Mike Woodward's Blog

Opera is a business!

2012-01-26T20:53:00.001Z

It's very easy when your trying to organise and perform in an opera production , to forget the long term objectives: to be able to do it again and again and again! It's great to be able to 'lose yourself' in a production or a performance and escape reality.. it's wonderful but... the mortgage still needs to get paid!
Sustainability is the key word really and that, when it boils down to it equals money, or shall I put it more politely.. funding!
We have a wonderful new recruit to our management team, Jennie has run business's before and volunteered her time and experience to the Opera Anywhere cause, she's been a client of ours on a number of occasions and seems hooked!
She been tremendously helpful and has kicked off our grant application process for this year, an area of our operation that was sadly lacking any attention.. but this week Jennie has been digging into our business plan and helping us to make a realistic plan for the next two years.. we'll be in good shape if we hit our schedules and achieve our short term goals.... which means we'll have a chance of still being here in the long term!
One of the ideas that Jennie is going to focus on is opera in gardens, she has a vision and a sparkle in her eye when she talks about it . . it's great to have such enthusiasm about the place... love it!
We met up with the Oxfringe team last night, there's quite a lot of synergy between what they would like to do and what we have recently embarked upon, charitable status and Ltd company. We may end up as trustees on their board to help them as they grapple with the processes.. good news is Oxfringe this year matches the Sunningwell Festival dates, so much to discuss that could be mutually beneficial.. We launched our 'early bird' offers for the Sunningwell Festival this week.. tickets are available to buy 25% off normal prices, just for a very limited time only..don't miss out! Go to our ticket page and enter the following voucher code when prompted: KLMRW2902
Do follow us on our facebook and twitter pages and if you'd like to go to our website click here> Opera Anywhere

Mad cows and Englishmen!

2012-01-13T14:19:00.002Z

After weeks of singers auditions and many hours of planning, it seems like we are really close to having everything set up for a cracking Mikado. Aside from our performances at the Sunningwell Festival, on the amazing stage that is temporarily situated on the pond at the centre of the village, we have now been building a plan for numerous other performances around the country over the coming months. One of the most interesting venues we'll have is a cow shed! A farmer in Marcham wants to put on a Mikado in aid of 'Send A Cow', what a great cause and what a great location!
We'll put all the Mikado dates on our website diary as and when we get things firmed up so do keep in touch. You can also find Opera Anywhere on facebook and twitter.
More details about our Mikado cast to follow soon . .

Casting for the Mikado

2011-12-30T10:46:00.000Z

Preparing for the Sunningwell Festival in June 2012 this year has been a major part of our lives, the project has become much bigger, partly because of our insatiable appetite! Our own production of the Mikado has been dominating our thoughts, we want it to be the best thing we have ever done and the only way we can do that is not only perform it at the festival but is to present it at many other festivals and performances as we can over the next 18 months or so. We're trying to recruit the best singers we can with a very limited budget and auditions have already taken place with some more singers singing to us in a week or so.
Choosing performers is one of the hardest tasks, meeting up with singers who have worked for us in the past and listening to singers that have recently finished their post grad music degrees. There are some terrific new voices that are eager to gain experience and some brilliant complete performers really keen to be involved. It's going to be tough letting some of our 'old friends' down, knowing only too well ourselves about hearing disappointing news from auditions.
We're now in a situation when we're holding back on making definite offers to the singers we'd like, just waiting on results of some funding applications we've been making... but fingers crossed it's looking like we'll have an incredibly strong line up for our Mikado. Our performances at the Sunningwell Festival take place as part of 'The Last Night Of The Proms On The Pond' on the 8th and 9th June, be sure to buy your tickets early, especially if you want a grandstand seat!
More on Opera Anywhere, more on the Sunningwell Festival.

Heavy week of admin!

2011-12-03T21:46:00.001Z

This week has been our heaviest week of admin ever.. but we do now have a fantastic volunteer fund raiser.. hooray! 'Jennie Mac' has been incredible these last few weeks, she has organised a contact management system of trust funds and has spoken to 20 + potential funders. We've just this minute completed a mega-long arts council application to support the 2012 Sunningwell Festival! This week we've also performed at the Abingdon Town Christmas lights event and organised our singers auditions for our new Mikado production.. we've also just approved our new logo for the festival, do you like it? A bit more fun coming up next week though, some singing waiters gigs .. one at the glorious Ashmolean Museum.. will bring back happy memories from our 'Flashmob opera' performances back in April.

Want to go to our main website? .www.operaanywhere.com More on the Sunningwell Festival? ..www.sunningwell.com

Nessun Dorma on the Pitch!

2011-11-13T08:22:00.001Z

One of my life long dreams came to fruition last night, just as England were beating Spain in the International at Wembley I found myself singing Nessun Dorma on a pitch! . . I was involved in a wonderful theatrical play about football.. women's football! I had been asked by the amazing writer and director of 'Playing Fields and 5 inch heels' to come on to 'the pitch' and perform Nessun Dorma at a poignant moment in the play.
Mandy Constance is an extraordinary women, she not only wrote and directed the play but organises the truly remarkable youth theatre company based in Cassington, 'Dream Studios'.
It was a great experience to work with so many young people with such amazing talent and enthusiasm and my 'traditional' attitudes about women in football have now been changed!
Thanks guys, I had an amazing time being involved with your production, good luck with everything you do in the future!

