Theatre Review by Keith Waits - Broadsword: a heavy metal play

By Marco Ramirez, Directed by Amy Attaway

Reviewed by Keith Waits

Entire contents copyright 2011 Keith Waits. All rights reserved.

Tonight I experienced a rare instance of transcendence in a theatre. In its final moments, Broadsword: a heavy metal play elicited in me a profound visceral reaction that caught me off guard. A feeling of genuine apprehension that made my heart skip a beat and my breathe stop for an instant. To describe the scene would certainly be a spoiler, and even the details of the stagecraft employed might seem unremarkable in print, but the mysterious alchemy of ingredients worked their magic and resulted in a thrilling climax. I have no idea if anyone else in the audience felt quite the same way, but it was a memorable moment for me.

The story of Broadsword concerns itself with such ephemeral experience as it explores the past history of three members of a heavy metal quartet who have come to mourn the loss of one of its members, Richie. Sixteen years after they brushed up against success and artistic achievement, they find themselves confronting a mystery surrounding Richie’s years of seclusion in his mother’s basement and his disappearance six months earlier. The basement was their former rehearsal hall and is filled with instruments, amplifiers and what appears to be years of detritus resulting from, what we learn, was a dark and dangerous obsession. The work of Scenic Designer Karl Anderson and Properties Designer Heather Lindert is exemplary, and the scene only lacks the dank, funky smells that would almost certainly accompany such a location.

Much of the play consists of the band members working out the complex emotional baggage gathered over the years and never exorcised. The strong cast makes the most of these exchanges, and these scenes ground the action sufficiently so that the introduction of a supernatural element seems surprisingly organic and doesn’t throw the tone of the material out of balance. That element is worthy of The Twilight Zone and conjures thoughts of Robert Johnson at the crossroad overlaid on the image of Brian Wilson locked away in pursuit of perfection.

It is a marvelous idea – one potent enough for me to wish the playwright would revisit the text to develop it just a little further than it currently allows. Or perhaps this particular production doesn’t reach its fullest potential. In either event, as good as it is, Broadsword just falls short of greatness.

That still leaves us with a smart script characterized by colorful dialogue and a sure eye for the detail of the relationships. Scott Anthony plays Nicky, the group’s drummer and bitter misanthrope, and has the luck of the lines. Almost everything he says is funny and biting, and Mr. Anthony displays a sure understanding if what makes him tick. His work is filled with swagger and cocksureness. Michael Mayes is his equal as Tony, Richie’s brother and the lead singer whose attempt at a solo career triggered the band’s demise. The character is a well-observed mix of the conceited gloss of the front man and the working-class roots of a kid from Rahway. Brandon Cox nicely captures the affability of the member who perhaps has less conflict with any other member and who seems the most regretful that things never worked out.

Another character, Dr. Thorne, introduces both a greater depth to the mystery and some measure of explanation. He is played in suitably enigmatic fashion by Tom Luce. Another otherworldly figure is the Man in White, intended to represent the easy temptations of becoming a rock star, and perhaps much more. Robert McFarland has the requisite languid and seductive presence, but this usually reliable actor’s energy seemed a little off opening night.

Another character, Becca, was once Broadsword’s Chief Groupie but is now as weary and disappointed as the rest. In truth, the character seems underdeveloped and a little cliché in the writing, yet Cara Hicks' fully realized portrayal almost makes you not notice. It is a good example of an actor pushing the character beyond the text, and Ms. Hicks communicates so much through her physicality and body language. Just before that magical climax, she has a delightful moment where she casts off her weary burdens and becomes again, for an instant, that young acolyte hanging on every power chord, and she manages it entirely without words, a pure and unfettered expression of childish delight.   

As a theatregoer, I live for such moments, for they transcend the particular details of lights, props, whether the seats are comfortable or how noisily another patron is unwrapping a cough drop, and insert us fully into the lives of the characters and the action of the play. It is the magic of live theatre, and its potential exists every time a dedicated group of theatre artists place themselves on a stage and invite you along for the ride. Whatever its faults, Broadsword, a heavy metal play does this forcefully, giving its audience a vivid and memorable experience.

