Testing, testing....

The fist audience steps through the gate of OHP on Wednesday for the 'Test night'. And it has been a monstrously wet Bank Holiday weekend so that will make some of the finishing groundworks a little trickier. The visitors will find a two thirds completed theatre - sans bits of screening, cladding and organic finishings. But it will be usable and great to look at. As the picture at the top shows, the seats are in and seem a million miles away from those our patrons will have been used to at OHP.

It really has been like pulling teeth watching the elements of the theatre coming together. With all this new equipment and structure, adjustments are always being made and the contractors are learning the reality of the building on the ground. But, inexorably, with every day, the work is being completed. After the first night, we will have a week to put all the final touches into place and then it really will be a most stirring sight.

Productions are on stage and working through technical rehearsal, sets are being built and adjusted and suddenly, OHP is back in business. Amazingly (and satisfyingly) we have immediately noticed that the intimacy of the theatre for which we were so renowned, has not been diminished. And the acoustic is good!

I'm not sure how it will all feel as "Va pensiero' floods across the theatre for the first time on the 5th June. It has been a long and hard road, with setbacks, doubts and several unrelated personal anxieties littering the way. I'm not beyond nor above admitting the heat of it all has been withering from time to time. I can't foresee it being anything but a hugely emotional moment so it may be wise to find a private spot.

Gulp....

It's breathless and tense on site. The number of contractors surrounded by equipment and material is bewildering but slowly and surely the theatre is taking shape. And it is unarguably impressive. The picture at the head of this post shows the view from the back row of the grandstand. It is high and one can see to the north of the house. Vertigo sufferers ought not to sit in the back row. The mezzanine is now almost fully glazed and it looks to be an inviting space in which to spend some time. Once the groundworks and finishing are complete, the public areas will be very open and relaxed (we hope). As much cover as possible outside of the canopy line is being provided but obviously we hope we won't need it! The picnic area is running late so won't be fully ready by the test night so patrons will have to make do until the official opening when the floor would have been laid.

Recent rain has shown us where the problems of drainage lay. The canopy designers are currently installing the water collecting devices and drainage run-offs. Wind driven rain presents small issues at certain points (which we knew would be an issue given the height of the canopy, dictated by a desire to have steeper seats and retain the outdoor feel). Solutions for that are in the tweaking process anyway so we will be designing add on elements in time for opening night.

We are at the point where I have started having dreams about problems. Last night was about the number of bars. We have three of them, four at times, so I am confident it was my sleeping mind playing tricks on me.

Today, everyone on site will be given a galvanising shot in the arm (or slap in the face) when the Nabucco set arrives and the build begins. James has, in his own words, thrown everything but the kitchen sink at this one. Not quite a cast of thousands but that's how it will feel! Dressing room space at a premium, costume store full to bursting etc. But what a great way to kick off this season.

Build, build ,build

Suddenly, the site is a forest of aluminium. I've christened the site Ali Pally.
Someone else has dubbed the over stage truss as the Wembley Arch. No doubt everything else will garner a new name as the season progresses. The build is in full swing now but life on site is tough with tons of equipment dotted about the place. In future years this will all be a much smoother process; structures will be set in their rightful place this year and the template simply followed in future builds. So getting the mezzanine and seating absolutely spot on for heights and distances took a while. The mezzanine will be a nice place to enjoy a drink that is for sure. You can see pictures of the build by clicking the link to the right. The photos do not actually give a proper idea of the scale of things to be frank. I stood at the back of the seating terrace (with four more rows still to go on!) and I got vertigo. Actually, it is very pleasing to note that the new theatre appears to be maintaining a sense of intimacy which was a major concern of everyone at the start of the project. The other very big worry was the acoustic performance of the canopy. I am pleased to report that if anything, the acoustic sounds better - the many peaks appear to be doing their job of deflecting sound downwards in a focused way. It will be fascinating to hear a cast and chorus on stage for the first time. The lighting rig is up too and the stage is built.

