Teamwork lessons from Carmen

I spent this weekend in Louisville Kentucky attending my daughter’s professional opera debut.  She has been performing in opera for the past several years as an apprentice artist, but this performance marked the first time that she was hired for a supporting role in a major opera performance.  Kentucky Opera’s performance of Carmen.

Carmen is probably the best-known opera to the general public because most are familiar with the music.   It is a compelling, entertaining, and easy to follow story about a soldier, a bull fighter, and a wild gypsy - Carmen.  They are involved in a love triangle which ultimately ends in Carmen’s death in the finale.  (spoiler alert – I know)

Watching the performance opening night was a memorable experience that the cast made appear effortless. The singers, who had rehearsed this performance for the past month were prepared and professional.   Performing in a large theater - without microphones - their beautiful, highly trained voices rang out over the hundreds of attending guests. 

The performers and support team had traveled from all over the United States to spend a month living in Louisville, rehearsing and staging this show.  All of this work for just two performances, Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.

I marveled at the number of people that it took to put this piece together.  There was the conductor with a full orchestra, playing the beautiful music live in the pit – at least 35 people.  There were 11 principal opera singers, 34 chorus members and a children’s chorus of 15.  There were also people behind the scenes, including stage managers, set designers, lighting crew, choreographers, prop coordinators, costume designers, wig masters, makeup artists, and even a dictation coach.  There were people working security, tickets sales, ushers and bar tenders at the theatre concession. 

When you think of a performance like this you appreciate the art and entertainment, but you don’t often appreciate the massive dedication and teamwork that something like this entails.  You do not see the years of voice training, movement coaching, or the memorization of lyrics and dialogue – in French!  You don’t appreciate the travel, set building, staging, dance, coordination with the musicians, conductor director and then the

All of these things come together to communicate the story to the audience.  If they are effective as this team was, the audience leaves the theatre better than they were before they experienced Carmen. 

If we could take a life lesson from a production like this, it would be that dedication to a craft along with teamwork, allows for creation of something much larger than one individual can attain. These talented artists are a living example of what it means to work together towards one goal and achieve it well.  As you work as a member of any team, remember that the individual is key to making any large quality production work.  Dedicate yourself to your team.

"Individual commitment to a group effort--that is what makes a teamwork, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." --Vince Lombardi

Dr. Julie Cappel