Opera vs. shows

When you write an opera, you're beginning with a different set of dictates. First, you're essentially agreeing to write vocal music for certain types, and one couldn't be classed as that type without being able to produce those notes at all dynamics. (much like they wouldn't see you as a composer unless you're able to write for them). I used to hate that about musicals, but now it's like the shoe is on the other foot and I'm wanting to hear natural voices sing beside operatic ones. The Perfumed Garden isn't like Portrait of a Knight or These Words Are Meant For Someone, and the ranges are deliberately a bit narrower in some of the songs. - While text is important, people want to hear vocal pyrotechnics. That's Dave's problem, though. At least, unlike a playwright doing a musical, he'll have control over basically all of the text. Those examples are still my dummy lyrics, but that's not an end point! - Plus it has to be music that the business people can understand or sell to their slightly different market of state support and cultured philanthropy. The anti-Israel sentiment is very much a prevailing sentiment in NZ, so people are looking at my piece with a slightly sly and political eye. This is the kind of thing that they could take all the embassy chiefs to: people underestimate those things. The sexual content isn't a plus from their POV, but it's integral to the story.