Diary of a First-time Super

The principal cast with priests and soliders
[Photo by Tim Matheson]

Opera productions pull together fast. Really fast. At least that's been my experience working with Vancouver Opera on their upcoming production of Aida. Given that the tagline is "The Grandest of Grand Operas", Aida is certainly no small show put together.

AIDA
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
April 21 - May 3
Online tickets sales via VancouverOpera.ca

I had been hired as a "super," short for supernumerary. For you film buffs, you'll probably be more familiar with the term "extra." The "Triumphal March", one of the scenes for which Aida is most know for, is rather heavy with its demand for supers. They form the armies of triumphant soldiers returning home, the servants to royalty, and the captured Ethiopian prisoners.

Rehearsals started late March, in the large rehearsal hall at Vancouver Opera's very own building. Things moved along really, really quickly. Before I knew it, we had entirely blocked the "Triumphal March", gone through it more than a few times, and then finished blocking the other scenes. Each rehearsal the props slowly but surely became more and more intricate and elaborate.

Principals Daveda Karanas, Arnold Rawls, and Mlada Khudoley
[Photo by Tim Matheson]

Rehearsals started with just the supers, numbering at around forty. By the second week, we started rehearsing with the chorus. This more than doubled our numbers, and the space started feeling a lot more crowded. The first time I heard the chorus sing, the powerful, loud combination of so many voices in such an intimate space took me completely by surprise.

Morris Robinson and Arnold Rawls
[Photo by Tim Matheson]

Later on we added the ballet dancers, all incredibly agile. (Side note, the male dancers all looked like they didn't have a single fat cell to share amongst themselves. For once, I wasn't the skinniest b in the room!) With their addition, the scenes were pretty much fully blocked.

Wardrobe spent a good two days outfitting the huge cast. Each of us booked a specific time to find out what, or in my case what little, we were wearing. I play an Egyptian soldier first, in a look we had dubbed the glitter warrior. I go from wearing quite little, into an Ethiopian slave, where I wear almost nothing. Now that we all knew how scantily clad we were going to be, all that was left was to move into the theatre and start rehearsing with the orchestra.

There's something extremely magical about entering the backstage of a theatre for the very first time. Especially a theatre as incredibly huge as the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. I'll have to admit, that first day I got lost at least twice. We got into makeup to be fitted into wigs and body paint. I'm rather happy to note that neither of those things were deemed necessary for me. For the rest of the mostly Caucasian cast, turning them into the populaces of Egypt and Nubia required a lot of tan skin color.

The magic all came together by the time the magnificent set was completely assembled (check above for a really cool time-lapse video of the loading process) and we began doing scenes with all the proper lighting cues. Now really, all we need is the audience. Honestly, I really can't wait!


Posted by Filipina Colada