1 Day to Go: The Olympic Flame Arrives!

The Opening Ceremony is Tomorrow (local time)

The Opening Ceremony is Friday evening on NBC in America

The Olympic Flame arrives in Sochi

This morning we called a surprised final dressed rehearsal.   One dramatic, last second, change to the program will be implemented.  Don't worry though, we are adding to the show, not taking anything away.  I am writing this on the bus to Sochi, which follows along the black sea coast.  Many warships, at least 10, stand guard while I travel to the city center to get a first and final glimpse of the torch relay as it enters the Olympic city for the first time.  The ride is both beautiful and eerie as many abandoned docks and an occasional lone soldier standing guard next to their wooden chair line an otherwise beautiful gray stone coastline.

The excitement is building in Sochi.  Another first, among my many various interviews, I have a live interview on Russian National TV during their national nightly news tonight!  Although I will speak in English, I am very proud as I have received many compliments on my Russian this last week.  As a musician, I am really particular about not having an American accent, so I think it is more a reflection of that than my actual Russian vocabulary.  I will certainly keep learning Russian after I leave the Olympics.

And as for news in general, it is difficult for us to receive it from overseas because of the poor internet coverage here in Sochi.  At the resort, one of the ceremonies staff downloaded a television news segment and about twenty of us sat around chairs and tables to watch it on an iPhone.  As one person said, "I've learned more in these three minutes about what is going on in Sochi than I have in the three weeks living in the middle of it all."

In many ways, we prefer not to know.  Our responsibilities are enough to worry about.  We feel very safe though as there are security forces everywhere.  Still, I am more confident than ever that the ceremonies will go exceedingly well.  I hope you enjoy it all!

Last night, all the international ceremonies staff threw me a gigantic going away party!  I love them all and will miss them all so very much!  I now have new friends from all over the world, London, Hong Kong, Brisbane, Kiev, Toronto, Michigan, Ottawa, Vancouver, Halifax, Lithuania, Leipzig, Copenhagen, and many various places in Russia.  I must find a way to see them all again soon.

And just in case you want to know more about any of the Opening Ceremonies from 1896-2012, CLICK HERE.  You can watch the 2014 Opening Ceremony live to 4 billion around the world on Friday night!

Sochi city center

The line to get tickets for events can be 4 hours long...this one goes all the way up the stairs in the distance before a room with another 1.5 hour wait

A Russian coffee shop

the crowd in Sochi waiting for the Torch

a runner finishes his part of the relay

All Access Pass: Final Preparations

2 Days to go!

Last night, our final complete run of the Opening Ceremonies took place, and it went immeasurably better than our initial full dress rehearsal last Saturday.   All of the major technical issues have been resolved and now we are ready to begin the XXIInd Olympic Winter Games in grand fashion.

We still have some small details to work out, some costumes are still being constructed, and some of the visual effects will need to be ironed out as well.  In previous posts, I mentioned some of our tricks to putting on a show of this magnitude.  Every performer has ear buds and are listening to radio channels throughout the ceremony.  They immediately hear commands and reprimands during the performance.  It's actually quite funny to listen to without watching the show, as you hear three languages of people panicking about strange things.  In the picture below, I zoomed up on a group of people frantically soldering hundreds of costumes in the hours before our live dress rehearsal.  Everything is magnified: the number of actors, the size of props, and the size of problems. 

These ceremonies are primarily intended to be enjoyed by a television audience.  Camera angles and lighting are incredibly important and have required many hours of testing and re-testing.  Pyrotechnic devices are used extensively throughout most Olympic ceremonies of late, and it is difficult to test or practice these and their cooperation with a musical score without actually going through the actual show at full scale.  Our practice fireworks displays are larger than some of the largest fireworks shows I have ever seen.  Of course, after the production, I will be able to talk about all the little details - some you will recognize, and some are hidden secrets.

