GREAT AMERICAN SONGWRITING TEAMS

Kelsey Lauritano, Theo Hoffman, Tiffany Townsend, James Edgar Knight, Alexander McKissick, Aaron Mor and Hannah McDermott

Steven Blier, Founder and Artistic Director of New York Festival of Song, is a major presence at Juilliard and a favorite among the students of the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts.  At last night's performance, it was easy to see why.  Mr. Blier prepares the program with the students, accompanies with great panache and serves as charming host and raconteur, introducing the songs with interesting tidbits.  This is the 10th edition of NYFOS@Juilliard and it was a celebration of collaboration.

In the case of presenting some of America's great songwriting teams, he gave the seven students he worked with a great amount of latitude in choosing two solos each wished to perform.  The rest of the evening comprised duets and ensembles.  The entertainment value was top-notch.  Much credit goes to Mary Birnbaum for the stage direction and Adam Cates for the choreography.

Mr. Blier made two points with which we are in total agreement.  He described the mutual support of Juilliard students for one another and the lack of envy.  We have witnessed the same phenomenon with pleasure and have often spoken with "outsiders" about it.

The other point he made is that working on "popular" songs is an experience that carries over into the young singers' performance of opera.  Yes indeed.  They get to "let loose" and exercise their dramatic skills in a supersized delivery.  Of course, it is also true that their operatic experience affects their performance in American musical theater.  They perform using all their operatic training to project without the use of amplification. That in itself is a treat for us in the audience who can't stand amplification and love the sound of a human voice.

Verbal clarity was quite good for the most part with some singers getting every single word across.  Tenor James Edgar Knight made a huge impression with "Captain Hook's Waltz" from Comden and Green's 1954 Peter Pan.  The music is tuneful, the lyrics are funny and Mr. Knight used his background in musical comedy to create a wonderful character.  He created a totally different character in "Real Live Girl" from Coleman and Leigh's 1962 Little Me.  Kelsey Lauritano's silent reaction to his country bumpkin character was a masterpiece of acting.

Ms. Lauritano gave a soulful reading to "It Never Entered My Mind" from Rodgers and Hart's 1940 Higher and Higher.  We liked the touch of irony and bitterness. She showed her funny side in "My Father the Gangster" from Bolcom and Weinstein's 1990 Casino Paradise which was not just funny but a moving lament.

Another song from that show, "The Establishment Route" permitted Andrew McKissick to draw some laughs as he donned a wiseguy persona.  He showed his versatility by performing "You and the Night and the Music" from Dietz and Schwartz' 1934 Revenge With Music.  He hammed it up to great effect when he switched to Spanish.

Theo Hoffman excelled in the same team's "Blue" from their 1996 Cabaret Songs and balanced that serious song with the light-hearted (and unpublished) "Luckiest Man in the World" from George and Ira Gershwin's 1933 Pardon My English. Ms. Lauritano was his gum-chewing bimbo, another acting triumph. Mr. Hoffman also excels in verbal clarity and threw himself totally into his supporting roles in the ensembles.

Tiffany Townsend delighted the audience with some bluesy renditions of "Blue Grass" from Dietz and Schwartz' 1945 Inside U.S.A. and was even better in "I Ain't Here" by Leiber and Stoller.

Hannah McDermott performed the romantic "I Was Doing All Right" from the Gershwin brothers' 1937 The Goldwyn Follies and got to show off her funny side in "Arthur in the Afternoon" from Kander and Ebb's " 1977 The Act.  She was a very funny foil to Aaron Mor's delivery of "We Can Talk to Each Other" from Maltby and Shire's 1976 Starting Here, Starting Now.  

Mr. Mor waxed rhapsodic about the couple's communication without allowing Ms. McDermott to get a word in.  There was a surprise ending. Mr. Mor was hilarious telling the 1922 tale of  "The Sheik of Avenue B" by Kalmar and Ruby, which he delivered with a funny Yiddish accent.

Aside from the sensational solos, we enjoyed the staging of "No Other Love" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1953 Me and Juliet in which Mr. Knight was auditioning Ms. Townsend in a charming duet. 

Several ensembles rounded out the evening with our hands down favorite being Lerner and Loewe's "Ascot Gavotte" from the 1959 My Fair Lady, in which the singers had a grand time portraying the pretentious British upper classes--sneers and plummy accents included.  The men were very funny in "Little Tin Box" from Bock and Harnick's 1959 Fiorello.  The women were no less funny in "I Want It All" from Maltby and Shire's 1983 Baby.