Broadsword, a heavy metal play

November 11, 12, 14, 18, 19 @ 8pm.

Theatre [502]

Parkside Studio inside The Iroquois Amphitheater

1080 Amphitheater Road

Louisville, KY

502-509-1595

www.theatre502.org

Music Review by Carol Larson: The Choral Arts Society and Bourbon Baroque

November 6, 2011

Entire contents copyright 2011 by Carol Larson. All rights reserved.

Henry Purcell, composer, 1659-1695.

What a grand partnership:  the Choral Arts Society under the baton of James Rightmyer; and Bourbon Baroque, Louisville’s period instrument ensemble. This is a match made in heaven. 

The Program began with the Funeral March from the Oratorio (Sacred Drama), Saul, by Handel. This movement is a funeral anthem for Saul and his son Jonathan. The music is gorgeous and the long sustained phrases were beautifully executed by the Orchestra.

The next piece was Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary, written by Henry Purcell, the greatest English composer before Handel. Mary was the wife of William of Orange who took the throne in 1688. Mary died in 1694 during the smallpox epidemic. This piece was an incredible experience. The eerie drum procession created the funeral mood of the piece. The music of the March was sad but a beautiful blend of brass sounds. The choruses and brass canzone were quite stunning. Conductor James Rightmyer did an excellent job, demanding precise rhythms of the orchestra and straight, blended tones of the chorus.

We now leave the Baroque period and come forward to the 20th century to the music of English composer Herbert Howells. Howells studied at the Royal College of Music under Charles Villiers Stanford, Hubert Parry and Charles Wood. He also was a good friend of Ralph Vaughn Williams, who was his mentor. The motet, Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing, was written shortly after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and is dedicated to Kennedy's memory. This work is considered to be Howell’s finest a cappella anthem. The chorus did an amazing job – the close harmonies were so in tune that they were as clear as a bell. It was magical!

The afternoon ended with the Magnificat in D major, BWV 243, by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is scored for orchestra, five-part chorus and soloists. The text is taken directly from the Gospel of Luke. The scene is the Virgin Mary visiting her cousin, Elizabeth, who is pregnant with the future John the Baptist. After Mary greets Elizabeth, the child moves in Elizabeth's womb. Elizabeth then praises Mary for her faith and at this point Mary speaks what is now known as the Magnificat.

The choruses in this piece were performed at very brisk tempos, which seemed a little frantic at times; however, the solo and ensemble sections were very solid.

This was a beautiful concert and I hope these two ensembles partner again very soon to give us more beautiful music. Bravo to Mr. Rightmyer, the Choral Arts Society and Bourbon Baroque. 

The Choral Arts Society and Bourbon Baroque

St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church

639 South Shelby Street

Louisville, Kentucky

http://www.bourbonbaroque.com/

http://www.louisvillechoralartssociety.org/

Theatre Review by Keith Waits: Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble presents A Very Special Holiday Special and “En Route”

Entire contents copyright 2011 by Keith Waits. All rights reserved.

A Very Special Holiday Special, featuring Gregory Maupin
and Tony Dingman. Courtesy of Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble. 

Personally, I hate the rush to Christmas that begins before Halloween and practically steamrollers over the humbling nature of Thanksgiving as if they were mere steppingstones to the "Really Important Holiday." Therefore, I usually endeavor to ignore things that attempt to generate my holiday cheer earlier than the second week in December, summoning a mighty effort to dismiss the onslaught of cheap commercialism that modern society relentlessly imposes on what is supposed to be the most sacred day on the Christian calendar – which means I have to change my route when walking my dog to miss seeing the overly garish yard decorations in the neighborhood.

So a special thanks to the ingenious members of Le Petomane for presenting a holiday extravaganza that is such a healthy dose of vinegar in the season of treacle that I was thrilled to watch a stage filled with Santa’s elves.

It is, in fact, a revival from a few years past, although it was new to me. An inventive and irreverent cross-breeding of a children’s story reminiscent of Rankin-Bass (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Year Without A Santa Claus) with science-fiction movies that featured over-sized, nuclear-enriched monsters rampaging through American cities, it affords us the opportunity to witness several indelible performances from company members that include:

• Kyle Ware’s sharply spastic physical comedy as an elf named Kenny who is struggling to maintain his usual sunny elve’s disposition.

