Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle

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Audience Member Very interesting film that shows Richard Wagner's "Ring Cycle" from the perspective of stage hands. While some of the stage hands have a great understanding of the plot and what it is about, they all have problems pronouncing character names. The film presents the flux and flow between long periods of waiting (where many of the stage hands play poker or watch sports), and incredibly complex stage craft, where these professionals work as team. At times, the work done by these stagehands has a feeling of choreography. There is a scene that shows a stagehand repetitively nailing fabric to a deck, and the easy and accuracy with which he does it shows his professional abilities. Highly recommended for Wagner fans, opera fans, or those interested in stagecraft. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member A must-see if you were ever on stage crew in high school. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Want to see the other side of the Opera curtain? This is only an hour long but very enjoyable Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Stagehands flirting with operatic mermaids, playing poker and listening to heavy metal below stage while Wagner fans swoon in the balcony: surrealism has nothing on reality. It may just be the years I spent working in theater, but this documentary had me laughing so hard I cried. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member I didn't like this film. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member :fresh: Delightful! A documentary look at the union stagehands for the San Francisco Opera in the Opera's largest (and most backbreaking) production, Wagner's Ring Cycle. A peek at the very human effort it takes to make something this gigantic come off like clockwork. For anyone who has been backstage for a theatrical production, is studying theatre, or enjoys seeing the Ring Cycle, this is pure gold. The stage sets are enormous, the stagehands tiny. Sets change often and are amazingly complex. A stagehand remarks, "We have 90 seconds. Then the curtain goes up. If we're not finished, we're in trouble." So it's hurry up, and then wait until the scene changes again. The fog monster is a constant protagonist. Will the dry ice fog asphyxiate the singers? Will it billow out too profusely and allow the scampering Rhinemaidens to trip on unseen boulders? The amount of work necessary to make the huge Dragon fight the hero is unbelievable - p.o.v. skittering stagehand feet back and forth, straining to the limit. How anybody's spinal disks stay intact for more than one performance is beyond imagining. Meanwhile, backstage at the poker table, the live performance audio in the background, one of the stagehands relates to us the story of the Ring in bits and pieces. Like pros everywhere, the stagehands bring some of their lives into their 80-hour weeks without missing a beat. Poker, conversation, balancing the checkbook. Sometimes we cut to a Rhinemaiden joking with the stage director, when he's not busy issuing orders through a head mike and keeping track of the score. Or we follow the person in charge of changing gels on the lights as she refers to her list and chooses the proper colored light cover for each separate light along a huge stage-wide lighting bank that has been lowered on ropes to ground level. Expert documentary production. A very human look at a very large production. Kudos. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle

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