The cast was wise to choose songs that are less often heard.  The audience was roused to torrents of applause in appreciation for a very entertaining evening.

(c) meche kroop

L'ELISIR D'AMORE

Yunnie Park and James Knight (photo by Jen Joyce Davis)

We must have drunk the love potion ourselves, having fallen completely in love with the Prelude to Performance production of L'Elisir d'Amore.  This is arguably (or inarguably) Donizetti's most famous opera and a wonderful "beginner's opera".  Number 12 on the list of most frequently performed operas, Donizetti is said to have composed it in an astonishing month's time!  Felice Romani wrote the charming libretto, based on Le Philtre, a play by Eugene Scribe . Significantly, Donizetti himself escaped serving in the Austrian military when a wealthy woman purchased his military service.  (Recall that before Il Risorgimento, large parts of Italy were ruled by the Austrians.)   The opera premiered in Milan in 1832 and seems never to have left the repertory.

The story is a straightforward one.  Nemorino is a simple fellow in love with Adina, an educated landowner.  His opening aria "Quanto è bella, quanto è cara!" illuminates his devotion to her.  It takes two acts to win her over and, when he does, his famous aria "Una furtiva lagrima" is unmatched in its expression of unbridled joy.  Mr. Knight's performance was emotional and included a stunning messa di voce. To make this simple story engaging, we in the audience need to care deeply for this shy and awkward everyman who dares to dream beyond his station in life.  And we need to believe that the rejecting Adina has enough wisdom and strength of character to recognize the value of his loyalty, devotion and honesty.

This the young artists conveyed brilliantly.  James Edgar Knight was a loveable simpleton, awkward and ingenuous.  (Appearing awkward onstage was a masterpiece of acting for the suave and handsome tenor.)  Coloratura soprano Yunnie Park created a spunky Adina and convinced us that she had a soft spot in her heart for Nemorino, one that she did a great job at hiding until his popularity with the local maidens  (predicated upon his receiving a huge inheritance) evoked her jealousy.  Often we do not recognize the value of what comes to us easily until we are threatened with its loss!  This she conveyed with brilliant bursts of fioritura, pinpoint in its accuracy and thrilling in its speed.

Figuring in the plot as well are two comic figures--the pompous Sargent Belcore stylishly sung by baritone Jorell Williams and the outlandish Doctor Dulcamara performed by an excellent bass Ignacio Gama.  Belcore is passing through town and falls for Adina and begs for her hand in marriage; she agrees to make Nemorino jealous.

Dr. Dulcamara is a traveling huckster/con man, peddling a worthless elixir designed to cure everyone's ills.  His aria "Udite o rustici" was persuasive and well performed.  Nemorino asks for his help in wooing Adina and is sold a bottle of wine which he is told will make him irresistible to women.  Too broke to pay for a second bottle, he sells himself to Belcore as a recruit.  The scene between him and Belcore was exceedingly well directed (Tara Faircloth directed the entire opera with a sure hand) with postures and gestures echoing one another while the dialog showed the differences in their character and goals.

Nemorino realizes that Adina loves him when he sees a tear in her eye and Adina realizes she loves him when she is made aware of his sacrifice (military duty).  She purchases his military contract so he can stay on the land he loves and presumably marry her.  We get the "happily ever after" and walk out with a big smile.

Willie Anthony Waters conducted in fine bel canto style.  Charles Caine designed the costumes in fine mid-19th c. style with the typical happy peasants in colorful attire.  But it is Dulcamara's costume that took the cake.  He was done up in bright pink and turquoise with outlandish medals and a giant feather in his cap.  And let's not forget the pink spats!  Noby Ishida led the chorus of village maidens and they added significantly to the production.  Maria Brea was delightful as Adina's friend Giannetta.

This is opera as it is meant to be--transporting us to another time and place by means of authenticity.  We have seen many many productions of this opera, even one set in the Wild West in the 50's with Dulcamara arriving in a Cadillac convertible and Adina being the owner of a diner.  It didn't work.  (Adina is the town lettrice in Act I.  The peasants who work her land are illiterate.  It's the 19th c.! )  Updating operas does NOT make them more relevant.  We speak out in favor of authenticity!  And now we step down from our soap box to tell you that the
opera will be presented again on Sunday at 2PM at Hunter College.  You will hear a different but equally wonderful cast singing Donizetti's gorgeous melodies.  You too will have partaken of the Elixir of Love.

© meche kroop