It's Spring! It's Spring!

a puddle on my driveway

I remember a picture book from my childhood - It's Spring!  It's Spring!  I'm sure it's out of print now.  But I recall that it expressed the joy you feel when the last frost is past, and plants and animals begin to show new life after a long winter. We're finally seeing green on the ground, and the squirrels have become more abundant in our yard. I'm itching to trim the grasses, but know I should wait for sign of new growth. I'm keeping my eye out for the crocuses, even though the ground is still too cold.  But it is Spring, and daytime temperatures in Rochester are, I hope, finally going to stop dipping below freezing.  And today, for the first time in months, it rained.  No, it poured!  And when the sun came out, the air felt crisp and some of the grit and dirty snow had been washed away.

This has been a long, cold winter - the first I've really experienced in Rochester.  And although I've done a bit griping, I count myself lucky for so many reasons.  Over the past five months, while Rochester has successfully dealt with its snow (although there seem to be more potholes than usual...), other parts of our country have seen flooding, drought, forest fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, sinkholes, and mudslides. None of these is a serious worry for our geographical area, thankfully.  For now.

In fact, as I recently learned, from a talk by Jim Howe of the Nature Conservancy, not only are we not at risk of running out of clean fresh water (as long as fracking remains elsewhere...for a good scare, watch the documentary Gasland), we are situated beside lakes that contain over 20% of the world's supply of surface fresh water, and almost 85% of North America's!  The states and provinces that border the Great Lakes have prudently joined to protect this water, and make sure it isn't siphoned off to Arizona or California (although there is a giant loophole for beer, soda, and bottled water companies).

Of course, luck only has a little to do with it.  We have chosen to live in a part of the country that is not prone to natural disasters.  Why other people choose to live in areas where they are so at risk mystifies me (and maddens me, that they are allowed to build, or rebuild in these areas, and drain public coffers when the inevitable happens).  I just hope that the politicians in New York continue to be good stewards of our precious natural resources, and that the people who think global climate change is a hoax (despite the evidence) but think a supernatural being isn't (despite the lack of evidence) will come to their senses in time.

In the meantime, I'm happy to weather the winters, and also relieved that it is, finally, Spring!

Geva Theatre 2014/15 Season Preview

I'm not sure what level of giving gets you an invitation to Geva's season preview party, but whatever it is, it's worth it!  This evening, a crowd of us gathered in the Wilson Main Stage, along with local press, to hear the announcement of next year's productions.  In his introduction, Mark Cuddy, Artistic Director, joked that the question he's most frequently asked:  "how do you choose the plays?" usually implies a subtext:  "why did you choose that play?"  The process of selecting shows starts in September, with an assessment of events around the world, then around the nation, then around New York, and finally around Rochester.  In addition, the artistic team assimilates feedback from the current season at the same time that they're reading dozens of potential plays. They are looking for a balance between the familiar and the new, between the safe and the risky, between comedy and drama ("something for everyone").

After Mark announced the season, the audience took a sustenance break while the press did interviews and photos.  Then we reconvened in the theatre for a private presentation of readings from a few of the shows, moderated by local film critic Jack Garner.  The actors from Informed Consent, along with Skip Greer and Brigitt Markusfeld, gave us peeks in to several of the shows, and whet our appetites for the new season. Nora Cole also read from her play, a world premiere, and a local student sang one of the signature songs from Little Shop of Horrors, after Sean Daniels, who will direct the production, told us he has always loved this show and wanted to do it (do it again - he played Mr. Mushnik in 9th grade!).

It will certainly be an interesting and varied season (for the full lineup, visit: http://www.gevatheatre.org/2014-2015-season/).  Mark's introduction to the selection of Wait Until Dark as the opening show on the Main Stage included a nod to Rochester's love of suspense and the movies.  Geva will be the second theatre in the country to produce this new adaptation (and then it will travel to stages in Arizona).  Another show, Good People, will also travel after we get a chance to see it - to Indiana.  There isn't one show on the Main Stage that I'm not looking forward to seeing, so for the first time, I'm going to get a full season subscription.

