In addition to the Met's crew members, Mr. Clark is in frequent contact with the technical directors at La Scala in Milan, the Paris Opera and other European companies with which the Met shares productions, singers and designers.
At its premiere on Monday night at John Jay College Theater under Lincoln Center auspices, this "Winterreise" had all the trappings of a fully staged theatrical production with singer, pianist and three dancers onstage.
Neither was a full production; the singers shared the stage with the orchestra, and no set was used.
Joyce performed with her husband, Steven J. Conners, in several touring productions as singer, dancer and magician's assistant, before raising five children.
"This is two weeks, over the course of a year, when a group of gentlemen enjoy close friendships, current events and theatrical productions," Mr. Singer says.
Like OutKast's Hey Ya!, this is a wonderful throwback to old Stax production and singers such as James Brown proteges Lyn Collins and Vicki Anderson.
"But in our production the singers are in front of the orchestra and the dynamics can be very soft, almost chamber-music-like, if that's at all possible with Wagner".
The stage director, Cynthia Edwards, apparently focused on stage business at the expense of character development in Jonathan Eaton's production: most singers seemed to be going through the motions.
Much of Alden's production requires singers who can not only act, but can move like dancers.
He began incorporating her into sessions with the Ray Charles Singers, a group of performers with a rotating membership that would sing in close harmonies, often on productions with singer and television personality Perry Como, or as backup singers for other recordings.
