WSU’s Aida retelling shares link with opera

By Burt Saidel

Wright State Theatre Department hosted pairs of princes and princesses last week. The tragic couple, Aida and Radames, was not able to avoid being buried alive.  Princesses Pamina and Prince Tamino were stuck with living happily ever after in that strange world of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

The Aida was not Verdi’s masterpiece but a retelling of the tale by Elton John and Tim Rice.  I had no problem resisting seeing the rock musical in New York.  I did see it as part of the Victoria Broadway on Main series this season.  

The show told an interesting slant on the love story. Why would a prince of Egypt fall in love with a slave girl? When you meet his intended, Amneris, you can readily understand the fascination. The musical created a “Valley Girl” full of self-centered vanity and lacking in substance beyond her cosmetic box. Aida was given a noble persona even in slavery.

The Schuster Aida was peopled by a beautiful cast hidden behind an impenetrable wall of noisy volume.  The extravagant production left little room for character definition and development.

Under the direction of WSU’s Greg Hellems, the characters, their growth, the love story and the gripping tragedy became real, sharing their link with the opera   No, the music did not compare with Verdi – never will. The experience, however, was emotionally satisfying and quite spellbinding.

Played on a kinetic set by Pam Lavarnway and Christopher Mumaw, the truly beautiful cast sent their boundless energy into every corner of the Festival Playhouse.  My personal lukewarm feeling changed as the almost continual dancing gave a pulse to the drama. Teressa McWilliams inspired her charges making actors and singers into effervescent dancers.

As Aida and Radames, Desi Shurelds and Richard Jarret made every moment count. Singing and acting superbly, they gave their love story pith and moment.  As Amneris, the picture-beautiful Madeline Paul morphed from a witless spoiled brat into a woman who loved, lost and gained respect and stature.

The ensemble, playing many parts in a myriad of costume changes, moved the story beautifully. There were stellar solo performances by Jeremy Gaston, Johanna Johnson, Shavey Brown, Jerome Doerger and Zachary Scott Brown.

I always attribute the success of WSU productions to youth and beauty.  These elements were certainly preponderant.  In the final analysis, the success of the college production over the professional one was sensitive direction and respect for the essence of the drama.  

WSU’s The Magic Flute

Now, on to traditional opera.  Mozart’s The Magic Flute is full of great music and a statically moving plot.  It highlights comedy over character development, music over dramatic acting.  

Professor Kim Warrick knows and understands opera.  She has designed a full-scale “Flute” on a stage the size of a postage stamp – a 32 cent one, at that.  Using every clever artifice, her cast “let it all hang out,” making the opera experience a delight for all.

The student orchestra, under the baton of Dr. Charles Larkowski, survived the difficult overture to go on to accompany the singers very well.  Top-drawer performances were given by Bradley Mattingly, Kristen Jayne and Leah Michael. I was especially impressed by the vocal presence of the Three Ladies, particularly Loraine Rohrer and the Three Spirits.

These are voices and musical abilities heading for fine futures.  Again, Wright State continues to amaze.

Soirees Musicales’ Spencer Myer

Prize winning recitals by prize winning musicians. That is what Vanguard Concerts and Soirées Musicales bring to Dayton regularly, year after year. Impresario Don Hageman’s unerring ear found another fabulous pianist to close his 37th season.
Young and charming Spencer

Myer is well along on the ladder of success.  With several prizes under his belt, the Cleveland native made his Dayton debut at Shiloh Church.  He will return next November to play the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Neal Gittleman and the Dayton Philharmonic.

From the very first notes of his varied program, the sophisticated Soirées audience felt the excitement in his playing.  He began the recital with a Mozart Sonata followed by the difficult and often rambling Brahms’ Fantasien. The seven parts require focus and musical discernment to flow and become an entity.  Young Myer played without bombast but with controlled power to make the music live.

After intermission, the audience was treated to Ravel’s Miroirs and Samuel Barber’s Sonata for Piano, Op. 26.  Both works are glorious music fraught with technical and interpretive difficulties.  Myer sailed through them with joy and élan, the mark of a true artist.

You can count on many return visits to Dayton from this young virtuoso.  I’ll certainly be there along with a myriad of music lovers.

Victoria’s Tuesdays with Morrie

Tuesdays with Morrie – good theater or a good lesson in life?  The two man play, adopted from the novel by Jeffrey Hatcher and Mitch Albom, is an enriching experience in the arts.  Kevin Moore directed actors Glenn Kalison and Richert Easley in a one act exposition of two men bonding and facing death together.  

Only one dies, the aged professor. The other learns that he will die and knows that he must give life and love his all.

There are so many ways to learn this essential lesson – and so many ways to ignore it.  A play, so well constructed and so well performed, is a very good way to learn.  As long as we don’t forget.

To help us remember, “Tuesdays” will be in residence at the Victoria through May 27th.

OJHS string quartet performs at Showhouse

Four Oakwood Junior High students have been performing together as a string quartet since 2006 and were invited to perform at the Dayton Philharmonic Volunteer Association’s Designer Showhouse on Saturday, May 19.  Pictured here are quartet members (left to right) Clara Hofeldt, first violin; Ellen Milligan, second violin; Josh Halpern, cello; and Lauren Yu, viola.  During their Showhouse performance, the quartet was visited by (standing, left to right) Neal Gittleman, Music Director of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra; Ohio First Lady Frances Strickland; and Kettering Mayor Don Patterson. The four students were all members of this year’s Dayton Philharmonic Junior Strings Orchestra.

Fiber Arts scholarship available

A new scholarship has just been announced by the Kuhlman Foundation that is available to current OHS students as well as graduates. Ms. Kuhlman was born and spent her childhood in Dayton, Ohio.  She attended Oakwood HS and graduated in 1943.  Ms. Kuhlman spent most of her adult life in the pursuit of gaining and sharing knowledge in the field of Fiber Art.  

Due to Ms. Kuhlman’s generosity, the Kuhlman Foundation is dedicated to providing scholarships to outstanding Oakwood  High School students (current seniors or graduates) pursuing a four-year degree in Fiber Art. Related fields of study will be considered to include: wearable art, weaving, pattern design, and fashion design.

Applications are available in the Oakwood High School Guidance Office for current OHS seniors.  For past OHS graduates, please refer to:

http://www.kuhlmanfoundation.com

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May 22, 2007
Volume 16, No. 21

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A listing of visual arts, music, theatre, and other events in Dayton and beyond.