The Next Stage, which is used to "expand Rochester's theatrical boundaries" will again participate in the First Niagara Fringe Festival, and there will be another Festival of New Theatre - presentations of works in progress (a sort of theatre "R&D"), with the opportunity for the audience to meet the playwrights.  Mark Cuddy's adaptation of A Christmas Carol will once again star Guy Paul, and there will be a free evening for vets and active duty soldiers.  The summer production will be a "conservatory show" - college students as well as professionals performing together.  The show?  The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.  I saw it twice on Broadway, but I already know I'll see it at least one more time this summer!

Informed Consent - Opening Night

It’s been fun as a Cohort to watch the play evolve – not just as the actors grew into the characters they were portraying, but as the playwright, Deb Laufer, rewrote whole scenes, and as the director molded the ever-changing ingredients into the terrific show that opened Saturday night.  Gone entirely were the first several minutes that I had watched them rehearse so many times (as witty as the original introduction was, it was perhaps too confusing to convey to an audience).  The play has been distilled to the story of the geneticist, rather than a myriad of story possibilities that settle on the geneticist. That focus has tightened the show considerably; it moves forward at such a fast pace that an intermission would only distract.  When the cast took their bows to a standing ovation, several audience members were choking back tears along with the actors, still fresh from the drama of the final scene.

Pre-performance Toast

Even though I knew some of the jokes that were coming, they were still funny, and I was heartened to hear the rest of the audience laughing with me.  What I didn’t anticipate were the audience gasps at certain character revelations, or the head-nodding in empathy with Arella, the “Native American” character, in her assertions about “the white man.”  The entire cast was wonderful, but I was particularly taken with Larissa Fasthorse’s ability to jump effortlessly between portraying Arella and the geneticists’ 4-year-old daughter.

For a play about science, there is quite a lot of religion and mythology. I suspect, however that the playwright is winking at us, asking, literally, “but that’s just a myth, right?  I mean…you don’t actually believe that.”  At one point, Arella recites the creation myth of her Indian tribe, and its version of the universal ‘flood story.’  Gods creating children out of earth are surely just stories.  Could there be a parallel with the stories of creating a man from dust, talking snakes and a family building an ark for pairs of all the animals to save them from a flood?

Deb Laufer graciously posed with me

This production of Informed Consent deserves a large audience on so many levels – not just for its fine acting and directing and staging, but for the big ideas it wrestles with – how we define ourselves and our society, how we reconcile religious belief with scientific facts, how we determine the ethics that should accompany technological progress.  The show is in Rochester only until April 13, and then it moves to the Cleveland Play House.

Death Takes a Holiday at First Unitarian Church

Normally, an amateur show at a local church wouldn't be on my radar, but fellow Concentus-member Johanna and her husband were performing in this production, so I passed up Jeff Tyziek's 20th anniversary RPO concert to see a musical version of Death Takes a Holiday, which originally ran Off-Broadway three years ago. The goal of the FirstLight Players at First Unitarian Church is to "bring new light to relatively unknown shows of merit and shed light on social issues."  I'm not sure there were any social issues in this play, but it is a relatively unknown musical.  And perhaps for good reason. The play it is based on might be familiar (from the original 1934 version or the 1971 remake), but the score is unremarkable and repetitive.

Obviously, this was nowhere close to a professional production.  But there's room in Rochester for amateur theatre groups, and the great turnout of friends and family on a Friday night proved this.  The cast was uneven, but there were a few particularly talented individuals, and Johanna's husband's comic portrayal of his character was a scene stealer (I was disappointed that Johanna, who has a lovely voice, didn't have a larger part).  And they all had a lot of guts and gusto.

The biggest failings, I thought, were on the part of the director.  First, because of the many lengthy scene changes and the plodding pace of dialogue, the show lasted just under three hours! Second, even though the church is not that large, everyone in the cast was miked.  And the speaker system was terrible - there was no end to the buzzing, and the cutting in and out of sound.  It was not only distracting to the audience, but was a disservice to those on stage.  A couple in the cast seemed capable of compensating by projecting without the microphone, but unfortunately they had no control over the amplification.  Either the organization should invest in a better sound system, or, better yet, it should dispense with its use entirely, and have the cast members speak and sing without the technology.

(Gwen, Kristin, Denise, Jenna, me, Michelle)

I''m still glad I went, because I think it's important to support the performing arts at all levels, and because I also participate in the arts an amateur, so I can empathize with them!

