This is the day

We rehearsed all day Monday some of the time in costume.
It is looking pretty good.
We are doing the set "bump-in" at 9am this morning and start rehearsing at 11.
Tonight is it!



Saw the Nene Opera's Yeomen last night. It was good in many ways, but I would describe the whole effort as mezzo-forte at best. They never actually hit a fortissimo until "Leonard Meryll, Leonard Meryll!" in the Act I Finale.
Carruthers was weak and not menacing in When our Gallant Norman Foes. All of the men's wigs were so bushy that they looked like a medieval bad hair day. Meryll was great as was Point. Wilfred was outstanding, played rather in the style of a Welsh coal-miner. He was also the director and blew everyone off the stage whenever he was there. Not a good idea. Elsie was a bit thin in Act I, and Phoebe a bit lifeless (not flirtatious). Everyone was better in Act II. Fairfax had a youthful tenor voice, not all that big, and looked like he was about 12. Needed to seem older and have more gravitas. He was actually covered by Elsie in "With happiness our soul is cloyed" in the finale.
The Act I finale was utterly static. Everyone just stood and sang. They cut "Rapture, rapture."
The adjudicator was quite critical of the staticness and of the fact that the director didn't bring others up to his level. She agreed with most of my other sentiments but liked Fairfax better than I did.