The Passenger at the ENO

2011-10-16T21:39:00.003+01:00

For once we found ourselves with a free Saturday night and were able to secure a pair of tickets for 'The Passenger' at the ENO.
An encounter between two women – one a former Auschwitz guard, the other a former prisoner – plunges them both back into the horrors of the Holocaust, pitting perpetrator against victim in a moral battle between guilt and denial, retribution and absolution.

Based upon a semi-autobiographical novel by Auschwitz survivor Zofia Posmysz, Polish composer Mieczysław Weinberg’s 1968 opera The Passenger was effectively banned in the USSR and only finally received its triumphant stage premiere at last year’s Bregenz Festival, 14 years after Weinberg’s death. Hailed as ‘a work that demands and deserves to be seen’ (Opera), this 20th century masterpiece, by a composer whose music has been characterised as ‘Shostakovich with a Jewish accent’. This ENO production, in David Pountney’s shatteringly intense staging, conducted by Sir Richard Armstrong was immense, with great music, great singing and some terrific performances.
We sat next to a couple that weren't regular opera goers and in the interval they were a little uncommited in how they felt, by the end of the opera they were totally moved, as we were, and were close to tears.

The relationship between two of the main characters, played by Michelle Breedt and Kim Begley, didn't quite work but the casting throughout was strong and effective. There were superb performances by the girls who perfomed the roles of the prisoners, 'Marta' played by Giselle Allen, was stunning as was her Polish boyfriend 'Tadeusz', also a prisoner, played by Leigh Melrose. This is an opera that has the potential to change people, not just the performers who have to go through the heart wrenching emotions performance after performance, but the audience who attend. At this moment I feel more aware of the effects of my actions or words on other people than I did yesterday, now that's life changing!

Back to earth with a bump on Sunday.. we had to attend a wedding show at the wonderful Fallowfields Hotel in sunny Kingston Bagpuize.. hoping some of those brides and grooms will book us to perform at their wedding.. a bit of a long afternoon when you're so tired after a late night at the opera in London.

Singing Bridesmaids!

2011-09-27T14:11:00.001+01:00

Whatever next! We've just been employed for the Worton park wedding fayre, as models for the cat walk! Vanessa and Leonie dress as bridesmaids and whilst posing suddenly burst in to a duet... it made an impact and we have several conversations now with potential newly weds to incorporate something classy in their wedding ceremonies!
We're now focusing on another double booking for our singing waiters, on Friday. Vanessa and team will be performing at the Town Hall for a fund raising event for a special teenager currently studying at a Cumnor School.
Gulshat Kadyrova needs a £35,000 life saving operation - read her incredible story in a recent Oxford Times and do copy to the dinner on Friday if you can.To buy a ticket, contact Colin Walsh at colinwalshasc@ gmail.com or 01865 421276, or John Morley on morley@ arjan.net or 01865 864439. Visit gulshatfund.org.uk for more information.
Whilst Vanessa is doing this I'll be travelling to do a singing waiters gig in Reading with Janet Fairlee and Sian Jones. We do seem to be incredibly busy at the moment which is great news but one does have to wonder what all this talk about a financial crisis is all about. Actually I think it shows that people want to escape all this depression and just have a good time..

Singing to cup cakes!

2011-09-19T10:54:00.001+01:00

We're just recovering from an amazing weekend of performing but thanks to our hard working troupe of brilliantly hard working musicians who helped make it all possible.
The Oxford Castle Food & Wine Festival took up most of the weekend but it was terrific fun as we had been employed as 'roving entertainers', there were lots of opportunities to bring some spontaneity into our performances - even performing to cup cakes (see the end of the video posted here if you don't believe me!).
Despite our work with the Oxford Castle we still were able to respond to requests to sing as singing waiters at a wedding reception on Saturday afternoon and also at No 1 Folly Bridge in the evening! We are SO tired!

Making Music conference in Glasgow

2011-09-15T16:06:00.000+01:00

Just returned home from a blustery Scotland, attended the Making Music conference in Glasgow and we took a few days to enjoy the amazing countryside of Lanarkshire. We also managed to see a performance of Scottish Opera's new production of Orpheus in the Underworld, a new translation by Rory Bremner.
An amusing and energetic showing that went down exceptionally well with the audience, we were further amused to see one of our singers from our earlier years, Jane Harrington, performing in one of the main roles, as 'Eurydice'.
Our presence at the Making Music conference was intended to seek out partnerships with choirs and orchestras across the UK to collaborate with a national tour of a new production of the 'Mikado' we are planning for 2012.
It proved to be a great opportunity and initial discussions are taking place.. further news on the tour will be announced over the coming months.

Glasgow here we come!

2011-09-07T13:47:00.000+01:00

Vanessa and Amy on last week's opera punt, a gorgeous warm Sunday afternoon..

It seems that last weeks opera punting trips in the sun might be the last one's we do for this season, judging by the deterioration in the weather!
As it happens we're escaping cold and freezing Oxfordshire this weekend for much much harsher weather - Glasgow!
Whilst some of our team perform a singing waiters engagement at a dinner in an Oxford college, we're off to talk to Making Music members at their annual conference in Glasgow.
Our plan is to talk to Making Music members across the UK, we're looking to tour our new Mikado in collaboration with choirs, orchestras and festivals.. it could be a great community project and lay the foundation for great things to come.
Whilst we're up in Glasgow we're taking in a performance by Scottish Opera of Orpheus in the underworld - looking forward to seeing how they deal with productions at small venues, and most of course to see this new take, a specially-commissioned translation by comedian and political satirist Rory Bremner.