And I ran into several other Concentus singers, who were also there to support the lovely Johanna.

From the Top at Kodak Hall

I am a casual classical radio listener – I do most of my listening in the car.  So I’d never heard From the Top, an episode of which was just taped here in Rochester at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre.  I thought it would be fun to attend the taping/concert, especially since it featured Sir James Gallway, who really is a magical flute player.

The evening began with Galway receiving an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music.  Apparently he had taught at Eastman many years ago, but only for a semester, because his teaching duties didn’t fit with his performance schedule...  Christopher O’Riley, the host, and Joanne Robinson, announcer, then took the stage, after a humorous introduction about the “rules” of a radio taping (no candy-unwrapping, no coughing!).  Only once during the entire show were they required to reread something for later editing. 

The show began with O’Riley on the piano (who appeared to be using his ipad for the score), accompanying 16-year old Pittsford cellist, Annie Jacobs-Perkins, on Carl Davidoff’s fast-paced At the Fountain, Op. 20 No. 2.  O’Riley also accompanied Eastman vocal student Emily Helenbrook, as she entertained us with “Adele’s Laughing Song” from Die Fledermaus, and Sir James and Lady Jeanne Galway, for Franz Doppler’s Rogoletto Fantasie for Two Flutes and Piano.  The husband and wife flutists were delightful, and perfectly in synch.  What you won’t see on the radio is how Gallway appears nonchalant while playing, while his wife sways back and forth, leaning into energetic passages as she plays.

Gallway also played parts of Gounod’s Petite Symphonie with an ensemble from the Eastman School and Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and he graciously complimented them on their skill and preparation. Carmen Knoll, a 15-year old Juilliard student, gave a stunning performance of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13 in A minor.  But the evening’s highlight, for me, was 10-year old Pierce Wang, on violin.  He was adorable and poised in his little tux, and as he played Heinrich Ernst’s Grand Caprice on Schubert’s Der Erlkönig, I sang along in my head, remembering the piece from voice lessons 40 years ago.  He captured the different characters of the poem perfectly in his playing – quite an accomplishment!  (See him perform this piece:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF9crTPsMVA)

O’Riley interviewed each student after his/her performance, as well as the Gallways, who talked about his First Flute program of on-line lessons for flutists at all level. Mark you calendar for the local airing of the episode on WXXI Classical 91.5 FM on Sunday, April 6 at 5:00pm.  I’ll have to try to take a drive that afternoon…

For more information about NPR’s From the Top: https://www.fromthetop.org/

For information on Gallway’s First Flute program: http://www.firstflute.com/home.html

Intermediate Education Concert by the RPO

I was delighted to be invited by Lauri Van Hise, Leadership Giving Officer at the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, to one of their Intermediate Education Concerts, conducted by Michael Butterman.  The program spans 4 days and targets 7,000 local 4^th-6^th graders.  Luckily, I chose the Thursday morning performance (I suspect Wednesday’s was canceled due to the snow, and even Thursday morning, only 2/3 of the designated schools were in session on time to be bused in).  Most of the principal musicians were there, although I did notice a few unfamiliar faces on the stage. 

As the students and we took our seats, some of their artwork cycled on the large screen behind the orchestra (more on this below).  The hour-long concert began with one of my favorite ballet pieces:  Prokofiev’s “Capulets and Montagues” from Romeo and Juliet Suite No. 2.  Most of the kids sat attentively, although there was a good bit of wriggling and some occasional vocal disruptions.  Some of the kids would point periodically to something or someone on the stage, and whisper to their neighbor.  Butterman then welcomed the students, and introduced the morning’s program – Inspiration:  an exploration of how art, poetry, and music inspire one another.  He explained that while composers are often inspired by great stories, poems, visual arts, or dances, the reverse is also true; music can be an inspiration to visual artists, poets, and choreographers.  To illustrate, during the third piece, the Allegretto from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, a poem by C.K. Williams, inspired by this movement, was projected on the screen.  I suspect that the poem was a bit over the heads of most in the audience.

