Theatre ,
Show trial
Chicago fictionalizes the real-life 1924 murder trial of Beulah Annan, who murdered her husband and tried to pass off her lover as the killer. The 20's were a fine time for making murder big business: gangsters, murderers and attention seekers were everywhere, and the press was right behind them. Al Capone sold papers in Chicago, with stiff competition from the thrill killers Leopold and Loeb; while millionaire New Yorker Harry Thaw, the killer of the architect Stanford White, resonated not only during his lifetime but afterward, achieving posthumous celebrity when E.L. Doctorow plucked him out of the footnotes of crime to fictionalize in his 1975 novel Ragtime. Wealth, coupled with Prohibition, the Jazz Age, the rise of Bolshevism, Hollywood, and even Lindbergh's flight, electrified the era. It is only natural that we should gaze back in wonder and envy: they did it all first.
The original Fred Ebb-John Kander production with Bob Fosse's signature direction and choreography was a deconstruction of the times, when (as in their other historical collaboration Cabaret) good and bad were mostly shades of grey. The show premièred in 1975 on the cusp of several revolutions, from the medium of the musical and the acceleration of celebrity to the media in general; it was a time when fame was beginning to shape the country--People magazine started in 1974, with articles on both Mia Farrow and Alexander Solzhenitsyn--so Kander-Ebb and Fosse's musical, with its edginess and sexiness, was in line with the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde. Bad was good.
If it is too much to suggest that Seventies musicals such as Chicago and Michael Bennett's star-struck A Chorus Line were prescient in presenting the old / new view that there is no bad publicity, one need only turn on CNN and other cable shows where killers are courted between commercial breaks, or switch to reality TV series in which fame is just another word for desperation, to see how these shows understood that all the world's a stage. And unlike traditional musicals (The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady) in which the dancing is negligible, these Seventies musicals were more all-encompassing; just as the movies of the time undertook the risk of announcing themselves as event films (the first Star Wars was released in 1977), Fosse and Bennett's influence meant theatre was coming closer to the spectacle of film.
Starlight Theatre's production of Chicago, which opened Tuesday night for a week's run, looks all the sharper, given all we have witnessed in the rise of celebrity journalism and the cutting of corners in matters of truth and justice. Those who have seen only the movie version might be surprised: this version (itself a 1996 revival) moves to a tighter tempo. The close-ups for the Hollywood cast are cast off, with the story told along the lines of the songs and the dancing. It creates a true theatrical experience (the finalé, with Velma and Roxie, "the killer dillers," is done in relief in front of a shiny curtain; they sing together and tap dance: it is the soul of the show).
The original cynicism has been restored; the musical is now less of a "star vehicle" and more of a writer's vehicle to analyze stardom. Roxie Hart's (Bianca Marroquín) murder of her lover, threaded into the first two numbers, immediately casts off her innocence. Later, when her busy lawyer Billy Flynn (resonantly sung by Brent Barrett) calls Roxie a dumb common criminal, the epithet sticks: she is common, which is not a vice but a virtue in Twenties Chicago, though it does not make her any more sympathetic. (Nor should it; think of the queasy quality of the film adaptation of the novel The Reader, which because of the main character played by the luminous Kate Winslett made it morally acceptable to think she might have been a good Nazi.) Roxie is part of the system, composed of the prison matron "Mama" (Carol Woods), journalists like Mary Sunshine (D. Micciche), and the legal circus led by Billy Flynn. The songs "When You're Good to Mama" and Billy's trio "All I Care About," "We Both Reached for the Gun," and "Razzle Dazzle" signal the writers-songwriters' intentions about Heavenly Hell. (Remember Fosse worked on the 1957 musical "Damn Yankees," so he was already a well-worn show biz cynic.)
This production's pleasure arrives in its streamlined poise. Many of the leads have been in various versions of the musical on Broadway and elsewhere; Brent Barrett, for example, has played Billy before and also sung both live opera and recorded albums of Broadway tunes. Terra Macleod's Velma Kelly, the other murderer vying for press attention and Billy's legal counsel, comes at the role like a tigress. She has the Fosse look down: it is immediately identifiable, in its catlike shimmy and strut. The songs, coming one after another, hammer at the audience; while the sensuous choreography soothes. Watching Fosse full-out is another way the musical here reaches out to the audience in a way that the movie with its cuts (always a sign of concern: did Fred Astaire cut away from himself?) missed the integrity of the theatricality. This is a show trial in the fullest sense of the phrase.
Restoring a few songs that the movie omitted, particularly the comic duet "Nowadays" sung by Mama and a disappointed Velma toward the end helps tip the musical toward the present. They wonder aloud whatever happened to politeness and class; it is impossible to listen to their complaints supposedly set in the nineteen-twenties without considering etiquette, morals, and mores today. Indeed, we do live in a musical, without the tap dancing talent to get away with our crimes.
REVIEW
Starlight Theatre
Chicago the Musical
Through August 16
Starlight Theatre, 4600 Starlight Road, KCMO.
For tickets call 816-363-7827 or online at www.kcstarlight.com.
Cover photo:
A scene from CHICAGO on Broadway at the Ambassador Theatre.
Photo by Paul Kolnik
theSTEADY,
Mongol Beach Party wants you to dance
One of them is in Blue Man Group. Other bandmates have won awards and received grants. All of them are members of successful, thought-provoking bands. But as members of Mongol Beach Party, they just want to make you dance.
Reunited last December for an off-the-cuff weekend stint at the recordBar, the band is prepping for another round of shows. But this time, the stakes have changed.
"We're writing new music," reveals Christian Hankel (lead vocals). "This time, it's about a band rather than an event. With the reunion, there was a built-in crowd. This time, you gotta work for it."
He and the other Mongols know about hard work. Hankel and Kyle Dahlquist (trombone) are both members of Alacartoona, which received an Inspiration Grant from the ArtsKC Fund and used it to create their Night is the Mirror feature film in late May.
Mark Southerland (saxophone) won a 2008 CSF Generative Performing Artist award for his avant-garde jazz/performance artwork. Scott Easterday (bass) fronts Expassionates, one of Kansas City's favorite Americana bands. Bill Belzer (drums) is a member of The New Amsterdams and Jeff Freling (guitar), who moved to Chicago in 1994, is a member of that city's Blue Man Group.
