Dance,
Wylliams/Henry embraces art, history and emotion
Last weekend the Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company presented a standout spring program at UMKC's White Recital Hall. They offered styles from modern to contemporary and even some Southern grooves. Showing off diversity and adept storytelling ability, the Company exhibited what they do best.
Opening the program was Moore in Time, which showcased pleasing choreography by artistic director Mary Pat Henry. Inspiring the piece were Henry Moore's modern art sculptures, which Henry projected throughout the piece and juxtaposed with the dancers' 'live art.' Both the men and women displayed tremendous strength and flexibility, molding themselves into shapes and positions in couples and as a group. The second section began with DeeAnna Hiett standing on top of Michael Tomlinson's shoulders as he walked toward the audience. Another more upbeat section featured the women running and diving into the men's arms.
The only major issue with this work was that the lighting was terribly dark. It often was difficult to see all the dancers at once and I missed some of their movements. A brighter and more conceptual lighting design could have greatly enhanced the piece.
Six women took the stage in Paula Weber's To Each Her Own. Wearing the same flesh-colored leotards from the first piece, the women began the dance in unison. The majority of the work, though, was performed individually or in pairs, with each woman telling her own story, sharing her own experience. The contemporary choreography paired beautifully with the emotionally moving, classical score by Giuseppe Pergolesi. Each dancer displayed her own unique movement quality and inserted her own meaning into the steps. Again, it was difficult to see the emotion in their faces because of the unusually dark lighting.
Ruth Barnes' mixed-media work, Chloé/Christina, was the low point of the night. Originally performed by the Company last year as Angela/Christina, the performance combined live dance with projected video. Solo performer Chloé Abel began the dance on the floor executing the same steps as on the video. The video switched to scenery and continued to go back and forth between it and the choreography. At one point, Abel went behind the screen and her shadow mimicked the dancing on the video. It created an interesting point of view, but was visually distracting because the live and taped Abels' were not in sync. A did appreciate Barnes' concept, but it did not work. Everything from the music and choreography, to the costume and execution was lackluster.
Then, the most exciting performance of the night followed closing the second act. Gary Abbott's message was clear, evident and could be summed up by the dance's one-word title: Desire. Set to a combination of tribal and classical music, the nature sounds heightened the dancers' basic instincts and animalistic urges. Their passionate yet vulnerable movement matched the climaxing and tender points in the music. The three lead couples gave exceptional, believable performances - building urges and fighting temptation despite erratic groans.
As a whole, the ensemble possessed an extraordinary energy level and commitment to the piece. The women danced together like a herd of predators with each gender sizing the other up as potential prey. The last praiseworthy note goes to Abbott for giving his eye-catching work an obvious, and appropriate, beginning, middle and end.
Southern Exposure, based on events and themes of the South during segregation, was the sole work of the second act. Mary Pat Henry's personal dedication to this historical period featured pictures taken during the Civil Rights Movement and narrated text by Tim McLaurin. Henry's choreography was time-appropriate and the dancers' character portrayals were on par to their respective stereotypes.
Carolina Monnerat's character found herself to be the only one of her kind aware of and concerned about the racial divide. She took action, attempting to bring the two sides together through her friendship with her family's maid's son, Torens Johnson. Not until Johnson was killed by white men did the two races finally come together and make amends for the past. Monnerat lit up each scene with her pure and sincere performance. Johnson's stirring valor and Tracey Franklin's heartbreaking lament also were noteworthy moments.
While themusic selection was enjoyable, the volume was not. Poor narrator Rachel Nelson had to shout at least half of her script due to an oversight in turning the music down when it was her turn to speak. Many scenes were very reminiscent of Hairspray, making the piece commonplace, yet enjoyable nonetheless.
This Thursday, Wylliams/Henry will reprise Moore in Time at St. Louis’ annual Spring to Dance Festival. Looking forward to the fall, the company will host The Cyprus Avenue Concert, featuring musical selections chosen by KCUR’s own Bill Shapiro – should be exciting!
REVIEW:
Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company
Spring Program
White Recital Hall, UMKC Campus
4949 Cherry, Kansas City, MO
For more information visit www.wylliams-henry.org
Cover photo: Desire by Gary Abbott with dancers DeeAnna Hiett and Michael Tomlinson. Photo by Mike Strong.
Theatre ,
She is the light in the piazza
Metropolitan Ensemble Theater's (MET) 5th season final play (or in this case, musical), The Light in the Piazza, opened last Thursday to a reportedly packed house - as was the Friday night performance that this reviewer attended.
Adapted from Elizabeth Spencer's 1960 novella of the same name, MET artistic director Karen Paisley takes center stage as Margaret Johnson, a 1950s mother thrust into "protective mode" when her simple and naïve daughter falls in love with a local boy while vacationing in Italy. Izzie Baldwin plays the daughter, Clara, and Sam Wright plays the local boy, Fabrizio Naccarelli. Rounding out the main cast is Fabrizio's family - father Signor Naccarelli played by Robert Gibby Brand; mother Signora Naccarelli played by Sarah Kleeman; brother Giuseppe played by Michael Dragen; and sister-in-law Franca played by Natalie Liccardello. Real life husband John Robert Paisley has two small scenes as Margaret's husband, Roy. The play takes place in the summer of 1953, mostly in Florence, with a few scenes in Rome. John Staniunas directed.
From here forward, this review is essentially about babies and bath water and my attempt not to throw out the latter at the expense of the former, because for me what this production boiled down to was a valiant attempt by MET to overcome a mediocre work. This statement alone would apparently put me in the minority, given the accolades the play and its writer/composer (Adam Guettel, a protégé of Stephen Sondheim, no less) received on Broadway, including two Tony Awards.
During its Broadway years, however, there were some notable criticisms with which I wholeheartedly agree, Village Voice noting "considerable shortcomings" and The New York Times citing it as "encouragingly ambitious and discouragingly unfulfilled..." Personally, I found most of the music to be rather contrived and formulaic, and some of the writing (the first Octet in Act II, Scene 3, for example) to be downright sloppy. If analyzed purely as a "classical" operatic work, rather than as a traditional Broadway work - a fair analysis, as the former is clearly what Guettel was going for - I would give the music a "D" and the libretto, generously, a "C+". There is a small degree of salvation in a few nicely-crafted songs and, specific to the MET's endeavor, in particular due in large part to the artistic and vocal chemistry between Baldwin's Clara and Wright's Fabrizio - especially in Wright's Il Mondo Era Vuoto, the duets Passeggiata and Say It Somehow, and Baldwin's The Light in the Piazza.