• The nimble run of interchangeable auxiliary characters played by Tony Dingman, all named Henson, who prove useful, if highly disposable, fodder when the action gets tough.

• Heather Burn’s depiction of Mrs. Klaus as a strict, but motherly, CEO of Santa’s Workshop.

• A delightful song and dance from Gregory and Abigail Bailey Maupin that was as sweet as it was satirical.

The musical numbers are especially smart about their lyrics, and by themselves might warrant a second viewing (or a cast album?). Mr. Dingman’s song about being a sacrificial foot soldier is especially observant in its detail, while Ms. Maupin’s patented ability to summon a wealth of artificial satirical charm is never more effective than when she is singing and skipping across the stage in this show. One of her purposes is to provide an object of desire for more than one elf, and she does so with a mid-century style and grace that is one of the hallmarks of this company. So much of their work is informed by a sure understanding of the culture of the past, whether it be channeling Vera-Ellen in White Christmas or paying tribute to the original Star Trek. Sharp eyed audience members will, I think, not miss the latter reference, but I will say no more.

There is even a moment that asks an important question about the ubiquity and redundancy of traditional holiday entertainments, suggesting that if audiences seek the comfort and complacency of the overly-familiar, maybe it is because they are offered little else at year’s end.  Le Petomane may be extremely silly, but they are also very smart.

Yet I am happy to report that this particular holiday offering delivers genuine cleverness and originality in abundance, and despite the commentary, there is no attack on Christmas itself – just a good time to be had by all.

"En Route," featuring Heather Burns, Kristie Rolape
and Gregory Maupin. Courtesy of
Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble.

As an added treat, the evening begins with a ten-minute short entitled “En Route.” The brief and wordless interaction between three ladies while at least two of them attempt some peaceful bird watching, while a warm-up for the main event, is perhaps an even stronger example of the type of theatre for which, at least in Louisville, Le Petomane has no equal. Bold and expressive masks cover the three performer’s faces, and the costuming is broadly comic; yet the body language and fluid movements vividly communicate character and illustrate a story so simple, yet so full of suggestion; a tidy but brilliant pantomime by Kristie Rolape, Heather Burns and Gregory Maupin.

“En Route” and A Very Special Holiday Special

November 9 – 20, 2011

Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble

At The Bard’s Town

1801 Bardstown Road

Louisville, KY 40205

http://www.lepetomane.org/

Tickets: $8-$20 on the usual Le Petomane sliding scale
Contact Us@LePetomane.org or (502)609-2520 for tickets
For pre-show dinner reservations, call The Bard's Town at (502) 749-5275

An interview with playwright Krista Knight by Isaac Spradlin of Walden Theatre.

MAKING ART FROM CHAOS: DECONSTRUCTING PHANTOM BAND

Phantom Band opens November 10 at Walden Theatre. Krista Knight will participate in a TalkBack discussion following the November 12 matinee.

Tell us a bit about yourself, what are you doing now, what have you been doing the past few years?

I grew up in Portola Valley, California, under the auspices of a special ed teacher and an entrepreneur. I rode horses, stalked banana slugs, and generally had an uproarious time before heading to Brown. Well, that's not exactly true, but I can attest to the luck associated with kissing the aforementioned yellow gastropod. I started school studying neuroscience before switching to theater, thanks to my undergraduate advisor and mentor Paula Vogel. I moved to NYC in 2006 where I shacked up with a paramedic in an east village tenement with no shower and the bathtub in the kitchen. I fondly remember returning home nights to find un-insured friends being stitched up in said bathtub. It’s been years since I’ve inquired, “Why is our bathroom covered in blood?” While in New York, I got a master's in performance studies from NYU and spent a year as the Page 73 Playwriting Fellow.

