Truly (Dr.) Horrible (Not!)

Found "Dr. Horrible." online today and immediately fell in love with it. It kind of fits my quirky sense of humor.

Okay, I admit it: Even though I pride myself on my geekdom, I've had a hard time getting into the "viral video" thing. (definition: viral video.) Yes, occasionally I'll click on a link and watch something on YouTube, but it's not like I'm going to YouTube every other hour to see what people are posting. For that matter, I don't usually watch any video on the web; I like the quiet of reading a news story on the web instead of watching an ABC News or AP video with concomitant preceding commercial. At least I can, for the most part, ignore the print ads, even the ones with animated monkeys.

"So, what's this got to do with opera?" you may be asking? Well, as far as "true" opera, nothing; it's more up the "musical" alley. During the recent Hollywood writer's strike, a few bored penners, Joss Whedon and his brothers, Zach and Jed, and Jed's fianceé, Maurissa Tancharoen, decided to get off their couches and do something fun with a bunch of their talented friends, something they would not have been able to do while employed: write, direct, and produce a short film on their own. The result is "Dr. Horrible," a web-only viral video musical adventure super-villan comedy miniseries, starring Neil Patrick Harris, aka TV's "Doogie Howser, MD" and currently star of the well-received CBS sitcom, "How I Met Your Mother"; Nathan Fillon from Fox's "Firefly" and its feature-length theater fodder, "Serenity", not to mention ABC's current hit, "Desperate Housewives"; and Felicia Day from Fox's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

Speaking of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (both movie and Fox TV series) and "Firefly" and "Serenity," Joss Whedon was the writer man behind all of them, not to mention other acclaimed TV/movie things like "Angel," "Alien 4: Resurrection," as well as less sci-fi things like "Roseanne" and even "Toy Story." He's currently working on a sci-fi series for Fox called "Dollhouse," scheduled for a 2009 premiere.

According to this story in USA Today, Joss and his friends set out to prove that out-of-the-box productions could make it in Hollywood. They gathered together some cash "in the low six figures" (to us, sounds like a lot; to Hollywood, it's a bargain basement production), brought on people they'd worked with (Harris, Fillon, and Day), and asked "What if?" "Dr. Horrible" was the result and, again, per the article, it has become everything a viral-video-maker dreams of: a word-of-mouth smash hit.

As of this writing, Friday, June 18, 2008, the first two episodes of the series are live on the web, free to view; the third and final installment is scheduled to be put up on Saturday, 7/19. However, the entire series will only be available for viewing through July 20. After that, the videos will only be available on iTunes for paid download (at iTunes' standard rates, $1.99 per episode). A DVD distribution is also planned at a later date.

And herein lies the "rub" about viral videos: No one has found out a sure-fire way of making any money off of them, even ones that have professional cinematography and brilliant writing. So they're left with uploading their work(s) to YouTube and hoping, somehow, that they'll be "discovered" by a Hollywood producer. Unfortunately, YouTube and Hollywood have not been on the best terms, given YouTubers penchant for digitizing and uploading Hollywood's copyrighted content onto the site for viewing by anyone--and this is the really contentious part--for free. However, things may be changing in that vein. YouTube has cut a deal with Lions Gate Entertainment to offer clips of its movies (ad supported) on the site; and Microsoft is allowing users of its TiVo digital video recorder hardware/service to download YouTube videos for viewing on their regular televisions.

And, lest you ask, yes, you can watch clips of opera performers and performances, past and present, on YouTube, although, like Hollywood's content, some of performances may be illegally uploaded, copyrighted productions. You can't be arrested for watching them should you so deem; YouTube is the responsible party. Some local and regional companies even put clips of their opera productions up for publicity and notoriety's sake.

Anyway, if you get a chance, I highly recommend seeing "Dr. Horrible." Think of it as a cheaper alternative to the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical "Mama Mia," (which, of course, in turn was an adaptation of the music of the 70s supergroup, Abba... and I'm not bad mouthing, "Mama Mia"; preliminary reviews have been quite favorable.) So you have your choice of Hollywood film stars singing: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, and Colin Firth in "Mama Mia" or Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillon, and Felicia Day in "Dr. Horrible."

The lure of the supernumary

Found this article in the LA Times. Opera Pacific in Orange County is looking for supers for the upcoming year.

Okay, first of all, this is in the LA Times, but it reads like something you might find in the Knoxville News Sentinel or even the Farragut Press Enterprise. I'm not an elitist... at least, don't think I am... but I expect a bit more from the LA Times than I do from a local paper. I suspect that David Colker, "Los Angeles Time Staff Writer," pretty much was spoon fed this article by Opera Pacific. Granted, what can you say about being a super in a regional opera company? Go to a few rehearsals, see opera stars either on their way up or on their way down, wear a smelly costume, and give up a week or two of your life for production, get paid a few bucks, and revel in accolades--or jeers--from family and friends who see you onstage.

On a lark, I went to the link on the Pacific Opera website regarding volunteers mentioned in the article. Surprisingly, it closely resembles the KO website's volunteer page. "We need you to help with this and that--telemarket tickets, answer phones, help with fundraisers, etc." I didn't find anything about supers on our site, though. (One note, and I'm trying not to make this sound like a complaint, the KO website has nothing about the upcoming season on it.) Again, because here the KO is in K-town, a stone's throw up the road from hillbillyville, and there Opera Pacific is in a 'burb of one of the largest and most culturally diverse cities in the world. It's somewhat surprising that OP should have to beg (C'mon, let's be frank: that's what the LA Times article is) for people to help out, little alone perform with them.

