Photo By Mark Bealer

(L-R) Lauren, Jennifer and Camille Allen are participating as "supers" in Cincinnati Opera's Aida.

Act Two of Verdi's Aida is opera at its grandest, with the Triumphal March scene worthy of Cecil B. DeMille. Few companies can manage a spectacle that outsized, but all that sound and fury rates a major population increase onstage. Cincinnati Opera's production will feature 86 singers, 16 dancers and 30 extras or supernumeraries, better known as "supers."

A super doesn't speak or sing, but that doesn't mean the selection process isn't rigorous. Just ask Jennifer Allen, now in her second "super" season.

Allen was an opera fan long before she and her family moved to Cincinnati four years ago. A neighbor had been a super, and when a casting call for supers was announced for last season's productions, Allen followed her bliss.

"I got to this big room full of people," she says. "There was a list posted of what the company was looking for. They took a photograph and my measurements ... and that was it."

She had to wait two weeks to find out she was cast as an elegant opera-goer in The Tales of Hoffman. This season she will be an Ethiopian captive. Joining her are her daughters Lauren, 11, and Camille, 9.

The first rehearsal was long, arduous and exciting.

"The director (Bliss Hebert) sat down with everyone and explained what was going on. He is very good with the supers and treats us like pros."

There might be no lines but there's plenty of action: The Ethiopian captives are thrown to the ground and the cast ran through the staging at least four times during the rehearsal.

"It's a long night of rehearsals," says Allen, "but you're sharing the stage with these international artists and you get to see the drama of a performance.

"They warn you: Don't sing, don't mouth the words. You're waiting, focusing and pretending to interact with the other cast members. It's truly a group effort."

The drama includes first-night jitters that aren't limited to the diva. "Even if no one's looking at me, my heart is thumping," she says. "I worry, am I going to trip? Am I going to mess up?"

In addition to glimpses of what happens when someone or something does mess up, there are closer looks at the backstage magic.

"The sets and props are amazing!" exclaims Allen. "What they do with wood and paint is amazing. Even fabrics can be made to look much different."

Allen admits that even though being a super doesn't require tremendous acting talent, "it's not that easy to pretend or to project."

But it's in her blood, and she plans to audition for next year's productions.

"I have the super bug!"

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AIDA, presented by Cincinnati Opera, opens Wednesday and continues Friday, Sunday and Tuesday.