skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Last night David and I saw A Little Night Music at the remarkable Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. The theatre, abandoned and empty for years, behind a super-imposed car dealership and a hardware store, was restored some years ago after a visit from then First Lady Hillary Clinton. It is simply gorgeous.
This was my third trip to Night Music. I saw the original Broadway production in 1973, which starred Glynis Johns, Hermione Gingold, and Len Cariou, then I saw the later 2009 Broadway revival with Beradette Peters and the amazing Elaine Stritch. This production originally starred Catherina Zeta-Jones, who I heard sing a disastrous version of "Send in the Clowns" on the Tony Awards. Bernadette was never a favorite of mine, but Elaine stole the show. A habit of hers!
Last night's production by the Berkshire Theatre Group starred Maureen O'Flynn, Penny Fuller, and Greg Edelman. Over the years, or perhaps, because of the direction by Ethan Heard, the show seemed to lose its magic for me. The dramatic tension of the book seemed watered down.
Much of the singing was very good vocally, especially Maureen's delivery of "Send in the Clowns", which was a high point of the show, but because of the poor enunciation by many of the cast, the witty lyrics of Stephen Sondheim were lost. I have heard Maureen sing such roles as Violetta in La Traviata, so this involved a very different part of her range, which she handled beautifully.
David and I have been talking about singing diction as he prepares the choral parts of the St. John Passion of Bach for a week at the Berkshire Choral Festival this month. In his preparation, as in my teaching in general, I find that singers often leave off the final consonant of a word, making it a blur. This was especially true last night in the Sondheim songs which require lightning fast delivery of text.
I remember Madeleine Marshall, my late friend and mentor, going on about the importance of consonants. She related the story of working with a native Italian singer at the Met, who was appearing in an English language opera. He kept singing the word 'home' as 'ome'. After she valiantly struggled to get him to pronounce his aitch, he said to her, 'Madeleine, why can't English be sung like Italian? We have these wonderful vowels, like in the word 'Ah-hamor'. He sang it on an upward sixth.
Case proved.
This evening Alice, David and I saw Working on a Special Day at Barrington Stage. This is without doubt the most creative, imaginative, fantastic production of a play I have ever seen. It is based on Una Giornata Particulare by Ettore Scola, Roggero Maccari, adapted by Gigliola Fantoni. The translation is by Ana Graham and Antonio Vega,who also directed and performed in the play. They are an amazing pair.
As we were seated in the St.Germain Theatre, we commented on the lack of scenery. The entire stage and floor were painted black. The two performers came out and spoke off-handedly with the audience before the play itself began. On stage were two chairs with men's and women's clothing folded on them and a couple of tables. Gradually the two actors got into their characters of Antonietta and Gabriele. They also, when off stage, were the voices of Antonietta's six children, doorbells, ringing phones, the neighbor, etc.
The play takes place on the day in 1938 when Hitler and Mussolini met in Rome. Antonietta's parrot escapes from its cage and flys out the window. Gabriele has a gun in his hand and is about to commit suicide when she rings his doorbell. As the play progresses they talk, dance, make love, and argue. It turns out that Gabriele is gay and has been fired from his job as a radio announcer.
With chalk they create windows as needed, a lamp, a telephone, a parrot cage and so on, while carrying on the drama. They finally part, him to escape the fascist government of Italy and she to return to her abusive husband.Their versatility is amazing.
It was an exciting night in the theatre!
How lucky can we be? Another winner!
Tonight Mary, Ellen, Sue, David and I saw a fabulous production of Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate at Barrington Stage.
I saw the original Broadway production in 1950, my first year in New York City, at the Schubert Theatre. Patricia Morrison and Alfred Drake were the stars. It was probably one of the first Broadway shows I ever saw.
