Viva Vocalists, "Lonely House", Apr. 12 '14

I recently had the pleasure of viewing the latest Viva Vocalists production from the audience.  Although I may be slightly biased on account of the fact that Viva is produced and populated by some close friends of mine, I will risk a subjective review and state that I found the overall impact to be satisfying on an artistic level, and moving on an emotional level.

The musical selections, accompanied on piano by Chrade Younkin, were taken from the works of composer Kurt Weill and various famous operas.  Although I have been intimate with most of the opera selections, including Verdi's "Ave Maria" from Otello and Puccini's "Vissi d'Arte" from Tosca, for years, I was completely unfamiliar with most of the Weill.  The musical aspect that stood out most to me was the quirky tendency of the melodies to take very unexpected developments, specifically in unusual skips and balanced rhythmic irregularities.  I felt that many of the selections, taken out of their original contexts and spliced into a completely new script, fit the plot thoughtfully, in particular the opening number "September Song", and "Two Hearts" at the end.  However, my favorite songs were the upbeat "One Life to Live" and "Love Song".

The major selling point of the production for me was the original script, written by Daniel James Story, which demonstrated depth and complexity in the development of both plot and characters.  The basic outline is simple enough: A young poet, Emmet (played by Elliot Kraber) comes to stay at a boarding house inhabited by various unique, odd and sometimes disturbing persons; he promptly proceeds to fall in love with his much older land-lady, Frida (Sarah Lewontin), who eventually requites his love in secret.  However, her daughter, Mary (Michelle Martinez) is also secretly in love with Emmet, and out of heartbreak from her refused advances, decides to shoot herself and the poet, leaving her mother and his lover in shock and despair.  It's a sordid story of forbidden love, ending predictably where all such stories tend to end--6 feet under.

However, most of the action centers not on our doomed love-triangle, but on the other characters and their development.  This includes two other love triangles, one between Wayne (Piers Excell-Rehm), Sarah (Misha Excell-Rehm), and Mr. Gross (Zev Handel), the other between Emmet, Caitlin (Kyla Roberts) and Gwen (Octavia McAloon).  Neither love triangle ends quite the way a conservative audience would expect; Wayne prefers the advances of Mr. Gross to those of poor Sarah, and Gwen's long-standing crush on her best friend Caitlin finally wins out over the else-where placed interest of Emmet.  The boarding-house is further occupied by two delightful older ladies, Liddy (Vicky Hayes) and Aunt Alice (Cyell Brennan), who attempt to soothe the slightly volatile tempers and resulting drama of the younger people.  Finally, the celebrity opera star Lucia Lombardi (Belle Chenault) accompanied by her long-suffering-and-starting-to-show-it companion Rafaela (Nicola Derbyshire), enters in the second act and surprises everyone with her southern accent, easy-going manners, and alarmingly obtrusive eyebrows.  In the end, Mary, whose presence is all but ignored by the other characters throughout the story, throws everyone into disarray with her sudden violent act.

The surprising elements which clutter the plotline, like the wardrobe of an Italian gentleman who throws everything together and turns out a masterpiece seemingly on pure accident, kept my interest from start to finish; the dialogue was fluid and natural, but not filled with unnecessary exposition; the brevity of the show caused a complicated story to lose its possibly distracting ends and succinctly bring everything full circle.

However, what probably contributed most to the success of the script, in my opinion, was the dedication that the cast, coached by Janna Wachter, put into their roles.  I was particularly impressed by Kyla Robert's acting during the scene in which Caitlin, an aspiring opera singer who faces a harsh audition, comes home in tears and is comforted by Gwen.  Belle Chenault brought down the house with a much-needed dose of hilarity as Lucia Lombardi decimates the built-up expectations of her personality while she has tea with the boarders.  Michelle Martinez's portrayal of Mary was seamless from beginning to end.  I could go on, but that would necessitate repeating the entirety of the cast list I've already detailed above, so I'll wrap up by noting the choral arrangements of "Youkali" by Octavia McAloon and "Lost in the Stars" by Elliot Kraber, both of which showcased stunningly beautiful harmonies.

The director, Shawna Avinger, has asked me if there are any suggestions for improvement I could make on the students' behalf.  At first, I felt compelled to decline, but on further rumination, I have one overall comment.  I would like to see more movement about the stage during all of the songs.  I'm well aware of how difficult this can be, especially for new singers, but in addition to being more visually stimulating, I think that often this additional element triggers a deepening awareness into the mentality of the character, and paradoxically relieves nerves and enhances focus.

And so...I'm very glad I was able to attend this performance, and I'm looking forward to the next!

Cheers,
-G

Seattle Men's Chorus: Totally Wicked, March 29, '14

I feel deeply grateful for the experience I was able to have last Saturday night at the Seattle Center.  The Seattle Men's Chorus, the world's largest gay men's choir, brought down a smashing performance in support of the gay movement, particularly for the LGBT youth.  In addition to being very heartfelt, it was distinctly tasteful, with careful attention given to all aspects of the performance.

It took place at McCaw Hall, a huge theater replete with scarlet curtains on the stage--and drew a crowd to fit the size.  There is, of course, something delicious about a men's choir about 300 strong.  The timbre of the combined male voices is both deep and mellow, and brings a sense of nostalgia at times. But to balance it out, the Chorus brought in Broadway star Megan Hilty to sing several numbers from the musical hit "Wicked".

The program was comprised entirely of musical excerpts from legendary composer Stephen Schwartz (the creator of "Wicked"), including songs from Children of Eden, Enchanted, Prince of Egypt, Pocohontas, Pippin and Godspell. They were segmented between the men's choir, the Seattle Woman's Choir, the ensemble "Captain Smartypants" and Diverse Harmony.  In addition, there were several standout soloists from the men's choir, and a fantastic dance troupe, presumably also made up of members of the choir. 

I was deeply impressed by the overall quality of the stage setting, lighting, and sound quality, headed by Dennis Coleman and Eric Lane Barnes.  The scenes were very simple and effective; subtle effects such as a "starry" backdrop, the placement of lights at a 30 degree angle to the stage just enough not to get the choir members behind while illuminating the soloist in front, and the arrangements of the instrumental ensemble for piano, drums, bass, clarinet and flute struck me as well-planned.  From the arrival of "God" atop a folding lift to the closing with a "witch" perched in the same place, the program also showed direction and thoughtfulness.

The dance troupe was my favorite part performance-wise.  The number "All for the Best" from Godspell, with a row of tapdancers competing against a group doing a cane dance, brought down the house.  All of the dancers, though amateur in places, were well-practiced and showed quite a lot of artistic discipline.  I should also note whoever played the part of "Giselle" from Enchanted -- replete with poofy white dress.  He looked like he was having a bit too much fun...and so were the audience.

Megan Hilty, whose birthday just so happened to be that day, wrung huge applause from her native Seattle audience with "Popular" and "For Good".  Her voice is very showy, with a lot of scooping that my "classical" ears aren't used to hearing.  But she certainly lived up to the part.

The final number before the encores was original piece "Testimony", inspired by the "It Gets Better Project", and was a definite tear-jerker.  Although I myself am not queer, I have several close friends who are, and besides that, I identified deeply with the message of self-acceptance and patiently waiting for "better".  The music itself was not as "catchy" as the show-tunes, but infinitely more profound on a harmonic level, so I appreciated it quite a lot.

In short, I'm glad I was able to go to this program, and I would probably go see the Seattle Men's Chorus again in the future.

Cheers!
-G