Silence On Stage, Please!

The very first time I ever directed anything was a stage play. Actually it was a Culture Night show for UCLA’s Vietnamese Student Union. For those of you who don’t know… each year, many of those College student organizations put on shows, usually incorporating a narrative of some sort, traditional and modern dances and songs, and most of the time a fashion show as well. I wrote and directed 2004’s “Farewell Indochina”, and since then I’ve been hooked. It was a dramedy, a love story, set against the backdrop of French Colonial Vietnam. An audience of about 1800 people came to Royce Hall to laugh and cry with us. What a great night…

Since then, I have never revisited the stage. It was my only time breathing theatre air. I have thrown myself into filmmaking instead, and have come accustomed a performance language that’s quite different than theatre.

A few weeks ago during one of my Europe trips, I learned of a new language: Modern opera. Did I say modern opera? Yes. That exists! It was a completely unknown genre to me, and I had the unique opportunity to photograph it up close and personal during various rehearsals. And I must say that I haven’t been this touched by a story in a long time. It was a cast of nine performers, who portrayed a variety of characters through different time periods and pulled it off flawlessly. The power of acting and good storytelling in form of music was quite impressive. I felt as though I was getting a lesson yet again on filmmaking without watching a film. I really wish I could share the actual music with you, but the pictures will have to do.

Look at these faces of agony, fear, joy, and love. Beautiful artists! Now imagine beautiful voices go with those faces, singing a beautiful chamber opera…

I think I’m going to sit in my car now and sing there. La la la la laaaaaaaa!

“Baruchs Schweigen” by Ella Milch-Sheriff, performed at the Staatstheater Braunschweig