All of them are doing well on their own. Getting the ol' band back together wasn't really necessary for the Mongols. So what's the appeal of wedging more band practices into six already hectic lives?
Anyone who's ever been in a band can tell you. Just like your high school sweetheart or the one that got away, your first band is forever burned into your personal mythos.
Hankel and Freling began writing songs together in high school. "Jeff had a Casio keyboard," Hankel boasts. The self-professed dorks and student council members penned a ditty with lyrics about "StuCo spirit" and "StuCo glow."
Best friends Dahlquist and Southerland played in jazz band together. Dahlquist even worked in Southerland's mother's shoe store. Belzer was studying for the priesthood at high school seminary when he met the others and opted for musical salvation instead.
"It was a social outlet, as bands are for young men. We were very ambitious. It kept me out of-and got me into-a lot of trouble," says Belzer.
"Our songs were assembled together," Easterday explains. "Everyone bringing in separate ideas. Rarely fully-formed songs. It was silly. It was all over the map."
Mongol Beach Party became a fun mix of eclectic and unique influences incorporating intelligent pop, country, ska, funk, punk, world and jazz. They appealed to smart, quirky kids who appreciated excellent musicianship and wanted to party.
But as the band's popularity grew, so did each member's personal ambitions. What began as an organic, collaborative unit of young friends became a group of confident musicians who feared that their own growth was being constrained.
"I wanted to do my own project. I didn't understand then that I could have done both," admits Easterday.
Your first band is a marker of how far you've come. You grudgingly admit that your musical maturity and personal maturity were probably at opposite ends of the spectrum. You reminisce about the in-fighting, the egos, the close calls and the big break that never quite came.
But what if nearly two decades pass and all of you stayed passionate about music and found your own successes? What if you were all older, wiser and more comfortable in your own skins? What if your erstwhile drummer booked a show without really telling anybody?
Belzer did just that and set off a raucous musical family reunion. Old fans and friends flocked to see the boys again. "There were people flying back to KC from all over the place," said Dahlquist. "They couldn't pass up the opportunity (to see everyone again). It's fun knowing we started in a common place."
"There's this whole John Hughes generation of dorks, outsiders, and geeks who are still around and enjoy fraternity at our shows," adds Belzer. He believes the time away has only made the band stronger and more vital. "It's bullshit that people think your peak creative energy is only in your 20's. There's a lot of great writing between the six of us. It's a total blast."
"There's a modern sense of creative style," Southerland says of the new material. "It fits in the canon but it's fresh to us. It's really great to sit down and play with these guys. They're still passionate."
The romance begins anew for the Mongol men.
Like running into your high school sweetheart and finding out she still has the hots for you. Hankel giggles mischievously at the prospect. "But then you get back and you feel like sexing up your wife because you feel like a stud. (Mongol Beach Party) are an influence that hadn't been there for a while and (now that they're back) it's affected my songwriting, even for Alacartoona. This is the most prolific period I've ever had."
Southerland frames the old flame metaphor in a less lascivious light: "You're madly in love but too crazy to stay married to each other. And you have a kid and you don't want to mess up the kid. So you split. You move on to more functional relationships that suit you more. But you still love the kid-the music-you helped create together."
For Dalhquist, it was a return to youthful camaraderie. "What's kind of funny about it is we're older and wiser, yet at the same time, it's like a visit to your parents. You fall back into being a kid. What bugged you fifteen years ago bugs you today."
And what brought you together remains as well.
"We were living together in a house off Tracy by Rockhurst. They were gonna rip it down and give it to the University," says Hankel.
"It was one of those days where we cleaned the house from head to foot," Southerland recalls. And then, for some reason, we ripped the arm off the couch, like 'we can't have this cleanliness and structure!"
Hankel laughs. "We started bowling with the furniture until it broke. The sofa, the dresser. We danced around wearing the arm of the sofa as a hat. And now Mark wears moo-moos and funny hats in Wee Snuff Jazz and I jump around stage scaring people."
While they've moved on to more mature and sophisticated musical ventures, it's clear that their present-day successes have deep roots tracing back to their first band. And it's clear why, given the chance, they're relishing the opportunity to recapture the spirit that taught them how to be themselves, to abandon themselves to the chaotic song and dance of the moment.
"With Mongol Beach Party, we just want to share the experience of joy in music. That's what I've always wanted people to feel," says Hankel. "There are places for politics and places for deep emotion. And there are places for joy."
Who's Who in the Party
Christian Hankel (lead vocals)
Alias: Providence Forge
Group Affiliation: Alacartoona
Mutant Superpower: Mind control via whistling
Weaknesses: Heavy fog (it mutes the whistling)
Jeff Freling (guitar)
Group Affiliation: Jeff Freling & The Rock Squad, Chicago Blue Man Group, Tributosaurus, The Gentlemen's Club
Mutant Superpower: The ability to make music come out of any object or transmorph any object into an existing musical instrument.
Scott Easterday (bass)
Group Affiliation: Expassionates, Howard Iceberg & The Titanics, Easterday w/Elaine McMilian
Superhero Nickname: The Executive. The serious, all-business bald guy in the suit.
Battles Fought: 1023 (893 Wins, 97 Loss, 33 Draws)
Bill Belzer (drums)
Aliases: Mr. Cellophane (I'm just Bill. Just glad to be noticed.)
Group Affiliation: The New Amsterdams, Mary Fortune, The Sleazebeats
Mutant Superpower: Pragmatism
Achilles' Heel: According to Hankel, "his inner dork is his outer dork."
Kyle Dahlquist (trombone)
Alias: Overton Woolridge
Group Affiliation: Alacartoona
Mutant Superpower: The ability to pack anything into a van in five minutes or less.
Achilles Heel: Soft instrument cases.
Mark Southerland (saxophone)
Group Affiliation: Snuff Jazz, Wee Snuff Urban Noise Camp, Malachy Papers w/Mike Dillon
Mutant Superpower: Artistic violence.
