Creole Choir of Cuba

UMass Fine Arts Center, Amherst, MA
www.fineartscenter.com
by Emily List

The Creole Choir of Cuba was a collaborative effort on the part of 10 singers and dancers to share their Haitian descent through the arts.The performers’ ancestors were brought to Cuba as slaves, and the choir sings their stories of survival, homesickness, hope and freedom in the Creole language. The troop returned to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, with the intention of healing through song and dance and with the belief that “music is like food. It feeds the spirit and is a major inspiration for every day life.” 

Though the performers’ themes touched on dark periods of their history, the choir members celebrated the present with rich harmonies, Caribbean rhythms and vibrant colored costumes. Bongo drums, cowbells and whistles were used as rhythmic backdrop, though the men provided most of that with their deep base voices, while the women layered on high pitched vibratos and harmonies.

The concert exuded a Latin vibe, and choir members reached out to the audience through call and response and salsa like movement. The music undulated through the bodies of both performers and spectators, some of whom made their way shimmying and hip grinding on to the stage. They joined the choir as they swept their arms through the air, waving beautifully died scarves.

The concert’s atmosphere was bright and informal. Members of the ensemble chatted nonchalantly between numbers, as if attending a weekend farmers’ market. Their playful dynamic spread through the concert hall, as women and men harmonized, flirted and moved together as one. Though they don’t speak English, the choir members offered the audience a special gift—their English rendition of “Unforgettable.”  

The performers told the audience that their music comes from the heart, but there was no need to say so: the audience could feel it.  

Rent

Exit 7 Players, Ludlow, MA
www.exit7players.org
through October 16, 2011
by Eric Sutter

Jonathan Larson's Tony Award winning and ground breaking musical "Rent," about a group of struggling Bohemian artists on NYC's Lower East Side, revvs up the stage and the emotions at  is Exit 7. This intensely entertaining production is a colossal undertaking by director Meghan Lynn Allen and musical director Bill Martin. It's a mixed-up, muddled up, shook-up world with themes of sexuality, AIDS, and the ravages of poverty. The intricate story is convoluted with many sub plots that turn delightfully, revealing various love connections. The set is simple with emphasis on  music and dance. It simmered and seared with high voltage edgy rock numbers and challenging choreography by Amy Meek.

Lead characters Mark (Josiah Durham) and Roger (Michael Lorenzo) must be carefully followed. Roger is a singer/songwriter looking for his big break. Love and friendships are unveiled through song dialogue. Big numbers -- "Rent" and "Seasons of Love" -- livened every cell in one's body. Relationship songs such as "You Okay Honey" with Angel (Michael Garcia) and Collins (Joshua Osborne), "Light My Candle" with Roger and Mimi (Kyle Boatright), and "Tango Maureen" with Mark and Joanne (Christine Greene) were loving fun and helped develop characters' personalities. "On the Street," a passionate full company number, featured a big voice stand-out by Blanket Lady (Susan Duncan). Maureen (Nikki Wadleigh) turned out the humorous "Over the Moon," which coaxed the audience to "Moo." Act I closed with the over the top "La Vie Boheme" in high fashion.

The plot thickens in Act II as the characters' emotional baggage becomes weighty. Steamy duets ensue with "Take Me Or Leave Me" between Maureen and Joanne, and "Without You" with Roger and Mimi. "Contact" features Angel, who hasproven to be a firm testament to the strength of the human spirit. After Angels' AIDS death, Collins sings "I'll Cover You" backed by a powerhouse group ensemble vocal. "Goodbye Love" finds Roger, Mimi and Benny(Silk Johnson) in a heated love triangle. "Your Eyes" is Roger's love song to Mimi -- watch for her strange twist of fate. There is no day but today!

This powerful musical is chock full of strong language; it is intended for mature audiences.

Opening Night Gala

Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Springfield, MA
www.springfieldsymphony.org
October 1, 2011
by Michael J. Moran

The Springfield Symphony Orchestra opened its 2011-2012 season with a program of three pieces by Russian composers, an “electrically charged…genre that has proven to be one of our strong suits” in the past, according to Music Director Kevin Rhodes in a program note.

After a rousing performance, with enthusiastic audience participation, of “The Star-Spangled Banner” to mark the start of a new season, the concert proper began with Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Russian Easter Overture.” A colorful blend of Russian Orthodox chants with the composer’s exotic harmonies and orchestration, the piece made special demands on the brass and percussion sections, all of whom rose to the occasion with gusto.

