For the singer who has never worked with a prompter, or who has limited experience working with one, the existence of a prompter in an opera company can raise questions. Why does the prompter’s role exist? Are there preconceived philosophies about the relationship between a singer and prompter that might be inaccurate? How should the singer and prompter interact during the rehearsal process? What happens in performance?
Prompters who work with opera companies across the country use the same phrase about why their roles exist: “It’s a safety net.” Along with many opera company managers, prompters understand that singers have a lot on their minds, including words, music, staging, and watching the conductor. A memory lapse can happen to any singer at any time in any performance. There can also be special circumstances when a prompter is especially helpful, such as if a singer is performing a difficult or new role or covering a role at the last minute.
The ability to travel quickly between countries and continents has created more performance opportunities, as well as less rehearsal time and more jet lag. Thus, singers have needed more cues, entrance signals, and corrective gestures than in the past.
“The singers are the only ones performing without the music in front of them. No matter how familiar an opera may be, words or music can be forgotten. I try to provide calm, positive support and stability,” says Susan Miller Hult, an assistant conductor and a prompter at Lyric Opera of Chicago for 18 years.
Even though singers do perform from memory and opera companies know that memory lapses can happen, some singers still have the impression that it is shameful to rely on a prompter, according to Jonathan Khuner, musical director of Berkeley Opera and an assistant conductor and prompter at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. This “shameful reliance” is one of several misconceptions that he has discovered during his nearly 30 years of prompting.
“There is terrific pressure on singers to present themselves as complete and self-reliant artists, but no singer’s memory is 100 percent reliable at all times. The prompter can be the singer’s best friend in crisis. Conductors and colleagues attach no stigma to reliance on prompters any more than attention to the conductor’s baton,” Khuner says.
Another misconception is that the prompter can hide a singer’s insufficient preparation and memorization and act as a singer’s “crutch.” Singers must be completely familiar with the text, however, or they cannot respond in the brief moment after the prompt.
“It is impossible to be fed every word by the prompter. Only the beginning of each phrase [is possible], at most, since you can’t hear a prompt clearly while singing with full voice. You have to be ready for the prompt to elicit the action you were just a bit wobbly on,” Khuner says.
Similarly, Hult emphasizes that prompts do not always have to be “ahead of the beat.” “I only give words ‘ahead of the beat’ if requested,” she says. “If an artist doesn’t wish to hear the words, I say the words silently, in time, so they can ‘read my lips,’ which I’ve been told can be
enormously helpful should they need reassurance that they are in the right place or quick assistance if they should forget their words.”
When a singer needs a line, should he or she be concerned about the prompter reacting critically to the mistake? Khuner says no. “The prompter may give corrective advice after the fact, but is not trying to pass judgment or assume any disciplinary authority. Singers often apologize to the prompter for their mistakes, as if an error is a nuisance or burden, but prompters assume that mistakes can happen and enjoy being the people who can fix them most easily,” he says.
Because a singer has both the conductor and prompter in his or her line of sight, sometimes the prompter’s cues may seem to contradict the conductor’s desires or indications. The prompter’s gestures, facial expressions, and anticipatory timing, however, are intended to reinforce the conductor’s interpretation. “A good prompter always tries to guide the singer into harmony with the podium and the orchestra,” Khuner says. “If the orchestra is playing slightly behind the beat as a matter of style or intent, and the singer is locked onto the visual ‘ictus,’ a prompter may give a delayed beat to show the proper sounding time and, thus, look slightly out of synchronization with the conductor.”
During her time as a prompter in Chicago and San Francisco, Hult has encountered the perception that prompters are not as necessary for operas in English—that prompting is “only about the words.” Some of the most difficult operas in the standard repertoire are in English by composers such as Britten, Adams, and Tippett, and musical support is as critical as help with the text.
Hult helps the singers achieve musical accuracy by using hand signals that indicate tempo, among other possible adjustments, especially if the singers are not able to watch the conductor at a given moment. “My goal is to provide feedback to the singers so they can quickly fix small inaccuracies before they become noticeable to the audience,” she says.
