{"id":37377,"date":"2018-10-23T12:16:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T20:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/local-artist-creates-25-pieces-for-princess-sophia-opera\/"},"modified":"2018-10-28T08:12:23","modified_gmt":"2018-10-28T16:12:23","slug":"local-artist-creates-25-pieces-for-princess-sophia-opera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/home2\/local-artist-creates-25-pieces-for-princess-sophia-opera\/","title":{"rendered":"Local artist creates 25 pieces for ‘Princess Sophia Opera’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The set of the “Princess Sophia” opera changes dozens of times without the introduction of new props or breaks in the action.<\/p>\n

Instead, the backdrop behind performers changes to reflect shifts in time and place.<\/p>\n

This is accomplished via large, laser projectors shipped from Seattle that blast large versions of works by local artist Dan Fruits onto a screen.<\/p>\n

“I’ve got various projectors, and I’ve changed the scale of things, but nothing like that before, but that was kind of a shock — the fact they held up better than I expected,” Fruits told the Capital City Weekly after seeing the works projected at full size for the first time.<\/p>\n

Fruits saw them Monday night, during a dress rehearsal at Juneau-Douglas High School, where the opera will show Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n

[Opera commemorates tragedy 100 years later<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n

“It was really, really impressive,” Fruits said. “My initial thought was they were going be like an old Carousel Kodak projector, sort of a click-click-click, or at most a slow dissolve, but they ended up so much more than that.<\/p>\n

“Part of me would like to paint that size. It changes the work a great deal, and yet it stays kind of true to my marks. I thought they’d be blown up so large, they’d be reduced to dots or texture, but it stayed true to it.”<\/p>\n

Fruits said he gives a lot of credit to Greg Mitchell, projection designer for the opera, with coming up with creative ways to display his work.<\/p>\n

“Greg’s really a talent,” Fruits said. “I like the effects so much, there’s a piece there that Greg did that’s so much better than the work. It was an unsuccessful painting I did called ‘Panic On Board.’ He made that so — I wish I’d painted that, but he’s working with three different half sketches.”<\/p>\n

While “The Princess Sophia” opera served as a jumping off point, Fruits said he had some leeway with his art.<\/p>\n

“I took his (librettist Dave Hunsaker’s) script and made notes of salient points, but the intent was not to make illustrations, but to make artwork out of the story,” Fruits said.<\/p>\n

The 25 pieces Fruits made for the opera took about a year to complete.<\/p>\n

“It works out to be one every two weeks, but some of them took months to complete,” Fruits said.<\/p>\n

The art work will be on display in the high school before the two-act opera and during its intermission.<\/p>\n

Fruits has moved to a new project, but it’s subject matter is not far removed from The Princess Sophia.<\/p>\n

“I’m gathering pieces and starting to work on something called ‘The Arctic Voyage,’ it’s going to be a very abstract series of ice and water and vague ship shapes.”<\/p>\n

Know & Go<\/strong><\/p>\n

What:<\/strong> “The Princess Sophia” opera<\/p>\n

When:<\/strong> 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27 and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28<\/p>\n

Where:<\/strong> Juneau-Douglas High School auditorium, 1639 Glacier Ave.<\/p>\n

Admission:<\/strong> $20-$45 and tickets are available online at orpheusproject.org.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\u2022 Contact arts and culture reporter Ben Hohenstatt at 523-2243 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com.<\/b><\/p>\n

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