The play's plot line is, admittedly, rather intriguing and unique. Clara, we learn only towards the very end, is 26, but (we learn this much earlier) her mental end emotional development was traumatically muted at age 12 when she was kicked in the head by a birthday party pony that her parents rented. The result is a simple and very child-like woman - literally a girl in a woman's body. Baldwin does a nice job of balancing those two dynamics, often navigating back-and-forth within a single scene. What she reveals is an adult woman with a maturity and intellectual level advanced enough to know that "something's not right" within the context of a girl who still reacts and responds much like one would expect of, as they call them these days, a "pre-teen."
Wright's Fabrizio is equally naïve but in a far more natural way (thankfully, no adolescent equine trauma for him). Again we learn only towards the end that he is barely 20, without much experience with women - of any age - and his love-struck fascination upon first laying eyes on Clara is portrayed with endearing warmth and sincerity. Having seen (and liked) Wright in "Seascape" I was again impressed with his dramatic range and his excellent tenor.
Karen Paisley held her own as Margaret Johnson - my only real criticism being a selfish one: of all the roles she chose to step into this season I'd have picked a different one ("Nancy" in Seascape comes to mind), as I'm not sure this one was best suited to her. Her vocal work was strong in spots (particularly in Dividing Day), but a tad pitchy in others. Here again, I didn't come away with the sense that the musical genre is her best suit.
Set Design (Delores Ringer) reflected MET's typical and tasteful sparseness, with a good use of the space. Moveable "marble" columns were used for mood/scene changes; three "indoor" scenes included the Naccarelli's tie shop, home, and the Johnson's hotel room. Sound Design (Donna Miller) was pretty good, overall, although I found the singers over-mic'd at times. Costumes (Atif Rome) were beautiful.
In its totality the work has a nice theme and, especially when viewed from a 21st century sensibility, makes a touching statement about the limitations - but, more importantly, the capabilities - of the cognitively disabled. Clara is slow, but not stupid (she quickly learns Italian in order to better communicate with Fabrizio); naïve, but not gullible (she steadfastly challenges her mother's attempts to thwart the romance due to her "problem"); child-like, but maturely insightful (she correctly points out, to her mother's horrified astonishment, that her husband - Roy - doesn't love her...and probably never did).
I think what makes this particular presentation enjoyable enough to recommend is, first and foremost, MET's impeccable (and well-deserved) reputation, and - as I've said many times about other productions - casting, in particular that of Baldwin and Wright. The light in the piazza, it turns out, is Clara - illuminating the realities of romance and true love, and making a bold statement for all those who may be similarly underestimated - in any society, in any era - due to physical or mental shortcomings.
And to that, I will always say...Brava...
REVIEW:
Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre
The Light in the Piazza
Music & Lyrics by Adam Guettel
Book by Craig Lucas
Directed by John Staniunas
Runs May 20 - June 6 (Reviewed Friday, May 21)
MetSpace
3614 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64111
For tickets call 816-569-3226 or online at www.metkc.org
Cover Photo: Karen Paisley as Margaret Johnson and Izzie Baldwin as daughter, Clara. Photo by Bob Paisley
KC Events this week and beyond
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Classical,
PROFILE: Melissa Dunphy, composer
This Saturday's Simon Carrington Chamber Singers dual concerts will feature the world premiere of their first composition competition's winning work, Melissa Dunphy's What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach? Based in Philadelphia and currently at work on her doctoral degree at the University of Pennsylvania, Australian-born Melissa has already achieved a level of success and recognition on a national level, including a spot on The Rachel Maddow Show for another large choral work, The Gonzales Cantata. Melissa took some time recently to answer a few questions about the piece, her compositional process, and her reaction to winning the SCCS competition.
Kristin Shafel: Your piece "What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach?" is based on a WWII veteran's testimony from the Maine Senate Hearing last year regarding marriage equality, a very politically and emotionally charged topic. Your "Gonzales Cantata" is another politically-inspired work. As a person of Chinese/Australian descent, what has drawn you to US politics for creative inspiration?
Melissa Dunphy: I was only mildly politically interested and a centrist growing up in Australia, but when I immigrated to the US in 2003 (to marry my American husband, Matt Dunphy) I was faced with the somewhat unexpected culture shock of a political spectrum shifted much further to the right. I'm often asked what I miss the most about Australia, and my answer is always the same: socialized health care and well-funded public education systems. I think most Americans don't understand how profoundly public health care and education affect the standard of living and quality of life - not just for the people who need them, but for everyone in society. My husband and I decided to settle in the US because, with over ten times the population of Australia, there are more opportunities in the arts and media, but the experience of moving brought me from being politically complacent to being very civically engaged and determined to contribute to political dialogues.
As a composer, my first rule is "write your passions," so it was only natural that politics would begin to inspire me musically, but the best topics are always not only politically interesting but personally engaging. Watching the struggles of the gay rights movement struck a particular chord in me. I was able to get married in order to be with the person I love; why shouldn't a gay or lesbian couple be able to do the same? I believe one of the worst things about the marriage equality debate is that it has been manipulated into being a partisan issue. Marriage equality has nothing to do with the left or the right; it is about human rights. One of the reasons I was so drawn to the speech that inspired What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach? was that the speaker, a lifelong Republican, made that point in such a beautiful, poignant way. I broke down in tears watching the video of his testimony. Anything that elicits that strong a reaction from me is probably going to end up in a piece I write at some point.
KS: What is your process for evolving somewhat prosaic language into the text for a piece of music? Do you set the testimony word-for-word, or modify it at all?
MD: I don't think there's any such thing as an "unsettable" text. Since I was a teenager, I've been drawn to setting very challenging texts; one of my first vocal pieces was based on a poem "No Brian" that consisted of dozens and dozens of permutations of those two words with various punctuation marks. I do make cuts to the prose I use, usually for practical reasons; it takes much longer to sing something than say it, and regular speech involves a lot of repetition, so taking one iteration and setting it in a way that emphasizes those words has the same effect. Sometimes, I'll rearrange text for dramatic effect: in one section of Omaha Beach, for example, I have most of the choir sing about what Mr. Spooner did during WWII - battles and facts - while a small group of sopranos sings a descant about the suffering he saw. For the most part, however, I try to leave the actual words as they are. There's song in all prose; sometimes it's a matter of chipping the prose away to reveal the song, like a sculptor working on a piece of marble.
KS: What is your compositional timeline for politically-charged pieces? Do you immediately start writing after hearing the text or do you let them gestate? Do you feel timeliness effect their reception?