Three years ago I moved to San Diego to take up surfing and study with Naomi Iizuka at the Playwriting program at UCSD. Highlights include narrowly escaping getting voted off graduate student council for losing a bunch of money on a drag ballet, annual grunion runs, and writing a new musical with Arkansas-based Casio-pop band “David's Pegasus.” After graduating from UCSD, I spent the summer workshopping a silent opera at WordBRIDGE, writing two plays for young adults for Berkeley Rep, and developing my next play at the Tofte Lake Center. In September I began the year long Shank Playwriting Fellowship at the Vineyard Theatre in New York City.

Let's start at the beginning, what spawned your idea for Phantom Band?

I wanted to see what would happen if I adapted Phantom of the Opera for a high school marching band with the gender roles reversed. I don’t care what anyone says—I love me some Andrew Lloyd-Weber.

My dad has limited speech capacity and I’ve always been interested in language. I learned to read at the same time as my dad. After his stroke, he lost language and use of the right side of his body.

As I grew up, I became part of the process of grasping for expression with him, participating in the search for words, riffing on his words in the hunt for the buried one. I am gripped by the way in which language tries—and the way in which language fails. The palpable dramatic tension in that disparity of almost attainment—almost perfect emotional mimesis—if we can only find the word.

As I learned to construct language, I became intimately familiar with its successes and failures, with how it is deconstructed, how it is destroyed. I saw language emerge—sprung forth through fricatives and glides. I learned the power of spoken language. Language even more beautiful and powerful as a deconstruction.

I saw that language always bears within it creative potential. It was the key to regaining our lives and selves after they were so profoundly altered. A passion for language and its investigation has stayed with me and I think is the reason why the characters in Phantom Band struggle with deteriorating modes of articulation. And why the play looks at what happens when words are replaced with transcendent music.

Did you draw any inspiration from your own experiences in high school?

This isn’t high school—but when I was in elementary school I used to torment this kid named Ross. I invited everyone in my third grade class to my birthday pool party except for Ross, and only invited him when the teacher called me (at home!) and made me.  When we both showed up on Halloween in 4^th grade as velociraptors (Tint’s costume of choice) I was mortified. Mortified! I thought he was so lame. And I didn’t have enough self-awareness to be like: "Krista – you are also dressed up a velocitraptor." Of course I was probably in love with him.

And of course when I was writing the play in San Diego I ran into Ross again—he had become a Ph.D. in computer science and, as luck would have it, terribly good looking.

So that’s where Tint’s costume came from.

But really, in high school, I was drawn to the visual and performing arts because it was an outlet for expression. I spent a lot of time trying to force myself not to feel any particular way about the things I was experiencing. I wish I had given myself more permission. I would kill to feel things as passionately as I did when I was at the brink of adulthood. But I wouldn’t give up the tools I have now to navigate through life.

How do you think teenage actors will approach this play and the characters? Any difference from the way "professional" adults would?

Anything can happen in theater and actors playing ages other than their own is absolutely appropriate and native to the form. But teenagers acting as teenagers, being in those bodies, accessing experiences from the gut – from the immediate world around them – I don’t think anything could be better, more honest, or more exciting for this play.

Music is crucial to Phantom Band, even if it's secondary to the "harmony of the relationships." Did you have any kind of musical ideas for staging the play, or were you listening to anything particularly "angsty" while writing?

I was listening to a lot of “What Cheer? Brigade,” which is a sort of punk/marching band out of Providence. They perform these amazing, sprawling shows in all kinds of non-traditional venues. Imagine drum suspenders over bare chests and skinny jeans, processing trombones on the bar, almost as many performers rocking out the stage (and maybe the rafters) as there are audience members. They’re my favorite band to see play live.

Beethoven was important, especially the bombastic stuff, and especially the stuff before and after he went deaf to see how it changed.

I was also listening to Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell 2 – because that’s what I listened to in high school and because it is awesome.

My fantasy is that the play ends with a cataract of 200-plus marching band members flooding the stage when the ragamuffin band finally plays. Even though the artistic transcendence they reach at the end isn’t exactly about coordinated, military inspired movement – anything that creates auditory/expressive ecstasy is right on.

