Three plays & a recital in four days

By Burt Saidel

Three plays and a recital in four days.  Is this New York?  No, only a fairly typical week in arts-packed Dayton. To add a bit of jocularity to the proceedings, the casts of two of the plays averaged one and one half actors.  I will explain.

The Sunset Limited at the Loft

The Human Race mounted Cormac McCarthy’s The Sunset Limited at the Loft.  The remarkable cast consisted of master actors Michael Lippert and Lindsay Smiling.  

Lippert has amazed audiences for years with the depth and breadth of his talent.  Smiling is well-remembered as the protagonist of the controversial Take Me Out last season.

The play is a searing confrontation, not of the characters but of essential philosophy. Lippert as White, a professor, has responded to his Nihilism, belief in nothing, by attempting suicide. He is rescued by Smiling as Black, an underemployed ex-convict who advances his discovery of Positivism in spite of his tortured life.

Brilliantly written and even more brilliantly acted, the exposition leaves the audience both thoughtful and provoked.  It is a theatrical challenge but a triumph.

The other play was a one-man show, Goodnight Gracie.  The Gracie is none other than the flibbertigibbet darling of radio days, Gracie Allen.  The actor is her partner and husband George Burns.  Joel Rooks assumed the look and persona of the centenarian Burns with zesty aplomb.  The content, in contrast to the depth of Sunset Limited, was all gloss.  But I remember those radio days and we worshipped Burns and Allen’s frivolity.  The play was fun and nostalgic.  Unfortunately, both plays will have closed by the time you read this review.

Pianist Chu-Fang Huang at Vanguard Concerts

Impresaria Elana Bolling of Vanguard Concerts departed from her customary format by inviting solo pianist Chu-Fang Huang to perform in the Renaissance Auditorium of the Dayton Art Institute.  Hearing this remarkable young woman made Elana’s choice obvious.  She has won multiple prizes including the vaunted Cleveland International Piano Competition.  

Her playing, full of technical brilliance, was underscored with a deep feeling for the music.  The program began in a most unusual manner.  Instead of a lighter introductory work, Huang began with the impassioned expression of Robert Schumann, the Fantasy in C Major.  Full of the sturm und drang of his then blocked love for his future wife Clara, the depth and gravity of the piece was overwhelming.    Perhaps the amazing rendition of the Haydn B minor which began the second half of the concert would have made a better beginning.

What followed were dazzling renditions of Ravel and Prokofiev.  The piano artistry fit each piece in interpretation and technique.  Subtle effects were heard with clarity and special musicality.

Ms. Huang is a marvelous artist and a lovely young woman.  Her concert career is in its ascendancy.  Dayton will, hopefully, be a regular part of her program.

WSU’s West Side Story

Theatrical scale is not a measure of theatrical quality.  We are, in fact, confronted by huge productions full of overly-hyped glitz in exchange for the communicative magic which is real theater.

Wright State has mounted a superb West Side Story which I described two weeks ago.  It was a full production but not a “stuffed” theatrical salami.  

A Little Night Music at WSU

Running for only one weekend, in the smaller Herbst Theatre, was a remarkable production of the Sondheim/Wheeler musical hit, A Little Night Music.  The musical play is a charming triple love story which weaves an entrancing spell.  Based on the Bergman film, Smiles of a Summer Night, its Nordic charm and bygone elegance is a lovely gift for the audience.

I am tempted to describe the play as a miniature.  In the confined space with minimal scenery, it was miniature in every way except in its effect.  The cast, young and shining with their individual beauty were spellbound by the drama and passed that enchantment, intact, to the audience.

The combination of effervescent talented young persons and enlightened direction were the keys to the success of this experience.  Directed by Marya Spring Cordes, herself young and beautiful, the play was not dominated by the characters but glowed in the feeling of the evolving love stories.

The music was provided by Susan Carlock at the piano with Ron Walker’s cello and Jeehoon Chung’s violin keeping the delicate scale intact.  Cordes’ direction concentrated on the beauty of the characters.  No longer was there an aging superstar playing the aging superstar Desiree.  

The convolutions of the drama glided easily from one situation to another until the joyous ending of their journey of self-fulfillment and love.  Cordes invested the true elegance of the characters in her five Liebeslieders, the singers who acted as chorus to the play.  True elegance escaped the other characters as they were trapped within the cocoons of their lives until their group epiphany of enlightenment.

Everyone was slightly tainted, even the servants went about their duties with seriousness but their winks revealed the sexual tensions of the entire play.  If I were to laud every good performance, it would be a listing of the entire cast.  I must note the leading characters Jolin Polasek, Tyler Parsons, Lindsay Flick, J.J. Parkey, Sarah Elder, Kelly Pekar, Jerome Doerger and Rachel Hering as reasons that the WSU program is so successful.