Solicited dork quote: "Bizarro, I love you. Bizarro, I love you."
Mongol Beach Party will be performing on Aug. 21 at Crosstown Station with The ACB's and on Aug. 22 at the Trails West! Music Festival in St. Joseph, MO. Other Kansas City acts at the Festival include Alacartoona and Expassionates.
For more information, visit www.mongolbeachparty.com
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Classical,
1st annual JEMS Fest an artistic success
On the weekend of August 7-9, William Jewell College hosted the first annual JEMS (Jewell Early Music Summer) Festival. The Festival, designed to showcase music from the European tradition during the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras, is the result of a leadership collaboration between Trilla Ray-Carter and Jay Carter (both Jewell faculty members.) The Festival brought together leading musicians from all around the region to present four concerts in three days, all on the William Jewell College campus in Liberty, MO.
I had the privilege of attending the festival's culmination concert on Sunday, August 9. Leading up to this concert were events that featured vocal quartet Gravitación (performing unaccompanied vocal works of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque), Jay Carter (countertenor) and Jeffrey Noonon (lutes and theorbo) performing a wonderful program of late Renaissance Elizabethan and Jacobean lute songs, and Charles Metz, performing a program titled "English Music on Italian Instruments". Metz played on an original Italian Virginal, dating to the late 16th century. At the Sunday evening concert, many forces combined to present a wonderful two-hour cornucopia of music from two of the Baroque era's luminary composers: Purcell and Handel.
2009 marks the 350th anniversary of Purcell's birth as well as the 250th anniversary of Handel's death. Henry Purcell (1659-1685) was one of the leading British composers of the 17th century. His music reflects the changing Baroque aesthetic, as it is full of quick transitions and tonality shifts, all the while maintaining total commitment to (in his vocal music) the meaning of the text. From the very first bars of the concert, as Jay Carter sang from Purcell's "Hail! Bright Cecelia," one could tell the coming performance was to be very special. Carter's interpretation of Purcell's melodic contour was highly informed, and his countertenor vocal color was stunning. Charles Metz, Trilla Ray-Carter, and Jeffrey Noonon provided excellent continuo accompaniment. Collegium Vocale (from UMKC) sang with refined excellence, and Ryan Board gave sturdy and decisive direction from the podium.
The remainder of the first half was just as moving as the opening number. Collegium Vocale sang "Jehova Quam Multi Sunt Hostes Mei", featuring David Row (tenor) and Matthew Leese (baritone). Both soloists performed ably. The newly formed Kansas City Baroque Consortium performed Purcell's Suite from "Abdelazer of the Moor's Revenge" with great flair and musicianship. Finishing the first half was Purcell's "O Sing Unto the Lord A New Song", a large-scale work with string accompaniment. Again, Collegium Vocale sang wonderfully, and the members of the vocal quartet Gravitación provided the solo work. Gravitación is made up of Sherezade Panthaki (soprano), Jay Carter (countertenor), Daniel Carberg (tenor), and Matthew Leese (bass). All the members of this stunning group sang with clear diction and warmth of tone that proved to lend a cohesive glue to the multi-sectional work.
The second half of the program featured works by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). The programming was excellent, giving us some of Handel's gems that we don't get to hear live very often. In bridging the gap between Purcell and Handel, the combined ensemble forces performed Handel's setting of "O Sing Unto the Lord A New Song". In this selection, Collegium Vocale was at their very best. Their approach to diction and the affect of the text brought the work to life in a very organic way. The members of Gravitación also again were spot on in this moving performance.
The next work was Handel's Concerto Grosso, Op. 3, No. 2. The Kansas City Baroque Consortium performed this five-movement gem without a conductor, which contributed to occasional rhythmic phasing. The baroque oboes also tended to ride sharp in their intonation. However, the ensemble's phrasing was top-notch, and the work of the continuo section was superb, especially baroque bassoonist John Titterington. Also of note was the fact that the ensemble's string instruments played with gut strings as well as baroque-era bows, giving the audience a taste of how the music might have actually sounded so long ago.
The final number was Handel's Coronation Anthem IV, "Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened". Saving the biggest collection of musical forces for the very last, the tutti ensembles enthralled the appreciative audience with their excellent musicianship.
A Festival like JEMS is difficult to pull off in any year. In this, their first attempt, the organizers were able to overcome a difficult economy and a very hot weekend to put on a highly respectable and artistically satisfying festival of early music. Trilla Ray-Carter and Jay Carter should be commended for their work and for their commitment to this music. Also deserving recognition is their conductor, Dr. Ryan Board. Dr. Board's specialization is in early music and the music of the Baroque period, and his expertise shown through brightly. Dr. Ian Coleman, chair of the music department at William Jewell College, also deserves recognition for his and his department's role in hosting this wonderful event. The organizers said in their pre-concert speech that they were hopeful that Kansas City would become a 'hot-bed' of activity in early music. In this reviewer's eyes, they're off to a great start. I'm already making plans to attend next year's event.
REVIEW:
William Jewell College
JEMS Festival (Jewell Early Music Summer)
August 7-9, 2009
Reviewed: Sunday, August 9
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Theatre ,
A wonderful wiz, there was
Theatre in the Park closed its 40th anniversary season last weekend with a Kansas legend: The Wizard of Oz. Having seen multiple versions of this musical over the years, Theatre in the Park outshone them all. Whether it was due to the ingenious costumes, the versatile sets or the passion of the amateur performers, this was one well-conceived and expertly directed production.
The casting was inspired. Molliann McCulley (Dorothy) was in her element as the petulant and perky young heroine. With her very own dog, aptly named Toto, in her arms throughout the entire performance she danced her way down the yellow brick road and into the hearts of the viewers.
Other standouts included Jaime Scherrer who played Glinda, the Good Witch of the North and Aunt Em. She made both roles completely believable with her native Kansas and Oz accents and beautiful singing. Wendy Godfrey, as the Wicked Witch of the West, gave a deliciously twisted portrayal of the vengeful antagonist and Don Leonard captured the misguided Wizard to a tee.