The most powerful part of the performance followed.  Butterman explained that the students had listened to a recording of Fauré’s Élégie for Cello and Orchestra, as their inspiration to write their own poetry. 12-year old cellist Jackie Hager performed the solo, and I was struck by both her poise and her ability.  During the piece, various poems were projected – some about nature, but many, perhaps inspired by the solo cello, about loneliness and isolation.  The poems were extremely moving – emotional and personal, and in their simplicity and directness, much more meaningful than William’s professional and intellectual poem.  Some of these poems made your heart ache, and so complemented the music perfectly.

Tyzik’s Ritual Dance, based on a carving at the Memorial Art Gallery, had many of the students beating out the rhythm with their hands or feet, and some of the kids were practically dancing in their seats.  It made me smile to see them reacting so instinctively and without self-censure, since they were freely expressing the movements we suppress as adults. Finally came the explanation for the students’ artwork.  They had been inspired by listening to a recording of Bernstein’s Candide Overture, which was inspired by Voltaire’s novella.  Butterman remarked on the use of vivid colors and energy in the paintings.  As we listened to the live performance, we were treated to abstract as well as literal pictures, some of circuses or a roller coaster, both of which were extremely appropriate to the music.  My favorite was a drawing of a bird above the clouds – I felt this perfectly captured the soaring feeling of the music.

As the kids lined up for their buses, I asked a few if they’d enjoyed the concert, and they nodded vigorously.  I would have liked to ask them what their favorite piece was and why, or their reaction to the students’ poems, or whether they themselves play an instrument. By introducing these children to classical music in a fun, participatory, “inspirational” way, the RPO is not only helping educate our community’s students, they are laying the foundation for creating potential audience in the decades to come.

Meg Hutchinson Performs at a House Party

When we received an invitation from our friends Tim and Kathy, in Livonia, to attend a performance of folk singer Meg Hutchinson at their house, we were intrigued.  I'd never heard of her, and quickly listened to some samples on her website.  It's clear why she's not mainstream - her songs are very contemplative and have complicated, rather than catchy, lyrics.  But her vocal quality reminded me a bit of Mary Chapin Carpenter (whom I love, and with whom Charlie actually went to high school).  We liked the idea of helping support a "struggling artist" (we figured if she were really successful, she wouldn't be performing in someone's living room for $18 a person?), and we'd never attended a house concert before, so we went. Tim has been mesmerized by her ever since hearing her songs years ago on the radio, and he knew her booking agent, so asked him if Meg would do a house concert.  After an initial negative reply and pushing a bit, Meg performed at Tim's a few years ago on her way from one relatively nearby gig to another.  As luck would have it, she was in the general vicinity (on her way to Marlboro, NY, wherever that is!) again this year.

About 40 of us crammed in to attend the performance (including, coincidentally, a fellow singer from my choral group, Concentus - Helvi's husband had recently traveled with Kathy and some high school students to Nicaragua to build a school there!).  Meg was charming, and explained after our applause to her first song, that her newly rescued pit bull, who was tied to a beam in the room and nervously wouldn't let her out of his sight, would sleep through the performance if we didn't interrupt it with clapping.  She asked us, instead, to use the deaf clapping sign, which we did from then on.  Not only did her dog remain calm, but the silence between her singing and patter seemed in keeping with the spell of her songs.

Most of her lyrics are deeply personal - based on experiences or dreams - they are little stories of her life.  One particularly haunting song, though, called "Gatekeeper," was inspired by Kevin Briggs, a California Highway Patrol officer, who saved hundreds of lives on the Golden Gate Bridge.  Apparently, when confronting a potential suicide victim, he would ask the person two questions:
- How are you feeling?
- What are your plans for tomorrow?
It was an odd basis for a song, but had a very positive message.

Meg also read from a book of poems she wrote as part of a challenge by her mother during an April National Poetry Month several years ago.  In one lovely poem, about yesterdays and letting go, you could sense the possible lyrics of an as-yet un-composed song.

Her simple piano or guitar accompaniment meant that the listener could really focus on her intricate lyrics. And the intimate setting meant that we could really connect with her personally. Charlie and I reluctantly headed back to Rochester at the break between sets (after buying the CD containing "Gatekeeper").  I would have loved to hear the rest of her performance, but we had our own nervous dog at home, plus Daylight Savings Time to contend with.

