[This is a guest post by Jennifer Pugsley, media relations manager at the Canadian Opera Company. Jennifer is joining David Feheley and many others from the COC for the U.S. premiere of The Nightingale of Other Short Fables at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). This post was written March 2.]  

You could feel the magic in the air on Tuesday evening the moment you stepped through the stage door at the BAM Opera house. Everyone was so excited: the crew, the cast, the puppeteers/acrobats, the chorus, the orchestra, even the security guards at stage door. 

A few of us went around to the dressing rooms, makeup rooms and warmup spaces telling all the artists "toi, toi, toi" and the wattage coming off of the smiles we got in return was strong enough to light up Brooklyn and Manhattan. People were really ready to get out on the stage and show New York what a great production the Canadian Opera Company, with Robert Lepage, had created with The Nightingale and Other Short Fables. They were pumped. That's the only way to describe it. From the moment Maestro Debus raised his baton and the COC Orchestra launched into Ragtime, the crowd was with us. They seemed to fall more and more in love with the production with every moment's passing. To say that the audience was laughing out loud during the first half would be an understatement.  People were slapping their knees and clutching their sides; that's how delighted they were with what they were seeing and hearing. 

The audience took just as much pleasure in the second half. People were leaning forward in their seats, absolutely enchanted by our singers' voices and the genius of Michael Curry's puppets. All the cast members of The Nightingale have become incredible puppeteers in their own right. Lothar Odinius, the Fisherman, and Michael Uloth, the Bonze, in particular, have infused such life into their puppets that you're almost fooled into believing these figures have come alive. And, of course, Olga Peretyatko truly was a nightingale as her voice soared through the opera house.

The applause at the performance's end was instantaneous and just grew and grew and grew as everyone stepped forward for their bows. The audience took to its feet for a standing ovation when Robert Lepage and Michael Curry joined the curtain call.

Oh, what a night!

With BAM hosting an opening night reception for the COC immediately after the performance, no one lingered long backstage, especially once the news that renowned actor Alan Rickman, who was in the audience for opening night, would be joining the festivities.

A blog post is still to come on the opening night party. Party pics to be included!

Photo © Michael Cooper 2009