY the villian aspect of their characters. Maybe this is why so many women fell in love with Gobbi's Scarpia?

This method of working lets you experience a work from a fresh and HUMAN perspective, rather than dramatic cliches.

As you work on a role, begin the identification process by changing first your pronouns. Begin to work as if you are the character in the opera. Pronouns like "she wouldn't", or "he would" only serve to keep you at a distance from the character. Also, study in DEPTH the circumstances of the scene, and you will give yourself a much better start at finding the behavior of the character - much as you did with the 6 questions.

"I", "me", "my" are powerful tools that will help you unlock the character from WITHIN, rather than from WITHOUT.