MarketSing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle
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Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle

Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle is a 1999 documentary film directed by Jon H. Else, that explores the work – and leisure activities – of a crew of stagehands at the San Francisco Opera, as they prepare and rehearse for a production of Richard Wagner's complete Der Ring des Nibelungen. The cycle, a set of four operas with a combined performance time of seventeen hours, is regarded as the most ambitious production an opera company can mount. The film was distributed by the American Public Broadcast Service as part of its Independent Lens series.

Synopsis
The film documents preparations for the production of The Ring Cycle one month prior to opening night, two weeks prior, and on opening night. While the cast and orchestra rehearse their performances, the stagehands (members of IATSE Local #16) In the film's finale, a sixty-second time-lapse sequence shows the full opening night performance. ==Production==
Production
The majority of the film was shot on a single 16mm camera, using Fuji 500 ASA film, ==Release and reception==
Release and reception
The film was released on January 22, 1999 at the Sundance Film Festival, where it received the Filmmaker’s Trophy. Reviewer Allan Ulrich, writing for The San Francisco Examiner, declared that "one could scarcely imagine a more energizing or enlightening introduction to Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen than Jon Else's 60-minute documentary". Oxford University Press called the film "as much fun for opera-haters as for opera-lovers". ==References==
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