The Tchaikovsky “Violin Concerto” reunited Rhodes and the SSO with soloist Axel Strauss for the first time since he played the Mendelssohn “Concerto in E minor” with them 11 years ago. In 1998, Strauss became the first German artist to win the Naumburg Violin Award. Now in his mid-30’s, he has lived in the United States since 1996 and teaches violin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

While fully meeting its technical challenges, Strauss gave the Concerto a richly Romantic interpretation, drawing out the first movement cadenza to broad lyrical effect, along with the second movement Canzonett. The appreciative audience jumped to their feet after his thrilling rendition of the folk-inspired finale.

A brilliant performance of Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 5 in D minor” followed intermission. Rhodes reminded the audience that this 1937 piece was not an example of “art for art’s sake” but, in the composer’s words, “a Soviet artist’s reply to just criticism” of several of his earlier works by government authorities. With the entire orchestra playing marvelously in all four movements, the symphony’s links to the Russian historical tradition were also clear, especially in the intense Largo movement, which evoked the slow movements of Tchaikovsky’s fifth and Rachmaninoff’s second symphonies.

The Maestro’s famously kinetic style of conducting was on full display throughout the evening, and the positive energy of this opening night promised a great season ahead.

The Best of Enemies

Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield, MA
www.barringtonstageco.org
October 5 – 16, 2011
by Shera Cohen

Based on the fact that Mark St. Germain is the playwright is reason enough to make a point of attending “The Best of Enemies.” St. Germain’s “Freud’s Last Session” was such a phenomenal hit at Barrington that it has moved to off-Broadway. The same may soon be said about “Enemies.”

Photo by Kevin Sprauge

The play is a true story of life in Durham, NC in the early 1970’s when the divisions between races and classes were not simple lines in the sand, but high stone walls – unable to be climbed or torn down. Color and money dictated government and particularly the school system. The story’s focus is the relationship between Ann Atwater, a hard-core elderly black woman whose only fears are the future of children, and E.P. Ellis, a strong and purposeful man who is proud of his Klan membership. The two are complete opposites in every way possible: sex, race, age. But are they? Perhaps it is their economic status that very slowly chips at the wall.

Aisha Hinds and John Bedford Lloyd are superb in their roles. Clifton Duncan, as the young black mediator of the ongoing conflict, and Susan Wands, as Ellis’ down trodden intelligent wife, are the only other actors in this quartet. Both are strong in their roles.

So much is said with a small cast and sparse set. In fact, more would have been ineffective. Julianne Boyd directs “Enemies” in vignettes created by large slide backdrops floating in and out. At many points, particularly when the actors speak out to assemblies, the audience feels that it is part of a documentary, and not theatre attendees. The play runs 90-minutes. Thank goodness for no intermission, as it not only would have broken the chronological momentum, but more importantly, the visceral experience. How much more “real” can theatre feel?

Barrington Stage is one of the few theatres that dares to present some tough drama during each of its summer seasons. Music and comedy are the norm. Obviously, audiences accept the challenge of serious and actual events, which is why “Enemies” will be staged for an unexpected return in October.

Traces

The Bushnell, Hartford, CT
www.bushnell.org
through October 9, 2011
by Emily List

The five young performers in “Traces”— a fusion of circus, dance, comedy and music —actually trace a number of things through the course of this explosively energetic show. They trace the audience members’ journey from the lobby to their seats projected on a big screen at the back of the stage, which elicits laughter as they see themselves entering the theatre. They trace the playful tossing of a basketball as it develops into an aggressive break dance. They use chalk to trace one another’s limp bodies on the floor as a ballpoint pen traces an entire city on the screen. They trace their lives in a slide show and through personal facts spoken ardently into a microphone that frequently descends from the ceiling. “I’m a romantic,” Francisco Cruise breathlessly tells the crowd. “I love cereal.  I especially love Cinnamon Toast Crunch.”

The personalization and character development are aspects of “Traces” that make it so endearing. The audience cares for the welfare of the acrobats/dancers because they distinguish themselves as individuals, playing instruments and plunking out different tunes on a wooden piano, from balletic standards to Chinese pop tunes on chop sticks. But they also work as one, seamlessly propelling and flipping themselves through the air.  This is done with the ease as props, such as wooden chairs and basketballs, are tossed through space.