MD: If something grabs me, I usually get down to the business of the text straight away, but after I've cut the text into lyrics, I'll sometimes take time before I put pen to paper (or mouse pointer to virtual staff). I do set myself deadlines, but I try not to worry too much about timeliness because I choose subjects that I hope are interesting in the long term. It's the personal, human aspects in stories that make them truly interesting. In the Gonzales Cantata, the character study drives the narrative more than political outrage, so I didn't mind that it took me a couple of years to get the piece out the door - but I will admit to being very glad that Alberto Gonzales was still in the news when it premiered. Omaha Beach had a much shorter timeline from inspiration to premiere, but I hope it helps to preserve Mr. Spooner's story in the public consciousness for longer than the cable news cycle or the lifespan of an internet meme.
KS: Much of your music (posted on your website) includes voice. What is your relationship with voice and choir?
MD: The first instrument we hear when we're in the womb is our mother's voice, and our own voice is the first instrument we use once we're born, so the human voice necessarily has a very special place in music. It's little wonder that nearly all pop music is vocal, and nearly all famous melodies in any genre of music are singable. There's something very spiritual about the act of singing - taking a musical concept out of your head and expressing in your body. I do it all the time as I'm composing - even when I compose instrumental music - and I feel very lucky that I grew up singing in choirs and have some vocal training. Voice is such a powerful tool for composers; in any combination or instrumentation, if a voice is audible, it will be of primary importance to the listener. When you first distinguish Glenn Gould's quiet humming as he plays Bach's Goldberg Variations, your ear locks onto the timbre of his voice, and whatever line he is singing becomes the melody, whether you like it or not! Voice is also every composer's best friend for making very difficult or avant-garde musical concepts more accessible to listening audiences. It is almost too easy for me to return to vocal music again and again.
KS: I read on your website that you have had performances of your compositions on the East and West coasts of the US, and in Australia. Is this your first performance in the Midwest? How does it feel to win the Simon Carrington Chamber Singers' first composition competition?
MD: I suppose this counts as my second performance in the Midwest, since an electronic piece I wrote, Insects, was performed at the SEAMUS annual conference (http://seamus2010.stcloudstate.edu/) at St. Cloud University in Minnesota this past April. I have never been to Missouri or Kansas before, however, so I'm very excited to be able to attend these performances.
I was quite shocked to win the SCCS composition competition! I composed the piece over several months, but finished it literally only days before sending in my entry, so the only person who had seen it beforehand was my composition professor at Penn, Dr. James Primosch. I don't think I had even shown my husband. I had absolutely no idea how it might be received by performers, or other musicians, or anyone else. It's always a little daunting to blindly send out a piece of music to be judged, especially by someone as distinguished as Simon Carrington. I usually talk myself down and imagine the worst possible outcomes. What an incredible joy it was to receive the news that my piece had been shortlisted. Even then, I didn't think it would be possible to win. I must have had to read the final outcome ten times before it sunk in - especially Mr. Carrington's wonderful comments.
KS: What is on the horizon for you as a composer? More vocal and/or politically charged works? Are there any events since the Maine Senate Hearing that have caught your attention?
MD: I've had a bee in my bonnet for a while about writing a chamber opera, particularly with strong female leads. I get a different idea for a subject just about every week. Watching the media coverage of Rand Paul and seeing Berg's Lulu at the Met recently led me to wonder if I should write an opera about Ayn Rand's outrageous love pentagon. I find her personally riveting, even if I agree with hardly anything she wrote or said; I'm sure that even if I completely ignored the subject of Objectivism, that opera would wind up feeling politically charged because she so embodied her own political philosophy. Perhaps I could throw in a clarinet solo for Alan Greenspan.
For more information about Melissa Dunphy, please visit http://www.melissadunphy.com.
PREVIEW:
Simon Carrington Chamber Singers
Go, Song of Mine
Saturday, May 29 at 12 p.m. (Noon)
Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral
415 W. 13th Street, Kansas City, MO
And
Saturday, May 29 at 8 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church
2415 Clinton Parkway, Lawrence, KS
For tickets call 816-214-9928 or online at http://www.simoncarringtonchambersingers.com
Film,
"Mother"
For his Hitchcock-inspired thriller, Mother, South Korean filmmaker Joon-ho Bong tossed in every suspense element except the kitchen sink to create a unique, yet creepy story that will keep your attention until the end.
Yoon Do-joon (Bin Won) is a mentally unstable 28-year-old with a bad grasp of reality, a horrible memory and a foul temper. While stumbling drunkenly towards home one night, he follows a promiscuous teenage girl who won't give him the time of day. When she turns up dead the next day, Do-joon is arrested for her murder.
Mother (Hye-ja Kim), whom Do-joon still sleeps with on a nightly basis, is overcome with grief and an unsettling determination to find the real killers. The police don't care. The lawyer she can't afford doesn't care. Only Do-joon's delinquent friend, Jin-tae (Ku Jin) offers assistance, but only after forcing her to pay him compensation after she embarrasses him at a police station.
We soon learn the fruit hasn't fallen far from the tree, and we learn that Mother, who's obsessed with acupuncture and herbs, is even more unstable than her son. As such, it becomes increasingly difficult to root for her as she goes to disturbing lengths to free her son.
Nominated for a Best Foreign Film trophy at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards, Mother is complicated because it begins rather lightheartedly. However, just when you wonder what the big hubbub was all about, director Bong effectively turns the plot on its head; and you are dropped down into a twisting rabbit hole of dark secrets and perpetual doubt.
Hye-ja Kim delivers an unsettling performance as a heroine whose creepiness is only outdone by her son. Won does nothing to make him stand out from the crowd while Jin quietly infuses his character with a cold, calculating sense of danger that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, Mother receives a B.
Mother is rated R and has a running time of 128 minutes.
Now showing through May 27 @
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO
Visit www.tivolikc.com or call 913-383-7756 for show times.
Classical,
Repetition rules the Symphony
In the penultimate concert of the 2009-10 season, the Kansas City Symphony offered up repetition. Thankfully repetition did not equal boring. Under Michael Stern's baton, Debussy's simple descending-ascending oft-repeated solo flute passage, Higdon's arch-form and textural reiterations, Hindemith's passacaglia, and Ravel's incessant ostinato and melody showcased how four different composer approached the valuable technique of musical repetition.
Michael Gordon's solo flute was so sensitive and delicate during the opening of Claude Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune that it was nearly obliterated by audience members still shuffling to their seats. It was a shame they weren't rapt with attention because they missed some exquisite playing and probably ruined it for those around them. Luckily I was far enough away to only be mildly annoyed. His refined sense of tone emulated a reed flute; it was superbly underplayed and not overly romanticized. Rightfully Gordon left the languid sensuality to the main body of the orchestra and principal oboist Mingjia Liu. Debussy's score is a masterpiece and holds up remarkably even with slight mistakes, like the occasional cracked brass entrance or uncoordinated pizzicato.
