Arts-Louisville.com

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Mischevious & Quirky Humor Makes Classic "Pirates" Fresh

Sarah Hoeppner, Bridget Thomas Witzke, Courtney Glenny,
John Youngblood, Mary Rose Pinotti, Kelly Moore & Abigail
Maupin in Pirates of Penzance. Photo – Bill Brymer.

Pirates of Penzance

By Gilbert and Sullivan

Directed by Gregory Maupin

Music Direction by Scott Anthony

Review by Rachel White

There is something about a warm summer evening in the park that puts one in the mood for an operetta about pirates. It seems that the work of Gilbert and Sullivan fits so perfectly into the Iroquois space that the outdoor environment becomes a part of the experience. I couldn’t imagine watching Pirates of Penzance inside in a stuffy old theater. Not to mention that Gregory Maupin and his company deliver such a well-crafted production filled with such mischievousness and quirky humor that an old work is made fresh for a new audience.

The style of Pirates is a bit dusty, with a very presentational performance style and a plot that is simple and slightly ludicrous. As the story goes, the pirate Frederick (Tony Pursley) is being released from his apprenticeship with a band of pirates on his twenty-first birthday. On land, he meets a girl and falls in love before realizing that he was born on leap year. His apprenticeship, therefore, will not end for another sixty years. The girl of course, being the faithful ingénue, will wait for him. It’s a bit silly, but a complex plot and deep characterization aren’t why we’re there. It’s about the music.

Abigail Maupin plays Frederick’s love interest, the beautiful Mable. As soon as Maupin enters, she sets herself apart from the chorus just through the force of her personality; you feel she’s special. Her performance of "Poor Wandering One" is heartfelt and compassionate. Other standouts were Major General Stanley’s (John Younblood) feat of vocal and verbal dexterity in "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General" and Tony Pursley’s sweet tenor in "Oh Here Is Love and Here Is Truth." The lead performers have behind them a strong supporting chorus of pirates and young women who remain impressively together through some very challenging music. My only issue was that some of the lyrics are difficult to understand, particularly when there is a lot a movement.

As is expected in a play like this, the situations in whicch the characters find themselves are a little crazy. Frederick becomes furious at the aging Ruth (Judith Youngblood) for telling him she is beautiful when he discovers that she is not. Maupin embraces these absurdities for what they are and doesn’t ignore them or mock them. The results are some genuinely funny moments in a production that is obviously a labor of love. The actors' and director’s passion and commitment are apparent. All are backed up by a solid orchestra, led by Scott Anthony, that pulls it all together.

Pirates of Penzance

August 8-17 8 p.m.

Iroquois Amphitheater

1080 Amphitheater Road

Louisville, KY 40214

502-368-5865

http://www.iroquoisamphitheater.com/

Just Who Was Old Doc Crow?

Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey: An American Heritage

by Michael R. Veach

Lexington: University Press of Kentucky

141 pp; $25

Review by Katherine Dalton

This slim but information-packed book is full of facts all Kentuckians should know– be they teetotalers or imbibers. What a great tale Mr. Veach has to tell of the vagaries and importance of whiskey, both to this state and to the nation as a whole.

Readers will learn many things, such as the difference between sweet mash and sour. How the term “proof” was derived from a test to prove the alcohol content of whiskey by burning it with gunpowder. The distinctions of bottled-in-bond, blended, and straight. The importance of a charred barrel. And the unknowable origin of the term “bourbon,” which may be a compliment to the French royal family, or then again may be named for the Kentucky county which was itself named for the French royal family (and not, as many Kentuckians might assume, our state spirit).

Whiskey has played a large part in American history, one way or another, and was one of the first sources of federal revenue. It was levied for several years to pay for the Revolutionary War. Inveterate centralizer Alexander Hamilton pushed the whiskey tax of 1791 in part to consolidate production among the larger producers in the East and hamper the small farmers outside of the Eastern cities, who were hard put to find the necessary hard currency in which they were required to pay the tax. And so was born America's first tax revolt, the Whiskey Rebellion of 1792.

The tax was levied again to pay for the War of 1812 and was soon repealed, only to be revived by Lincoln in 1862 in what was to prove to be a permanent return. Never popular and frequently unfair, the whiskey tax was at the heart of one of the scandals of the Grant Administration when his personal secretary, O.E. Babcock, was implicated in a colluding tax cheat involving distillers and the government gaugers employed to regulate them.