These characters are each at a crossroads of identity, in a way that hints back to The Breakfast Club and other similar movies. Are there particular films or books that made an impact on you as you navigated the minefield of adolescence as you were crafting this script?

Breakfast Club, absolutely. I’ve got a section in my bookcase of marching band books and music theory. Documentaries about marching bands. I went to see a BUNCH live in San Diego. They had this one competition of high school marching bands from all over southern California. They were in the full polyester outfits and it was HOT OUT. Their parents ran alongside with carts of water.

Oliver Sacks’ Musicophia was a big influence. The brain is this amazingly elastic thing. The way we process music and the incredible way bypasses and mistakes happen – and the way miraculous alternate connections and associations are made – I find it disturbing, fascinating, and endlessly inspiring.

You use the phrase "making art from chaos" in describing your work. Can you unpack that phrase a bit on context of the play?

What’s the other option? Curling into a ball and ignoring it? Vanquishing chaos from our lives by preempting its possibility? Compartmentalizing it in such a way as to deaden it?

I wouldn’t want any of those (though I’m sure I oscillate between all of them). I think we’re artists because we don’t want to compartmentalize or ignore. We want to take the painful and confusing and inspiring and joyful messy things we experience and mine from them beauty and truth.

What other projects are you working on currently? Have anything going to stage soon?

I think that everything I write engages with music in some way, but recently I’ve been collaborating on my first straight up casio-pop musical with Arkansas based band “David’s Pegasus.” I was a huge fan and emailed the band’s website three years ago to see if they’d want to write something together. They, miraculously, said yes. (FYI I’m a huge proponent of finding your artistic cohorts no matter where they hail.) About a year ago David’s Pegasus and I settled on 19th century death portraiture as our first topic to tackle, and we’ve been working on the musical ever since.

It’s called Salamander Leviathan and it’s about to go up on Halloween at Ars Nova in New York. David’s Pegasus and I also just started our next piece – a post-apocalyptic surf musical called Doomsurfing which we’ll workshop at the Vineyard at the end of the month. In November I’m writing an "opera" (loosely defined) about my dad who lives in the Airport Hyatt and his Ethiopian nurse/girlfriend. We’ll do an in-process showing at P73 Theater Company at the end of November. In December I’m workshopping a play called Un-hinged at Playwrights Center of San Francisco. I’ll also be working on the play with terraNOVA Collective here in New York over the course of the year.


Phantom Band
November 10 & 11 @ 8:00p.m.
November 12, 17, 18, 19 @ 7:30 p.m.
Walden Theatre
1123 Payne Street
Louisville, Kentucky
(502) 589-0084
http://www.waldentheatre.org/

Exhibit Review by Keith Waits: Kyle Fokken

Kyle Fokken at garner narrative contemporary fine art

Airway to Heaven, mixed media sculpture

Review by Keith Waits

Entire contents copyright 2011 by Keith Waits. All rights reserved.

When a young child grasps a toy in their hands, it is an object that sparks imagination and creativity. In that same way, Kyle Fokken’s sculptures become a catalyst for intellectual stimulation in the adult mind. Perhaps they trigger a return to childhood playtime: each is fundamentally a toy, a truck, an airplane, a construction crane. Yet these mixed media creations are also idiosyncratic mash-ups of form and function: the operator’s cabin on the construction crane is a ramshackle church – the crane arm protruding from beneath the façade and anchored by a chain that runs through a window, nearly an act of penetrative violence.  The positioning of a house of worship as a vehicle of destruction is a provocative juxtaposition in an age when we witness religion as a foundation for terrorism.

But that impact is perhaps balanced by the contrasting image of another church structure serving as the fuselage of an airplane, lifting the spiritual into more traditional territory, albeit with the same idiosyncratic relationships of form and function.

In other pieces, the stylistic combinations are more complex and subtle, such as the steam-punk anamorphism of  “Uptet (Babylonian Gunship),” a quadripedal creature that seems a cross between a camel and the family pet, but equipped with giant propellers ready to take the steel and wood construction aloft. Mr. Fokken’s work is filled with cultural references, and in this instance it is difficult not see something of the Imperial Walkers from Empire Strikes Back: they have the same tension between awkward, lumbering mass and graceful, intricate design.

