“L’OISEAU QUE TU CROYAIS SURPRENDRE / BATTIT DE L’AILE ET S’ENVOLA”

This should have been production week of Teatru Astra’s Carmen. The theatre should have been bustling with singers, musicians, seamstresses, and stage crew; in preparation of the opening night. Lights should have been all set, scores annotated, props lined up, costumes marked and altered, and the choir warmed up. The auditorium should have been blossoming with a flowery perfume, ready to greet its much esteemed patrons. The booking office should have had all of its last few remaining tickets deployed by this moment. 

Imagine, a red carpet being unrolled in the foyer, this very minute, prepared to greet the early birds; waiters brandishing glasses of fresh champagne, waiting eagerly by the sides.  

Do not hold your breath however; none of this is happening. It was all on the cards, however a tornado blew everything away. Nobody knows how it happened, it just did, and put out all fires. The scores are still annotated; all entries and exits are marked. They will have to gather dust until next season, however. Maybe by that time, we will have had enough time to refine the production notes. We never get enough of it. Never has any production taken two years to eventuate, and yet, nobody knows when opera productions will become the reality to which we had become accustomed! 

 “We thank you for accepting our invitation; we did not want to leave you”. We hope to host you in the near future! “The bird flew away…lets console ourselves…”

(from last year’s Il Trovatore at Teatu Astra – Photo by Joe Attard)