The handsome trio of the Scarecrow (Zak Smith), Tin Man (Peter Purin) and the Cowardly Lion (David Thompson) acted, sang and danced well and reminded this reviewer of a boy band when they took the stage in Act 1 as the farm hands. David Thompson was particularly entertaining with his excellent comedic timing. He injected some very humorous lines into the predictable story.
Deserving special recognition were the clever and multi-functional costumes, created by Libby Irving and her crew. The adorable munchkin children looked like multi-colored Seussian cupcakes with fondant hats. When they took the stage an audible "aw!" could be heard throughout the audience. Other highlights were the poppies which sat on stage as both set and chorus, a la Lion King. When the magic snow falls, they pulled the back of the skirting over their bright red flower faces to exhibit white mounds of snow. In addition, the transition from pre-tornado geometric black and white patterns to brilliant color in Oz was also well done.
Although the script was nearly identical to the movie, a few of the deleted scenes were replaced. Harold Arlen had written music for a dance sequence called the Jitterbugs which was like a 1930's tribute to that dance craze. It did extend the production, but it pumped up the energy in the Act 2. All of the verses were restored to the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion's introductions. Never having heard these before, I was enthralled. Some of the ladies of the chorus sang a clever Andrew's Sister's-esk number as trees in the Tin Man sequence, while a trio of jazzy crows tortured the poor Scarecrow. Even the Winkies, the Wicked Witch's slave guards, performed a zombie-inspired number. These additional scenes could have slowed the action considerably, but the leads kept the pace up and there was no lag time between scenes.
Singing the 1930's style harmony couldn't be easy, but the chorus was more than up to the task. It isn't a sound that had a lasting appeal but recreating that heavenly chorus gave the score an authentic edge. It was also lovely to hear the live pit orchestra conducted by Joell Ramsdell, since many other theatres are opting for canned substitutes.
Director Hank Koehn and his team deserve a special mention. The Wizard of Oz was well designed and expertly executed. Theatre in the Park deserves a big round of applause. In my opinion, this amateur production was easily the best musical I'd seen all summer.
REVIEW
The Wizard of Oz
Theatre in the Park
Saturday August 8, 2009
www.theatreinthepark.org
Photos by Aaron Linberg.
Classical,
Summerfest IV - Cypresses
This reviewer wonders how many of the audience members at Summerfest's final concert series on August 1 and 2 had ever heard of Danish composer Knudage Riisager. Very few, probably, including this writer. So we are all indebted to Summerfest for bringing us, at the culmination of its 2009 season, a fascinating and sprightly work by a little known composer which simultaneously served as a delightful end to the season and a reminder of the kind of thanks our community's cultural life owes to Summerfest's unique programming.
Leading up to the Riisager piece were three rather more traditional chamber pieces, one a selection by Baroque composer Attilio Ariosti ("La Rosa" from The Flowering and Fading of Love), one by the giant Czech master Antonin Dvorak (selections from the string quartet setting of his song cycle Cypresses), and one from Franz Schubert (Der Hirt auf dem Felson, translated as The Shepherd on the Rock).
Soprano Rebecca Sherburne of the vocal faculty of the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance was the "star," if that word is appropriate for chamber music, of the concert's first half. In the Ariosti piece she and the other instruments began tentatively, perhaps calibrating downward their volume and passion due to the restrained chords from the harpsichord, but by the fourth movement when the full five-piece ensemble got going, it was unbridled excitement all the way, with an exciting and vigorous ending. The instrumentalists in the piece included flutist Sharon Finney, violinist Mary Grant, cellist Mark Gibbs, and harpsichordist Rebecca Bell.
The richly romantic tones of the Dvorak string quartet offered a stark, and welcome, contrast to the restrained Baroque opening, with Gibbs' cello providing a rich and firm foundation for violinists Mary Grant and Doris Dai Janssen, along with violist Michael Kimber. Dvorak was not above an occasional dissonance, pleasingly resolved, and after a number of beautiful floating melodies played by the various instruments, the number ended on a soft note.
Not so the Schubert, which called for coloratura from the soprano as well as the other instruments of the trio. In this one, clarinetist Jane Carl and pianist Melissa Rose joined Sherburn in a score filled with running scales, high-flying melodies, vigorous playing and a spectacular ending, with Sherburn tossing high notes to the rafters. It was great stuff, as testified by the audience's warm applause.
The real highlight of the concert, though, was the four-movement Divertimento for String Quartet and Woodwind Quintet by Riisager. For the summer's final selection Summerfest brought out nine musicians. Violinists Grant and Janssen were joined by Kimber and Gibbs on the string side, and for the woodwind quartet Summerfest presented Finney, guest oboist Brian Greene, clarinetist Jane Carl, bassoonist Joshua Hood, and Kelly Cornell on the French horn.
Riisager's music is alternatively lyrical and sprightly, throwing in a share of dissonances and modern effects, but not without charm and often resolved. This listener detected the substantial influence of the French master Francis Poulenc. Almost every member of the group had at least a short solo or duet opportunity; a favorite was the opening comic bassoon solo in the third movement, reminding one of a croaking (but very melodious) frog. The composer displayed a gift of writing for a number of different instrumental combinations, and finished it all with a brilliant upbeat conclusion.
An easy piece it is not, and the musicians' ability just to hold it together with so many instrumentalists operating without a conductor was impressive in itself. Hopefully we will hear more of Riisager's music in future summers.
Thank you, Summerfest, for a series that brings us both the old and the new in chamber music.
REVIEW:
Summerfest IV
Cypresses
Saturday August 1 at 7:00 p.m.
White Recital Hall
4949 Cherry, Kansas City, MO
Sunday, August 2 at 5:00 p.m.
St. Mary's Episcopal Church
1307 Holmes, Kansas City, MO
www.summerfestkc.org/
Theatre ,
The hills are alive
In 1959, Rogers and Hammerstein opened The Sound of Music on Broadway. 50 years, six Tonys and five Academy Awards later the musical still strikes a chord within us (pun intended). This particular production was presented by the New Theatre Restaurant and directed by Richard Carrothers.
