Tales of Hoffmann | Opéra Louisiane
Opéra Louisiane's main summer production of 2022 was Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann, a time-traveling opera that demands an immense amount of creativity on the part of the tech team. We were asked to map out and control the projections based on the set designer's vision.
The Design
The set designer, Wendy Waszut-Barrett, had a vision that included an adaptable backdrop and set consisting of many different compartments in which abstract imagery could be projected.
The backdrop was made of a slightly sheer fabric that allowed light to pass through, so we needed to create extremely high-contrast photos and imagery in order to set the scenes with projections.
Since the scenes were largely dependent on the projections, we discussed and worked closely with the Hoffmann creative team to decide on specific configurations and images.
Wendy decided on four different eras in history to focus on within each scene: 20th-century Bauhaus, 1880s Victorian, 1960s Go-Go Dance Club, and a modern hallucinogenic bar scene. We also created a transition animation that portrayed the concept of traveling in time as the actors froze on stage.
Because of the tight timeline at the River Center in Baton Rouge, we only had one day to map all projections for each time-traveling scene on stage.
The Projections
