Departing The NAC

In Southam Hall at the National Arts Centre, these two shots of the stage, set up for Opera Lyra's The Barber Of Seville, were taken from the seats.

Down in the lobby, this dance troupe from The School Of Dance were performing. I took several shots, but was most satisfied with this one.

I conclude this series with Fourth Stage, the fourth and smallest of the performance spaces within the NAC. It's ideal for smaller, more intimate performances, and on this day, it was crowded and in use. Musicians were on stage, and singers were invited to come up for some karaoke. No, I did not take part- if I tried singing, people would be asking, "who's strangling the cat?" The young woman singing was doing a rendition of 'Holding Out For A Hero'. And she had a good voice.

Behind The Scene

Back into the series, which I'll be concluding tomorrow. This is one of the rehearsal halls in the National Arts Centre, where the orchestras actually do most of their practicing as an ensemble. I was standing where the conductor normally would stand. I'd be out of my depth trying that- I can't read a note of music, after all, and there's more to conducting than flailing your arms about.

These can be found in the dressing rooms. They are costumes for lead performers in Opera Lyra's production of The Barber Of Seville. Design sketches were close by, and the closing image, a prop angel, could be found near the stage in Southam Hall.

The Corridors

Many of you know Birdman, who's posted his photoblog from Portland, Maine. I saw in another post today the very sad news that he passed away. RIP, Birdman.

There is a warren of passages within the National Arts Centre. For the open house, these corridors, dressing rooms, and various spaces were open to the public. Costumes for Opera Lyra's production were on display.

This map doesn't even include Southam Hall, but gives you a sense of the layout of this area.

It includes this space for makeup and hair. Mirrors are all over. Disreputable rogues can be found here and there.

Photos on the walls include previous theatrical productions and artistic images of future work that is going to transform the exterior of the NAC.

I conclude with this space,which is a wardrobe room, filled with both machines and supplies for sewing.

The Workshop

I have two other shots here from the backstage area at Southam Hall, for the Opera Lyra production of The Barber Of Seville.

Beyond the immediate backstage at Southam Hall is this scenic workshop area, expanding the backstage area even more. It's used for the making of setpieces for theatrical productions, and is filled with tools and machine equipment (and a portrait of Cary Grant, strangely enough). Passing through here, I wondered what my dad, who could have gone into carpentry had he wanted, would have made of all this equipment. There are also workshops in the NAC for props and wardrobes.

The Backstage

Behind the stage at Southam Hall is a great deal of space, used for storage of lighting, equipment, instruments, and other items. 

This included a back of the set view in regards to Opera Lyra's production, as well as spare costumes on racks.

In Southam Hall

Southam Hall is the largest of the four performance spaces within the National Arts Centre, capable of seating over 2300 people. The NAC Orchestra often performs here- the orchestra has a new principal conductor this year, Alexander Shelley, after over fifteen successful years under the violinist/ conductor Pinchas Zukerman. At the end of September, Opera Lyra had the stage for a 1940s era production of The Barber Of Seville, so the set was in place, as were a couple of costumes and props.

A reminder to members of City Daily Photo: the theme day for November is Ephemeral, or short lived.

Once A Courthouse

Arts Court houses a collection of galleries and arts groups in an old courthouse downtown near the Byward Market, and for Nuit Blanche, it was one of the hubs of the festival. This is a view of the building in daylight the following day. The structure dates back to 1870, built in the Italianate style, and was previously known as the Carleton County Courthouse.

This art installation of DeHavilland Beaver planes was set up in the SAW Gallery downstairs. It's titled Beavers, by the artist Frank Shebageget.

The offices of Opera Lyra can be found here at Arts Court as well. The company regularly performs at the National Arts Centre- at the end of September, they were doing a production of The Barber Of Seville, which will factor into a series I'll be doing down the line from a visit to the NAC I made a week after Nuit Blanche.

In one of the corridors, this cabinet contains stage masks belonging to Odyssey Theatre, which has facilities here as well. The company does outdoor performances during the summer, and inside performances across the city at other times of the year.

This space had been given over for the evening as a lounge for the animation festival also taking part in various venues in the city.

One of the groups here is the Ottawa Dance Directive, which had dance artists on hand for Nuit Blanche. A couple of those acts were a bit risque; the Sisters of Little Or No Mercy would have been shocked. This space was left open, with music playing as I passed by- and a girl dancing to the music.

Nearby, a winding corridor led to three company members engaged in two different acts. I photographed the second act at the end of the corridor- where the act consisted of two people painting. 

I have more from Arts Court tomorrow, but I'll leave off with this exterior night view of the north entrance.