Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle
Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle | |
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Direct Cinema | |
Release date |
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Running time | 55 minutes |
Country | US |
Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle is a 1999 documentary film directed by Jon H. Else, that explores the work – and leisure activities – of a crew of stagehands at the San Francisco Opera, as they prepare and rehearse for a production of Richard Wagner's complete Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring Cycle).[1] The cycle, a set of four operas with a combined performance time of seventeen hours, is regarded as the most ambitious production an opera company can mount.[1][2] The film was distributed by the American Public Broadcast Service as part of its Independent Lens series.
Synopsis
The film documents preparations for the production of The Ring Cycle one month prior to
Throughout the film, principal stagehand Ken "Spike" Kirkland provides a synopsis of the operas, with his own commentary.[3][2] In the film's finale, a sixty-second time-lapse sequence shows the full opening night performance.[3]
Production
The majority of the film was shot on a single
Release and reception
The film was released on January 22, 1999[5] at the Sundance Film Festival, where it received the Filmmaker’s Trophy.[2] It was later broadcast as part of the first season of the PBS series Independent Lens on September 27, 1999.
In 2000, the film won a
Reviewer Allan Ulrich, writing for
References
- ^ IMDb
- ^ a b c d Cosette. "Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle (1999)". I Need Coffee. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
- ^ a b c d "Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle". ITVS. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
- ^ Heymont, George (May 26, 2011). "When Worlds Collide: Mismatched Music Documentaries". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
- ^ Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ "Else's 'Sing Faster' wins Emmy". The Berkeleyan. University of California Berkeley. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
- ^ Ulrich, Allan (June 7, 1999). "S.F. Opera, from the inside out". The San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
- ^ "Ten Great Recent Documentary Films". OUPblog. Oxford University Press. May 15, 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
External links
- Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle at IMDb
- Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle at Independent Television Service
- Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle at Direct Cinema