Last night was dress rehearsal—the actors were dressed in costume, and the stage was dressed in the set. Nedda (in a long dress of the era) gave Tonio a dressing down after his unwanted advances, and we watched Canio dress himself in the part of Pagliaccio. The orchestra was in their undress uniforms (black tie only being required for performances), but none of them were undressed (this being a family-friendly production). The choristers presented themselves in dressed arrays, but the chicken (a prop used in the Commedia dell'Arte) had not been dressed. For some strange reason, when you dress a chicken you actually undress it, removing the feathers and preparing it for cooking. It is amazing to me how so seemingly simple a word can have so many meanings.

I wanted to show you some before and after pictures of the production of Pagliacci. The "before" shots were all taken during rehearsal, and the "after" images are what you will see on stage. It never fails to amaze me how real the stage becomes. To be sure, we all enter into the theatre with a willingness to suspend disbelief. We know that Peter Pan doesn't fly—there are just wires and a flying rig—but we allow ourselves to believe. We know that Colombina (or Nedda (or Mary Mills)) is still very much alive after Pagliaccio (or Canio (or Richard Leech)) stabs her, but the violence of the act is still shocking. And we know (at least intellectually) that the scene on stage is just clever lighting, backdrops, and forced perspective with false buildings. But when the house lights go down, the curtain rises, and the orchestra swells—something inside of us is transported to a magical, yet wholly real place.

I have had the extreme good fortune to have been granted a behind the scenes peek at how Pagliacci has been put together. I have had the luxury of watching others work, while all I did was take pictures and write. My job is perhaps not all that trivial—each blog item that I post takes an average of 6 hours to construct—but I can tell you how it works, because it is what I do. But in watching the rehearsals, I got to see how some of the magic is done. It's hard work! I saw how the magician hides cards up his sleeve, how the assisant carries the rabbit into the box so it can be later revealed, and I got to share it with you (and I really enjoy sharing). And I also know what I want to explore next time (scenery construction and lighting are high on the list).

Opening night is tomorrow—go downtown, sit back, and enjoy the show. You will see the culmination of the on-stage and off-stage work of the performers, orchestra, and all the myriad crew. I will have one or two more articles to write about Pagliacci, and then it is on to Romeo and Juliet.

I hope you're having as much fun peeking backstage as I am!