The detail and craftsmanship are distinctive, and the found objects that Mr. Fokken incorporates never seem random or haphazard, but exactly the right choices for each piece. There is, however, one sculpture, “Difficult to Fathom,” that stands apart from the rest in this show.  The merging of a church onto a submarine body is entirely consistent, but the dynamic placement of the contraption trawling across the scalp of a singularly annoyed sailor introduces a more straightforwardly comic image of a human face that could also be viewed as self-portrait. Whether or not the head bears any resemblance to the artist, the whimsical depiction of art emerging from the creative mind is unmistakable.

This three-dimensional exhibit represents something of a departure for this space, having devoted itself for years to largely two-dimensional work from its proprietor, Joyce Garner, and a few select others. But this past summer the gallery was renovated so that the space underwent small but crucial adjustments. Mr. Fokken’s work highlights the new environment and suggests a more ambitious mission for garner narrative that should prove welcome in what is already the busiest and most vital visual arts neighborhood in Louisville. 

Difficult to Fathom, leather over wood, steel, found object

Wrecker (Church Series IV), acrylic paint over wood

Uptet (Babylonian Gunship) tempered scrap steel (soup, tomato cans) over wood, acrylic

garner narrative contemporary fine art
642 E. Market @ Clay
Louisville, KY 40202
(502) 641-8086
garnernarrative@gmail.com
hours: Wed-Sat 1-6, First Friday Gallery Hop 1-9
http://www.garnernarrative.com

Theatre Review by Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Radio Plays

By Douglas Adams

Directed by Dana Hope

Reviewed by Craig Nolan Highley

Entire contents are copyright © 2011, Craig Nolan Highley. All rights reserved.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has been a global phenomenon ever since the radio series first hit the British airwaves in 1978. It ran for a total of five seasons, intermittently, from 1978 to 2005 and spawned six novels, one television series, several stage productions, a comic book series, a feature film, and various other media interpretations. It tells of the misadventures of one very British Arthur Dent as he escapes the destruction of the planet Earth and discovers the rest of the universe is a very mind-bending and hilarious place to be.

Although there are stage adaptations available, the Alley Theater’s current production goes back to the very beginning and utilizes the original radio scripts of the series’ original four episodes. A good choice, considering none of the later incarnations have ever come close to the brilliance of the wordplay of the original, but nonetheless a challenge in presenting a radio play in a visual medium like live theater.  And for the most part, it is a challenge the Alley is very much up to.

Director Dana Hope has turned the Alley into 1970s-era radio station WLOL (love it!) complete with period-appropriate posters on the walls (the framed photo of the play’s late author, Douglas Adams, is an especially nice touch), and the actors are decked out with appropriately loud '70s fashions. The performers sit around tables and drink beer when they are not creating sound effects or taking their turns at the microphones.  It all comes off as very authentic.

Aside from a few minor quibbles with some of the attempts at British accents, the cast’s performances are uniformly spot-on.  Everyone plays multiple roles, but special mention has to be given to Alan Canon as “The Book,” the omniscient voice of the titular pan-galactic encyclopedia and travel guide which serves as the show’s narrator. His accent never falters over some truly tongue-twisting passages, and he seems to be truly channeling the late Peter Jones (who originated the role for the BBC). Kimby Peterson also shines in all the female roles, especially vamping it up as Trillian, Arthur’s unrequited love interest and fellow escapee from Earth.

John Aurelius turns in some nice work as Ford Prefect, Arthur’s best friend and alien from Betelgeuse (love the hair); Tom Dunbar breaks tradition nicely by playing planet-building Slartibartfast against type, abandoning the traditional British accent for a redneck model; and Scott Goodman brings a fun, seventies swinger-vibe to two-headed, three-armed galactic president Zaphod Beeblebrox.

But any production of The Hitchhiker’s Guide will live or die based on the actor who portrays Arthur Dent, and I’m happy to say Kent Carney effectively nails it here. The character is designed as a British everyman whose stiff-upper-lip attitude just can’t cope with the barrage of bizarre happenings he is forced to contend with, and Carney conveys it all brilliantly. You can truly feel the character’s exasperation.

