Prompter
Encyclopedia
The prompter in an opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 house gives the singers the opening words of each phrase a few seconds early. Prompts are mouthed silently or hurled lyrically in a half-voice, audible (hopefully) only on stage. (This is in contrast to the prompt
Prompt (theatre)
The prompt in a theatre is traditionally the person who prompts or cues actors when they forget their lines or neglect to move on the stage to where they are supposed to be situated....

 in a spoken-drama theater who aids actors who have forgotten their words or lines.)

Opera prompters are traditionally housed in a stuffy wooden box at the center-front edge of the stage, above the orchestra pit
Orchestra pit
An orchestra pit is the area in a theater in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music or in cases when incidental music is required...

. They are visible to the performers and no one else. Technology has brought cool air and small display screens, among other advances, to support their work.

Effective prompting can be a challenge. The American prompter Philip Eisenberg recounts the story at a Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...

performance when she needed louder prompts. The famed diva swooped down in a curtsy right in front of the prompter’s box and — mid-curtsy, unnoticed by the audience — gave the Italian command “più forte!” (louder) to her boxed colleague.

Prompters attend all rehearsals, mark up any adjustments or clarifications to the score, and generally “prepare” singers for a role. Their profile is low, and opera program books often credit them only under “musical preparation” or some similar moniker.
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