The show is set in Austria in the late 1930s, just before Nazi Germany takes over the country. Maria Rainer is sent to widower Captain Von Trapp's home as a governess for his seven children. She teaches the children to sing, and finds herself falling in love with the captain, despite her intention to become a nun. Based on a true story, the Von Trapp family must escape Austria before Captain Von Trapp is forced to join the Navy of the Third Reich.
Ron Bohmer and Leigh Ann Larkin costar as Von Trapp and Maria. Both have credits that include Broadway and many national tours, and the New Theatre was very lucky to get them. They have beautiful voices and good chemistry. Some of the most interesting acting moments in the show were between these two.
Jim Korinke played Max Detweiler with flair and energy. Baroness Schraeder, Tausha Torrez was a sympathetic villain with clear motivation, everything is done to protect her own interests. Georga Osborne's Mother Abbess was refreshingly playful and has a gorgeous voice. Jeff Sears and Annie Simpson, Rolf and Liesl, are talented dancers with nice voices, but had little believable chemistry.
The children were predictably cute and talented without ever stealing the spotlight. The other cast members played their parts well enough, but seemed low on energy the evening I attended. Perhaps my criticism was ill placed, since I have no idea how one would play an energetic Nazi.
Richard J. Hinds choreography was sufficient. However, the dancers seemed talented enough to my eyes, and Hind should have made the steps more difficult and a little less cheesy, especially in "Sixteen Going on Seventeen".
As the curtain opened, I saw a gorgeously ornate set of archways and gold detailing, designed by Jason Coale. During the performance, different drops were used along with the arches to suggest an abbey (complete with stained glass), a large home, a hillside, a hallway of paintings, a bedroom and a garden. It was extremely versatile. My only complaint was that the hillside drop was brought in after the curtain rose, thus distracting from the title song.
Along with this awkward drop, there was a noise (perhaps to suggest wind on the hillside?) that sounded like the Millennium Falcon taking flight. Perhaps this colored my judgment for the rest of the evening, but sound levels just seemed a little off. There was an echoing door knock with some static attached, and the orchestra sounded more like a recording than live music. To be fair to award-winning sound designer Roger Stoddard, these were the only specific instances, so I can only assume everything else sounded just fine. The performers had microphones and sounded lovely. I was surprised that there were only four musicians in the pit. They did an agreeable job and perhaps sound mixing made them sound much larger.
Randy B. Winder's lighting was beautiful. The lighting storm in Maria's bedroom was very well done. The light quality always told what time of day it was. There was a hole toward the very front of stage right, but an actor only wandered into that spot once, so I'll assume it was by accident.
Costumes were fairly typical for this show, designed by Vincent Scassellati and coordinated by Mary Traylor. I liked the children's clothes made out of drapes and their festival costumes; but their marching uniforms seemed a bit wrinkled, which the real Captain Von Trapp would never have allowed. The Baroness' party dress stuck out as anachronistic, especially since all the other guests were dressed appropriately.
New Theatre is always an enjoyable evening out. The Sound of Music was visually stimulating and the songs were excellent - and the food was great.
REVIEW:
The Sound of Music
New Theatre Restaurant
9229 Foster, Overland Park, KS 66212
Runs June 25- August 30, 2009 (Reviewed July 3, 2009)
For tickets call 913-649-SHOW or online at www.newtheatre.com
the STEADY, theSTEADY,
Giggin' on theSTEADY
Megan Birdsall
Wednesday, August 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Jardine's Restaurant and Jazz Club
4536 Main St., Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-561-6480 or online at www.jardines4jazz.com or www.meganbirdsall.com
Sons of Brasil
Thursday, August 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Jardine's Restaurant and Jazz Club
4536 Main St., Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-561-6480 or online at www.jardines4jazz.com or www.stantonkessler.com
Snuff Jazz Late Show
Saturday, August 29 at 10:30 p.m.
Jardine's Restaurant and Jazz Club
4536 Main St., Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-561-6480 or online at www.jardines4jazz.com
Jeff Harshbarger presents an
Alternative Jazz Series
Sunday, August 30 at 7:00 p.m.
Record Bar
1020 Westport Rd., Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-753-5207 or online at www.therecordbar.com or www.jeffharshbarger.com
Rex Hobart and Friends
Tuesday, September 1 at 7:00 p.m.
Record Bar
1020 Westport Rd., Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-753-5207 or online at www.therecordbar.com or www.rexhobartandthemiseryboys.com
Want to be listed on "Giggin on The Steady"? Send an email to info@kcmetropolis.org with your information. We will be adding a new category to the KC Events calendar for Giggin in September - Watch for announcements coming soon.
City Classics, Classical,
Music and Dance Column: Fall preview
Kansas City Symphony
Lyric Theatre
10th and Central Streets, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-471-0400 or online at www.kcsymphony.org
The traditional kickoff to the Kansas City Symphony season is the 'Pops in the Park' concert over Labor Day weekend at the Theatre in the Park, Shawnee Mission Park located at I-470 and Renner Road in Shawnee, Kansas. Conducted by the Symphony's ebullient assistant conductor Steven Jarvi, the concert will probably feature favorites from Broadway scores and film music as well as a few classical spectaculars. Bring along your lawn chairs, food and friends for this free introduction to the Symphony season. The gates open at 5:00 p.m. with the concert itself starting at 7:00 p.m.
As for the fall portion of the Symphony's classical season, the local band invites a number of guest performers to its stage, including piano virtuoso Yefim Bronfman for the ravishing Brahms Concerto No. 2 (September 25-27), pianist Alon Goldstein for the world premiere of a new piano concerto by composer Avner Dorman (November 20-22), and cellist Alban Gerhardt in the splendid Dvorak Cello Concerto, this reviewer's personal favorite in the cello repertory (he joins a large crowd in that estimation) (October 9-11).
In addition, Symphony audiences should warmly welcome the return of the Symphony's terrific concert master, Kanako Ito, as a soloist in the beautiful Mendelssohn Violin Concerto (October 23-25). Ito is the equal or superior of most of the touring violin virtuosos today, combining terrific technique with soulful expressiveness, and her previous solo appearances have been highlights of Symphony seasons past. The October 23-25 concert, by the way, also features Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, arguably the best of the six brilliant Brandenburgs, and Haydn's rarely performed but compelling Lord Nelson Mass, featuring the Symphony Chorus with chorus master Charles Bruffy. If you want to mark your calendar for a "can't miss" concert, this would be a good choice.