Unfortunately Jennifer Higdon's Singing Rooms did not hold up as well. Less "Concerto for Violin" and more "Orchestral Poem with Choir and Violin obbligato," it was monumental work of seven elided movements. Maybe because of the elisions, the piece seemed to be dragged down by its own length and constancy. Higdon's orchestration is very thick. This trait haunts many of her pieces since the brilliant Concerto for Orchestra, especially in those involving a soloist including the Oboe Concerto. The thick palette the soloist must compete against, relegates the soloist to just sawing away with little chance for finesse, straining to be heard. And Jennifer Koh is a soloist that deserves to be heard.
On the more exposed sections, like the sixth movement "A Word with God" her nearly canonic duet with the English horn was refined and eloquent. Otherwise, her sounded was annihilated because of the brash orchestra parts as in the fifth movement "History Lesson." Higdon excels in her textural percussion writing although I felt there were some questionable choices. At times, the mallets prescribed were too hard for the surrounding sonic landscape and the timbre of rute against the shell of the bass drum was far too piercing, even with percussionist struggling to play as soft as possible. The choral portions of The Singing Rooms were choppy and marred by the same issues of the orchestra writing, this rendered much of the text indecipherable. The Kansas City Symphony Choir matched the energy of Koh and the orchestra despite some wonky releases in the opening movement and wide vibrato of the sopranos. I wanted to like the piece and performance more than I did - I was left just as frustrated this hearing as when I first heard the Philadelphia Orchestra perform it. The audience reception was less than enthusiastic as well.
Hindemith's Nobilissima visione was the toss away piece on the program even though the orchestra did not perform it as such. There were many nice moments in it. The vibrant opening movement showed the string section in very good form on the unison passages. Chris McLaurin's accompanying drum solo and Diane Schick's piccolo playing in the March section of the second movement was jaunty and snappish. But, the Passacaglia was my favorite moment of the evening. The passacaglia theme was well balanced throughout and allowed for the brass and strings players to unleash their sound. Resplendent trills and flourishes marked the ending but never once was it garish. The orchestra seemed comfortable, but not complacent, and the piece played to the strengths of the ensemble. I find in delight discovering these gems of the orchestral literature and I thankful it was programmed.
Maurice Ravel's Bolero, as overplayed and scoffed at as it may be, is still a thrill to hear live. A lot of time is frequently devoted to how the various orchestra members interpret the omni-present melody. Cursory judgments so we can focus on other issues: solo flute, E-flat clarinet, oboe d'amore, soprano sax, and celesta all get high marks and solo clarinet, bassoon, and tenor sax all pass. When compared to the other solos, the trombone, trumpet, and piccolos were too weak, too staccato, and too competing, respectively. Chris McLaurin's ostinato on solo snare drum was an expertly paced crescendo from beginning to end. Associate principal flutist, Shannon Finney displayed rock-star endurance, pristine articulation, and pitch stability in her treatment of the bolero rhythm. The trumpets fared worse, however, as their pitch went flat and Stern had to refocus his conducting attention in order to lock them back into the exacting rhythm. Some notable performances of the otherwise unsung accompanimental parts were tubist Steven Seward and harpist Deborah Wells Clark. Seward's pitch was focused and robust but never once overpowered. Wells Clark's sound colored the pizzicato string chords with an articulate crispness that had just enough bite and body.
Hopefully the grand finale concert next weekend will keep up the momentum and end the season on the best possible note.
REVIEW:
Kansas City Symphony
Bolero
Friday, May 21, 2010 (Reviewed)
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Lyric Theatre
11th and Central Streets, Downtown Kansas City, MO
For more information visit www.kcsymphony.org
Classical,
KC Civic Opera Celebrates 25 Years
Kansas City Civic opera celebrated its 25th anniversary in style last weekend with a production of Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci and a gala concert. Performed at Avila University's Goppert Theatre, I Pagliacci was a staged concert version with only a platform as the set, no costumes and minimal staging. The chorus and small orchestra conducted by Jeremy Mims were located on the stage. Directed by Rick Truman, this pared down production really allowed the audience to focus on the intensity of Leoncavallo's score.
I Pagliacci is prototypical Italian verismo opera with an unfaithful wife, spurned suitor and jealous husband. The short two acts and prologue carry the audience relentlessly through passion and jealousy - and ultimately to murder. It is high drama and high tragedy with characters that we do not necessarily like, but from whom we can hardly turn our gaze as they careen inevitably out of control.
A troop of traveling players led by Canio and Nedda enter a village, prepared to perform the drama of a faithless wife. Of course, life and art are paralleled as Tonio reveals in his prologue, they are men of flesh and blood, breathing the air of the world and are led inevitably to a dark, tragic ending.
Adam Wade Duncan deftly conveyed the jealousy, anger and pathos of Canio, the husband of the unfaithful Nedda. His "Vesti la giubba" was an example of precision singing that nonetheless revealed Tonio's deep anguish.
As Nedda, Sarah LaBarr sang a delicate and stirring ballatella "Stridono lassu, liberamente," a passionate aria of longing. Nedda is not a very sympathetic opera heroine: she is foolish and vain with a streak of cruelty, but she does find herself caught between a husband she does not love and a lover she cannot have. LaBarr and Joshua Lawler as Nedda's lover Silvio were particularly well-matched in their duets, with Lawler's resonant and carefully handled baritone blending effectively with LaBarr's smooth soprano.
Matthew Black reprised the role of Tonio, the scheming humpback, whose jealousy and obsession with Nedda twists his soul to match his body. Black's opening Prologue was spectacular, and he moved across the stage with wonderful malevolence.
To evoke the play within the play, the "actors" wore masks, effectively marking the difference between the real characters and their "fictional" counterparts. Aaron Barksdale-Burns was particularly amusing as the window-hopping lover of "Columbine," Nedda's alter ego.
The orchestra under Mims' hand was well-balanced and precise. Possibly because the orchestra was behind the performers on the stage, there were occasional missed cues or tempo irregularities that were quickly recovered. While the principals were fully blocked and memorized, the chorus was not. They sat or stood to the side of the orchestra. This is not an unusual circumstance in a concert version performance and was not particularly distracting although there were a few shaky moments from the chorus, and the diction was not always terribly clear. In general, however, the entire performance was skilled and effective, reminding one that if the music is well-sung and well-played, it can pack a powerful emotional wallop.