Because the ceremony is intended for the camera, the lighting and visual effects are primarily intended for those on one side of the stadium.  This is yet another reason that it will be easier to view this colossal event on TV than in the stadium.  Sometimes, if you are sitting on the wrong side of the stadium, you may only see the backside of props or special effect.  Thankfully, this is only the second time an Opening Ceremony will be performed in a dome which allows for some incredible feats of ingenuity.  Not only is it a dome, but it is specially made just for this production.  What's our secret?  You will find out in the very first segment!  My one wish for you is that unlike the American telecast of the London 2012 ceremonies, which was filled with ridiculous banter, I hope NBC will save most of its commentating only for when it is necessary.

You still have time left to check out some previous Olympic ceremonies or go through my list of the top 4 in history.  I may have to add one more to the list in 2 days!

3 Days to Go: Secret Preparations

3 Days to go!

Secret preparations were underway last night to practice the cauldron lighting for the Opening Ceremony.  Of all secrets, this is the most secretive.  The rehearsals went well and now we can only wait and hope.  I am incredibly excited for tonight as we welcome a full audience once again (and final) time before the opening night.  Everything must go well.

There is a lot of risk involved with this ceremony, and I am unbearably excited to hear the world's reaction.  Even with all the preparation, if something isn't successful in the ceremony, then we will have to cut something.  There is also a risk of going over our allotted production time, yet another means to cut segments.  When it comes down to it, everything must be as perfect as possible, so the viewing audience of 4 billion can enjoy what is essentially a piece of live cinema in the world's most expensive and elaborate studio.

For those in the United States, the NBC commentators will get their first glimpse of the show tonight.  And I have made several interviews in the last few days.  If you are in KS, you may even see me on your local NBC affiliate before or after the ceremonies air.

I also wanted to mention, that whatever numbers are thrown around on the price-tag of this event, they are likely arbitrary.  Keep in mind, the stadium, which is used only for the ceremonies, and all its technical attributes costs (according to the Moscow Times) in excess of $1 billion and the budget to maintain the mechanical elements, technical elements, costuming, and production of the ceremony and the budget to pay for professional performers and their accommodations together is several hundreds of millions of dollars.  All-in-all, it may be impossible to put a number on the actual cost of these ceremonies, but what has already been spent in the production easily exceeds what Beijing (2008) spent several times over.

Click here to watch the Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony, the current Olympic record holder for most expensive production in history.  

Sochi will easily surpass this, but by how much?  The actual cost for this ceremony is somewhere between $1.1 billion and $1.25 billion if you include the specially made venue.  Second place, Beijing 2008 - $559 million.  Third place, London 2012 - $546 million.

To put that into perspective, the most expensive film ever made was Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End which had a budget of $300 million and was filmed over 18 months.  The production of this ceremony likely exceeds the Disney movie's budget 4 times over and must be filmed in 4 hours.

The stress is intense.  The show is spectacular.  Wish us luck for our last dress rehearsal!

4 Days to Go: Anxious Expectations

4 Days to go!

Today and tomorrow will be especially important days for us in preparing for the Opening Ceremony.  Tonight we begin our complete dress rehearsals simulating opening night.  We cannot afford to make any stops in the production, and final cuts to any segments will be made as well.   Some costuming is still not complete as many costumes have technical elements to them.  Tomorrow we have another full audience with which to practice, and hopefully we can make a flawless run for them.

As an historian of the ceremonies, I am having an enormously difficult time trying to keep a level perspective of how these ceremonies will be received.  My great frustration yesterday is somewhat dulled as I peruse some of the online communities of ceremonies historians and aficionadi.  These are very difficult people to please, as they can be greatly opinionated artists.  Leading up to these ceremonies, I've received comments such as:

"Looks a bit tack-o."

"The stadium though, the whole roof, hangers and stickers on the hangers looks very.... amateurish to me. Very sub-Olympic standard design and planning if you ask me."

"I believe someone said it already and maybe the last few Olympics have ruined us but this does feel very amateurish."

Several days ago, their general excitement toward these ceremonies was depressed at best.  Obviously, they had not seen any bit of the ceremony at that point.  After our first dress rehearsal with audience, our ceremony received excited cursing and comments from these same people saying:

"This ceremony is going to be insane"

"It's crazier than I can imagine."