As for “Old Crow,” he was a Scottish immigrant named Dr. James Crow who came to Kentucky in the 1820s and worked at two distilleries in central Kentucky. He brought scientific rigor to whiskey making, testing his product for temperature, alcohol levels and pH, in an effort to discover how to improve both the distilling process and the quality of the final product. The results were very popular. Some people call him the father of modern distilling, and a whiskey named for him (but that does not use his recipe, which has been lost) is still made by Jim Beam.

Mr. Veach's book traces the history of whiskey right from Hamilton and Crow through the Gilded Age and Prohibition and touches on its recent marketing success and the new craft distillers—who are taking us back to something roughly like the widely dispersed home distilling, which is where this industry began.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Walden Theatre Alumni present Evening of Challenging, Experimental Theatre

Prometheus & Io / Lydia

By Alex Parobek
Directed by Sabrina Spalding and Ben Park

A review by Kate Barry

The goal of education in the arts is to inspire and engage young minds so that their gifts may grow. Walden Theater has been achieving this goal for many decades, and in recent years the payoff has been the newly formed Walden Theater Alumni Company, a group of young theater artists who attended the conservatory and make their return with the sole purpose to create. This weekend brought the brief run of two one-act plays written by Alex Parobek, and directed and performed by graduates of Walden Theater.

Diverse in subject matter and rich in content, these works serve as workshops for these fresh-faced actors and directors. Prometheus and Io pins a modern spin on mythology with a twist of witty dialogue that results in delightful quirkiness. As the eagle who is to gnaw on Prometheus’s liver for the rest of his days, Katie Scott relates to her character on the level as someone who has just spent an evening with someone they will soon regret. Scott’s annoyance and reluctance towards Prometheus provides a great foil for Jacob Lyle’s burdened and bound Prometheus. Lyle brings a desperate loneliness to the character that humanizes the man of mythic proportion. Sami Siegwald provides the most relatable and contemporary performance as Io, a jilted ex-lover of Zeus who was turned into a cow. Siegwald is genuine and fresh in her performance as a scorned young woman with physical and emotional burdens as well. What made this particular piece so fascinating is that the issues of failure and love loss are themes very real to these artists who are carving their paths in the world.

Lydia is a stylistically fascinating point of view of dying and mourning. Technically speaking, this piece, slightly longer, is a total 360-degree turn from the first play. Using lights and shadows to emphasize loneliness, memories and grief, I extend kudos to Ben Park for doing a lot with a very little space – the mark of a true theater artist. As an ensemble piece, this play requires strong work from all the actors to create the psyche of a grief stricken young woman played by Allison Spanyer. Some of the strongest moments in this work involve Spanyer punching out the words “good happy memories” while her youthful face is dimly lit in harsh darkness, providing an image that is haunting and beautiful.

I have one suggestion for these budding artists for the sake of future patrons. Since Walden Theater has multiple stages, it would be a great idea to have some kind of signal or house crew to point the way to the building’s Alt Space. This could spare lay persons, such as me and others, from wandering into rehearsal for another play.

In conclusion, the Walden Theater Alumni Company has succeeded tenfold in creating a workshop that not only showcases these young artists, but also brings the skills and talents they picked up from the conservatory.

Prometheus and Io / Lydia

August 8-10, 2013

The Walden Theatre Alumni Company

Alt Space at Walden Theater

1123 Payne St.

Louisville, KY 40205

Waldentheatre.org

https://www.facebook.com/WaldenTheatre2013AlumniCompany

"Chemistry, Community and Jankiness" in Louisville Theatre: 17 Questions for J.P. Lebangood

J.P. Lebangood in The History of the Devil at The Alley Theater.
Photo – The Alley Theater.

By Brian Walker

J.P. Lebangood is a funny man who’s serious about making people laugh. He’s an actor with a hankering for improv, a stand-up comedian, a board member of The Bard’s Town Theatre, and an avid scooter rider (his scooter’s name is Butterscotch). He’s been making audiences happy most recently onstage as Han Solo in Star Wars in 60 Minutes or Less.

Brian Walker: I’ve got 17 Questions for you, if you’re willing?
J.P. Lebangood: Sure, when’s my due date?

