Rehearsal Sketches from Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Scenes, Summer 2023

One thing I enjoy doing at rehearsals is sketching.

Whether it’s during my 15 minute break, or throughout a long day of observation, there’s usually a convenient opportunity to pull out my little sketchbook, at least for a few minutes. It’s a perfect activity for rehearsals: it’s nearly silent, it keeps me engaged with the onstage happenings, and it can be instantly plopped on the ground if my cue comes up. Plus, the actors who are actually occupying the stage at the moment are often staying in the same or similar positions for long durations of time–an ideal setup to practice gestural sketches.

The publication of this collection of sketches is much delayed! They’re from my most recent summer at the Santa Fe Opera, where I performed as a supernumerary (the “Mélisande doppelgänger”) in the Debussy opera Pelléas et Mélisande, and observed rehearsals for the Apprentice Scenes Program. These sketches are all from the scenes directed by the wonderful Crystal Manich that summer, who so kindly let me sit in and watch! I am always grateful to be invited into a rehearsal room; there are skills to be learned and practiced every time, and I try to make the most of it.

In these sketches, I had a few goals:
-practice quickly sketching objects from life
-practice taking multi-character blocking notation on the same page
-practice proportional representation of a stage area

While these sketches are quick, informal, and use quite a bit of shorthand, I believe I accomplished my goals–further, I believe I could easily recreate the staging of these scenes based on the sketches alone, two years later (precise stage business and use of props may be another story, however).

Each slideshow gallery contains the sketches from one scene, and is accompanied by information on the collaborators whose work or physical image contributed to sketch source material. The programs for all the Apprentice Scenes that year can be found here as well. Some of the physical drawings have been gifted away, but some remain in my records, and so the photos weren’t all taken at once, and may have some variation in lighting and quality. I also like to sketch on a non-white base paper when possible, but I’ve discovered this doesn’t always provide starkly visible contrast to pencil markings, unfortunately! All caveats aside, I’m glad to finally share them.

Enjoy!

Gianni Schicchi

Giacomo Puccini | Giovacchino Forzano
“Era uguale la voce…Addio, Firenze”

The stage from a tilted front perspective, with two sketches of the rehearsal atmosphere.

Detail drawings of furniture and rehearsal costumes.

Top of the scene: the family discusses Gianni Schicchi.

The scene progresses; Schicchi arrives and the plan unhatches.

The scene continues; the family and Schicchi anticipate success.

La bohème

Detail drawings of a moment of staging and some furniture.

The scene begins; Rodolfo’s life is changed when Mimi walks in.

We move through two arias and a duet; the scene ends with the lovers leaving, full of hope.

Giacomo Puccini | Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa
End of Act I

Boris Godunov

Modest Mussorgsky | Modest Mussorgsky
Quintet

The scene begins; the innkeeper starts opening up shop.

The scene continues; different folks start to mingle around the table.

The scene progresses; some of the visitors are harboring secrets.

Chaos and confusion as someone is not who he says he is!

Sweeney Todd

Detail drawing of Sweeney’s barber chair.

The layout of the set and start of “Epiphany.”

Mrs. Lovett’s brilliant idea turns into a playfully violent duet.

Solo Lovett track, starting with “Epiphany.”

Solo Lovett track continues, starting “A Little Priest.”

Stephen Sondheim | Stephen Sondheim
Epiphany and A Little Priest

Sweeney Todd | Spencer Reichman
Mrs. Lovett | Rebekah Daly

And if you made it this far… consider asking me to be a part of your theatrical team; you’ll get sketches out of it, for sure.

12.5/25: Halfway Through the 2025 Aims

It’s July 11th, and we’re just past the midway mark of 2025. I have updates about my progress toward the goals I wrote about back in January!

This year has been challenging so far, but also extremely rewarding. I have been overworked and underpaid, overtired and under-rested, but sometimes, that’s the slice of life we find on our plates. The first quarter of the year was largely tracked through long hours of production work in NYC, and the second quarter involved a move to our permanent apartment, finally recieving and unpacking our shipped storage, and adopting a new kitten–all in Berlin. My energy levels have ricocheted from that of an endless engine to a stagnant puddle. I’m just relieved to be entering the third quarter with a semblance of stability!