But the kicker was when I opened OP's application for superdom (Microsoft Word format) . (In KO's defense, the OP application was for the past 2007-2008 season, so we're not the only ones behind the curve websitewise.) It's pretty specific, especially the section about being able to lift 40 pounds: "Do you have any physical limitations that would prevent you from doing this kind of strenuous activity? Y or N Please explain. if you would like. Wha?! Suddenly the opera company wants to know your medical history?! "Took a bullet in 'Nam; nearly died; have artificial titanium and nylon hip socket that aches if I pick up shrieking sopranos. That explanation enough for you?" And it goes on and on! Nearly four pages worth of personal info: Your performance history, availability, wig-and-makeup knowledge, etc. I'm surprised they don't ask for transcripts and a copy of your medical files. I can just see Don T. asking some of our regular supers questions like these... or any of us choristers, for that matter. That would be interesting to watch. "You want to know specifics of my hysterectomy? As if!" Oh! And I forgot! OP wants a full-length photo of you submitted with the app.

It's funny, though, how different KO is from OP. Don rarely has trouble finding enough supers for our productions unless it's some kind of huge crowd scene. We have our usual suspects that return again and again, year after year. I wonder how much turnover OP has in the super department? It must be more than KO's. So, apparently, we're doing something right. Maybe it's because we are kind of a family at KO. I would imagine that OP, being in a more "professional" town might not be that way. It may not be that OP is a fun place to work, that everyone, by and large, tries to enjoy themselves at rehearsals, and wants everyone else to enjoy it, too. Sure, OP is a probably a lot more efficient at staging (supers are only called about eight times, according to the OP website), but is that worth having a good laugh or two? Maybe so, maybe no. And speaking of "worth," OP pays $5 a rehearsal and $10 for performance to supers; I don't know specifics, but I suspect that Don insists on our guys getting more than that. Maybe in LA there are more people slavering to see opera singers up close and personal and would do the super job for free if they had to.

Curious, I tried to find specifics out about the OP chorus, but the website only said something like "come back soon." So I looked up the OP staff, hoping to find a chorus link there. I didn't find what I was looking for, but what I did notice was the massive amount of staff that OP has to support, everything from "President and CEO" (a titular position? doubt that, given the "CEO" moniker) on down to "Ticket Services Associate." I count about 30 people on the payroll at OP, assuming all of those listed draw a paycheck. What's that? Like, 200% more than KO has?

Well, I suppose that, given its location, OP has a broad base of support (read "money") and can afford to do four productions and four performances, and has ample crowds to back them up. Still, from a super standpoint, wouldn't you rather be here?

Live Streaming Bayreuth

So, you don't want to be on a waiting list for seven years before getting live tickets to the Bayreuth Festival, and you don't want to wait the several years for a potential DVD to be released of the performances there (assuming they're acceptable and marketable enough for DVD). What's a Wagner lover to do?

Technology to the rescue! You can experience all the thrills of live, grand Wagner from Bayreuth from your office or easy chair... well, "live" streaming audio and video, anyway. For those of you who aren't tech officiandos, "streaming" means sending a digital real-time audio-video broadcast over the World-Wide Web. Cameras and mics capture the action, the picture and sound are digitized and broken into packets of data that are sent to a central distribution hub that creates copies of those packets and sends them out to computers all over the Internet where they are reassembled into a "live" audio and video stream to play on your monitor and through your computer's speakers. Yes, technically, it's not "live" live--there is a delay of a few seconds to a few minutes--but a little research will reveal that even "live" TV shows are rarely not on a few seconds of digital delay, especially in the post-Janet-Jackson-Superbowl-halftime-show-wardrobe-malfunction era. That's about as live as things get without being there in person.

Of course, Bayreuth will charge you for it: $77 to be exact... per production. Ouch! But, wait! Think about that for a minute: Think of it as pay-per-view. A quick check of my own local pay-per-view events lines up as such:

• Ultimate Fighting Championship 86 - $44.99


• TNA Wrestling - $29.99


• WWE Wrestling - $39.99


• Boxing - $49.99

Soooo, $77 is not that big a stretch, is it? I mean, if you're plopping down fifty bucks to watch a live-action cartoon... You need to face it! That's what wrestling is, right?... Why not spend the extra $22.99 to watch something quality? And while wrestling will entertain you for the requisite two hours, with "Meistersinger" will keep you enthralled for about five hours. (I'd be very curious to see a show of hands of people that would fall into the demographic of both events, please.)

Okay, let's compare apples to apples, shall we? The recent high-definition rebroadcasts of Met productions run, what? $24 or so? And those were "canned" videotaped productions in which a performance was filmed and later edited out for content and run-time. Hardly live. Ah! I recently documented a simulcast of a San Francisco Opera production at AT&T park. Hard to beat the price there--free. Of course, you won't have the comfort of your own couch, the convenience (and thriftiness) of your own fridge, and the use of your own personal bathroom for that... and you certainly can't see the performance when you're, uh... indisposed. However, thanks to your trusty laptop and a "wi-fi" router/switch in your home, you're more than welcome to drag "Götterdämmerung" in with you. (Yes, I know it sounds gross, but surely you've drug a magazine or novel in there... or maybe you've already installed a TV in your "'loo.") You won't miss a minute of the action.

Or you can just wait for the DVD to come out this November.