.JS: Elise, you just returned from THE INTERNATIONAL GILBERT AND SULLIVAN FESTIVAL in England. I’m sure some of our readers didn’t even know there was an International G&S festival. Can you describe it for us?
EC: The main feature of the Festival is the series of performances every night in the Buxton Opera House. On weeknights, amateur groups perform and are adjudicated in such areas as direction, music direction, best chorus, best male vocal, best female performer, best youth production, etc. At the end of the Festival there is an awards banquet, and we find out if the adjudicator agreed with our own choices. On weekends, the Festival's own G&S OPERA COMPANY gives 3 performances an opera, with each weekend being a different offering. This year, for instance, they did 'Pinafore', 'Pirates', and 'Princess Ida'. 'Princess Ida' was directed by a very innovative, creative genius named Jeff Clarke, and the show was the best Gilbert and Sullivan I have ever seen in my life, and that's saying something!
JS: I understand that you have a close association with the Festival.
EC: I am on the staff of the Festival and this was my fourth year participating. The Smiths, Ian and Neil, who started and run the Festival, have appreciated my positive contributions to the past 3 Festivals to the extent of wanting me to help represent what the Festival stands for. One way I did this was to be the face of the Festival as I stood out front of the courtyard at the opera house every evening, right before the performances, and sang bits of G&S and sold candy from "Buttercup's Basket", dressed up as Buttercup herself! The Smiths said I used my Disney skills to sell out of the candy in record time.
JS: Our audiences know you primarily as a singer; isn’t that how you had your first experience with the Festival?
EC: Yes, I was discovered by the Festival accompanist, Clive Woods. When he heard me, he said they simply have to have me sing there, and he contacted the Smiths and got me on the program with my first solo recital at the fringe portion of the Festival. This was quite an honor, as very few people are invited to give solo recitals.
This year, I continued my series of recitals with "G&S in 3/4 Time", where I examined the different ways that Sullivan, and Gilbert, too, used that meter. My previous programs had included "Sopranos of the Savoy", a survey of most of the big soprano arias from the canon, "More Sopranos of the Savoy", where I sang some of the lesser-known arias from the more rare works, and "Sullivan and His Satellites", where I compared Sullivan to his musical influences, like Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, and Mendelssohn, and showed how he influenced the composers who came after him in the field of light opera and musical theater.
JS: I heard that you were nominated for “ Best Character Actress” for your shattering performance of Mad Margaret in ‘Ruddigore’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlQ3JmE7Ur8). Did you do any roles this year?
EC: I made it onto the stage of the Buxton Opera House this year as a bridesmaid in the Western Australia "Trial by Jury", and made lots of new friends from down under. These folks also did a very funny Australian version of Rossini's ‘Cenerentola’ (Cinderella), which included a scene where Foster's beer cans littered the stage. You never know what you'll see at the Festival!
JS: Since you were a staff member, you must have been kept pretty busy. What else did you do beside sell candy?
EC: As a Festival Coordinator, one of my jobs was to fill in for any female role that was empty on any given night in the after-show entertainment in the Festival Club. It’s a good thing I know the entire G&S canon, because in this capacity, I sang the title role in 'Patience', Zorah from 'Ruddigore', and Lady Psyche AND Lady Blanche from 'Princess Ida'! I also appeared on a sort of G&S "Jeopardy" or "College Bowl", where we had to ring in with answers about the famous duo, some simple and some very obscure.
JS: I understand there are some exciting developments ahead for the Festival. What can you tell us about it?
EC: The Smiths are ready to expand the Festival to include a week in the US, and I am one of the liaison persons for this, so I'll be keeping you updated on that. Here is the link for the most recent Festival newsletter. http://www.gs-festival.co.uk/userfiles/documents/Newsletter%20Nov09.pdf
The latest news is that it will be held June 19-26, 2010 in Pennsylvania. This is great news for all those who can't travel all the way to England I have been invited to bring a group from CFLO to this US leg of the Festival, performing whatever G&S we like.
The Festival continues to move forward, and there are many exciting plans afoot, including getting a thousand people to sing G&S at the opening ceremonies for the 2012 London Olympics!
