Does operatic acting mean you stand in one place while singing? Could it involve overacting because you are singing in a foreign language while struggling to get the text across to the audience? Does it suggest an acting technique that is different from spoken theater? Opera means beautiful singing, by definition, Opera is a play set to music. There should be no difference in the acting technique employed by the spoken actor or by the singing actor. The iconic Constantin Stanislavski believed Opera singers should "combine the art of living a role with its musical form and the technique of singing."