Conductor Michael Stern has also programmed a number of standard classics for the fall season, including the Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances (October 9-11), the brilliant Sibelius Symphony No. 3 (November 20-22), and of course Handel's Messiah at holiday time (November 28), this season to be performed in the impressive Community of Christ auditorium in Independence.
Stern is a strong promoter of contemporary symphonic music, of course, so in addition to the Dorman piano concerto mentioned above, you will want to look for Christopher Rouse's Rapture, being performed at the season's opening concerts. This reviewer is unfamiliar with the piece, but the composer describes it as "a progression to an ever more blinding ecstasy." Hmmm. Better bring the sunglasses and the Valium.
Lyric Opera of Kansas City
Lyric Theatre
11th and Central Streets, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-471-7344 or online at www.kcopera.org
The Lyric Opera presents two classics, at the absolute opposite ends of the dramatic spectrum, for its two fall offerings this season. Opening on September 11 and continuing through September 19 is Puccini's melodramatic Tosca, a story of intrigue, seduction, torture and ritual murder which takes place against the backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Not for the queasy, Puccini's masterpiece contains one of the greatest soprano arias ever written ("Vissi d'arte") and not one but two of the favorite arias from the tenor repertory. And, we should not forget to add, one of the most dastardly operatic villains ever encountered, in the scheming Scarpia.
For its Tosca cast the Lyric Opera's artistic director, Ward Holmquist, has been able to procure some of the finest singers in these roles today. Soprano Lisa Daltirus, who has sung the title role in New York, Boston, Seattle and elsewhere, portrays Tosca. Her lover Cavaradossi is newcomer Rafael Dávila, tenor, who has sung leading roles with the companies of Sarasota, Puerto Rico, Tampa and Austin, along with opera houses in Naples, Salzburg and the Czech Republic.
The villainous Scarpia will be portrayed by baritone Greer Grimsley, who is famed for this role as the Metropolitan Opera and other companies. He also sings leading baritone roles with the opera companies of Seattle (where he is appearing in this month's Ring cycle), San Diego, Vancouver, Pittsburgh and others. Overseas he has appeared in Venice, Berlin, Copenhagen, Prague, Buenos Aires, among others.
The Lyric Opera's second production of the fall is Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore, as light-hearted as Tosca is heavy-handed. The cast for this delightful spoof of Victorian manners and mores will be led by Kansas City's terrific Robby Gibby Brand as Sir Joseph Porter (watch for "When I Was a Lad"), along with another baritone with Kansas City connections, Daniel Belcher, as Captain Corcoran. Tenor John-Michael Ball and soprano Ava Pine play the young lovers Ralph Rackstraw and Josephine; both are known for impressive performances at other leading American companies. H.M.S. Pinafore runs from November 6 through 14.
Special note for Lyric Opera veterans: The Opera has eliminated its Monday night performances this season, so your usual tickets may have been switched to a different night. Some opening nights are on Fridays and some are on Saturdays. So check your tickets to be sure you are certain of the night you are attending.
The Friends of Chamber Music
Folly Theater (plus other venues)
11th and Central Streets, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-561-9999 or online at www.chambermusic.org.
How do Cynthia Siebert and her Friends of Chamber Music staff manage to do it, year after year? The series brings in world-famous ensembles and performers at ticket prices that are only a fraction of what you would pay on the coasts. Well, we'll leave the secret of her magic with her, and just enjoy what The Friends of Chamber Music has to offer this season.
In the fall, in its Master Pianists Series, The Friends presents the 30-year-old Armenian virtuoso Nareh Arghamanhan in music of Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Chopin and Schumann (October 2, Folly Theater). Praised for her virtuosity, she has been winning Continental piano competitions since she was nine years old. So what were you doing when you were nine?
On October 24, the gorgeously blended a capella vocal group Anonymous 4 (to this listener they always sound like a lot more than four voices on recordings, but seeing them live is believing) in a presentation of scholarly works from 13th century Spain (October 24, Visitation Church). This group of talented vocalists manages to unearth rare manuscripts of medieval works, and their performances offer us a fascinating insight in to the musical brilliance of bygone ages.
The St. Lawrence String Quartet, an excellent ensemble of two decades' duration, performs works of Haydn, Mendelssohn and Mozart (November 7, Folly Theater) as part of The Friends' International Chamber Music Series.
Another terrific singing group, the Tallis Scholars, reappears on The Friends stage with music by its eponymous composer Thomas Tallis, along with works of Josquin, Nesbett and Byrd (December 10, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception). These brilliant interpreters of Renaissance music have delighted listeners around the world with more than fifty recordings, and are always a treat to hear.
The Friends of Chamber Music will also offer a "What Makes it Great" program with the effervescent Rob Kaplan and the Zemlinsky Quartet (November 14-15, locations to be announced), along with a free showing of the film Copying Beethoven (November 5, Tivoli Cinemas).
And that's only the fall portion of the season. The Friends will have more delightful concerts coming up for us after the first of the year.
Harriman-Jewell Series
Folly Theater
11th and Central Streets, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-415-5025 or online at www.harriman-jewell.org
The Harriman-Jewell Series always brings outstanding performers to Kansas City, and this fall is no exception. The series kicks off on September 15 with the virtuoso young pianist Lang Lang playing Beethoven's Apassionata sonata and works of Albeniz and Prokofiev. The following week we will hear another wunderkind, violinist Stefan Jackiw, who was so impressive in his series debut a few years ago, return to the Folly Theater. His program has yet to be announced.
This reviewer is eagerly anticipating the Kansas City debut on October 3 of tenor Lawrence Brownlee, a high-flying operatic singer whose career in the roles of Rossini, Bellini and the like has rivaled that of the famous Juan Diego Florez, who appeared on the Harriman-Jewell Series last year. Brownlee has established himself as an international star in the same repertory as Florez, and we are privileged here in Kansas City to hear them both, courtesy of Richard Harriman and company.
