Stage Director, Conductor, Choreographer and Producer
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Finding The Play, or Finding The Message?
Aaron Hunt often approaches the process of creating a piece of theatre around the story he thinks the words and/or music is telling, or in instances where he is revisiting well-known works, what story he feels the material can tell today’s audience that will speak to their world via a shared discovery. Then it is a matter of placing that story in the venue, adding costumes, sets, lighting, etc., that inform and enhance but never confuse, and let the audience tell the players what story has been heard.
Sometimes, a piece is so compelling that the need to dive in is greater than the need to have made too many decisions. While a decision to approach a piece of theatre from this direction takes a leap of faith from director, discovering a story in a group environment can uncover something completely new and therefore very precious. Sometimes one can only find the message after they have found the play. And casting is everything. |
Credits
As a producer, director, musical director, conductor, and choreographer, Aaron's work requires that he stay prepared to interact successfully with performers and theatre artists of all ages, and with highly differing levels of experience and ability. This process is constantly educative.
Transgressive Theatre-Opera
The Telephone/Hello Out There
The Telephone/Hello Out There – Producing Director; Transgressive Theatre-Opera (formerly Chicago Theatre-Opera), Chicago, Illinois. May/June 2015 http://transgressivetheatre-opera.org
Four performances on two consecutive weekends in the intimate Piccolo Theatre in Evanston, Illinois.
From my Directors Notes:
For its inaugural production, Chicago Theatre-Opera has chosen a double-bill of Gian-Carlo Menotti’s The Telephone and the Mid-west premiere of Jack Beeson’s Hello Out There.
What happens when face-to-face, human interaction is stymied by social tools and societal differences? Are the dialogues about the potential negative effects of social media, and the rapidly disappearing middle class, really new discussions?
Both pieces contain music that is as spoken as it is sung, and are prime examples of the type of work that CT-O intends to offer, as performed by artists from multiple disciplines, who can inhabit the characters with fulsome artistic sensibilities. As the line between theatre and music theatre continues to blur, a new lyric theatre is emerging, unhampered by labels and preconceived notions of ownership. Chicago Theatre-Opera (now Transgressive Theatre-Opera) is excited to be part of the change.
Four performances on two consecutive weekends in the intimate Piccolo Theatre in Evanston, Illinois.
From my Directors Notes:
For its inaugural production, Chicago Theatre-Opera has chosen a double-bill of Gian-Carlo Menotti’s The Telephone and the Mid-west premiere of Jack Beeson’s Hello Out There.
What happens when face-to-face, human interaction is stymied by social tools and societal differences? Are the dialogues about the potential negative effects of social media, and the rapidly disappearing middle class, really new discussions?
Both pieces contain music that is as spoken as it is sung, and are prime examples of the type of work that CT-O intends to offer, as performed by artists from multiple disciplines, who can inhabit the characters with fulsome artistic sensibilities. As the line between theatre and music theatre continues to blur, a new lyric theatre is emerging, unhampered by labels and preconceived notions of ownership. Chicago Theatre-Opera (now Transgressive Theatre-Opera) is excited to be part of the change.
Main Street Opera
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor – Director; Main Street Opera, Arlington Heights, Illinois September 2014 http://mainstreetopera.org/
Five performance in four venues through September 28: A church basement, a library auditorium, a school auditorium, and a banquet hall.
From my Directors Notes:
… With a nod to its original time and setting of castles shrouded in moor-mist, we grant the story an eraless delivery, using the aesthetic of junk theater, simple symbols proving a wider, complex grounding. For as world histories pile up, the next so similar to the last, it is impossible to deny that there are still places and times and people which will negate, and war with, those they consider “other.” Individuals are still traded as chattel the world over, women in particular swimming in a sea of misogyny.
I know you will be uplifted by Donizetti’s brilliant music, performed by these stunningly talented singers. It is my hope that we will all take to heart, and carry home to hearth, this model of the effects of marginalization-of-person, and use it to assist us in sharpening our vigilance against tyrannies; even the smallest looms large.
Five performance in four venues through September 28: A church basement, a library auditorium, a school auditorium, and a banquet hall.