Now it will all be about finishings, plants and decorative elements to really finish it all off. Not to mention floors and cover for around the site. An intense two or three weeks beckons.

Bloody hell it's big!

The usual exclamation when people see the new canopy for the first time! And it is up. Which is nice. Pictures are HERE

Lift off

T Minus not-very-long. And on Tuesday the canopy will be lifted into first position from where it will be slowly tensioned at a rate the new fabric can cope with. Underneath will be all a-buzz with more construction; first the mezzanine, then the seating and millions of other things that need doing. I can't wait...Errm...

So the podcasts got done. Three in a day and terrifically enjoyable it was too. The Leader of the council, Cllr Cockell was first and spoke very eloquently about his philosophy towards the public arts and why The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is so supportive of OHP. We even learned he had sung Leporello in a school production years ago (a school doing Don Giovanni?!). It was then the turn of Jim Naughtie of Radio 4's 'Today' programme and presenter of opera and music on BBC TV. I had to keep pushing from my mind the thought that this man spends most of his time behind a microphone interviewing the great and good of world politics. I needn't have worried though; Jim possesses a great passion for opera and makes a great commentator on the subject. We just set him off and he filled the time with some lovely anecdote and interest. The best tribute I can pay to his craft is that he made James and I sound interesting too. Brian Sewell was the final visitor to the studio. I remain convinced that Brian is a treasure of British life and culture. The conversation traversed, of course, his love of opera, but art (naturally), cricket, dogs, the blitz, Hitler, angioplasty and countless other topics. All were delivered with that great, measured thought and humour. And only Brian could say "We owe Hitler a great debt' and get everyone listening nodding in agreement! (You'll have to listen to it to understand the context which is not as controversial as it may sound!)

You can hear the Naughtie and Sewell podcasts here
They will soon be up on the official OHP website but this is my site and they are also available on iTunes.

The rain hasn't stopped falling for several days but no phone call from the site to say things have been held up or diverted. That could just be because they can't bear the thought of a rant and rave but I am hopeful it is just because everything is fine.

Tuesday is the annual 'Prelude', a lovely evening we have held for several years at Leighton House Museum. About 130 Friends come for an evening of music delivered by singers appearing in the forthcoming season. They get to mix with all of us too and it is a nice curtain raiser which brings in some much needed funds to the Friends' coffers. I always enjoy it and I suspect this year, the patrons in attendance will have many more opinions and questions than is usual.

Countdown

Cables and wires everywhere on site right now. All the steelwork is up and waiting for the fabric to be attached. The picture above gives an idea of what it's like - a giant "Cat's Cradle' really which I imagine will make more sense when attached to the fabric (or perhaps not). I spent some of Saturday wandering around the site sketching and marking places that will need remedial aesthetic attention. The Holland Park gardeners will be busy and I expect more terracotta than you'll find in a Florentine garden to litter the site by 5th June.

This week is podcast week. Or more specifically, Wednesday is podcast recording day and the rest of it will be spent editing and dropping in music so we can have them up on the website within a week or so. Three guests will feature this year, kicking off with the leader of K&C council - which will be a bit unusual but I'd expect him to have something interesting to say about publicly funded arts. After him, Jim Naughtie of Radio 4's Today programme will come in to summarise and chat about the forthcoming season. This is a man who has interviewed Presidents and Prime Ministers for years so the idea of James and I sitting around in a studio with him is a challenging one! The last of the three is the art critic Brian Sewell, whose love of opera he has often shared through articles in our programme magazine.

So much needs to be done on site from this point forward it is hard to imagine how we will fit it all in. But we will. Lots of contractors are gearing up to do their bit and it is amazing what can be achieved in a day when everybody puts their mind to it. Carpenters, diggers, engineers, gardeners, sign makers et al will all bring their skills to bear on creating what we hope will be one of the most spectacular performing spaces in the country.