At the end of the month, another world famous operatic voice will appear on the Series in the person of Deborah Voigt (October 30). Voigt stars throughout the world in the operas of Wagner and Strauss, as well as other composers, and this will be an opportunity for you to appraise her artistry first hand.
Parthinia, a group of four players of viols, medieval stringed instruments, will perform an early music concert (December 13) featuring holiday offerings of William Byrd and other composers.
In addition to these strictly music performances, the Harriman-Jewell Series will also present a couple of dance performances, the Virsky Ukrainian Dance company (October 9) and the Parsons Dance Company, founded by Kansas City native David Parsons (November 13). The latter performance will also feature lead singers from the East Village Opera Company, a group which sings rock-music versions of operatic classics which may appeal to some ears.
In addition to the above, the Series presents pianist Boris Giltburg in a free Discovery Series concert on December 10. He has been identified as a "pianist to watch" by the acclaimed BBC Music Magazine.
Again, this summary only covers the fall season; the Harriman-Jewell Series will have many more presentations after the first of the year.
Kansas City Chorale
Various locations
For tickets call the Central Ticket Office at 816-235-6222;
information is available online at www.kcchorale.org (no tickets available online)
Kansas City's internationally famed Kansas City Chorale, directed by Charles Bruffy, presents two concerts this fall. The first, given October 18 and 20, is entitled "Amazing Grace" and will feature music from Appalachia to the Great Plains, including gospel favorites and several different renditions of the eponymous tune.
The second Chorale concert will be a holiday offering on December 13 and 15, and will offer Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols, an arrangement of a series of medieval texts.
Octarium
Corpus Cristi Catholic Church
6001 Bob Billings Parkway, Lawrence, KS
Visitation Catholic Church
5141 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
For information visit www.octarium.org
Octarium, Krista Lang Blackwood's eight-voice a capella vocal ensemble, is to this listener's ears the equal or superior of many nationally famous groups, and the ensemble's recordings make for revelatory listening. This fall the group releases its fourth compact disc, Modern Masters, and will offer a "release" concert on November 14 and 15 in Lawrence and Kansas City, respectively. The disc and concert include music of Lauridsen, Whitacre, Corigliano, Adamo, Hatfield, Paulus, Larsen, Mulholland, Clausen, Stroope, Mechem, Stucky, and Gawthrop. In particular, the disc and recording will feature On Green Mountains by Steve Danyew, the winner of the 2009 Octarium Composition Competition.
Octarium's concerts are a treat for the ear; this one should be on your "don't miss" list this fall.
Signature Series
UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance
White Recital Hall
4949 Cherry, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call the Central Ticket Office at 816-235-6222 or purchase tickets online at conservatory.umkc.edu/the_conservatory/signatureseries.aspx
The Signature Series at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance opens with the Cypress String Quartet on October 10. This group is a "Generation X Ensemble to Watch," according to Chamber Music Magazine, and appeals especially to younger fans. The quartet will also be in residence at the Conservatory for a time.
All of the other Signature Series performances, including a concert by Kansas City tenor Vinson Cole, now on the Conservatory faculty, will be in the spring.
Lied Center
University of Kansas
1600 Stewart Drive, Lawrence, KS
For tickets call 785-864-2787 or online at www.lied.ku.edu.
The Lied Center presents many different kinds of performances throughout the year, but of special note to classical music fans are the Orquestra de São Paulo with percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie on October 9 and the Cypress String Quartet on October 28, featuring the music of Mendelssohn. There will be more classical concerts in 2010, including one by the rising young America mezzo-soprano Sasha Cook of the Metropolitan Opera.
On the dance scene, the Lied Center is presenting the Trey McIntyre Project in a multimedia dance performance on October 23, "Ferocious Beauty: Genome" by the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange on November 7 and Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca, "the very heart and soul of flamenco," on November 14.
Performing Arts Series
Johnson County Community College
Yardley Hall, Carlsen Center
12345 College Boulevard, Overland Park, KS
For tickets call 913-469-4445 or online at www.jccc.edu/home/depts.php/001440/site/toc_events
As always, Johnson County Community College is sponsoring a widely varied series of events at Yardley Hall this fall, but there are several which should be of particular note for classical music listeners. On October 30 Dame Emma Kirkby, an elegant British soprano, will join lute player Jakob Lindburg in a performance of Orpheus in England. Earlier in the fall crossover artist Tommy Emmanuel, whose guitar performances bridge the pop and classical world, will perform on October 9.
For dance enthusiasts, JCCC is offering the Bad Boys of Dance on October 23-24, and the acclaimed Paul Taylor Dance Co. on November 13-14. There are two December holiday programs on the Yardley Hall calendar, the New England Sigmund Romberg Orchestra and Vocal Soloists in A Viennese Christmas on December 4 (two performances), and Cantus, a male chamber choir, in All is Calm on December 11.
Of course, more is to come after the first of the year at Yardley Hall, including Porgy and Bess in February.
newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble
All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church (and other venues)
4501 Walnut Street, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call the Central Ticket Office at 816-235-6222.
Visit www.newear.org for information (no tickets available online).
newEar keeps Kansas City honest when it comes to contemporary music, with a variety of offerings from contemporary composers that will expand your horizons and, well, stretch your ears.
For its 17th season this year, New Ear presents two fall concerts. On September 3 (White Recital Hall) and September 12 (Bell Cultural Events Center, MidAmerica Nazarene University, Olathe, Kansas) the group focuses on minimalist music with works by Terry Riley, Phill Niblock, Vladimir Tosic, Barbara Benary and others. This concert is part of the Second International Conference on Minimalist Music.
November 6 sees the group return to its home base at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church with a concert entitled "American Currents," featuring the works of Stephen Hartke.
Musica Sacra
St. Francis Xavier Church
52nd and Troost, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call the Central Ticket Office at 816-235-6222 or online at www.rockhurst.edu/services/musicasacra
On October 18 Musica Sacra, Timothy MacDonald's estimable group which specializes in classical and ancient music performances of spiritual works, presents choral masterpieces by Palestrina, Vivaldi and Mendelssohn. The ravishing tones of Palestrina always bring this reviewer's ears back to the very origins of Italian Renaissance music, and his Missa Brevis is a masterpiece of polyphonic composition. Not to be missed.
