I am extremely nearsighted, so if I am doing an Opera in Concert I have no
choice but glasses. Blowing up the size of the music would be of no use to me
whatsoever. But I see nothing wrong in doing what you have to do. Back in '96
when I was promoting the Vancouver 3 Tenors Concert as a Pavarotti impersonator,
I wore reading glasses with my contact lenses. I know Pavarotti wears reading
glasses, but I have never seen him wear them in concert, but I had no choice,
and got no complaints from anyone. They were there to enjoy the music, and the
fact that the three of us who were impersonating the guys could actually sing
Opera.
I used to go onstage with no glasses (had no contacts then) and stumble around,
and then I said enough. I basically put it to the director, you take me as is or
you don't have me, and I never had a single complaint from a director. I also
had a pair of glasses made up with a frame that looked good for just about any
era. I did eventually get disposable Toric contacts (astigmatism), but that
still didn't help if I had to read music. Most of the time if I am doing an "In
Concert" I just wear my No-Line Bifocals and it is just fine.
I wouldn't be so concerned with how do I look, do the glasses make me look
older. When performing on stage I would be more concerned about not walking into
the scenery or into the pit, and most important of all - BEING ABLE TO SEE THE
CONDUCTOR!!!! There is nothing worse, in my book, than not being able to see the
conductor, especially if he is cueing you and you cannot see him doing it. If
you are going to do it that way you had better know every inch of the score
inside and out or you are going to have a very angry conductor on you hands.
---
Dale Gillespie - Tenor
bigtenordale@a...
Phone: 604-945-6273
Cell: 604-818-8427
Coquitlam, BC
Canada
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