BW: Whenever is good for you is good for me. And I’ll need a good headshot or promo pic to go with it.
JPL: Let me see what I’ve got. My last head shot was in 1997 – true story.

BW: Maybe a pic from Star Wars?
JPL: I can do that.

BW: Okay. Number 1: Can you describe your show Star Wars in 60 minutes or less in 60 letters or less?
JPL: Kids in the basement playing with reckless abandon and joy.

BW: Nice! Number 2: How did the show initially come together?
JPL: It was originally an Alley Theater show that Scott Goodman wrote, Chris Petty directed and Tony Smith choreographed. It ran for a while at the Alley. Simultaneously, April and I were in an improv group with Scott, Chris and Tony when two cast members had to drop. The show needed some improv, so they asked April and I to join. We've been doing it now for over a year.

BW: Number 3: I saw the show in the spring and loved it. The thing I was most impressed with was how well the ensemble works together with honest chemistry, and that’s not easy. What’s the secret to getting that?
JPL: One part practice; one part natural chemistry; one part luck. We have put in the hours both rehearsing the show and improv. Also, this isn't our first rodeo together. We've known each other for a while. We've worked with each other in numerous shows over the years. We're good friends who share our lives and flow together well. We're family at this point. That's just luck. Our post-show meal is probably funnier than a lot of our shows.

BW: Number 4: And where can we see the show next?
JPL: August 15th, The Bard's Town, 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. It will be interesting to see how doing back-to-backs goes, but we are prepping for touring.

BW: Number 5: If you had to pick one, who would be your all-time favorite character in the Star Wars universe and why?
JPL: That's a difficult question. As a storyteller, Han Solo. As a kid playing with my toys, Bobba Fett. Han has the jokes. Han gives the outsider perspective and the most humanity to the trilogy. We see him uninterested, cocky, brave, scared, vulnerable, and finally committed. Bobba Fett has a jet pack and frickin' lasers on his wrists!

Tony Smith, Scott Goodman, April Singer
and J.P. Lebangood in Star Wars in 60
Minutes or Less. Photo – J.P. Lebangood.

BW: Number 6: And do you hate Star Trek, or is that just a rumor?
JPL: I actually swing both ways in the sci-fi universe. I am more invested and knowledgeable about Star Wars. But I have caught episodes of the Star Trek franchise and have seen the movies. I love Wrath of Khan and The Journey Home (with much embarrassment).

BW: Hey, the whale one is one of my favorites too. Number 7: Any other "...in 60 Minutes or Less" concepts in the works?
JPL: There are three competing concepts that we are hashing out. We are discovering a lot about what makes these types of shows work and not work.

BW: Number 8: You’re also doing The Ten-Tucky Festival this year at The Bard’s Town. What shows are you involved with?
JPL: I am directing The Rental Company that has April, Scott and Chris in the cast, so that is going to be great. And I have a two-line role in Hunting Jackelopes where I get to chew a whole bunch of scenery. My favorite type of character role.

BW: Number 9: If you had to be stuck on a desert island with one member of The Bard’s Town staff, who would it be and why?
JPL: Schutte is fun to bitch with. Scott can build stuff and is funny. John is a great cook and doesn't panic. But if we are on a tropical island, I would have to go with Ashley, because there would be sunbathing and she has great boobs – and an awesome personality – but mostly the boobs.

BW: Number 10: What else is on the books for you this upcoming season?
JPL: I am an actor in one of the Kentucky Playwright Shorts at the Kentucky State Fair (directed by George Robert Bailey). And after that, I am concentrating on putting SWin60 on tour and revamping some improv/film projects. It has been a packed year and I need a few months. Oh, and a shameless plug: I am riding my motor scooter across Kentucky August 8th through 12th to raise funds to help complete Saint Mary's Center new building. It's a great cause, and any donations would be fantastic: facebook.com/scootroute60.

BW: Number 11: What advice would you have for an actor looking to break into the local theatre scene?
JPL: Show up to everything. Be patient. Work hard. Make things fun. Leave your problems at the door. In Louisville is it as much about "this person would be great for this role" as it is "this person is fun to work with."

BW: Number 12: What’s your favorite thing about doing theatre in Louisville?
JPL: The chemistry, community and jankiness of it all. Louisville productions have real limitations and obstacles. But, casts here almost celebrate navigating those difficulties.

