Spliced

So I finally tied the knot with Sally on Saturday. We had a wonderful day surrounded by friends and family. Sally looked gorgeous and Fiora behaved herself, even managing to sleep in the corner of the party for a couple of hours. Things got a little blubby at times and I managed to let the word "shit" slip out during the vows but I had a good excuse. Don't think the registrar was too impressed though. My children did me very proud; Lea gave a speech that, had I been wearing any, would have ruined the mascara and Gianluca sang and played a few songs brilliantly. Sally's brother delivered words from her Dad and sister. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. Well neither of mine were.

So it is back to the season build up with the company moving into the theatre with sets arriving to be built soon. The lace is looking better than it ever has so a big round of applause for Kasete Skeen, our operations manager. Things are really taking shape in the rehearsals with two happy companies and great reports. Not long now.

Curtain up

The traditional curtain raiser to the season - the "Prelude" - took place last night with a big turn out of friends and supporters for an evening of fantastic music with singers from the upcoming season. There we some really impressive performances from all of them. It was lovely to see two representatives of Investec Wealth & Investment as well, both attending what is essentially the first event of their sponsorship. It is an event that always feels as though you amongst friends in the very real sense and we are lucky to have such dedicated supporters. Richard Bonynge took time out from rehearsing Don Pasquale to join us and it is most encouraging to hear how positive he is about the production and cast. There is likely to be some fragility in the office today.

James and I are off to record an interview with Ed Seckerson of the Independent for transmission on their website. Links to follow.

Messy

A week of press interviews and photographs beckons.
At the theatre kilometres of cable with pretty lights attached to the ends is being laid and everything seems to need painting. Whilst almost complete, the place still manages to look like a bomb site (well, the house is a bomb site of course!) The continuing good weather helps the cause no end but this being Britain there is always a fear that you end up paying for it at some point along the line. We spend such a lot of time working on the aesthetics of the place - a curious intent I sometimes think, since we are an 'outdoor' venue. I often wonder if I am substantially more concerned about such things than our audience. We had a good site visit with representatives of our new sponsor Investec Wealth & Investment on Friday. They thought the place looked great whilst I spent the whole time apologising for the mess it was in. Perhaps it is best that way?

The pits

With two productions in full rehearsal now, time is running out on the theatre build. It is good to report, then, that we are nearly finished with only the beautification (and a mammoth clean)to come. The biggest aesthetic change this year that most will notice is a lovely new orchestra pit and floor to the front of the seating. Deeper, with sweeping curves, it is a very significant development, giving conductors a more condensed and focused orchestral set up. Conducting will feel less like watching a tennis match now. We have also introduced a riot of colour into the site with lots of new planting and some new exotically filled pots to come. The frilly shirts are out again.

Artistically, the first two productions are very strongly cast with two brilliant directors at the helm so hopes are high. L'amico Fritz really is a lovely way to spend a summer evening and Stephen Barlow has some great ideas about Don Pasquale. Here's hoping for a splendid start to the season.