Customer Reviews

Sing Faster - The Stagehands' Ring Cycle

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Watching this 1999 documentary over the weekend, I hadn't laughed so hard in months. Filmed during the San Francisco Opera's 1995 production of Wagner's Ring Cycle, "Sing Faster" offers a rare glimpse into the complexities, banalities, and realities of making an operatic extravaganza. The narration includes running commentary by the stagehands, who passionately summarize the plots, comment on the action and crack jokes about the length of the piece.

Meanwhile, as the show goes on upstairs, downstairs the technical crew are playing poker, or reading, or are engaged in any number of non-operatic pursuits while waiting for their cues. Marvelous camera-work often shows the production in full swing, but from the point of view of those backstage and engaged in tense problem-solving, such as figuring out how much fog to use, or how to choreograph a fight with a dragon for maximum impact.

But the offhand comments running through the hour-long piece are probably the most enjoyable. This is Wagner from the point of view of those who make the magic happen every night, but who remain virtually invisible while the show is going on. As hundreds of carpenters, electricians and others sweat to make each scene come to life, they offer terse, laconic analyses of the plot, plus an occasional bit of physical comedy.

The film ends with a romp through all four operas, filmed at hyper-speed, cleverly summing up the singing, conducting and visual effects in roughly two minutes. If anything, as the credits were rolling, I felt it was over too soon.

Like the Nibelungs in Wagner's drama, the stagehands at the San Fran opera are mercilessly whipped by an obnoxious troll (in this case, it's some dumpy loudmouth with glasses). Despite the lack of respect that they receive, the stagehands are absolutely essential in bringing these masterpieces to the stage, and this ultra-cool film is a visual document of them in action.

The film has endearing footage of the stagehand's own interpretations of the drama, as well as behind the scenes looks at the performers. Watching the dragon from behind the curtain, as well as Brunnhilde doing some Spanish dancing to Wagnerian music are particularly cool and funny.

If you're into Wagner, or interested in the world of theater, then this film is an absolute delight!

This gem is not just for opera nuts or Wagner lovers. In fact, even if you don't have special fondness for the Ring Cycle, you'll be enchanted by how it's told by the stage crew. This is not pure tech theater, either. It's a distillation of a monument in the making, complete with brilliantly photographed footage artfully placed over opera passages, including an extraordinary scene inside the dragon as it is being slain. Don't miss this one.

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.

This is a histerical look at the 1995 San Francisco Ring production from the Stagehands point of view. Some of the funniest discourse on the Ring I have ever heard. You also see the commitment and hard work of these unsung IATSE heros.

The audio contains some great singing, but almost no look at the stage other than through the wings. (...)

I saw the original tv broadcast of this very funny movie several
years ago on our local PBS station-and laughed like crazy. As it is a behind-the-scenes look at what stagehands do for the San
Francisco Ring, there's long periods of rest, cards, and break-neck scene changes. And since they're union scale, they gotta
ge gone by midnight or .......a stagehand's life isn't glam, but
it is funny...............sing faster so I can get outta here..............!

This film captures the drama, the physical thrill, of getting huge scenic elements up in the air, and down to the ground, and swung into and out of play, like nothing else. There's a lot of romance to the back-stage work of being a stagehand, and I don't mean just flirtations (and marriages) with singers and dancers. Every production, every night is a mission, and this film 'gets it' -- great shots of the ensemble movements of teams of carpenters, paused in suspense before a cue, ankle-shots of armies of sneakers squeaking into action. One bittersweet feature of "Sing Faster' is the technology-life it documents, where everything is moved by hand or hands pulling rope, before the innovation (or, ahem, infection) of automation tech, which is more and more dominating the backstage experience. Less team work, more million-dollar scissor lifts, and robotic lights). Does 'Sing Faster' document a way of life that is disappearing?

The electrics department gets less exposure than the carps (some hapless followspot guy gets repeatedly chewed out over the head-set). (The film-makers make great use of the chatter and groaning and cursing heard over the head-sets. Very funny). Women aren't much present on this crew, but yup, turn up when we get shots of the electric crew, dropping fresh colors into freznels.

Intercut through the action shots is a poker game, seemingly deep in the bowels of the theater, where the guys hold forth on what they've picked up of the plot. "And there's still fourteen hours to go." There's some refreshing puzzlement over the predicaments Wotan gets himself into, and the baffling family life of the gods. "She's his Aunt, right?"

There's insight to the life-support systems of singing amidst fog, giants, and cameo appearances by one of my favorite backstage gizmos -- the magnetic broom. Oh, and documentation of one of the defining gestures of a 'real carpenter' -- pouring a box of tacks in his mouth, to spit onto a tack-hammer. Priceless.
Love this movie. 'Fade! Fade! Awww...'

I attended the very Ring Cycle of which this documentary is about. I saw the sets and witnessed the performances as an audience member during that 1989/1990 opera season at San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House. At the time I was working in the local media industry, and had some notion of the amount of labor and effort that went into a shoot. But, after watching this documentary, I have a healthier respect for those who choose to make their life as a stage hand.