The evening ended with a concert of favorite numbers from various Civic Opera productions over the past twenty-five years. Performing were various singers who have participated in Civic Opera productions through the years. Highlights included arias from Edgar, Die Tote Stadt, La Traviata, Showboat and Man of La Mancha.
REVIEW
Civic Opera Theatre of Kansas City
Pagliacci and Friends: A 25-Year Retrospective
Friday, May 21, 2010 (Reviewed)
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Goppert Theatre, Avila College
119th and Wornall, Kansas City, MO
For more information visit www.kccivicopera.org
Top photo: Sarah LaBarr as Nedda.
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Last July, KCMetropolis.org launched a new performing arts calendar - KC Events - that allows arts organizations to add and manage their own events. It is much more than just a listing - click on the link and find an entire page of information on each performance, all with easy links to share, print, send to your mobile, etc. We are partnering with other performing arts organizations, online arts purveyors and tourism-based businesses to make KC Events easily accessible in many locations.
The past two years have been extremely difficult for the performing arts, and the next fiscal year (FY 2010/11) is shaping up to be harder still. State funding for the arts has been zeroed out in both Kansas and Missouri, foundations and corporations have cut back sharply their giving patterns and the average joe-on-the-street - the arts supporter - has much less money in his pockets.
This unsettled economy has also seen the decrease or demise of many traditional medias like newspapers and magazines... and as they explore new ways to keep their voices alive, new and innovative organizations like KCMetropolis.org are cropping up all over the country to assure that the arts continue to have a strong voice in our society.
It is imperative that publications like KCMetropolis.org and other nonprofit ONLINE arts service organizations continue to exist to provide this voice for the arts in the community.
In order to continue to offer quality performing arts information through critical dialogue to you, we depend on financial support from the readers we serve. We will never institute a subscription fee for our information like many other online informational journals are now exploring. It is our mission to keep the performing arts easily accessible for all in the community.
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KCM Staff and Board of Directors
Local Arts News,
Charlotte Street Foundation announces 2010 Generative Performing Artist Awards Fellows
Launched in 2008, the Charlotte Street Generative Performing Artist Awards support and recognize artists creating outstanding, innovative, original work in the fields of dance, theater, music, experimental music performance, theater/performance art, and hybrid/interdisciplinary versions thereof. The awards seek to foster the continued creative and professional development of the selected artists, provide the means for them to further focus on and develop their work, and increase exposure for their accomplishments, as the CSF Visual Artist Awards have done since 1997. Through its Awards programs, CSF seeks to contribute to the vitality of Kansas City's art community and to enhance Kansas City's desirability as a place for artists to work and live.
The recipients were selected based on the quality of their work and accomplishments to date, as well as promise for continued development as generative artists; relevance of their work in relation to local, regional and national contemporary art discourses and to the contemporary moment and culture in which we are living; and the potential of their work "stand up" nationally, influence the field, and have lasting value. With these latest awards, Charlotte Street Foundation has now recognized a total of 78 Kansas City based visual and generative performing artists, with a total of $490,500 in unrestricted cash grants distributed directly to the artists. A public performance of the work of this year's Generative Performing Awards Fellows is planned for fall, 2010.
The 2010 Generative Performing Awards Advisors responsible for selecting the recipients included David Ford, multi-disciplinary artist; Michael Joy, Director of Artists and Educational Programs, Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey; Joette Pelster, Executive Director, Coterie Theatre; Cynthia Rider, Managing Director, Kansas City Repertory Theatre; and Paul Rudy, Professor of Composition, UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance.
The panel first met in early February, at which time they selected six semi-finalists from a pool of 25 nominated artists. In addition to Cox and Roberts, semi-finalists included composer Christopher Biggs, choreographer Sabrina Madison-Cannon, composer Ingrid Stolzel, and director/writer/actor Heidi Van. Between February and the final selection meeting on May 18, panelists were encouraged to attend live performances and expand their familiarity with the work of the semi-finalists.
Partial funding for CSF's 2010 Awards programs has been generously provided by Dallas and Scott Pioli, J Scott Francis, Nancy and Rick Green, Julie and Mike Kirk, Meg and Bill Zahner, and Jeanne and Charlie Sosland.
ABOUT THE 2010 FELLOWS:
BRAD COX
As a performing composer, Brad Cox embraces a wide range of musical traditions and expressions. His explorations include techniques central to Western Classical music, such as notated pitch, rhythm, and timbre, as well as improvisation and chance elements. Fascinated by the communal aspects of music making, he has been strongly influenced by the tradition of jazz music, in particular the collaborative aspects of the jazz ensemble.
Cox views composition not as a process in which the composer notates every idea as fully as possible in order to have it rendered exactly by performing musicians, but rather as an ongoing creative collaboration. The resulting music may range from fully notated to freely improvised, and just as in life, the most interesting moments are often unplanned. He frequently makes use of a collage-like compositional approach, with different layers of a piece having varying degrees of improvisational freedom. Being interested in a wide range of musical expression, Cox endeavors to create a body of work that encompasses a spectrum of human experience, from the comic to the terrifying, and from the absurd to the sublime.
Brad Cox received his Master of Arts in Music from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2001. He is co-founder, composer, arranger and musical director of Owen/Cox Dance Group, whose recent projects include The Lewis and Carroll Expedition, Bottom of the Big Top, Presumed Lost, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, and The Christmas Story - A medieval Mystery Play. He is also composer, arranger and ensemble organizer of The People's Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City, which performs extensively, and whose recent projects include The Battleship Potemkin, an original score created for the classic Eisenstein film.
STEPHANIE ROBERTS
Stephanie Roberts is what has at times been called a "slash artist" - an actor/creator/writer/singer/songwriter/musician/teacher. For fifteen years she has been creating
original ensemble theatre. Although she specializes in mask and red-nose clown traditions, with each project she allows content to inform the form. Her work is typically character-driven, informed by music, and embraces the poetic clown - flawed, ridiculous, fiercely determined, and desperately seeking love.
Roberts' most recent work, Boom! An international Lost and Found Family Marching Band, mixes genres both theatrical and musical. The ensemble of six portrays reunited sibling orphans from around the world, whose "sad, sad story" unfolds with each new song. Roberts is inspired by the collision of disparate characters and how despite, or perhaps because of their differences they are inextricably connected to one another through a beautiful and human need.