From my Directors Notes:
… With a nod to its original time and setting of castles shrouded in moor-mist, we grant the story an eraless delivery, using the aesthetic of junk theater, simple symbols proving a wider, complex grounding. For as world histories pile up, the next so similar to the last, it is impossible to deny that there are still places and times and people which will negate, and war with, those they consider “other.” Individuals are still traded as chattel the world over, women in particular swimming in a sea of misogyny.
I know you will be uplifted by Donizetti’s brilliant music, performed by these stunningly talented singers. It is my hope that we will all take to heart, and carry home to hearth, this model of the effects of marginalization-of-person, and use it to assist us in sharpening our vigilance against tyrannies; even the smallest looms large.
Verismo Opera
The magic Flute
The Magic Flute – Director & Adapter; Verismo Opera, Oak Park, Illinois March and April 2011.
Performances in two spaces, a theatre in Oak Park, and The Skokie Public Library. This was a child-centric production with the more adult themes expunged. Mozart himself appeared as narrator, explaining the action while referencing current Internet-speak and comparing the characters to public figures in the latest news. All of the characters played sports, were costumed in sportswear, and actually executed their sports. For example, the Three Ladies were rhythmic dancers, and sang while using hoops and ribbons, having been trained by an American Olympic gymnast.
Performances in two spaces, a theatre in Oak Park, and The Skokie Public Library. This was a child-centric production with the more adult themes expunged. Mozart himself appeared as narrator, explaining the action while referencing current Internet-speak and comparing the characters to public figures in the latest news. All of the characters played sports, were costumed in sportswear, and actually executed their sports. For example, the Three Ladies were rhythmic dancers, and sang while using hoops and ribbons, having been trained by an American Olympic gymnast.
Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company
Iolanthe
Iolanthe – Choreographer; The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company, Hyde Park, Illinois March 1998. I contributed highly stylized movement for the opening number, the entrance of the fairies (women), and for the March of the Peers (men); the women’s movement was in and out of corps de ballet positions, with a nod to Petipa’s choreography for Swan Lake, and the men’s movement was a marching band chart.
The Marquee Theater
The Desert Song
The Desert Song – Director/Musical Director/Conductor/Choreographer; The Marquee Theatre, Northville, Michigan October 1989. There was never an argument at the production table, and the piece was very positively reviewed in the press; the pick-up orchestra was largely from the orchestra of Michigan Opera Theatre, which was on hiatus.
Southfield Civic Theater
Godspell
Godspell – Musical Director/Arranger – Southfield Civic Theatre; Southfield, Michigan 1980. I conducted from the piano, having produced my own arrangement for piano, flute, percussion and string bass.
A Funny thing...Forum
A Funny Thing…Forum – Musical Director; Southfield Civic Theatre, Southfield, Michigan 1980. A production with principals from both the professional performance community and the local high schools, I prepared all of the ensemble numbers and coached all of the soloists for both vocal and comedic expression.
The Apple Tree
The Apple Tree – Musical Director; Southfield Civic Theatre, Southfield, Michigan 1979
This was my first professional outing as Musical Director. Two of the three principals went on to careers in theatre and cabaret.
This was my first professional outing as Musical Director. Two of the three principals went on to careers in theatre and cabaret.
Southfield all-high school summer production
Fiddler on the roof
Fiddler on the Roof – Musical Director/Conductor/Arranger; Southfield All-High-School Summer Production, Southfield, Michigan Summer 1980
A cooperative production between two High Schools with highly awarded choral ensembles, the full orchestration with realized with professional musicians; “Sunrise, Sunset” was arranged to showcase the choral skills of the young performers.
A cooperative production between two High Schools with highly awarded choral ensembles, the full orchestration with realized with professional musicians; “Sunrise, Sunset” was arranged to showcase the choral skills of the young performers.
Muskingum College
oklahoma & west Side Story
Oklahoma/West Side Story (scenes) – Musical Director for both, also Director for West Side Story; Muskingum College Fall 1976
All solos and duets from Oklahoma and all vocal music and book scenes from West Side Story.
All solos and duets from Oklahoma and all vocal music and book scenes from West Side Story.
Of Thee I sing
Of Thee I Sing – Co-Choreographer; Muskingum College Spring 1976
This was my first choreographic experience with a full production. I also performed the role of The French Ambassador.
This was my first choreographic experience with a full production. I also performed the role of The French Ambassador.
