Oklahoma Today Winter 1983-1984 Volume 34 ... - Digital Collections

manning a hospitality room with what's
said to be Tulsa's best homemade food.
Behind the scenes are volunteer office
workers, make-up artists, production
crews and a dedicated wardrobe crew-
who for your average opera must create,
coordinate and maintain upwards of 200
costumes.
Cheryl Zrnic, opera spokeswoman, es-
timates that volunteer efforts are worth
almost $16,000 per production. And that
doesn't count volunteer office help or
the opera buffs who run the education
programs. There are only seven full-time
staff members on salary.
But for volunteers, putting a price tag
on their services is unnecessary. It's a
labor of love.
Carl Siberts, a chorus member origi-
Swan Everfy-Dome writes for the Tulsa
World; Don Siblg ha photographed Tda
Opera for four yean.
Prince Yamadori's servants.
"The most thrilling part is during the
initial rehearsals and staging, all the hard
work and cooperation," he says. "The
actual performance, while the jewel, is a
jewel that rests on the tip of an iceberg,
the unseen bulk of work of hundreds of
people."
For Scott, the Tulsa Opera has be-
come a family affair. His wife, Rita, is a
member of the Tulsa Opera Guild and
helps with make-up. Last season she
transformed her husband into a turn-of-
the-century Japanese, an undertaking
that lasted 20 minutes.
When he took his son, Terry, 14 and
I an avid football and basketball fan, to a
rehearsal, Scott says he feared the teen-
ager would be bored. "But he was fasci-
nated," Scott recalls. "He realized that
opera singers were cool dudes like bas-
ketball players, and he's considering be-
ing an extra himself next season."
It's an attitude that's obviously been
influenced by having a "spear carrier"
for a father.
"I love basketball, football, and I root
for the Roughnecks," Scott says. "There
are refined lovers of the arts in every
comer of the U.S. You definitely don't
II have to be a wimp to like opera." rn
W
There Getting
nally from Okmulgee, is typical. One of Two of the three operas that make up
his lifetime thrills was a one-line solo in
"La Boheme." "That was really a night
to remember," he says, "a fabulously
uplifting experience."
Tulsa Opera's 1983-1984 season are still in
the offing-"Laria di Lammermoor" by
Donizetti and Gilberr and Sullivan's "Pirates
of Penzanre. "
"Luba," starring Erie Milk of "Can-
Then there's Doug Scott, one of the dide" fame, sounds off March 3, 8 and 10,
opera's many extras, known in the trade
as "spear carriers" or "supernumeraries."
A banker who recently relocated in Tulsa,
he calls himself "a starry-eyed opera
1984, at 8 p.m. in Chapman Music Hall
of the Tulsa Pegomzing Arts Center, 2nd
and Cincinnati.
"Pirates" ends the season in rousing
English fashion Muy 5, 10 and 1L'7(ame
lover who's just plain lucky." time, same place. Yi'rkets for aN pegor-
"I'd almost pay to do this," he says,
recalling his most recent roles in "Madama
Butterfly" as one of the Pinkerton's
fellow lieutenants and one of
mances range from $4 for student admission
to $40 for a view from the front of the
orchestra. Call (918) 587-4811 for more
information.