If there is a trophy for getting the max out of the most minimal of resources (drum roll, please), the award goes to City Theatre Co.
The stage is shoehorned in a tiny black box theater in Opera Delaware's riverfront studios, seating cannot be more than 100 and whatever budget there is for tech, costumes, makeup and hair is as lean as Mick Jagger.
But creativity has no boundaries. Producer/Director Michael Gray has kept his committed troupe together for nearing two decades. Their stated mission is to “rid the planet of complacency, redundancy, indifference and fear.” The world is full of all that presently. I am unsure how the group reaches out to the nattering nabobs of negativism across the universe, but as for Wilmington, with each season they have remained true to their anthem.
“Nine” premiered on Broadway in 1982. It was the stage version of Federico Fellini's wildly erotic film fantasy “8 1/2,” focusing on film director Guido's trepidation at his 40th birthday.
Guido (Michael Gray) is a libertine, a philanderer and a womanizer – in other words, my role model. And...he's married.
Would such a man wear a white shirt (as does Gray) or shimmering black silk? Should such a man wear a daring Italianate string tie rather than the broad-striped one chosen by Gray? Lose the tie, you Lothario, you!
IF YOU GO
WHAT "Nine"
WHERE City Theater Co., Opera Delaware Studios,
4 S. Poplar St., Wilmington
WHEN Select nights through May 21
COST $25/general admission; $40/VIP
INFO www.city-theater.org
These criticisms seem petty in relation to the exhilarating performance of Gray and his committed cast.
The scene opens with the gaggle of women singing of their unrequited love for our main man. “Guido's Song” follows, an admixture of soul-searching serenades similar to “Soliloquy” in “Carousel” or “I Am What I Am” from “Les Cage Aux Folles.” Gray's facile delivery makes for great storytelling in song.
Carla (Ashley Harris), Guido's primary non-wife squeeze, achieves greatness in keeping her towel at just the right position while creating lascivious images in the minds of the men in the audience.
Liliane LeFleur (Karen Murdock) lived and breathed the role of Guido’s film producer. Murdock continues to be one of the finest singer/actors in the region. The finest detail does not escape her, even to the exquisite choice of her very European hairstyle. Visually reminiscent of both Judy Garland and Edith Piaf, her accent was the best of the cast. Le Fleur led the major production number “Follies Bergeres” with great energy and engagement.
Saraghina (Eleonore Thomas) delivered such a barefooted performance so Italian earthy I could visualize her stomping grapes on the hillside. The on stage experience she gave the young Guido (Nolan Moss) he will never forget!
The eight-member orchestra must have been sitting on each other's shoulders in the cramped space allotted. Conductor Chris Tolemeo created a beautiful sound with instruments not normally considered in community theatre; cello, woodwinds and violin. The cellist, Ezgi Yargici, was especially evocative in “Simple.”
The closer of Act I, “The Bells of St. Sebastian” is a searing exposé of the hypocrisy of Catholic school education.
Choreographer Dawn Morningstar was creative with the large numbers of people and their varying degrees of dance experience.
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Showing posts with label best of broadway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label best of broadway. Show all posts
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Community News - La Boheme
Donning my Jimmy Olson investigative hat, I posed a query to Lee Kimball. “One hanky?”
Kimball, general and artistic director did not miss a beat. “Two or three minimum. You can loan one to your neighbor.”
“La Boheme is the perfect opera for the first time opera goer,” says Kimball. “It has some of the most beautiful music written for voice; its theme is of youth and artistic risk, of experiencing love and loss for the first time and of sacrifices one makes for one's art. And, as we know, its plot was borrowed and turned brilliantly into the long running Broadway rock opera 'Rent.' ” The success of the stage show spawned the movie.
Giacomo Puccini's masterpiece is set in 1830 in the bohemian section of Paris; the iconic Latin Quarter: 1830 bohemians begat 1960 hippies. An author, a painter, a philosopher, a singer and a seamstress are huddled in a shabby apartment conspiring on how to forage for food and make...rent.
The irony of OperaDelaware is that the organization is better known and respected more outside of the state than by its own residents.
“Consistently,” says Kimball, “we have artistic directors from around the nation attend our performances. Many of our leads have gone on to successful careers, including The Met. OperaDelaware is a showcase for amazing young talent."
All parts are paid in each production, including chorus. Anyone can try out. Kimball auditions not only in Wilmington but also in New York.