Roberts received her Master of Fine Arts Degree in Ensemble Based Physical Theatre from the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre in Blue Lake, CA in 2006 and her BFA in Acting from Cornish School of the Arts, Seattle, WA in 1990. Currently Assistant Professor of Physical Theatre at University of Missouri, Kansas City, she has directed productions at UMKC including Slammed! (2010), and Meanwhile (2006); has provided movement coaching/choreography for productions including The Cripple of Inishman, Nebraska Repertory Theatre; Under Midwestern Stars, Kansas City Repertory Theatre; and numerous productions at UMKC, most recently Train to 2010, directed by Ricardo Khan, and Pericles, directed by Carla Noack.
Solo performance projects include 60x60 Dance, Electronic Music Midwest Festival, Kansas City, KS; At the Beach, Byrd Productions; Party Girl, Annex Theatre, Seattle; and Threads, Bumbershoot Arts Festival, Seattle. Collaborative performance projects include Broke People's Baroque People's Theatre with My Barbarian at Urban Culture Project's la Esquina as part of the exhibition Ecstatic Resistence, produced by Grand Arts, and The Greatest Story Never Told and The Whisper, both at the Mad River Festival, Blue Lake , CA, the latter of which was awarded "Best of the Fest." Roberts is the recent recipient of an Inspiration Award from the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City and is an Urban Culture Project Performing Studio Resident. She is currently working on a one-woman play, The Mask of The Broken Heart, which will premiere in Kansas City in June.
About the Charlotte Street Foundation
Charlotte Street Foundation (CSF) supports and recognizes outstanding artists in Kansas City; presents, promotes, enhances, and encourages the visual and performing arts; and fosters economic development in the urban core of Kansas City, Mo. On all levels, CSF places artists at the center of its mission and has built an infrastructure that depends on and reflects their involvement. As a result, we are an organization that continually evolves in response to their input and in relation to the city's larger cultural ecosystem. For more about the Charlotte Street Foundation, visit www.charlottestreet.org
City Stage,
Theatre listings through June
New Theatre Restaurant
Becky's New Car
By Steven Dietz
Starring John Davidson
Runs April 15 through June 20 at New Theatre Restaurant
For tickets call 913-649-SHOW (7469) or online at www.newtheatre.com/home.html
Call or visit the website for performance days and times.
To call John Davidson "a man of many talents" is to utter the understatement of the year. He has made a very successful career out of excelling in just about every form of entertainment there is. From Broadway to TV to movies and a dozen or so solo albums. John's talents prove him to be much more than just an incredibly nice, handsome man. And in BECKY'S NEW CAR, he's also very funny!
Becky Foster has a pretty good job, a pretty good husband and a pretty good life so when a charming, bumbling billionaire starts flirting with her, Becky is surprised that she allows him to believe that she is widowed.
Read the KCMetropolis review here
American Heartland Theatre
Dixie Swim Club
Runs May 7 through June 27 at Crown Center
For tickets call 816-842-9999 or online at www.ahtkc.com
Call or visit the website for performance days and times.
American Heartland Theatre presents the Kansas City Premiere of The Dixie Swim Club, May 7th through June 27th, 2010. Five Southern women, who were teammates in college swimming, reunite each year at the same beach cottage in North Carolina. Free from men, children, and jobs, they laugh, catch-up, and meddle in each other's lives. As their lives unfold and the years pass, these women increasingly rely on one another, through advice and raucous repartee, to get through the challenges (men, sex, marriage, parenting, divorce, and aging) that life flings at them.
The Dixie Swim Club is the newest "girl-friend" show to sweep the nation, playing in more than 45 theatres this spring alone. "This play is easily the hottest show in the country right now," proclaims the Danville News.
American Heartland Theatre brings this hilarious and touching comedy, about friendships that last forever, to life with five great women of Kansas City theatre: Starring Cathy Barnett, Debra Bluford, Missy Koonce Jennifer Mays and Cheryl Weaver.
Read the KCMetropolis.org review here.
Egads Theatre Company
Eating Raoul: The Musical
Book by Paul Bartel
Lyrics by Boyd Graham
Music by Jed Feuer
Runs June 4 through July 3 at Off Center Theatre
For tickets call 816-842-9999 or online at www.egadstheatre.com
Call or visit the website for performance days and times.
Meet the Blands. She's Mary. He's Paul. They're a perfectly platonic couple hopin' to open a restaurant far away from the undesirables of 1960s L.A. To achieve their dream, they'll need money. To make money, they'll need to kill and rob as many sex perverts as possible. To kill, Paul will use a frying pan to "bop" victims to death. Meet Raoul. He's their superintendant, and he wants in on the deal (and into Mary's pants). Unable to resist the advances of this sexy Mexican, Mary must ultimately choose between her Latin lover and her roly-poly faithful foodie hubby. Well, who would you "bop"?
Directed by Steven Eubank. Music Direction by Daniel Doss. Choreography by Tiffany Powell
Padgett Productions
RENT Live at Union Station
Runs June 10-21 at Union Station
For tickets call 816-460-4020 or online at www.unionstation.org/rent.html
Call or visit the website for performance days and times.
RENT is one of the most popular musicals in theatre history. With a twelve-year run on Broadway, the show is an update of the Puccini's LA BOHEME, but takes place in late 20th century New York. The gritty subject material and powerful songs of Jonathon Larson combines to make the show a new icon of modern musical theater. Larson set out to transform the tragic opera into a modern day New York setting, complete with rock music. Adding to the legend of the show is the tragic death of Larson at age 35 the day before the show's New York opening.
In 1996, the Broadway community would award Rent four Tony Awards, for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. RENT also received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, only the seventh musical to do so.
The musical was so successful in its life onstage, that it was made into a movie in 2005 and was an instant hit all over again!
Quality Hill Playhouse
Souvenir
Runs June 11 though July 11 at Quality Hill Playhouse
For tickets call 816-421-1700 or online at www.qualityhillplayhouse.com
Call or visit the website for performance days and times.
Florence Foster Jenkins wanted so much to make it to Broadway, and she finally did- by renting out Carnegie Hall and giving recitals that became legendary for her over-the-top (and under-the-pitch) performances. This show takes a humorous look at the true meaning of music and the art of performing.
Starlight Theatre
Little House on the Prairie The Musical
Runs June 22 through June 27 at Starlight Theatre
For tickets call 816-363-7827 or online at www.kcstarlight.com
Call or visit the website for performance days and times.
The beloved literary series LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE takes on a new frontier in this uplifting new musical that stars Melissa Gilbert (who we embraced as "Laura" in the much-loved television series) as "Ma." Recommended for the entire family, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, THE MUSICAL explores the joys and sorrows of pioneer families during the settlement of America's prairie.