Elizabeth Stanley
Paul Anthony Stewart
Tonight's production had all the energy and fun of the original. Elizabeth Stanley and Paul Anthony Stewart led tonight's proceedings with vigor and good strong voices. Mara Davi was Lois Lane/Bianca, Tyler Hanes was Bill Calhoun/Lucentio, Matthew Bauman, Paul, Carlos Lopez and Michael Dean Morgan, the two gangsters
(who stopped the show with 'Brush up your Shakespeare) and a chorus of agile and attractive singers and dancers who lit up the stage with their energy and talent. Every moment was one of delight.
The music and lyrics by Cole Porter include one great song after another. This show is from the days when you actually went out humming the tunes. And what great tunes. Porter's sophistication and humor invested every song with gaiety and class. It is a great musical.
The sets and lighting were excellent and an enthusiastic audience enjoyed every moment.
This is what a Broadway show is supposed to be.
Last night we witnessed an 83 year old woman present a fabulous retelling of her life in dance and tonight we heard an amazing 21 year old 'cellist bare his musical soul in an extraordinary recital. That's covering nearly a century of talent. Carmen de Lavallade is the dancer. Julian Müller is the 'cellist.
He is currently a student at the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studies with Sharon Robinson. He has been the recipient of several grants from the Ferris Burtis Music Foundation.
http://ferrisburtisfoundation.blogspot.com
Tonight, with the excellent Hyanghyun Lee at the piano, he gave us a wonderful concert in Ghent, NY. The program opened with Fantasiestücke, Op. 73, by Robert Schumann. The two artists performed these delightful pieces with ardor. I have performed some of these pieces with a 'cellist I worked with for many years as well as with several clarinetists. They are winners!
This was followed by the Andante from Sinfonia Concertante, Op. 125, by Sergei Prokofiev, and a new work by Julian Müller, Temperaments. This engaging work has Julian singing as well as playing his 'cello. This is a young man with a lot to say about music and life. And with a lot of talent. It was most interesting.
The second half of the program included the Sonata for Piano and 'Cello No. 5 by Beethoven and ended with a heartbreaking rendition of the Andante Cantabile of Tchaikovski, dedicated to his grandmother, who was an opera singer. It's easy to see where some of these musical genes came from.
Julian plays with a fiery technique and a passionate approach to whatever he does. I am so proud that our Foundation is helping him on his way to what I know will be a brilliant career.
Bravo Julian!!
This afternoon we spent a delightful afternoon with Carmen de Lavallade. At 83, the dancer still moves with the grace and style for which she is remembered, though more slowly.
With Heinke and Sam we went to Jacob's Pillow in Becket for this remarkable afternoon of reminiscences by one of the world's great dancers.
In a production that includes movement, music, background motion pictures from the dancer's life, Ms. Lavallade enchanted a full house in the Doris Duke Theatre.
She traced her life from her first dance lessons through her work with Alvin Ailey and her marriage to Geoffrey Holder. She moved about the stage with an ease that belied her 83 years and proved, once more, that in addition to being a wonderful dancer, she is a fine actress.
It was a lovely afternoon in a lovely place.
This evening Alice, David, and I saw The Other Place, by Sharr White, at Barrington Stage's second theatre, the St. Germain Stage. It is a vivid depiction of a person on the fringe of dementia, partially realizing what is happening to her, and partially living in several other worlds, past and present.
For anyone who has ever dealt with someone going through this pathetic life change, and even for those who have never experienced it, this play is a very true to life tale of a person at the border of sanity.
Marg Helgenberger portrays Juliana, a woman going through this terrifying experience. Her change from a sophisticated business woman into a confused and psychologically destroyed person is amazing.
Equally effective is Katya Campbell as The Woman, who plays several different roles, Juliana's shrink, her daughter, and a stranger into whose home Juliana goes. The house being 'The Other Place', which Juliana and her husband once owned.
Brent Langdon was excellent as Ian, Juliana's husband and Adam Donshik was very good in several roles as The Man.
It provided a challenging and dramatic evening with a tour de force performance by Ms. Helgenberger.
Barrington Stage is off to a good start this season with the powerful drama.