“This year we had one singer fly in from California for a 10 minute audition and fly back the same day. That is the reach and the recognition of our group.”
This fact also resonates on the power of regional theatre. Two La Boheme leads live elsewhere: North Carolina and Ohio.
Marcello, the painter, is 22-year old Jeffrey Chapman who grew up in Newark and studied at the UD. Youna Jang, the title character from last year's successful 'Madama Butterfly,' returns as Mimi, the seamstress. Her discovery by Kimball came about from his long time association with the graduate program of Temple University's Department of Music.
“Youna stunned audiences last year. We will be debuting another South Korean tenor from Temple, Injoon Yang, playing Mimi's lover, Rodolfo. This voice will soon be heard in theatres around the world, believe me.” (At his lover's tragic passing, Rodolfo cries out in anguish, weeping helplessly, thereby prompting the implementation of the aforementioned hankies.)
Kimball is proud of the fact that ticket sales - only 30 percent of the organization's budget - are up 25 percent this year. OperaDelaware is one of five beneficiaries of “Arts for Delaware's Future,” a fund headed by arts philanthropist Tatiana Copeland. Kimball reports the group has received a grant of $250,000.00 for a market survey by a major national firm. That's a lot of money. Kimball suggests the aim of the results will be to examine audiences, create focus groups and determine how to motivate various corporate stakeholders for the future of the arts in the state.
Performances are Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. and Nov. 7 and 8 at 8 p.m. The Humanities Forum is funding an hour long lecture on La Boheme before each show. OperaDelaware has connected with The Exchange Restaurant on Market Street for dinners.
Kimball, general and artistic director did not miss a beat. “Two or three minimum. You can loan one to your neighbor.”
“La Boheme is the perfect opera for the first time opera goer,” says Kimball. “It has some of the most beautiful music written for voice; its theme is of youth and artistic risk, of experiencing love and loss for the first time and of sacrifices one makes for one's art. And, as we know, its plot was borrowed and turned brilliantly into the long running Broadway rock opera 'Rent.' ” The success of the stage show spawned the movie.
Giacomo Puccini's masterpiece is set in 1830 in the bohemian section of Paris; the iconic Latin Quarter: 1830 bohemians begat 1960 hippies. An author, a painter, a philosopher, a singer and a seamstress are huddled in a shabby apartment conspiring on how to forage for food and make...rent.
The irony of OperaDelaware is that the organization is better known and respected more outside of the state than by its own residents.
“Consistently,” says Kimball, “we have artistic directors from around the nation attend our performances. Many of our leads have gone on to successful careers, including The Met. OperaDelaware is a showcase for amazing young talent."
All parts are paid in each production, including chorus. Anyone can try out. Kimball auditions not only in Wilmington but also in New York.
“This year we had one singer fly in from California for a 10 minute audition and fly back the same day. That is the reach and the recognition of our group.”
This fact also resonates on the power of regional theatre. Two La Boheme leads live elsewhere: North Carolina and Ohio.
Marcello, the painter, is 22-year old Jeffrey Chapman who grew up in Newark and studied at the UD. Youna Jang, the title character from last year's successful 'Madama Butterfly,' returns as Mimi, the seamstress. Her discovery by Kimball came about from his long time association with the graduate program of Temple University's Department of Music.
“Youna stunned audiences last year. We will be debuting another South Korean tenor from Temple, Injoon Yang, playing Mimi's lover, Rodolfo. This voice will soon be heard in theatres around the world, believe me.” (At his lover's tragic passing, Rodolfo cries out in anguish, weeping helplessly, thereby prompting the implementation of the aforementioned hankies.)
Kimball is proud of the fact that ticket sales - only 30 percent of the organization's budget - are up 25 percent this year. OperaDelaware is one of five beneficiaries of “Arts for Delaware's Future,” a fund headed by arts philanthropist Tatiana Copeland. Kimball reports the group has received a grant of $250,000.00 for a market survey by a major national firm. That's a lot of money. Kimball suggests the aim of the results will be to examine audiences, create focus groups and determine how to motivate various corporate stakeholders for the future of the arts in the state.
Performances are Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. and Nov. 7 and 8 at 8 p.m. The Humanities Forum is funding an hour long lecture on La Boheme before each show. OperaDelaware has connected with The Exchange Restaurant on Market Street for dinners.
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