Prompters are part of a production’s music staff from the first day of rehearsals through the final performance. Singers who are working with a prompter for the first time need to understand that they cannot sing at the same time as the prompt because the prompt is spoken before the sung entrance, explains Khuner. “Very occasionally a singer will find this difficult to learn, but the singer has to stifle the ‘sing-along’ reaction,” he says, adding that most singers adapt quickly. They use the rehearsal period to learn how to ignore cues when they do not need them and listen carefully when they might need them.
Both Khuner and Hult highlight communication between singer and prompter during rehearsals as the most important aspect of their collaboration. “In my 20 years of prompting, I have been asked to give ‘all the words,’ ‘no words unless I look at you,’ and everything in between. Artists might say things such as ‘watch me in this section—I sometimes get lost here,’ ‘I always forget the words for the second verse,’ or ‘watch that I don’t get
distracted in this section as I descend the steep staircase.’ The more information I have about the artists’ concerns, the more I can tailor my prompting to their needs,” Hult says.
Information and communication can also come in the form of the singer’s body language, which Lara Bolton has observed as a freelance pianist and prompter for opera companies, mostly San Francisco Opera, where she was an Adler Fellow in 2008. “During rehearsals, prompters can get to know the singer’s style and intuitively understand when the singer starts to look uncomfortable [about an upcoming line],” she says. “The best prompters in the
business are very sensitive and recognize a singer’s personal signals.”
Since prompters are involved with a production from the beginning of rehearsals, the only difference between rehearsals and performances—in terms of the interaction between the singer and prompter—is the presence of the public. The interaction is the same, but glances toward the prompter should become more subtle.
“I have my eyes on [the singers] the whole time, alert to any signals that they might need assistance and transmitting any information they might need to [ensure that they] stay with the conductor,” Hult says. “I make the rounds to their dressing rooms before every performance to see if there are any concerns and discuss any issues from the previous performance.”
One aspect of prompting that might not immediately come to mind, because it is so rare in opera, is spoken dialogue. But those moments exist, and they can be nerve wracking. Tenor Matthew O’Neill, an Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera during the 2006-2007 season, found it challenging to perform the spoken dialogue in the company’s productions of Carmen and Die Zauberflöte. “I want a prompter in an opera that has spoken dialogue because that is the circumstance when I am most likely to forget a line,” he says. “Because many singers are not used to doing a tremendous amount of dialogue—I was not trained to do it and don’t do it with great regularity—it can seem like walking the tightrope without a net.”
Prompting spoken dialogue is an annoying challenge, according to Khuner, for a variety of reasons. First there is no orchestra to cover the prompter’s voice, and the singer is more likely to be distracted when the prompt is not needed. The timing of the cue is also tricky without music. And, finally, aspects of the dialogue that are specific to a production can cause confusion. When it is obvious the line has been forgotten, however, the prompter can give the cue as needed and, if necessary, the singer can ad lib. Another positive is that the singer can devote his or her attention to a prompt without the distraction of music.
What if there is no prompter, as is the case with many companies? Khuner advises singers to think ahead more often and guard against self-awareness or mental instant replay. “As long as you are ‘looking’ just a second or two ahead to feel sure you are on track, but not dwelling on any moment, you can stay in the groove that you’ve rehearsed very thoroughly,” he says.
It cannot be overemphasized that the key to a successful collaboration with a prompter is feedback. Even though the prompter is a member of the musical staff, accompanists, conductors, and others usually give the singer instructions, not vice-versa—but the prompter needs information from the singer so that he or she can be helpful. What are the singer’s needs and preferences? What are the anxieties and areas of insecurity? How does a singer respond to a prompt? For example, as Khuner explains, some singers respond best to one word or one syllable, while other singers need more syllables.
“Since a good singing artist is emotionally vulnerable during a performance, a high level of trust and collegial friendship with the prompter can be crucial. Prompters don’t mind at all when singers instruct them on how they need to be prompted, even when the prompter already knows by observation,” Khuner says. “Prompters are a service.”
