RISD Auditorium in 5 days / state of the show from the BOSS – Bob Schlink

Looking forward to the first road gig for Queen Boudicca a Metal Opera is a bit different experience than looking forward to the first performance at the BPC! As it stands right now, our Metal Opera is much more focused and prepared than we were at the BPC premier. Please do not take this as a diminshment or apology for that performance. My cast and musicians at the BPC did an absolutely spectacular job against enormous odds (snowstorms, cancelled rehearsals, non existent tech night, etc.) and I felt a true gratitude towards them all, and every one of them that wanted and was able to do the RISD gig is in it. Rather, that performance allowed us to learn what worked and what didn’t in a way that no rehearsal ever could. For instance, we now have slides to project the lyrics for the “Death Metal impaired” (which is almost all of us) because so many of those in the audience lost important info because of they did not catch the lyrics. We hope that someday this is not necessary, but right now it certainly is! We have also expanded the number of slides featuring art from the graphic novel we are planning to publish. These images will also greatly advance the audience’s understanding of this epic story of courage in the face of crushing odds. I having working with these highly skilled young musicians for months and it still amazes me to see our bass player, Peter De Reyna, play the most brutal death core licks on electric bass, then pick up his double bass and play beautiful arco passages! I feel the same way watching Adrienne Cowan (Asceawa) sing the death metal style ” Entreaty: Finish This! “, and then immediately follow that with the love song “Lay down My Life”. I mention these instances because they are the most visible in the performance, but I assure you that all of our cast has a familiarity and skill for different styles that characterizes the best of what Berklee/BoCo has to offer and, to those that “musician” choose to be, beware! They are your competition. I am a very lucky composer indeed to have such a pool of talent at my disposal ( not to mention my beautiful and talented daughter Ava Gaudet, my co composer Rob Schlink, and my production manager and son in law Rob Gaudet). Please join us for this performance or one of our future gigs, I promise you will not be disappointed! Bob Schlink Composer