Geva Evening

Part I – Merged II – Rochester Fringe Festival

Jim Hanson, whom my friend Colleen had introduced me to last year, choreographed two of the seven pieces in the program at the Next Stage Theatre at Geva (along with Melanie Aceto and Heather Roffe, who also performed). Colleen and I caught the third and final performance, which was extremely well attended. I’m not generally a fan of modern dance, but I’m always game to broaden my horizons, and a Fringe performance is the perfect opportunity, since they're usually short and inexpensive! There were a couple of pieces I didn’t “get,” and one I thought was interesting...in concept... but far and away my favorite was the final piece: Ophelia’s Reclamation, choreographed by Jim. It was stunning, and I liked the choice of music in addition to the beautifully fluid movement Jim conceived.

Part II – Lobby

The Geva lobby was bustling as I’ve never seen it before. As the audience for Merged II let out, a line was forming for the next Next Stage performance, and the doors were also open for the evening’s performance of Wait Until Dark on the Main Stage. All of the tables in the café were occupied, so it took some time for me to locate my husband, who had walked to Rocco’s (yes, it can be done!) for dinner, instead of watching dancers, and who was meeting me to see the play. We also ran into various other friends, some departing Merged II, others waiting for Wait Until Dark. And we were enthralled by the work of Sand Mandala artist, Katie Jo Suddaby (also part of Fringe). She seemed to be almost in a trance as she tapped tiny amounts of sand into her design, and used tiny instruments to make even tinier spaces for even tinier amounts of a different sand color to be applied. But she did entertain questions, and when I said it was sad that her entire creation would simply be destroyed when she’s done, she calmly responded that that was the nature of life – everything is temporary. Since I’m a person who used to glue most of her jigsaw puzzles together when I was done, she was definitely talking to someone with a different Weltanschauung…

Part III – Wait Until Dark

This production only runs until October 5, which is too bad, because it is wonderful. I didn’t check my watch once or squirm in my seat (well, I did squirm a bit, but from suspense, not boredom). I never saw the movie, because I don’t like things that give me nightmares (might have come from seeing  Bunny Lake is Missing as a young child?!), so I was truly seeing this show for the first time, and I didn’t always guess the twists. The actors were all very well cast, and the action moved at a good pace. Even the music was perfectly chosen. If you miss it here, you can still see it if you plan to be in Tuscon or Phoenix in the next month or so, where it’ll transfer when it closes in Rochester.