Another Opening…

OCTOBER 1, 2024

Every year, following the opening concert on our season, I have this feeling of “alright, now we’re finally underway…” The first concert of the season is always filled with a lot of second-guessing:   Did the audience like it? Did all the planning work out? Most important of all is this question – did it set the tone for the rest of the season the way I wanted it to?  To this question I would say the answer is a resounding YES!  The long-standing ovation at the end confirmed that bringing Lucie Arnaz to open our season was a home run (since it is still baseball season)!

Years ago, I had the privilege of working with one of the great film and stage directors of our time, and from him I learned about the importance of beginnings.  When we started working on a project, I was fascinated by the way he got every single performer thinking about this idea of beginnings.  I have to say that I’m still sort of obsessed with this concept and approach all these years later.

On a break while we were sitting in the theater chatting, we started talking about this idea of beginnings and he referenced one of the movies he had directed, which I (fortunately) happened to know.  He looked at me and said “do you remember what the opening lines of the movie are?”  I confidently gave him my answer because I thought I absolutely KNEW the answer!  He looked at me and said, “No, those lines are in the next scene.” He then told me what the opening line of this movie really are and then he looked straight at me – and then I understood what he was trying to show me:  That something seemingly inconsequential can set the stage for everything that follows.  He was like a Zen master waiting for the student to finally get it!

And what was the opening line? It is:

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to begin our descent into Los Angeles. The sound you just heard is the landing gear locking into place…”

The entire opening sequence is seven sentences long and each time I hear it I feel like I hear the events of the movie being set up with this “beginning.”

By the way, the first person who correctly guesses the movie that this quote comes from (NO Googling) will get two free tickets to our November 9 concert at MD Hall!  Send your answers to LiveArtsMD@gmail.com <mailto:LiveArtsMD@gmail.com>!

Lucie Arnaz launched our season in a way that sets the stage for a season of creative, unique and carefully curated performances all done for you.  As I think about the beginning of this season and I look at November through the spring at the wonderful, fresh, new music we’re sharing alongside older and more familiar works, I think the future is bright and this new beginning of our 51st season has set us on a great path!