[This is a guest post by Jennifer Pugsley, media relations manager at the Canadian Opera Company. Jennifer and technical director David Feheley have been blogging about the COC's tour of The Nightingale and Other Short Fables to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).]

In an earlier post, I mentioned how the group with The Nightingale and Other Short Fables is spread out over five floors at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House. Space is in high demand backstage, especially during intermission when no one is allowed on the stage because of the extensive set change that takes place to get ready for the second half of the production. At the same time that no one is allowed on stage or in the immediate side stage area off the wings, the hallway leading to the stage is quickly filled with over 80 members of the orchestra waiting for the signal to take their position. 

As this hallway has not been constructed to comfortably hold all the members of the orchestra required to play the second half of The Nightingale and Other Short Fables, a few musicians found a spot in a nearby stairwell to wait out the set change, which is where I happened to stumble upon the rarely seen sight of six double basses in a stairwell during the dress rehearsal of Nightingale on Feb. 28.

Seen here (l-r) are COC Orchestra members Tom Hazlitt, Eric Lee, Andrew Horton, Robert Wolanski, Robert Speer and Alan Molitz, double basses in hand, at the ready to step on stage.