Any stage production will have its share of pros and cons, and the cons here are trivial. As this is supposed to be a live radio broadcast, the visual of the actors reading from their scripts is appropriate. However, some of the actors barely look at them, which sort of distances you from the production. As an actor myself I am always impressed when performers can flawlessly rattle off the type of difficult material presented here, but in this case just for authenticity’s sake I think they should have at least pretended to be more attached to their scripts. That is a minor quibble though in a thoroughly enjoyable production.

Overall, I had a lovely time and can’t wait to see the story continued in what I am promised will be future productions of the rest of this legendary and hilarious series.

THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY: THE RADIO PLAYS

Starring John Aurelius, Alan Canon, Kent Carney, Tom Dunbar, Scott Goodman, and Kimby Peterson.

November 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18 and 19, 2011.  Shows at 7:30 PM.

The Alley Theater

1205 East Washington Street

Louisville, KY 40202

502-589-3866

http://thealleytheater.org/site/

Theatre Review by Kathi E. B. Ellis: Louisville Ballet – 2011 Choreographers’ Showcase

November 4, 2011

Entire contents copyright © 2011, Kathi E. B. Ellis

This weekend the Louisville Ballet brings its annual Choreographers’ Showcase to our community. Performed in a semi-studio setting at the Ballet’s headquarters, the evening of thirteen new ballets, choreographed by six women and six men, gives ballet aficionados an opportunity to see dancers close-up, rather than the through the longer lens of the Whitney.

Despite a late start as downtown audiences continue to adjust to major events at the Yum! Center and, I’m sure, at least a handful of bridge issues, the evening was eventually kicked off by Artistic Director Bruce Simpson. In a tribute rare, but welcome, in most curtain speeches, he acknowledged those members of the 95-strong Ballet staff whom audiences typically don’t see. Specifically, he drew the audience’s attention to the bleachers—with new cushioning, crafted by props manager Ron Riall—producing a heartfelt round of applause before a dancer had stepped upon the stage.

The first ballet’s memory of Greece (“Memories of My Father’s Land,” Ian Poulis) introduced an unexpected poignancy to the evening against a backdrop of that country’s ongoing financial troubles.  Hearkening back to an earlier decade, and the beauty and traditions of the country, this meditation skillfully interweaves ballet and the dance figures Americans recognize as Greek. Set to Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis’ music, Phillip Velinov clearly embodies the power of memory to conjure up tangible experiences. The ensemble of four men and four women energetically create the exuberant nature of community dancing (complete with voiced “opa’s”), eventually permeating the barrier between memory and present, bringing Mr. Velinov into the ensemble to participate in his own memory. The piece culminates with Mr. Velinov performing an impressive series of fouettés flanked by the ensemble.

“Mother of Hope” (Helen Daigle) changes the energy of the room immediately as we hear Erik Satie’s Gnossienne and see the more typical flowing costumes for Kateryna Sellers and Emily Reinking O’Dell. This piece is indeed a celebration of “the beauty of the female form,” as the program note proclaims. I found myself confused by the semi-narrative—are both these women mothers? And if so, is one mother to the man (Ben Needham-Wood) and one the wife? Are they both embodiments of the man’s ideal beauty?

Bringing ten company members and trainees onto the stage, “…Don’t Forget Me” (Brian Grant) is the largest piece of the evening. Mr. Grant has lots of ideas about the emotion of movement, which he explores in ever-changing combinations of two, three and four dancers, with different groups echoing and varying their vocabulary throughout the piece. There were so many combinations on stage at the same time that there were times when the piece would benefit from one less group on stage so that the audience could follow the repetitions and make the connections with more clarity.

Erica de la O’s “Parallel” is an elegant pas de deux for Rachel Cahayla-Wynne and Douglas Ruis. The music of Gaetano Gioja—an extra bonus!—was recorded by Louisville pianist Steve Crews.