I’ve made great progress on my goals, but there have been setbacks, as well. It’s clear I have some items on which to reorient my focus. Without ado, let’s review:

Create something every day (take creative action: make something that was not there before, even if it is small, or part of a larger project).
Over the course of the year, I’ve come to understand that creativity is inherent in every day, in every choice you live, but my intentionality about it can still use improving. Some days are harder to “accomplish” because of life’s other demands; the challenge then is to figure out how to do the tasks at hand in a creative way, even if it comes down to changing up how you brush your teeth.
Do either a sun or moon salutation every day, with a few minutes of meditation.
Sun/moon salutations have so far been the hardest habit to build; this is something I really want to give energy to in the second half of the year. I do keep coming back to it, however, and I would consider that a win.
Update or work on my professional website (frannykromminga.com) once a month.
Monthly website editing hasn’t been consistent, but I have updated and published a few times. This could easily be fulfilled by going through and completing archival work for old projects I just haven’t gotten around to compiling information on.
Fully finish Venus Retrospectives!
Venus Retrospectives has had virtually NO work done. Recently, though, I have taken the time to break down the concept of the work left into smaller chunks, and made specific goalposts to hit for the rest of the year. The trouble is, a lot of what I’m doing is learning and experimentation, so it is very hard to predict what time commitment and resources will actually be necessary, moving forward. There’s nothing for it but to do it, I suppose!
Complete B1 level German training (via the Goethe Institut).
Unfortunately, I am NOT spending money on another Goethe Institut course. It’s just too expensive for my current situation. That said, I did complete my A2 level course in March, and I’ve been developing my comprehension independently with German audiobooks and daily interactions in Berlin. I need to reincorporate real memorization study–put those hundreds of blank flashcards I just got out of storage to good use–but I am slowly improving! Just… not in a way I know how to measure against the letter rating system. Anyone want to sponsor a $2,000 course?
Travel somewhere new!
I haven’t traveled somewhere new yet, but we have plans to visit Barcelona in October, and possibly somewhere else for one of our anniversary dates in August or November!
Read 25 books.
I’m on schedule at about 12 books; I slowed myself down reading Anna Karenina back in early spring, but I’ve really picked up speed this summer. Bless the Libby library app! Bless libraries of all kinds!
Visit 25 museums (different collections on separate visits to the same museum are allowed).
The museums goal needs serious dedication. I need to be doing that weekly, on average, at this point. This was a goal that really suffered during the early months of this year when I was extra busy with work, and it doesn’t help that I like to go to museums only when I can take my time. That said, it will be a pleasure to catch up.
See 25 live performances (in-person).
This goal is well on its way. If you include seeing shows I’ve worked on, instead of just shows I am attending that I have no professional connection to, it will be done in a month. Even so, this goal will practically complete itself this year. One of the merits of working in show business is that you often get to easily partake of show business.
Get 25 rejections from applications/auditions/submissions… then double it to 50 in the second half of the year!
My rejections goal requires more submissions. In fact, I think I may have rejected more offers myself than I have been rejected from, this year. The trouble with submissions is that I should only apply to things I actually want to do… this means more research. As I do more job applications in Berlin, though, this will increase automatically. I’ve actually started a tracking system specifically for applications, since I do need to get more work.
Make 25 posts on The Franifesto.
Sadly, this is only post number THREE on The Franifesto this year! This is another aim that will need near-weekly devotion in order to fulfill. As I write, I’m considering “Franifesto Fridays” as a basis for my sharing–I’m a sucker for alliteration, after all. 🙂

Looking ahead, I think there are three goals that will be the hardest for me to complete:

#2: I’ve technically already failed at the salutations, but in the end, this is more about achieving a daily habit than it is about rigid perfectionism. I know my wellbeing will benefit from them, but I have had a struggle with exhaustion that makes it easy to convince myself that lying in bed is preferable. Frankly, I’ve become aware of an energetic imbalance in my life: why is it that I find it all too easy to overextend myself for work, and find it hard to put that same effort into myself? The answer is probably capitalist conditioning, but whatever. I’ll be fixing that.

#8: Visiting 25 museums will also be a challenge, because it’s a goal that requires a lot of uninterrupted time (maybe it’s just me, but I can’t seem to visit any museum for less than 4 hours). Even though some goals may take more total time (Venus Retrospectives, I’m looking at you), those goals can be squeezed and squished into convenient bits and pieces, and accomplished at home. Luckily, Berlin is one of the best cities in the world for museum-goers, having over 150 to peruse. In some ways, this goal is asking me to invest in my own enjoyment, which is something I am not always particularly good at. I’ll definitely try to improve, though.

#10: Lastly, rejections are going to be really hard to collect! I’ve only racked up half a dozen so far, which puts me way behind my ultimate goal of 50 this year. It will be difficult because this goal is the only one that involves the participation of other people; being rejected means that other people, organizations, publications, companies, etc. have to respond to me, and that’s just not something I can control. in fact, this is an aim I’ve done before! I sought 100 rejections, back when most of my submissions were for acting jobs, around 2022. Most of those ended up being assumed rejections, because no one ever actually responded… instead, the dates of the shows I applied for simply passed me by. Still, I know I have a better chance of achieving this if I simply send out more applications, which I need to do anyway.

Reflecting on progress (and lack thereof) is reinvigorating. I may yet fail at every single one of these aims, but that isn’t the point, is it? There is immeasurable value in trying, assessing, learning, and experiencing. It’s in my nature to plan, strive, and analyze. Would you believe me if I said this was the most fun part of my entire year? (Gotta say though, getting a new kitten is right up there, too!)

Until next week,
-Franny