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Libby Hanssen's review focuses on the musical aspects of the production. Laura Vernaci's dance critique can be found here.

Maury Yeston, Tony Award-winning composer and former Yale professor, was inspired to write a ballet based on “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” over two decades ago.  He collaborated with William Whitener, who choreographer and directed the ballet, programming this premiere to be the Kansas City Ballet’s opening event for the company’s inaugural season in the Muriel Kauffman Theatre at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Brad Dechter was brought on board to orchestrate. The score was conducted by Ramona Pansegrau and performed by the Kansas City Symphony Ballet Orchestra.

Twain’s seminal novel lends itself to theatricality, with many dramatic episodes, memorable characters, and a range of emotions from humor, wit, and playfulness to spookiness, grief, and terror. But focusing solely on various scenarios—the fence painting, rafting on the river, the murder, the trial, the cave—did not adequately address the social relevance of the novel and reduced the story to a quaint series of vignettes.

Yeston’s melodies were hummable, but not readily memorable. He did evoke Aaron Copland in some moments, an appropriate choice given Copland’s reputation and influence on both American music and dance. Similarly to Yeston, Copland was an East Coast resident and New York composer. But Copland practically created America’s musical image of the West, while Yeston merely alluded to it.

The episodic nature of the action also hampered the establishment of overarching themes. During the first act, Yeston introduced motifs in such quick succession, seemingly on top of one another. It was unclear which musical information was attached to whom and did not have time to develop with the characters. Some of the tunes sounded folk-inspired, but were not recognizably so.

Other elements worked better: the children’s march was reminiscent of a semi-rural Missouri town during the mid-nineteenth century, the music during Tom and Becky’s dance was very sweet and the brassy accompaniment for Huckleberry Finn was fitting. The strains heard during the Pinwheels segment created an ethereal youthfulness, elucidating Yeston’s stated goal of presenting the timelessness of the Tom character and the young America of his era.

The fullest moments in the score, with the most thoroughly developed ideas, happened in Act II, during the graveyard scenes. Though these descriptions account for only two pages in Twain’s novel, the material was apparently rich enough to accommodate five dances. Here, amongst the ghouls, goblins and sprites, was a fine opportunity to create some fantastic, otherworldly music. Though these scenes did little to further the plot, they made up some of the sturdiest ensemble pieces and exciting musical moments.

Overall, the ballet seemed put together back-to-front. It jumped right into the action after an inconsequential “Overturette” and the whole first act was a jumble of themes and scenes. The Overture for Act III, a grand and evocative orchestral showpiece, would have been more suited to begin the show, instead of sandwiched between the action of the graveyard and the trial.

The orchestra sounded lush and grand, for the most part. The clear and pristine acoustics of the hall, at least from my balcony seat, did not allow the timbres of the individual winds and brass to blend, causing the orchestration to sound especially thin in spots, creating a chilly ambiance at times. 

Many portions of the production were finely executed and it was an ambitious undertaking by the Kansas City Ballet. Considering the tremendous source material and creativity at hand, though, I was a little deflated by the finished musical product. 

REVIEW
Kansas City Ballet
Tom Sawyer—A Ballet in 3 Acts
Friday, October 14–23, 2011 (Reviewed Oct. 15)
Muriel Kauffman Theatre, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
1601 Broadway, Kansas City, MO
For tickets, call 816-931-2232 or visit www.kcballet.org

Top Photo: Kansas City Ballet dancers Charles Martin and Alexander Peters in Tom Sawyer (Photo by Steve Wilson)

By Libby Hanssen

Traditional and New Classical, Theatre Contributor

Libby Hanssen holds degrees from University of Missouri-Kansas City (M.M.) and Ball State University (B.M.) in trombone performance and also studied music education at Indiana University. She has studied trombone with Carl Lenthe, JoDee Davis, John Seidel, John Huntoon and Denis Wick, and music education with Brent Gault, Estelle Jorgensen and Katherine Strand.

While at IU, she taught classes in general music, focusing on listening skills and music fundamentals through practical music usage and exploring new sound constructions. During the course of her studies at UMKC, she performed with many ensembles, including the Conservatory Orchestra and Musica Nova. She has also performed with the Kansas City Puccini Festival, the People's Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City, the New Jazz Order, the Indiana Wind Symphony and the Muncie Symphony Orchestra.

In 2010, she was a fellow (one of 23 journalists selected from across the US) for the seventh annual National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera at Columbia University’s Journalism School in New York City.

Most of her free time is spent with her three boys (son, dog and husband) and camera, exploring the many fine aspects of Kansas City living. She enjoys listening to KKFI - Kansas City Community Radio and KCUR - Kansas City's NPR station, visiting Kansas City's fine collection of museums and galleries, and scavenging in thrift and antique stores to add to her collection of toy instruments.

She writes for the joy of words and the process of constructing a story, maintaining the blog Proust Eats a Sandwich (www.prousteatsasandwich.wordpress.com). She is working on her first book: Murray Goes to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

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