BW: Number 13: What’s your least favorite thing about doing theatre in Louisville?
JPL: Lack of long runs. I think it comes down to space. We're all competing for it. It's hard to find the rehearsal space to really work a show. And then when the show is finished, you get a three-week run if you're lucky. I come from the revue background of Chicago and New Orleans, so I love those store front shows that run for a year. If SWin60 had open season on a space like that, cabaret plus dinner plus tourist area, we could probably run 3 to 4 nights a week for a long while.

BW: Number 14: Are there other facets of doing theatre that you’re interested in focusing on other than acting?
JPL: Improv is my joy and writing is my nemesis. I live for creative collaboration. Discovering things in the moment. I love the product of writing, but hate the process.

BW: Number 15: What’s your biggest goal right now?
JPL: Sort of empty mind at the moment. Putting the show on tour is important. So if anyone reading this knows of venues within a 3- to 4-hour drive, let me know. But, creatively, I am trying to be open and do more looking than seeking. Putting goals in front of process and craft is dangerous. Work the craft and you will go interesting places.

BW: Number 16: Where’s your favorite place to hang out in Louisville?
JPL: A great day would be coffee at Highland Coffee, a scooter ride getting lost in fun places, dinner and a show at The Bard's Town, drinks at The Outlook. But, hanging on my front porch having coffee with April is home.

BW: Number 17: Who is someone who inspires you and why?
JPL: Elie Wiesel. He took perhaps the worst experience in the world, the holocaust, and turned it into art, healing, and a shared experience. He doesn't deny or shield his anger and pain. He integrates it into his work so that it becomes something constructive. If you can do that, you've already done it all. It's the greatest challenge of humanity.

Star Wars in 60 Minutes or Less: Thirsty Thursday Doubleheader Extravaganza

7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Tickets are $10.00 at the door.

The Bard's Town Theatre

1801 Bardstown Road

Louisville, KY 40205

(502) 749-5275

Thebardstown.com

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Ambitious “7 Borders” Seeks to Define Kentucky's Role in American Art

Taylor Baldwin, The Body, 2012, Single-channel HD video.
Image – Taylor Baldwin.

The 7 Borders: Mapping Kentucky's Regional Identity

Curator Joey Yates

Review by Keith Waits

It is tempting to want to discuss any group exhibition on democratic terms, where the various artists are each given equal time and weight, yet the subjective response is undeniable. In this ambitious exhibition, curated with a daring eye by Joey Yates, all of the work is exemplary; but a handful of pieces occupied my mind more than the rest.

Taylor Baldwin's "The Body" is a 41-minute video that dispassionately observes the deconstruction of a life-size dummy of the artist's own construction. Although it is not a realistic human form, the action of opening it up follows the procedural schematic of an autopsy, with the outer "skin" slit by blade and forcefully peeled back to reveal innards of inorganic found materials. Their careful placement heightens contrast of color and texture and mimics human physiology enough to make the experience unsettling but fascinating. The context of the gallery and the benign materials give the viewer permission to examine a normally gruesome spectacle at some remove, and it takes some time to recognize how deeply one has been made complicit in the violation of the body. It is a fascinating exercise reinforced by a deceptively compelling soundtrack that heightens and elevates the mundane sounds of cutting and tearing. While the activity is not exactly violent, it is nonetheless destruction of the human identity in a highly disturbing fashion.

There were several photographs from Rashid Johnson, but it was his "Self-Portrait as the Black Jimmy Conners in the Finals of the New Negro Escapist Social and Athletic Club Summer Tennis Tournament" that lingers in the memory. The title tells you most of what you would ever need to know about the artist's intentions, and the over-size image is filled with detail both evocative of the period in which Conners was winning tennis championships and the connotations of racial identity confusion. It may not be as subtle in its effect as the other images included from Johnson – stark and penetrating portraits of homeless men – but it is a dominant piece in this exhibit.

Brian McCutcheon, Trailer Queen II, Weber grill,
speed parts, steel, automotive paint. Photo – KMAC.

The curator's statement mentions an interest among some of the artists in the suburban environment, and several vivid examples stand out. Brian McCutcheon's "Trailer Queen II" is a kitschy mash-up of iconography representing middle-class suburban masculinity – a charcoal grill customized with automotive details including exhaust pipes and flames. It neatly injects muscle car chic into one the most mundane yet evocative suburban artifacts and turns it into a true object of desire.

