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Free Show
Live Streamed Sunday, May 31 At 3:00 PM PDT On Facebook |
Gatherings of more than 10 people have been banned, and here in Seattle we've been ordered to stay at home, but I will bring the show to you! I will be doing one song, so the time commitment is not big, but I may do larger shows as I create them. Starting Sunday, March 29 I will be recording the ten songs in my "Schubert Scraps" show one at a time. Go over to Facebook and like Paper Puppet Opera's page, then it will prompt you when we go live.
Miss the show? Not on Facebook? No big deal, check here for the videos.
This Sunday, May 31 I will perform Schubert's song Die Forelle, the last in the series. English translation below
Miss the show? Not on Facebook? No big deal, check here for the videos.
This Sunday, May 31 I will perform Schubert's song Die Forelle, the last in the series. English translation below
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Die Forelle
In einem Bächlein helle, Da schoß in froher Eil' Die launische Forelle Vorüber wie ein Pfeil. Ich stand an dem Gestade Und sah in süßer Ruh Des muntern Fischleins Bade Im klaren Bächlein zu. Ein Fischer mit der Rute Wohl an dem Ufer stand, Und sah's mit kaltem Blute, Wie sich das Fischlein wand. So lang dem Wasser Helle, So dacht ich, nicht gebricht, So fängt er die Forelle Mit seiner Angel nicht. Doch endlich ward dem Diebe Die Zeit zu lang. Er macht Das Bächlein tückisch trübe, Und eh ich es gedacht, So zuckte seine Rute, Das Fischlein zappelt dran, Und ich mit regem Blute Sah die Betrogene an. -- Poem by Christian Schubart |
The Trout
In a bright brook the capricious trout in joyous haste darted by like an arrow. I stood on the bank in blissful peace, watching the lively fish swim in the clear brook. An angler with his rod stood on the bank cold-bloodedly watching the fish’s contortions. As long as the water is clear, I thought, he won’t catch the trout with his rod. But at length the thief grew impatient. Cunningly he made the brook cloudy, and in an instant his rod quivered, and the fish struggled on it. And I, my blood boiling, looked on at the cheated creature. |
I have a long history with this, possibly Schubert's most famous, song. I first learned it as a freshman in college and then sang it with my operatic burlesque troupe, Operadisiac. In these shows I was generally dressed in a silver trout costume that I mostly made myself which consisted of a very tight tail that I could only hop around in with a silver corset and silver fish-scaled bra. The upper items came off one by one, eventually revealing a set of trout pasties (one head and one tail). Turns out a hazard of hopping is that things tend to jostle. During one show a pasty fell off, causing the audience to gasp, but they were actually fastened with Velcro to a flesh colored pasty beneath - one of Marchette DuBois' wonderful inventions for quick backstage pasty changes.
Marchette is also a wonderful accordion player, but the accordion is not made to handle the quick ascending scales in all the octaves Schubert wrote in the piano part of this song. Her modification made the accompaniment sound rather like Donkey Kong. This cracked us up to no end, so when my then boyfriend created a backing track for it he utilized the same sounds used in the video game. There's also a little mistake in the backing track, a note that shouldn't be there, but it's grown on me, and I see it as akin to the ink splat Schubert spilled on a copy of the manuscript he was drunkenly scribbling out for a friend.
As for the puppets, I kept it very simple. The fisherman is upside down because this is how trout see. Images above water are upside down to them, and they have large blind spots because their eyes are on either side of their head. Looking up is not their forte. Anglers know this and use it to their advantage. However, I kept the woman watching the trout right side up. This is more for balance but it also highlights the moral character of the two humans in the story. I also gave the trout a sweetheart. The sweetie can be seen at the end searching for the cruelly captured one.
You can read more about this song here
Marchette is also a wonderful accordion player, but the accordion is not made to handle the quick ascending scales in all the octaves Schubert wrote in the piano part of this song. Her modification made the accompaniment sound rather like Donkey Kong. This cracked us up to no end, so when my then boyfriend created a backing track for it he utilized the same sounds used in the video game. There's also a little mistake in the backing track, a note that shouldn't be there, but it's grown on me, and I see it as akin to the ink splat Schubert spilled on a copy of the manuscript he was drunkenly scribbling out for a friend.
As for the puppets, I kept it very simple. The fisherman is upside down because this is how trout see. Images above water are upside down to them, and they have large blind spots because their eyes are on either side of their head. Looking up is not their forte. Anglers know this and use it to their advantage. However, I kept the woman watching the trout right side up. This is more for balance but it also highlights the moral character of the two humans in the story. I also gave the trout a sweetheart. The sweetie can be seen at the end searching for the cruelly captured one.
You can read more about this song here
Here's a video from Bach's wedding cantata BWV 202, Weichet nur betrübte Schatten. Singing and puppetry by Juliana Brandon
Juliana Brandon is also available to bring this small puppet theater to your school, daycare, or party.
She brings all necessary technology, all you need to do is turn out the lights (though the show can also be performed in full sunlight with amazing clarity.) This Bach cantata is ready to hit the road and brings 20 minutes of enchantment to young and old alike. Juliana will also talk to your audience afterwards about the puppets, the music, and her process, and even explain a bit about how the magic works. Great fun for curious kids, and a wonderful way to introduce them to the world of classical vocal music and to the art of shadow puppetry.
Custom puppet pieces can also be created to fit your theme or curriculum.
See information on rates here.
She brings all necessary technology, all you need to do is turn out the lights (though the show can also be performed in full sunlight with amazing clarity.) This Bach cantata is ready to hit the road and brings 20 minutes of enchantment to young and old alike. Juliana will also talk to your audience afterwards about the puppets, the music, and her process, and even explain a bit about how the magic works. Great fun for curious kids, and a wonderful way to introduce them to the world of classical vocal music and to the art of shadow puppetry.
Custom puppet pieces can also be created to fit your theme or curriculum.
See information on rates here.