Kids enlist for opera boot camp

Forty-one young vocalists slide across the stage, some carrying

colorful puppets, trying their best to avoid the performer’s ultimate

nightmare: being upstaged.

Every few minutes, the cast is stopped mid-song by Andrew

Nienaber, an assistant director at Opera Pacific charged with staging

this special performance.

“Can you be two steps down? You’re blocking people,” he yells to

one cast member.

“Bring the puppet’s head forward so you aren’t hiding your face,”

he barks to another.

“Slap-stick com-e-dy,” Nienaber chants moments later, reminding

his performers to infuse more humor into a scene.

This is Opera Pacific Opera Camp, no place for the timid.

For the sixth consecutive summer, students ages 8 to 18 are

spending three and a half weeks at UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor Theatre,

preparing for a full-scale performance as part of the Children’s

Composition Project.

This year, it is the world premiere of “Das Puppet,” a show

conceived and performed by students that incorporates the music of

Richard Wagner and Ludwig van Beethoven.

The instructors in the summer program come from Opera Pacific, the

resident grand opera company that performs at Costa Mesa’s Orange

County Performing Arts Center.

Auditions for “Das Puppet” were held in February. The show’s

producer, Jennifer Cook, chose from among 100 students, many of whom

had been in past performances.

Cook, the stage manager at Opera Pacific for nearly a decade, has

been a part of each Opera Camp since its inception. She said it’s a

way for her to keep a fresh perspective on her craft.

“When you get older, it stops becoming fun,” Cook said. “The kids

still have a pure love of opera, and I appreciate that. I think it’s

good for them.”

Back in September, the creators of “Das Puppet” began meeting to

work out the show’s details. With professional oversight from Opera

Camp Music Director and Conductor Henri Venanzi, the libretto was

created by Nora Mally, a senior at the Orange County High School of

the Arts in Santa Ana. UC Irvine graduate Sean Cawelti designed the

puppets for the show.

“Das Puppet” tells the story of a troupe of puppets who are

performing a new production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. The senior cast

members carry puppets and the younger ones play technicians in the

show.

Make no mistake: This is not a beginner’s camp.

Though only in high school, most of the principal actors have

extensive theater experience and vocal training. Many of the junior

high and elementary school actors have participated in the camp since

they were in fourth grade.

That means Nienaber and Cook can treat them like professional

performers. They stop the action if one of the actors isn’t wearing

his angry face. They walk on stage if an actress isn’t projecting her

words.

Campers learn these skills during morning instruction sessions. In

addition to performance tips, the students are schooled in German so

they can sound authentic during the show.

“I’ve never been part of a program where you can learn music

theory and technique and then apply them as well,” said 16-year-old

Newport Beach resident Sarah Geocaris, who plays one of the lead

puppet roles in the principal cast.

A handful of performers are from Newport-Mesa, including

10-year-old Erin Samueli of Corona del Mar.

It’s her fourth year in the camp, and by now she has realized the

productions are basically organized chaos.

“I have someone chasing me on stage,” Samueli said. “It’s hard to

move without hitting someone.”

According to 16-year-old Robert Nicholas Boragno, with less than a

month to perfect the performance, there’s little room for error,

particularly given the intricacy of the music.

Boragno, a Corona del Mar resident who has performed

professionally with Opera Pacific, plays Woton, the head puppet in

the show within the show.

“I’m exhausted by the end of the day,” he said.

The key, Cook said, is preparing the cast for the performance

without burdening them with too much information.

For 11-year-old Allison Swift of Corona del Mar, burnout is not a

concern.

She is happy to be among her peers.

“Most of my friends are into pop music,” Swift said. “It’s nice to

work with a lot of people who like opera.”

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at

elia.powers@latimes.com.