Tuesday, April 20, 1999
Opera is seeking 'super' talent
BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Listening in here and there all over town ...
OVERHEARD AT THE BROTHEL: “Oh, I've been a floozie, minister's wife and a mayor's wife too. Maybe I'll be a corpse this year.”
That from arts activist Peggy Kahn and it really wasn't in a brothel.
The floozie reference was to a Cincinnati Opera production of Manon Lescaut in the early '90s when she lined up a batch of blue-blooded ladies — herself, Joanie Lotts, Helen Hinckley, Joyce Holmes, Sue Doan — to play ladies of the evening in the show. Supers, they call them — non-singing extras who fill the stage, making grand opera even grander.
Kahn has been a super since 1972, including a minister's wife — Jim Scott was her holy husband — and the mayor's wife in Carmen.
This year? She likes the idea of being a corpse in Faust, but they're all males, so probably not.
Anyway, she's back lining up supers, maybe even her artsy blue bloods, but “it's work. I don't ever recall this many supers — usually it's 20 or so. This year it's more than 75.”
Such as: 40 seniors for Turn of the Screw; a marching band for La Boheme; eight corpses and 10 kids for Faust; eight or so servants for Don Giovanni.
There's a casting call 6 p.m. Monday at Music Hall; 744-3313 to register.
And don't worry about Kahn turning you in to a lady of the evening. They're in short supply this year.
OVERHEARD IN THE RING: Look for it in late summer. Or early fall.
That from Les Thatcher, owner of Evendale's Main Event Pro Wrestling Center, a facility that trains young wrestlers for a life in the ring. What he's telling us to look for is a TV show.
Seems Banks Tarver, producer of MTV's True Life series, spent three days there in March, shooting 24-year-old Matt Taglia, a 200-pound trainee from Chicago — falls, slams, drills, the stuff you gotta do before you can get in the ring.
Tarver and crew will be back twice for more footage, but no dates are set. He decided to film at Main Event (it has trainees from 12 states and three countries) because of the school's reputation in the industry.
OVERHEARD AT THE FUR COUNTER: We know at least one person not too happy that NBC cancelled Another World. That would be Donna Salyers, owner of Covington's Fabulous Furs.
World, recall, was a big customer. Vickie (Ann Heche at the time), got married in a Salyers fake and wore others in subsequent shows. Another character wore her earmuffs. There were pillows and throws scattered on the set.
That all ends June 25, when World signs off.
Not that Salyers is hurting for business. All My Children uses her stuff. As does Broadway's Grandma Sylvia's Wedding and Afterplay. Ditto TV's prime-time's Working. And it's her stuff as well in You've Got Mail.
Śledein OVERHEARD BACKSTAGE: “We're can't have a spring play this year, so we're having a party instead.”
Theater people. They're all alike. Tossing a party at the drop of a kleig light.
Referring here to Wyoming Players, the oldest established community theater in Ohio. It was born, says spokeswoman Mary Corley, in 1885, 11 years after Wyoming was founded. It's out of commission right now because its home base, Wyoming Middle School and Fay Auditorium are in the throes of a renovation job.
Hence the party, but not just any party. With a 125-year history, there are so many alums out there they decided to have a reunion — Gala Reunion and Cast Party Without a Play, they're calling it.
The problem is, there are a ton of them they can't find, Corley says, because “over the years, addresses have been lost and we've lost track.”
They're looking, she says, for anyone affiliated in any way — cast, crew, even audience member.
The party, in or out of costume, is 8 p.m. Saturday. Call Corley at 761-0041 for info.
Psst! appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
Psst! appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
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