I'm so glad that Laura Claycomb, who performed Tytania recently in Houston, will be reprising the role for us here. COC audiences will remember her great success as Gilda in Rigoletto. Toronto's Robert Pomakov is also familiar to this production, having played Quince in Houston; he'll be playing the irrepressible Bottom in our performances.

For A Midsummer Night's Dream, Britten wrote the part of Oberon, the King of the Fairies, for a countertenor, and Tytania, the Queen, for a very high, coloratura soprano. In this way he gave them other-worldly sounds, almost superhuman. The other fairies are sung by children, and these high, sexless voices work well to portray inhuman creatures. The mortals in the opera sing in a natural rhythm, more to the time of normal speech. But the fairies sing in a more artificial line, less text-oriented, more ornate and elaborate. It helps to set them apart and give them the ethereal inhuman sounds they have.

The character of Puck, a sprite, stands apart from all the other characters, as his is the only non-singing role. His entire part is spoken, which seems appropriate as some of that is addressed directly to the audience.