Old Hat, New Hat

This was a “Berenstain Bears” favorite book in the Ditlow household, growing up. Dad would often read to us as children, and my brother Bruce and I often requested this title. 

So it seemed very appropriate for this post, that I channel another childhood hobby. It is resurfacing into something more these days. 

I loved “drama” as a kid. Not “drama” in the bad sense, where siblings squabbled or other things happened within the family. Those occurrences were rare, anyhow. What I’m discussing is real “drama” - where people create a narrative and things happen and we tell a story. There is perhaps no accident that a good portion of my professional life has been centered around opera. I love the music for sure, but also, the act of storytelling has always been near to my heart. 

When my siblings and I were young, my family would often get together with some families in our town, especially for New Years. The children would go into the basement and we would “create a play.” We would create this play based on whatever was “going on” (and more appropriately, we used costumes, props, and inspiration that was around us.) 

Think “Iron Chef” meets “Whose Line is It, Anyway.”

We would come up with a script, have a costume consultation, movements, and sometimes even songs (!) or dancing. When our “play” was finished, we would go upstairs, retrieve our parents, and perform. We would sometimes even charge admission.

I’m not pretending that any of this oeuvre was good. But it did give me a confidence and experience  with “play.” 

A few months ago, one of my dearest friends asked me advice about Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. She asked me how I would stage it, conceptualize it, and deal with elements of Greek and Roman tragedy and dramaturgy. 

My answers (inadvertently) got me my first directing gig! The performances are in about a month. Right now, we are staging the second “act” (the whole piece is about one hour). 

We did some choreography today, as well. If anyone had ever told me that my years in ballet class and as a cheerleader would ever come in handy professionally, I would have dismissed this suggestion as pure folly. 

It turns out that you can draw on anything, learn from it, and use it for art … 

We are enjoying ourselves in the rehearsal process, for sure.

PHOTO: The production poster, designed by conductor David Chin.