"They're really putting everything into this ceremony"

"This will be astounding."

It is very rare for this community to be so excited.  These ceremonies are extremely risky because of new technologies and intricacies involved;  I believe that by any measure it is the most technically challenging and in many ways the riskiest ceremony production ever attempted, but that should make it all the more exciting for the world...if everything works out that is.

Still, I had a pretty stressful day yesterday, so I ventured out of Adler where the Olympic Park is located and headed toward Sochi.  Sochi is a very modern city, and I needed some modern amenities to bring my spirits up.  In Sochi, I performed my American duty and watched the Super Bowl at 3:30am.  I cannot help but mention how happy I was when the remarkable Renee Fleming beautifully sang the National Anthem.  This was a great change from the normal ridiculous Super Bowl national anthem wail.  For what it's worth, I never have understood the fascination with the screaming, melismatic National Anthem pop arrangement.  "O Canada" became the first anthem in Olympic history to be performed in a pop arrangement in the 2010 Opening Ceremony in Vancouver.  Thankfully for my colleagues in music academia and for all that is good and decent in the world, I have made sure that you will NOT be disappointed in the quality of the music here in Sochi.

And on that note, I must give a final and profound thank you to Dr. Jan Kraybill, celebrated superstar organist, world's nicest motorcycle-riding musician, principal organist at the Community of Christ International Headquarters, and curator of the organ at the world-renowned Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center in Kansas City.  She dedicated her 15th annual Super Bowl Organ Concert yesterday to the Olympic Games and made a special acknowledgement of my involvement in the production and direction of the ceremonies.  I am so very humbled for this, and I am so very sad to have missed her concert.  Thank you Jan, I miss you!!

How Bryan becomes unstressed...

Go to a very cheap Russian bakery with bakery-loving Russians

Find the longest line and buy whatever it is

Eat large amounts of "pancakes"...crepes with bananas, strawberries, and raspberries in the middle

Go to some place that reminds you of home (and use the internet for once!)

Fall in love with every stray dog

Fall asleep on public transit as the sun sets on the Black Sea

And watch the Super Bowl with some Americans (and Germans)

...at a very nice corporate event center at 3:30am

Frustrated Enthusiasm

5 Days to go!

Bryan at the Olympic Park before the Opening Ceremony dress rehearsal

Day breaks in Sochi after our first run with an audience.  Tension is building, radio communication is frantic and panicked, and I am still tired from a very strenuous night.  For what I am responsible for, we were plagued with technical problems and an a general lack of enthusiasm.  Dealing with stress and problems in Russia is culturally different than it is in other places.  In Kansas, where patience is a virtue - it may actually accomplish nothing in Russia.  If something goes wrong, a satirically calm comment of "Welcome to Russia" is not too far away from any number of observers.  So look out everyone, angry Bryan is running rampant trying to move our colossal production forward as opening night approaches.

Of the accomplishments of the day, the entire show was run with stops until the secret parts of the show, the music continued through the finale segments for the first time, the largest test firework show occurred right on schedule, and with several ooo's and ahh's and massive roars from the audience, I know we are on the right track.

Fireworks testing at the Opening Ceremony dress rehearsal

Another interesting feature from yesterday, is that the military has officially rolled into town.  Naval warships dot the horizon, military helicopters and jets are constantly overhead, and the ever abundant security force on the ground was on full display and successfully delayed my dinner until after midnight last night as I wasn't allowed to move from one security checkpoint only 50 meters from the food tent. 

Warships stand guard

In the Olympic Park, the procrastinated efforts to landscape this enormous space has begun in earnest.  At the Olympic Games, many countries and businesses erect "houses" in a gigantic village on the edge of the Olympic Park.  Essentially it is like a very large and modern State Fair, without the livestock, and with many more stray dogs (a common sight here in Sochi).  On my way to work this morning I went through the village and found some nearly completed houses and sights seen below.

Coca-cola House

PyeongChang House - What do you think of the logo?

Hmmm...now what do I have planned for 2018?

A Russian roller coaster - yeah, I'm not going to ride that