It matters little that the show is strung together as an eclectic, chaotic circus. The audience is pulled immediately into the dramatic action through humor:  “Please take flash photography even if it permanently maims the performers,” is one pre-show announcement. That humor and energy keeps the audience uproariously supportive as the players display incredible agility, suspending one another with hand-to-hand circus techniques, leaping through hoops and climbing up and down vertical poles that reach from floor to ceiling.

 “Traces,” under the creative direction of the Montreal-based Seven Fingers Company, is a show not to be missed.  

Mary Zentmyer is “Sister”

Late Nite Catechism
CityStage, Springfield, MA
www.citystage.symphonyhall.com
October 12 – 16, 2011

Many audience members think that Mary Zentmyer is a bona fide nun. That’s true testament to this actress’ skills in her performances of Sister, star of “Late Nite Catechism.” Having donned the habit for a good part of the last 15 years, Zentmyer was one of the first Sisters cast in the role. She was auditioned by the play’s writer team of Vicki Quade and Maripat Donovan. There are now approximately 20 Sisters touring throughout the country.

Zentmyer describes her role in three parts: acting, improve, and stand-up comedy. The thought of memorizing a 25-page monologue was scary at first. “This is not your typical play. It’s very interactive,” she said.

“It’s a memory play, a nostalgia play. I connect with the people,” she continued. The target audience is former students (including herself) who experienced the nuns that resembled Army drill sergeants. “We thought they were mean, but it’s no wonder they were cranky, because they wore 20 lb. wool garments every day, all year round,” she laughed. Sister’s strictness is the best humor of the play, and the audience response is incredible. She pokes gentle fun; the show is never mean-spirited.

Mary Zentmyer

Zentmyer has been on the road for most of her career due to her repeat performances primarily in the mid-West and New England. They keep calling her back! “People have been so nice to me. Being a one-woman show, they see that I’m alone and invite me to dinner,” she laughed. The best part of the experience is the Meet & Greet post-performance. It’s like confession, with lines of audience members, each telling stories from their youth.

Asked: do you have to be Catholic to ‘get’ the show, she replied that it does help the audience ‘get’ the full humor. “It plays well to all religions and regions,” she responded. We all like to go back to a different time in our lives, even remembering strict teachers. The show is already sold out for her upcoming run in Detroit. “Middle-America Protestants enjoy it. And New England, with lots of Catholics, certainly ‘get’ it,” she continued.

“Making people laugh for a living – it’s the greatest job,” Zentmyer said.

War of the Worlds

Shakespeare & Company, Lenox, MA
www.shakespeare.org
through November 6, 2011
by Shera Cohen

The year? 1938. The day? October 30th. The place? Mercury Theatre, NYC. Shakespeare & Company takes its audience back to an actual episode in history, to the days when radio dramas were as brilliantly told and “visible” as any HD/3D/etc. movie of today.

Tony Simotes directs a play within a play, starring a cadre of the troupe’s best actors. There’s the light-hearted “Jack Holloway Show,” complete with country music (for New Yorkers?), an episodic short drama (“Ace Moran, American Hero”), tap dancing (hmm, hard to see on radio), advertisements (the sales department’s excellent idea to highlight local businesses), and a vignette from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (shameless but hysterical self-promotion). Along with audience participation, a flashing “Applause” sign, and an onstage sound effects man using 70-year-old tools of the trade, Jack Holloway, et al, joyfully entertain their listeners and studio audience.

“We interrupt this program…” With these four words begins the drama within the comedic variety show. Act II takes a 180 degree turn as laughter changes to gasps. Sounds of telegraph machines crank out more alarming words prefaced by “This just in...” Today’s audience knows the outcome of the story, but the scare of Martians invading Earth was very real when Orson Welles performed his live hoax in 1938. Simotes and crew (especially Michael Pfeiffer on sound and Stephen Ball on lights) create a sci-fi time revisited. While Shakespeare & Company’s performance is family friendly, there are many scares and terror of what could have happened long ago and to some degree has actually occurred in this century with other equally horrifying invasions.

The actors take on double and triple roles – something quite common and expected at this theatre. Elizabeth Aspenlieder segues from chipper singer to an on-the-spot reporter meeting her death at the hands of aliens. She switches demeanor, voice, and language texture in a heartbeat. These same skills are those of Simotes’ dream cast – particularly Jonathan Croy, Josh Aaron McCabe, and David Joseph. It is a pleasure to see Joseph (newcomer of the group) excel in plumb roles at this venue.

Lenox, MA isn’t Grovers Mills, NJ, but it very well could be.