Search - Sing Faster - The Stagehands' Ring Cycle on DVD

It Aint Over Till The Fat Lady (Brunhilde) Sings! A Great Do

Linda Yoder | 04/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sing Faster: The StageHands'Ring Cycle (1999): Starring The Production Staff, Singers, Chorus And Orchestra Of The San Francisco Opera, Ken Spike Kirkland as Principal Stagehand, Ann Panagulias, Sandra Walker and Mary Mills as Rhinemaidens, Written, Produced And Directed By Jon Else

Filmed in the summer of 1990 at the San Francisco Opera, I remember seeing this documentary on KCET/PBS channel 28. I was only 10-13. This documentary suffered low ratings because it was released at the time of the more successful Ken Burns documentary "The Civil War". But then, about 10 years later in 1999, director/producer Jon Else re-released it as a DVD. This is a behind-the-scenes look at the staging of Richard Wagner's greatest masterpiece based on the ancient Norse saga The Ring of the Nibelung, a series of four lengthy operas- Das Rhingold Die Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung, in a magnificent San Francisco Opera production, and one which I wished I could have been there to see.

The documentary is narrated by the Union production crew of Local 16, a cast of carpenters, grips, electricians, prop people, stage managers and assistant directors. The chief stagehand Ken "Spike" Kirkland (who had previously worked as a grip with the rap group Run DMC) summarizes the plot/story of the opera while wearing a B-52's shirt, lounging on a card table and discussing it with the other stagehands. For people who are not singers, teachers or even music majors, they certainly GET THE ESSENCE OF THE RING OPERAS! Its a fantasy soap opera-opera about man's lust for power, greed, corruption, a huge tragedy of the death of the gods and the new age of love and mankind. This is the documentary that hooked me into opera! It provides the viewers with an exciting, refreshing look at the making of an opera. There is a lot of movement and physical action as the production crew move heavy sets up and down the stage and organize the special effects- dry ice/fog, fire, thunder and lightning. While the singers rehearse, and when they are on their break, they play cards, take naps, and watch basketball on television. During the entire documentary, all we hear is the music and singing from Wagner's Ring, as the cast laboriously rehearse weeks before opening night. Scenes include the ever famous Ride of the Valkyries, Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla, The Rhimaiden's Lament, The Slaying of Fafner the Dragon by Siegfried and Brunhilde's Immolation Scene which triggers the Twilight of the Gods- Valhalla bursts into flames. The innards of the human-powered mechanic dragon is just one of the highlights. There are numerous funny moments such as the funny conversations about the Ring by the crew, the dramatic soprano singing Brunhilde (who was she?) enjoys herself backstage, socializing with the crew, making jokes and humming along to Wagner's music. My favorite scene, however, is the ending, in which after the long and arduous process of producing this 17 hour long opera cycle, it's finally opening night and an impatient crowd run into the San Francisco Opera house to get to their seats. They are as excited about the Ring as they are the Super Bowl! Finally, we observe the whole production unfold in a sixty-second time lapse, which for me, is totally unfair. The entire documentary is only 1 Hour long and quite brief. It would have been terrific to see a longer lapse, even if they cut from scene to scene and show the "Highlights" of the Opera Cycle. But overall, it's a wonderful documentary, even if it feels rushed, and I wish they had sung slower and prolonged the documentary to at least 2 hours.
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