JS: CFLO just finished its run of HMS PINAFORE, which you directed. This was my second G&S operetta with you, and I was amazed at all the ideas that you had for making this show exciting. Would it be correct to assume that seeing all those festival productions inspires you as a director?
EC: Oh, absolutely! Not necessarily that I did the exact same things I saw being done there, but that all the creativity gave me permission, as it were, to let my own ideas flow, to try some new and original things that I hadn’t seen done before. I am also greatly inspired by the people I have in my cast here at home; their individual personalities and talents give me all kinds of ideas, and those always end up being the best ones! I had an absolute ball working on the show, and thought the cast was fantastic!
JS: So, with HMS Pinafore out of the way, I know you are starring as the Countess in our upcoming Marriage of Figaro in January. How do feel about playing the Countess?
EC: It's a role I never thought I'd do; I always thought I was a Susanna, but my voice has maturely so nicely that I can now sing the “great ladies”, and that is very satisfying. Mozart has perfectly illustrated with his music who the Countess is, and it is a joy to sing. Also, 'The Marriage of Figaro' is an ensemble opera; it's not about stars, so you get to sing so many wonderful ensembles with your colleagues, and I always enjoy that. I mean, I get to sing harmony lines, instead of the melody all the time, and I love singing harmony! Plus, I feel I've come full-circle, as I sang Rosina in the Barber of Seville when I was younger, and now I'm ready to do the more mature version of the same character.
JS: How is the character of the Countess different from those of G&S?
EC: The Countess is a sort of semi-tragic heroine, a noble and dignified lady who knows real suffering, seeing her husband philandering right under her nose. This is a story that happens in real life every day, and even though she's reconciled with him in the end, she knows that she does not have a perfect marriage. G&S sopranos don't usually have to deal with such situations, as the basic premise for any G&S opera is “topsy-turvy”. In other words, the things that happen in those works would not happen in real life, although the characters behave as though everything is normal. So there has to be a suspension of disbelief, and this determines from the start that you don't play it the same way you would a role like one of Mozart's. When I played Mad Margaret, I departed from the usual G&S formula by actually drawing on Lucia's type of madness to make it seem more real, which is not how that role is generally seen. Usually people play it for laughs, and she *is* funny, but I wanted to bring more depth to the character, especially as Sullivan's music supported that idea.
JS: The last time we performed The Marriage of Figaro, you played clarinet in the orchestra. Maestro has said on numerous occasions what and outstanding clarinetist you are and how much he will miss you this time in the orchestra. I am wondering how singing Mozart differs from playing it in the orchestra?
EC: It's amazing how similar the two things are, actually! Since I play wind instruments (clarinet and flute), a lot of the ways that I make music, the ways that I strive for legato line and try to wring the most expression possible from every phrase by use of the breath are almost the same. Mozart is unsurpassed in that respect, that there's so much expression there for you to discover, and no matter how many times you sing an aria or play the Clarinet Concerto, you always find new things The biggest difference is probably using the text in singing, as that is not a concern when you play. I played clarinet/flute for CFLO the last time we did the opera, and I can tell you that you feel a bit disconnected from the action on stage when you are busy playing. You have to pay attention to every bit of music that is going on every moment, and you don't have time to relax and enjoy the show and follow the story. If you are singing, you get breaks occasionally, and you can regroup for your next appearance. Also, the rehearsal period for singers is so much longer than what musicians get, so you are immersed in the story from the beginning and for several weeks, whereas I know plenty of musicians who have no idea what is going on out there on the stage that they are accompanying! I don't like to be in that position, personally; whatever type of show I play for,
whether it be opera, operetta, oratorio, or musical theater, I have to know what it's all about so that I can be fully involved, and I always do research to find out all the details of the show. I think I do a better job of playing if I know what the character is singing about; I’ll change my interpretation based on that. And I know that this supports what the singer is trying to do. Because I sing and play, when I'm doing either one, I always think about the other one! So if I'm singing, I'm listening to the musicians and feeding off them, and if I'm playing, I listen to the singers and try to help them be more expressive by how I play. I have a hard time listening to recordings, because I am pulled every which way....don't know what to listen to first!
JS: Well, thank you Elise for your time today. I’m sure our supporters will love reading your interview and we all look forward to seeing you as the Countess in January.