I add a note on the play and its composer.  Stephen Sondheim is a master of the patter song.  In his newer works, he has driven this talent into the ground by virtually eliminating music in favor of clever lyrics.  The size of the more current productions to satisfy the Broadway type thirst for glitz further removes them from what theater can offer.  This Little Night Music has it all!   My congratulations.

Dayton Art Institute appoints new director

Janice Driesbach

The Dayton Art Institute’s Board of Trustees announced today the appointment of Janice Driesbach as the museum’s Director and CEO. Driesbach, who was most recently director of the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, succeeds Alex Nyerges, who resigned last year to become executive director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

“I am excited about this opportunity and eagerly look forward to working with the outstanding collections, programs, and people at The Dayton Art Institute.  The signature building, notable holdings of art works from many cultures and eras, impressive membership, and dedicated staff and volunteers are among the many strengths of the Museum, and reflect the important role The Dayton Art Institute plays in the cultural life of Dayton and beyond,” Driesbach said. As director, I will be focused on continuing community engagement, building a strong infrastructure, and providing vibrant programming that relates to varied audiences.”

Janice Driesbach became director of the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln in September 2000.
Driesbach was responsible for 14 full-time staff, a $1.8 million annual operating budget, a masterpiece Philip Johnson building, and a collection focusing on American art from the late 18th century to the present.

Driesbach previously served as a curator at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento,
California, where she was responsible for the museum’s collections of 19th and 20th century American and European art. Driesbach has also worked at John F. Kennedy University; The Oakland Museum; Palo Alto Cultural Center; Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service; Indiana University Art Museum; and Creighton University.

Driesbach has an MA in Art History from the University of Iowa and a BA in Art History and Political Science from Allegheny College. Driesbach will begin as director and CEO in early January after moving to the Dayton area. Brad Tillson will continue to serve as the museum’s interim director.

Moscow Nights free concert Nov. 16 at CUMC

The Russian folk group Moscow Nights will perform at Christ United Methodist Church, 3440 Shroyer Rd., Kettering, on Friday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. Moscow Nights is an exciting, versatile ensemble of prize-winning musicians from Russia.  Their concerts offer audiences an entertaining glimpse into Old Russia through music, song and dance.

Led by Vitaliy Bezrodnov on Bayan Accordion, he attended Kaluga Music Conservatory.  Valentin Zaviriukka graduated from St. Petersburg Music Conservatory where he currently teaches Bayan.  Prima balakaikist Yuri Shishkin, also graduated from St. Petersburg Music Conservatory, is well known in Europe.  Sergei Ruksha is an accomplished conductor and also with the St. Petersburg Conservatory.  They have toured Western Europe with acclaim and now, North America.

Moscow Nights presents an authentic picture of Russian folk traditions and culture in unique, humorous dances and superb vocals providing an exhilarating and educational performance for audiences of all ages.

Admission is free and is handicapped accessible. A reception will follow the concert. For more information, call Christ United Methodist Church at 293-3151.

Irish quintet Solas at Victoria Theatre Nov. 16

The renowned Irish-American quintet Solas, which the Philadelphia Inquirer has called “maybe the world’s best” traditional Irish band, returns to Dayton for a concert Friday, Nov. 16, at the Victoria Theatre, located at 138 N. Main Street in downtown Dayton.

Solas was formed in the mid-1990s, when multi-instrumentalist Seamus Egan, accordion master John Williams and fiddler Winifred Horan joined forces with guitarist John Doyle and singer Karan Casey, Irish musicians living in New York. The band’s combination of dazzling talent and versatility caught people’s attention, and important early appearances on public radio programs Prairie Home Companion and Mountain Stage and at such festivals as the Irish Folk Festival and the American
Roots Fourth of July Celebration (both in Washington, D.C.) established Solas as one of the most exciting bands on the circuit.

Solas in late 2007 is comprised of founding members Seamus Egan (flute, whistles, tenor banjo, mandolin, guitar and bodhrán) and Winifred Horan (fiddle and vocals) along with Mick McAuley (concertina, accordion and vocals), Deirdre Scanlan (lead vocals) and Eamon McElholm (guitar, keyboards and vocals).

The performance, which begins at 8:00 p.m., launches the 2007-2008 Cityfolk Celtic Series. Reserved seat tickets for the concert are $17-$27, and are available from the Cityfolk Box Office at (937) 496-3863. More information is available on the web at www.Cityfolk.org. 

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November 13, 2007
Volume 16, No. 46

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