“Upon Further Reflection” (Sarah Farnsley) began in silence and demonstrated (as did several pieces) how much can be achieved with only two or three lighting instruments and controlling the level of regular studio lighting. There was a palpable sense of something not quite right from the very beginning of this compelling ensemble piece.  The original music by Max Wanderman set the tone of incipient ominous-ness throughout, lightening—briefly—at the one moment when it seemed that connection and hopefulness was possible. Ms. Farnsley achieved a sense of aloneness within a group setting, even when movements and gestures were repeated across different groupings.

In another shift of energy—a signature of the whole evening, shaping our journey and enhancing our experience of all and each of the pieces—Carrie Patterson brought us the charming and amusing “T’es La Seule” to music of The Books. Caroline Betancourt and Evgeni Dokoukine were a delightful pair to watch as they negotiated communication and connection. There was a sense of fun and humor both between them and between the dancers and the music.

The first half of the evening concluded with Brandon Ragland’s “Stalemate,” another ensemble piece, and one of two pieces to use music of Philip Glass. I found myself wondering about what made this piece a stalemate, while enjoying at an abstract level the dancers’ work.

“Beauty” (Erica De La O’s second offering of the evening) brought us back at the beginning of the second half. This is an exquisite étude offered in silhouette. Ms. Reinking O’Dell, beautiful in late pregnancy, demonstrates just how critical detail and specificity are—the movement of a finger, the tilt of a shoulder, the curve of an arm, each clarified and magnified on the temporary screen, behind which she danced, illumined by a single upstage light source. It felt like the audience held its collective breath during this, as though the slightest interruption would shatter the delicacy of this work. 

“Chaos Theory” (Ashley Thursby) sets four pairs of dancers in a series of sequences that ripple through the pairs. The program note suggests that there is one pair of dancers that oversets the equilibrium of the group, and another pair that re-establishes the group strength. Last night, who these pairs are and when their actions happen was not as clear as it might be. Ms. Thursby is working on an interesting concept, articulated through visually compelling figures, that bears more exploring.

Robert Dunbar brings us another celebration of women’s movement in “Siren Song.” This is an eloquent succession of dance phrases grouping the six women in various combinations throughout. The lingering presence of the luminous Ms. O’Dell as this Song ends suggests to us a next generation of women’s movement is, indeed, waiting in the wings.

Ben Needham-Woods’ revisioning of the classical myth “Apollo and Daphne,” inspired by the Bernini sculpture, was intense and disturbing through Douglas Ruiz’s and Erica De La O’s interpretation. The choreography brings the two dancers together in a series of poses and sequences that are filled with both intimacy and tension. There is a moment when Mr, Ruiz advances downstage towards Ms. De La O, standing with her back to him, and his shadow is cast large against the backdrop, an incipient threat of which Daphne is unaware. The piece begins and ends with the same phrase, a chilling suggestion of how rape disempowers women.

The brightness and jauntiness of “Push” (Ryan Stokes) was a necessary emotional shift to the evening. The ensemble clearly enjoyed the opportunity to play with the music, going with the "push" that the music gave them, reflecting dance styles of previous eras.

Juanita Araque’s “Sail” brought yet another combination of dancers together in an ensemble piece which the, primarily, trainees danced with élan.

The culmination of the evening was Rob Morrow’s sweet and exuberant celebration of all things Muppets. While I had not necessarily expected, or felt the need for, such full costuming for all the pieces in “The Rainbow Connection,” I found myself looking for more bright colors than just the quintessential green. The ensemble clearly reveled in this lighthearted tribute to a childhood staple. Mr. Morrow’s series of divertissements joyously captures a child’s sense of play and wonder, and the gentle trusting of those we love and who love us.

The strength of this annual celebration of the next generation of choreographers is so many members of the full company and trainees participating in their peers’ works. Across a program of so many different styles, all the dancers fully committed to the vision of each of the choreographers. That there are twelve artists within the Louisville Ballet (full company members and trainees) who are interested in choreography is impressive; that the company invests significant time and resources to supporting them is even more impressive. One more time, I can only conclude that the future of ballet is in excellent hands under the leadership of Bruce Simpson.

Louisville Ballet

315 E. Main Street

Louisville, KY 40202

http://www.louisvilleballet.org/