As I sat in the audience some 20 years ago, I had an idea that the sets were pre-built, staged, but that all that really went on was the movement of props and sets to allow the singers to perform the next act.

Boy, was I wrong. I had absolutely no notion of the incredible ballet and orchestration that went on behind the scenes for an opera like Wagner's Ring Cycle. Admittedly, this is probably one of the most elaborate operas out there. Something more prosaic does not demand the enormous amount of logistics injected and soaked up by the enormity of this opera.

In short, it ain't Tennessee Williams. We're talking Wagner. And not just Wagner, but the most ambitious, prestigious and pretentious of his works.

As an aside, I'll ask you, compare the amount of labor and love that went into this production, and compare it to other Ring Cycles, and I challenge you to tell me that this was not one of the best and most elaborate productions ever constructed and produced for the stage. Why? Because it is, and you can't convince me nor anyone else who's seen other productions of the Ring Cycle state otherwise.

Some laughter I enjoyed during the Cycle was stifled when I watched this documentary. Notably the Fafner sequence; the scene where the great dragon, formerly a giant, extends its head from its cave to do battle with Sigfried. When that prop came out the audience let loose a collective chortle. I mean you could heard a controlled laughter when we all saw what had to be an ernest, yet ridiculous, effort to animate a dragon on the stage.

But again, compared to other productions, the SF War Memorial Opera staff outshined them all, and even though their rendition of Fafner was somewhat comical, it was an actual animated dragon head, and not some static prop that other productions usually use. And, for the documentary to reveal that there were teams of stagehands pushing the base on a massive dolly, while there was a guy inside controlling the thing ... wow. That's all I can say; wow. My comical side of the time momentarily reared its head, only to be replaced by nodding admiration.

Me, I thought the thing was a full sized animatronic suspended on a crane or track above the grid. But it was an actual team of people bringing Fafner to life. Again; wow.

What's probably the most entertaining aspect of this piece is one of the stage leads synopsising the story, and stripping away the veneer of the spectacle to reveal the true story of deceit and greed. A story of beings that were once revered, but who more deservedly earn scorn. The path to Hel is truly paved with good intentions.

This is one of many indy documentaries being shot at the time in the Bay Area, which should give the viewer a slice of life that most of use don't readily see. If I had one regret it's that I didn't know that this project was going on, or if I did, then I failed to connect with anybody working on it. The one shortcoming I think this project has is that it doesn't show much "crowd reaction" from ticket holders or Opera patrons. That would have been a welcome thing to see. Perhaps even an interview or two with some of the upper echelons. Just to get a taste of who the stagehands work for.

Otherwise, enjoy this documentary.

*ADDENDUM*
The reason I gave this documentary 4 stars instead of 5 is because it isn't all that much of what we contemporarily define as a true documentary. That and it's kind of short. We can certainly spin the reasons for it, like perhaps giving the piece some form of artistic license by breaking the mold of traditional documentaries, but the reality is that it's more or less a case of lack of money. Which is too bad, because I personally would have loved to see more interviews with all personnel involved; upper echelons, the musicians, the cast, the people manning the box office and so forth. Instead what we're presented is simply a slice of life of preparing for the ring cycle. One team lead is interviewed throughout the piece, the rest are photographed but not solicited for any input.

Getting back to the fiduciary aspect, as I stated above, I was working quite a bit in the local media industry at the time this was being shot. And shooting in San Francisco was just as expensive then as it is now. At least back then there were support services available, as opposed to today's spartan environment. So, in this regard, knowing how much crews were charging at the time, and given this was a project privately funded, I'm almost surprised we got this much footage.

Still, it would have been nice to rely on some second unit student film makers from SF State, UCSF or even City College. That would've definitely added to the scope of the documentary, and given us a much greater footprint of what went on during that production as opposed to the virtual Rosetta stone we have here.

Still, the film is what it is, and it's worth a look. Enjoy!

I love opera, but you don't have to like singing or opera to love this back stage look at all the work that goes into putting on opera. There isn't much singing in this movie about the 17 hour Ring Cycle at San Francisco Opera, but you find out about the oxygen bottle hidden behind the rocks so the singers can breathe if the smoke gets too thick, the carpenters trying to date the Rheinmaidens, a man who dumps a jar of tacks in his mouth and then picks them out of his mouth (with a magnetized hammer) to tack down the "carpet" at an amazing speed; see the scummiest giant dragon you will ever see and see the standees, when the doors open, running in all directions to get the best spots to view the opera. This 56 minute movie would be great for any teacher to show their class. I have purchased several of these, lent them to people and donated them to worthy causes.

This wonderful movie was screened at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, recently as part of Wagnermania. Los Angeles is currently suffering from this fever, brought on by the performances of the entire Ring cycle at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, this month(June 2010). "Sing Faster" shows what happens behind-the-scenes of the Ring. It shows all the work of the technical crew and some of the trials and tribulations of the cast. This is highly entertaining and immensely enjoyable. The best parts are the descriptions of the Ring stories by the stage hands. Spike, the head guy, nails it in every day language. No highfalutin PhD. egghead Wagner-nerd descriptions, here. This is a great counterpoint to Ring productions. SEE it!