Tonight I witnessed an absolute tour de force when my good friend and sometimes student, Ben Luxon, simply took the stage apart in his role as the narrator in Stravinsky's l'Histoire du Soldat. With a very able chamber orchestra he kept a large audience totally in the palm of his hand as he portrayed all the various characters in this incredible work, going with ease from the Soldier to the Devil to the Old Man to the Old Woman in lightning speed.
Ani Crofut, Ben's stepdaughter was lovely as she danced the part of the Princess.
But it was Ben's evening. The energy he produced was palpable. It simply poured off the stage of the Mahaiwe Theatre in Great Barrington back to Row L where I was seated. I have seen Ben on stage a number of times previously, but this was his crowning role to date as an actor!
Having had an enormous career as an operatic baritone, then losing his hearing and being forced to stop singing concerts and opera must have been an unbearable trauma for him. His operatic career took him to most of the world's great opera houses- Covent Garden, The Met, La Scala, on and on.
Having to give all of this up seems unimaginable. But with his incredible acting instinct, he takes his place as one of the great actors of our time.
I told him once, having seen him perform in Dylan Thomas's Under Milkwood, 'You should never be allowed off the stage.'
Tonight's performance proved this to be true.
Bravo, Ben!