That object would be seen in the backyard of one of the houses included on the second floor here. Leticia Bajuyo's preoccupation with the peaked-roof house as form has grown (literally) from the use of tiny Monopoly pieces to the life-size blue insulation and styrofoam construction that is the centerpiece of "Pre-Fab(ulous) Environments." It is accompanied by a medium-size partner as well as a floor filled with dozens on a scale suitable for dolls, added by viewers from die-cut, ready-to-fold supply provided by the artist. A natural relationship is exploited by placing a series of photographs by Joel Ross that place his yard sign texts ("I Had A Dream That I Lost My Favorite Hat") on various suburban lawns. Ross asked the owners’ permission for these, but more typical is "False Promises," in which a lighted sign of his design is placed alongside a road and left until whatever appropriate authorities catch on and have it removed. The spooky, nighttime image is highly suggestive of some undefined yet palpable threat and taps into the archetypal dread of the empty country road.

Joel Ross. False Promises, 2008, Archival pigment print.
Photo – pleasechaeme.com.

Then, as if swiped from the porch of one the houses, Tony Tasset's "Smashed Pumpkin" is an extremely realistic depiction of a jack-o-lantern dashed on the sidewalk, toothy grin split in two by the impact. The painted bronze sculpture only lacks some impersonation of the slimy, decaying quality of the rotting pumpkin flesh to complete the illusion.

Other impactful images, from Gary Monroe's charismatic and graphic charcoal and pastel drawings teeming with snakes, to Todd Smith's playful photographs of trees filled with colored light trails charting his climb through the branches of each one. Denise Burge brought overt political messages into the exhibit in three quilts that communicate environmental statements more effectively than they achieve aesthetic harmony; and Hawkins Bolden is represented by several found object sculptures that come off as far too random and lacking in sufficient evidence of the artist's intention to feel satisfying.

Both The Speed Museum and the Louisville Visual Art Association have juried regional exhibitions from the same group of states in their histories; but this curated take on Kentucky's unique sharing of seven borders with Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia attempts to do more than represent a range of artists. The intention is well articulated in the full curator's statement, where "a new regionalism" is cited and illustrating Kentucky's position as a "central force in the American art scene" is the goal. As much as it tries, the exhibit fails to fully realize its grand ambitions; but it does deliver a tantalizing taste of that potential. I think it needs more work than the space allows, and a few of the artists included here, despite the strength of the work, are an uneasy fit for the declared mission. When the intention reaches this far, every piece needs to speak clearly in helping to communicate that mission. If every work shared that voice as effectively as Leticia Bajuyo, Joel Ross, or Rashid Johnson, this would have been one for the ages.

The 7 Borders: Mapping Kentucky's Regional Identity

June 28 - September 1, 2013

Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft

715 W. Main Street

Louisville, KY 40202

502-589-0102

kmacmuseum.org

Sundays in the Park with Shakespeare (and a Few Friends)

Lacy Smith.

Sonnets, Soliloquies & Scenes

Text and photos by Keith Waits

On a perfect late summer afternoon, an August day uncharacteristically devoid of humidity, some 75 people of all ages gathered in Memorial Park at 4th and Kentucky for the first of a planned series of informal readings and performances of bits and pieces from William Shakespeare. For about one hour, a line-up of local theatre artists delivered monologues, scenes and one sonnet in the small amphitheater nook on the east side of the park.

Gregory Maupin as Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew.

There was little in the way of costumes or props, although Lacy Smith donned a full toga for his presentation of Marc Anthony's funeral oration from Julius Caesar, and J. Barrett Cooper sported a kilt for a scene from Macbeth with Jenni Cochran. Heartfelt and unforced, the tone reflected the passion and commitment to Shakespeare in particular and live theatre in general of all involved. Included were individuals who represent Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble, The Louisville Improvisors, Savage Rose Classical Theatre, StageOne Family Theatre, Walden Theatre and the Youth Performing Arts School (YPAS). A reception followed at the nearby Vault 1031 performance space.

Hallie Dizdarevic as Tamora from Titus Andronicus.

The event, organized by YPAS's Brian Hinds and Walden Theatre's Julane Havens, is intended to be the opening salvo in a series that will rotate through various other Metro parks. The next presentation is scheduled for August 17, but exactly which park has yet to be determined.