Rochester Model Railroad Club

Decades ago, a friend married and moved in with a man who had a multi-room model train set in his basement - it was incredible to behold.  I was aghast when they moved to another state, leaving the entire creation to the new owners, who probably destroyed it.  So I couldn't resist popping in to the basement of the First Universalist Church downtown this weekend for the annual open house of the Rochester Model Railroad Club.  It was fascinating to see these grown men (and yes, the club of around 75 members, 25 of whom are 'active,' is mostly men, and mostly retired) proudly showing off their hobby, eager to answer questions.  I suspect they were also hoping to generate some interest among the many young boys who were entranced by the trains (I was always more interested in the architecture and landscaping...).

The club has operated 24 of their 75 years in the basement of this church, and they meet weekly, building new buildings, rerouting tracks, making refinements to their HO scale model railroad to be more historically accurate. When I asked if "Jersey City" was based on a historical photo, the club member shook his head, but it didn't matter - its density made it feel like that city would have decades ago.

He pointed me in the direction of "Rochester Junction," which was a replica of an old local station.  I got there just as a train was trundling past, not stopping for the passengers patiently waiting on the platform...


The autumnal forest of the "Lehigh Valley Gorge" was probably my

favorite scene, although it involved virtually no buildings.  It reminded me of Letchworth Park.   It also made me wonder if anyone ever dusts the railroad, or if that would be dangerous, with all those little people and lampposts and cars that could get displaced.  I didn't want to be rude and ask about that, so I just thanked the gentlemen on my way out for sharing their passion with us for the weekend.

Geva Cohort – “Informed Consent” Part IV – Rehearsal Week 3

(Informed Consent, directed by Sean Daniels, runs from March 18 to April 13)

Now the hard work begins – learning all those lines!  I watched as the cast started at the top of the show, several times.  Most of the actors said many of their lines in almost a monotone, sometimes looking off in the distance, as if they were mentally picturing the script.  As they repeated them, I could almost see them working to internalize the words, to make them feel natural and spontaneous, instead of rote.  Anyone who’s ever had to memorize a song or a poem can probably relate.  Not only must the actors learn their lines, they also pretty much have to know the entire script, because their dialogue depends on that of all the others.  And they must be able to be interrupted mid-stream, whether for a correction or a break, and jump right back in, without returning to the beginning.  Stephie Kesselring and Frank Cavallo were overseeing this rehearsal in Sean’s absence (he and the playwright were at an ethics conference at the U of R), supplying missing or correcting lines.  Stephie was very encouraging, when they stopped at one point and she said, “you guys are really close.” 

The beginning of Informed Consent must be particularly difficult to memorize, because it’s not a conversation;  it’s strings of stories, and sometimes just a snippet of a story, interrupted by another actor’s story.  Jessica Wortham, who plays the anthropologist, likened it to a song, with each actor having little solos, interspersed with some unison lines.  And in fact, they refer to the opening and a few other parts of the play as a chorus.

At the second run-through of a different section, Stephie warned the actors that she was going to stop them at mistakes, because the “actors weren’t helping themselves” when they erred or lost the pattern.  Fajer Al-Kaisi, who plays the anthropologist’s husband (and reminds me a bit of Kal Penn), needed a lot of lines, but interestingly, knew when it was his turn to speak!  At one point, there was this amusing exchange:

Fajer:  Is that it?

Stephie:  That’s kind of it.

Fajer: That's me, Captain Paraphrase!

Rehearsals are generally about 8 hours, with an hour lunch break, and union-mandated 10-minute breaks periodically.  At one of those breaks, I asked a couple of the actors what they do during their evenings.  Right now, it’s mostly homework – memorizing their lines.  They also connect with their loved ones, since all of the actors are ‘out of town.’  What an odd profession, to be someone else’s entertainment, and to be away from home and family for weeks at a time.  I felt a bit guilty when I snuck out after only 2 hours to return to my own home, knowing they had hours more to slog through before returning to their Geva apartments out by the airport.  And I felt lucky to live in a city with a first-rate theatre that can attract such talent, show after show, and grateful to these people who have chosen this (to me) strange and difficult way to make a living...

