Spear Carrier
Home  ¤  Details  ¤  What it's really like  ¤  Apply to become a supernumerary  ¤  Upcoming shows  ¤  Other links
Spear Carriers in the Army of Culture
Spear Carrier
A website devoted to the supernumeraries of The Opera Company of Philadelphia
Supernumeraries, or supers, play bit parts that don't require singing in many opera houses around the world. Perhaps the quintessential role for an opera super is that of the guard or soldier wielding a spear. At The Opera Company of Philadelphia, though, supers have also gotten to act out a diverse range of characters over the years, often interacting with the principal singers in crucial ways on stage. Here is a list of some parts that supers have played in recent productions:
  • guards, soldiers, spear carriers (natch)
  • priestesses
  • French aristocrats condemned to the guillotine
  • harem slaves
  • clowns
  • pirates
  • human sacrifices at a Druid religious ceremony
  • torturer's apprentices
  • masseurs

Supers Abby and Monica with singers on stage
  Supers Abby (left, kneeling) and Monica (far right) form an integral part of the mise en scéne  

Supers may be given multiple roles to play within a single opera, and they might even be asked to make a quick change in the wings during a scene, leaving the stage and then coming back out as a different character later in that same scene. Supers who have to change quickly are assisted by dressers and make-up artists backstage.


Super John
  Super John rides to the diva's rescue  

Live theater is always a little unpredictable, and supers have to be prepared for the unexpected at any moment. If someone misses a cue, a super might be asked to leap into the breach and dash out on stage, perhaps to retrieve some crucial prop that the diva otherwise would trip on.

Continued on next page . . .