Coterie Theatre's Lab for New Family Musicals
TYA Premiere: Lucky Duckz
Runs June 22 through August 8 at Coterie TheatreLocation:
For tickets call 816-474-6552 or online at www.coterietheatre.org
Call or visit the website for performance days and times.
A singing swan supermodel! It's The Ugly Duckling meets Project Runway, with music by the composer of Dreamgirls! Homely songbird Serena is viewed as an odd duck by her family, and escapes these fowl days of barnyard mockery to seek her special destiny-success as a supermodel swan.
For complete Theatre listings through 2010, click here to visit the KC Events calendar.
To be included in this column, you must have your event listed on the KC Events Calendar. Click here to learn how.
City Classics,
Music and Dance through June 2
Simon Carrington Chamber Singers
Go Song of Mine
Saturday, May 29 at Noon
Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral
14th and Broadway, Downtown Kansas City, MO
and
Saturday, May 29 at 8 p.m.
2415 Clinton Parkway, Lawrence, KS
Tickets available at the door, or call 816-214-9928 or online at www.simoncarringtonchambersingers.com
The Simon Carrington Chamber Singers kick off their second season with concerts in Kansas City and Lawrence on May 29. The group, which includes 24 choral artists from around the country, is led by artistic director Simon Carrington.
This year's performances, entitled Go Song of Mine, will feature the world premiere of Melissa Dunphy's choral work What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach? The piece was the winner of the 2010 Simon Carrington Chamber Singers Composition Competition. It is based on testimony given to the Maine State Senate in support of the 2009 Marriage Equality Bill.
In addition to Dunphy's composition, the Simon Carrington Chamber Singers (SCCS) will present works by Tallis, Purcell, Elgar, MacMillan, Chilcott and The Who.
"Our program this year again consists of music linked in some way to my seven years at the University of Kansas during which time I had the privilege of making music with hosts of wonderful musicians including a number of singers in this ensemble," said Carrington. "The underlying theme is British music."
SCCS is a world class choral music ensemble based in Kansas City. The group was founded in 2008 with the goal of bringing together former Carrington students, now singers of high standing in their own right, who shared the desire to form an elite professional vocal chamber ensemble under his direction.
Prior to teaching choral music in the United States, Carrington was a co-founder and long time director of The King's Singers, an internationally acclaimed British vocal ensemble. He is a renowned choral conductor and clinician, who served as the director of choral activities at the University of Kansas, director of choral activities at the New England Conservatory, professor of choral conducting at Yale University and director of the Yale Schola Cantorum.
Kansas City Symphony
Celebration at the Station
Sunday, May 30 at 7:30 p.m.
(rain date, Monday, May 31, at 7:30 p.m.)
Outside Union Station (sit on north lawn by Liberty Memorial)
30 West Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO
Free admission.
On Memorial Day weekend the Kansas City Symphony always offers a free outdoor concert in front of Union Station on Pershing Road, with the audience invited to bring their blankets or lawn chairs and picnic dinners and camp out on the north lawn of Liberty memorial. On a nice day this concert typically attracts over 20,000 people, so prepare to arrive a couple of hours early to snag a comfortable spot. By all means bring a picnic dinner or purchase food from the vendors, sit down and enjoy a panoply of orchestral fireworks, including at the conclusion some fireworks of the real variety ("Kansas City's largest fireworks display") to light up the night sky.
The program for the concert has not been announced, but it usually consists of some patriotic songs, a few marches, and other popular numbers. Some "warm up" acts will entertain the crowd before the start of the actual concert. It will be good fun for the entire family.
Local Arts News,
Kansas City Rep's VENICE "Year's Best Musical" - Time Magazine
Time magazine's theatre critic Richard Zoglin has proclaimed Kansas City Repertory Theatre's production of VENICE the best musical of the year.
Read Zoglin's review: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1989375,00.html#ixzz0nw29xk4g
VENICE is a ripped-from-the-headlines story of war, love and the ultimate quest for peace, told through a dynamic mix of musical genres, including hip-hop, R&B and traditional theatre music. Two brothers are in conflict over how to save their city from a terrorist war; one brother seeks peace while the other is mired in treachery and destruction. Given a contemporary setting, Venice brings the theatricality of hip-hop to a large-cast musical.
The VENICE cast of twelve musical theatre performers includes: Uzo Aduba as Anna Monroe (Coram Boy, 365 Plays/365 Days); Clifton Duncan as Markos Monroe (Twelfth Night); Anna Eilinsfeld, ensemble (I Come for Love, In the Bubble); Jay Garcia, ensemble (Altar Boyz, Legally Blonde tour, Avenue Q); J.D. Goldblatt as Theodore Westbrook (Broadway revival Les Miserables); Andrea Kiyo Goss as Willow Turner (Rent); Colin Hanlon as Michael Victor (I Love You Because, How Now, Dow Jones); Javier Muñoz as Venice Monroe (In the Heights); Angela Wildflower Polk as Hailey Daisy (Crowns, Permanent Collection, Bat Boy, the Musical-Unicorn Theatre); Matt Sax as Clown MC (Clay); Brandon Sollenberger, ensemble (Moisés Kaufman's Into the Woods, KC Rep); Jasmin Walker as Emilia Monroe (Avenue Q, 365 Days/365 Plays).
The creative team includes musical director Curtis Moore (Into the Woods at KC Rep, The Bridge Project, The Coast of Utopia, Sam Mendes' The Cherry Orchard), choreography by John Carrafa (Tony Award nominations for Urinetown, Into the Woods) and Tanisha Scott (Sean Paul, Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, Rihanna), set and costume design by Meghan Raham (Clay), lighting design by David Weiner (Steven Cosson's Bus Stop at KC Rep, Equivocation, Reasons to be Pretty), projection design by Jason H. Thompson (assistant design, Jersey Boys) and sound design by Joshua Horvath (Clay).
The Rep's co-producing partner for VENICE is Center Theatre Group of Los Angeles, which commissioned Rosen and Sax in 2007 to write another musical following the success of their critically acclaimed show Clay, which premiered in Los Angeles and had subsequent sold-out runs at Kansas City Rep and in New York, where it kicked off Lincoln Center Theater's new programming initiative LCT3, devoted to producing the work of emerging playwrights, directors and designers.
VENICE closed the Rep's 2009-10 season on May 9.
About Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Now in its 45th year, Kansas City Repertory Theatre is one of the nation's leading professional theatres and a member of the League of Resident Theatres. The Rep produces a full season of plays and events at Spencer Theatre on the UMKC campus, where the Rep is the professional theatre in residence, and at Copaken Stage downtown. Its diverse repertoire includes new works, musicals and classics of literature. The theatre serves approximately 100,000 patrons annually and employs more than 250 professional artists, technicians and administrators. This year, more than 8,500 students from 150 schools in the two-state region will attend special matinee performances, and more than 1,200 students will experience the Rep's classroom programming and workshops.
Local Arts News,
Mid-America Arts Alliance announces 2010 Live! in the Crossroads free summer performances
The LIVE! in the Crossroads performance series continues to grow into one of the "must-see" events during First Fridays in the Crossroads Arts District, and the 2010 line-up promises to build on the excitement of last season. Appearing free to the public, outdoors at Mid-America Art Alliance headquarters in the heart of the Crossroads, 2018 Baltimore:
The season kicks off June 4, 7:15 pm, with Quixotic, Kansas City's premier performance art hybrid. Combining dance, live music, and a roster of performers from Kansas City and beyond, Quixotic creates an enchanting and completely unique experience with every event. Having scored a number of creative successes in 2009, including a revelatory show at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, this first offering in the LIVE! in the Crossroads series offers a rare chance to see the full ensemble outdoors and at no charge.
On July 2, The Greater Kansas City National Hispanic Heritage Committee will present Fiesta Hispana, including performers Las Estrellas, Mike "Mambo" DeLeon y Orqestra, and Rosemarie's Fiesta Mexicana folklorico dancers. Featuring traditional and contemporary Tejano music and dance, Fiesta Hispana celebrates the Hispanic and Latino cultures and their contributions to our communities. This show is scheduled to begin at 6:30 pm.
From the work of Kansas City jazz impresario Mark Southerland comes Snuff Jazz Tarifa, Mid-America's August 6 performance at 7 pm. An excursion into Turkish jazz, flamenco, and free improvisation, Snuff Jazz Tarifa features Southerland on his custom horn sculptures; Beau Bledsoe on oud and guitar; Siat Arat on darbuka; and from Sevilla, Spain, dancer Melinda Hedgecorth. Snuff Jazz Tarifa will change how Kansas City audiences define jazz.
The Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company will close the Live! in the Crossroads concert series on September 3, presenting some of its most popular programming as well as a "sneak peek" at its upcoming 2010 performance, which uniquely incorporates portions of the "Cypress Avenue" program on KCUR 89.3 FM. This show time is scheduled for 6:30 pm.
For more information and sound/video clips of this season's performers, visit the LIVE! in the Crossroads MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/liveinthecrossroads.
About Mid-America Arts Alliance
Mid-America Arts Alliance brings more art to more people by annually producing and managing more than 450 exhibition, performance, and professional development opportunities in more than 175 communities with more than 1,500 related educational programs. Each year our programs reach more than one million people regionally, nationally, and internationally. We are especially committed to enlivening the cultural life of underserved communities that lack the resources to provide cultural programs and services to their constituents. For more information, visit www.maaa.org.
Off the Vine,
May Events at the American Jazz Museum
Women In Jazz:
A collection of portraits, artifacts and films showcasing seminal women jazz artists from Kansas City & beyond
Far too long, women have been written out of the history books. Jazz venues and scholars have an obligation to strengthen the awareness of the many incalculable contributions women have brought to the music by showcasing their talents on stage, musing about their historical significance in text books and mounting meaning exhibitions spotlighting their images and personal artifacts.
To that end, the American Jazz Museum has proudly opened a groundbreaking exhibition, Women In Jazz: A Collection of Portraits, Artifacts and Films Showcasing Seminal Women Jazz Artists from Kansas City & Beyond. The exhibit runs through May 30, 2010. Curated by Sonie Ruffin together with Geneva Price and the American Jazz Museum staff, this opening marks an important milestone as the first multi-dimensional exhibition from the archive collections at the American Jazz Museum.
Elements of the exhibit include commissioned portraits by noted Kansas City visual artist Janet Kuemmerlein. Her work pays tribute to eleven celebrated Kansas City Women artists including Oleta Adams, Karrin Allyson, Queen Bey, Deborah Brown, Pearl Thuston Brown, Carol Comer, Angela Hagenbach, Lisa Henry, Marilyn Maye, Julie Turner and the Wild Women of Kansas City.
Priceless images and personal artifacts from the Museum's archives spotlight other seminal women jazz and dance artists including Mary Lou Williams, Julia Lee, Priscilla Bowman, Billie Mahoney, Betty Miller, Marsha Bland, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Carline Ray, Joanne Brackeen, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Melba Liston, Betty Carter, Shirley Horn, Abbey Lincoln, Anita O'Day, Cleo Brown, Carmen McCrae, Nancy Wilson, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Dorothy Donegan, Marian McPartland, Annie Ross, Gloria Lynn, Geri Allen, Nnenna Freelon, Alice Coltrane and Lil Hardin Armstrong. 
Women In Jazz also features rare film soundies from the American Jazz Museum's John H. Baker Jazz Film Collection along with recorded aural interviews and an exhibition text booklet with brief biographical support - soon to be released.
These portraits, images, artifacts and films serve as fitting exemplars of the significance women have brought to the music.
To further highlight the far-reaching impact of women and their un-matched contributions, the American Jazz Museum will continue to host a series of public programs, conduct dedicated tours and launch its Women In Jazz National Initiative. We hope you will make a point to visit the Museum and to experience, for yourself, why this exhibition is a fitting tribute to women in jazz.
Public Programs:
May 13, 2010 - 2:00 pm
Changing Gallery - American Jazz Museum
Women in Jazz Salon
An open, yet intimate discussion about your favorite women jazz artists, their barriers and accomplishments. Salon conversation with Geneva Price.
May 22, 2010 - 2:00pm
Atrium - American Jazz Museum
Marching on While Standing on Their Shoulders
Closing Session & Free Atrium Concert w/ Deanna Witkowski
With celebrated recording artist Deanna Witkowski live in concert and an all-star scholar panel including Dr. Tammy Kernodle (Miami University, Ohio), Dr. Sherrie Tucker (University of Kansas), Dr. Doris Wright Carroll (Kansas State University) and filmmaker Carol Bash (Paradox Films, NYC). A special Stories from the Vine event moderated by yours truly.
Exhibition Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 9:00 am - 5:30 pm; Sunday, 12:00-5:30 pm. Closed Mondays and national holidays. Free admission. School tours available.
All public programs are free and open to the public. Donations of $10 to support education programs are welcomed. For additional details and to RSVP for any of these public programs, please contact Glenn North at (816)474-8463, ext. 221 or for more information visit www.americanjazzmuseum.org
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