RPO at Hochstein – Music and Dance

This was my first time attending a Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra concert at Hochstein, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I invited my friend Linda to join me.  Since the performance was going to involve dance, we sat in the front row of the balcony, to get what we thought would be a better view.  The performance was reasonably well attended, although I was disappointed to see that the audience makeup was similar to the regular evenings at Kodak Hall…

There is something more leisurely and informal about an afternoon performance, and this venue is also more intimate that Kodak Hall (and it was lovely to see the sun shining through the stained glass windows).  This was my first experience watching Michael Butterman conduct, and he was extremely engaging.  His entertaining introductions of each piece not only set the context for the music, but also gave the audience a mini music history lesson by the end of the afternoon.  The repertoire consisted of pieces that were either meant to be danced to, or influenced by dance (such as Bartok’s Dance Suite, which incorporated fold dances into his orchestral score), and reflected the “biological connection between music and movement.”

The first several works featured a pair of uncredited dance professors from Nazareth College, demonstrating the Baroque bourrée, and the minuet.  It became clear to us that our vantage point was not ideal, since the part of the stage allotted for dancing was partially obscured.  Nevertheless, we were still able to enjoy the beautiful choreography of Jamey Leverett, Rochester City Ballet’s Artistic Director, set to Piazzolla’s Tangazo, which was inspired by the notion of dance but not composed for a dance.  In her introduction, she explained that she had created an abstract dance, which attempted to translate the mood and rhythm changes of the music, within the constraints of the limited stage.  She definitely succeeded, and the four dancers from the RCB gave a terrific performance.  The balcony only missed the parts where the action took place totally downstage or in the audience. 

Butterman’s introduction to the final piece acknowledged that he knew it was late, but there was “a lot of music to be played,” and the tradeoff was dispensing with a Q&A, which normally follows the performance.  That was fine with Linda and me – we were happy to leave the auditorium uplifted by the music, and hoping that the Piazzolla piece becomes part of RCB’s regular repertoire.   

A Night at the Rochester Lyric Opera

The Rochester Lyric Opera, Rochester’s only professional opera company, was founded three years ago by Sue Cotroneo, with the goal “to bring opera to everyone in the community.”  This reminded me of a Mark Morris quote in the PBS documentary, Dancing at Jacob’s Pillow – Never Stand Still, in which he says, “I like to say that my work is not for everyone, it’s for anyone.”

Over the weekend, the group presented their third annual Chamber Opera Festival, which included a very enjoyable double bill of two one-act operas:  Douglas Moore’s Gallantry (an opera parody of a soap opera), and Haydn’s Lo Speziale, an opera buffa.  The Friday evening performance was extremely well attended, even though it was presented in an uncomfortable space at the Visual Studies Workshop.  My friend Linda and I arrived just in time to get two of the last plastic chairs on a riser, and who should be sitting at the end of our row, but Sofia Ponti (daughter of Maestro Raffaele Ponti, of the Genesee Valley Orchestra, and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in Florida).  Her mother, pianist Isabelle Aubin, acted as vocal coach and played with the chamber orchestra for the Haydn piece. They vaguely remembered having met me with my friend Nanette, in Florida.  I also ran into a fellow Concentus singer, Michelle, in the audience, and recognized one of the violists in the orchestra from accompanying Concentus last year.  Rochester is a small world...

Both operas were preceded by an introduction that could have been shortened, but the productions themselves were very professional.  Gallantry featured the talented Sue Cotroneo and Allyn Van Dusen, both of whom have gorgeous voices.  I could have done with a little less view up Grant Knox’ hospital gown when he sat on the operating table, but other than that, the staging was very well done.  Linda and I were a bit worried when the chamber orchestra took their places for Lo Speziale, because the acoustics in the hall weren’t ideal, but our fears were unfounded – we had no trouble hearing the singers.  While they were all quite good, I was especially taken with Eric Brenner’s countertenor, and jealous of his ability to sing higher than I ever could!

I’m not really an opera lover (although I’ve seen quite a few operas in my years in New York City, including a Metropolitan Opera production of Berg’s Wozzeck, for my husband’s and my second date, which we both hated, but that’s another story…). Still, I think it’s unfortunate that the Rochester Lyric Opera only performs one weekend a year, because they really are trying to appeal to a wide audience, and deserve every chance to succeed.