The Star chief reporter Brenda Harwood spoke to directors Kim Morgan, Lisa Warrington and Clare Adams about this unique project.
Kim Morgan
Tackling a short rehearsal period for The Daughters of the Late Colonel, while also directing Chicago for Taieri Musical, means a very tight schedule for director Kim Morgan, but the expertise of musical director David Burchell and her team of four singers is easing the pressure.
"It is brilliant working with David Burchell, he knows the singers very well, and they have been working on the music for a while, so it has been much easier to hit the ground running," Morgan said.
A charming story, which explores the changes experienced by two sisters after many years of caring for their ill father, The Daughters of the Late Colonel is performed by singers Erica Paterson and Emma McLean as the sisters, with Sarah Hubbard as the maid and Federico Freschi as the Reverend.
As stage director, it’s Morgan’s job to get the sweetly comic piece "on its feet" and ready for performance.
"Fortunately, thanks to the amazing performance and production team, it’s all ready to go — we just have to assemble the pieces this week," she said.
Lisa Warrington
Working on The Woman at the Store is an interesting process for Lisa Warrington, who is enjoying being one of three directors in a "short and sweet" rehearsal period.
"It’s relatively unusual putting on three linked one-act pieces like this, and for myself it is a different experience directing opera," she said.
She is finding great support in musical director Mark Wigglesworth and local singers Ben Madden, Calla Knudson-Hollebon, and Lillian Gibbs, and Wellington-based singer Roger Wilson.
The Woman at the Store tells of the strained and moving encounter between travellers and a woman and her daughter running a remote store.
"Music definitely brings a whole different dimension to character development, and the singers are very open and amenable to my ideas, so it’s an enjoyable process."
Warrington paid tribute to the hard working opera company, in particular "fantastic" props manager Christine Wilson, and costume designer Charmian Smith.
Clare Adams
Handling a larger cast comprising five singers and two actors is proving an enjoyable challenge for director Clare Adams and musical director Sandra Crawshaw.
Miss Brill is set in a park, where fox fur-wearing Miss Brill observes from a park bench while three couples pass through — a young couple, a middle-aged couple, and an older couple.
"As with a lot of Mansfield stories, there is a lot to unpack in that, so we are having an interesting time with it," Adams said.
The singers are Olivia Pike as Miss Brill, Scott Bezett and Gemma Chester as the young couple, Kieran Kelly and Erin Connelly-Whyte as the middle aged pair, and non-singers Sarah and Blaise Barham as the older couple.
"Everyone has done the work on their parts, so now we are putting it all together — it’s great to be working with them," she said.
For Adams, who was director of Opera Otago’s Die Fledermaus last year, which was cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions, it is a pleasure to be working with singers again.
"This is a great opportunity for all of us, directors and performers," she said.
— Performances of The Mansfield Trilogy will be held at the Mayfair Theatre this Saturday, September 10, at 2pm, and Sunday, September 11, at 2pm and 7pm.
Mansfield Trilogy
Composed by Dorothy Buchanan, with libretto by Jeremy Commons, The Mansfield Trilogy features The Daughters of the Late Colonel, directed by Kim Morgan and musical director David Burchell; The Woman at the Store, directed by Lisa Warrington and musical director by Mark Wigglesworth; and Miss Brill, directed by Clare Adams and musical director Sandra Crawshaw.