Sacra Musica's second performance of the fall is a holiday concert on December 4 of music from the Italian Renaissance, including works of Boccherini and Corelli. Expect some standard Christmas carols to be on tap as well.
Kansas City Civic Opera & Kansas City Chamber Orchestra
Goppert Theatre, Avila College
123rd and Wornall, Kansas City, MO
For ticket information visit www.kccivicopera.org.
The Kansas City Civic Opera and the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra are pairing together for a presentation of Henry Purcell's The Fairy Queen on October 16 and 18 at the Goppert Theatre at Avila College. Purcell's music, surprisingly dramatic and involving for a 17th century score, has not been previously presented in Kansas City to this reviewer's knowledge. Chamber Orchestra conductor Bruce Sorrell will conduct and David Adams runs the Civic Opera's forces. The opportunity to hear this lively Elizabethan music first hand is not to be missed.
Kansas City Ballet
Lyric Theatre
11th and Central, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-931-2232 or online at www.kcballet.org.
The Kansas City Ballet opens its season October 15-18 with artistic director William Whitener's version of Carmen. The popular operatic masterpiece by Bizet has become almost as common on the ballet stage as it is in the opera house, with its exotic Spanish themes, gypsy protagonist, bullfighter antihero and heightened sense of drama. Whitener's version of the story garnered critical and audience acclaim when it premiered in 2007, and the piece returns this Fall to the Ballet's stage.
Also on the opening Fall concert are three other numbers, with choreography by Arthur Saint-Leon, Jessica Lang and Lev Ivanov.
Wylliams-Henry Contemporary Dance Company
White Recital Hall
Performing Arts Center
4949 Cherry, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call the Central Ticket Office at 816-235-6222.
The Wylliams-Henry dance company, led by Mary Pat Williams of the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, will be the first out of the box for ballet companies this Fall with a concert September 10-2 featuring three performances. The choreographers are Canadian Josh Beamish, DeeAnna Hiett and Jose Limon. The Hiett piece, Shadows of Fate, is a world premiere, and the Beamish entry, Trap Door Party, is an American premiere. The Limon piece is a classic rendition of Orfeo.
We hope that this column has whetted your appetite for some of the outstanding classical offerings which our local organizations are producing this Fall. So get out that calendar, pick up the phone or access your web browser, and start planning for a full fall of artistic performances!
Local Arts News,
ArtsKC Awards: Call for performers
The Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City is currently seeking proposals for the 2010 ArtsKC Awards luncheon. Now in its 7th year, the ArtsKC Awards has become one of Kansas City's most popular events. Selling out to crowds of over 500 business, civic, and arts leaders, the event features some of Kansas City's best visual and performing arts talent.
Event Date: Friday, March 5, 2010
Honorarium: $400 per group
Event Location: Starlight Theatre's Enclosed Stage
Event Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Application Deadline: Friday, September 18th - 3:00 p.m.
The Arts Council is seeking innovative proposals for up to 4 performances at the 2010 ArtsKC Awards Luncheon. The selected performances will be:
Specifications
- Diverse - vocal, instrumental, theatrical, dance, poetry, etc.
- Appropriate for all audiences
- Representative of the metro area arts community
- No more than three minutes in length
- In full costume (when applicable)
The selected performers' presence will be required at:
- One rehearsal either the day before or the morning of the performance. (TBD)
- The Awards Ceremony on Friday, March 5, 2010, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Starlight Theatre's enclosed stage, 4600 Starlight Road, KCMO
Sold out the past six years, selected performers will showcase their talent before more than 500 metro area business professionals and receive a total of $400 per group, a complimentary lunch and seating if space allows.
Benefits
Performers and their presenting organizations will be:
- Included in all event publicity
- Named in the invitation and program
- Included in an ArtsKC newsletter
- Included in the event's on-stage PowerPoint presentation
- Posted on the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City's website www.ArtsKC.org.
Additionally, performers will have the opportunity to contribute to the event's gift bags.
The opportunity is open to organizations and/or performers residing in the five-county Kansas City metropolitan area (Jackson, Clay, and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas).
Staging
Maximum stage size is 16' x 24' (slightly larger than the 16' x 20' diagram below) and will be supplied by Starlight Theatre/Epic Entertainment. Stairs to the floor will be positioned on both sides of the stage and are the only way to enter and exit the performance space.
Sound and lighting will be provided at no charge. All other expenses will be the responsibility of the performing artist(s).
Eligibility
With the exception of standing microphones, set and prop changes will not be made during the awards luncheon (unless the performers carry them on and off of the stage themselves).
Past performer include:
Alaadeen & group 21, Owen/Cox Dance Group, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, Alacartoona, Quixotic, Pangea Piano Project, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, StoneLion Puppets/Esoke African Dance and Drum, Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey, KCYA Youth Chorale, Octarium, Puppetry Arts Institute, City in Motion Dance Theater, The Kansas City Boys Choir, Kansas City Symphony, Nine Mile Burn, Traditional Music Society, Ballet North, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, Heartland Men's Chorus, Rainbow's End Theatre, Ten String Symphony, City Music Company, Coterie Theatre, Louis & Company, Lyric Opera of Kansas City
Interested performers should submit the following items by 3:00 p.m. on Friday, September 18, 2009 to The Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City, 906 Grand Boulevard Suite 10-B, Kansas City, MO 64106:
Submission Process & Deadline
- Letter of interest
- Support material such as a resumes, brochures, media coverage, etc.
- Short summary and/or video of the proposed performance. We are able to accept DVD, CD and/or Web formats. Include proposed scripts, sheet music, costume descriptions, photographs, etc.
- Self-addressed, stamped envelope for the return of application materials (if return is desired).
Notification
During the first two weeks in October, applicants will be notified, in writing, of the selected performers. Please contact, ArtsKC Awards planning committee member, Laurie Hess, at 816-843-7952 or mailto:lahess@dstsystems.com.. Previous ArtsKC Awards (formerly the "BCA Partnership Awards") are ineligible.
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