A VICTORIAN GOTHIC

 Kyle Decker Pitts as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

(photo by Brian Long)

We have spent entirely too much time searching for a typeface that would do justice to the darkly Victorian spirit of the compelling show we wish to tell you about. The spookier typefaces we tried were just not legible so let us just pretend. We don't want to waste any more time in urging you to try to grab one of the very few remaining seats to a performance that left us in utter admiration of its creativity.

The show, whilst not an opera, is operatic in scope. The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde was a novella written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886 and adapted by the polymath Whitney E. George; it was performed as a melodrama with intense music (composed and conducted by Maestro George herself) and stunning visual effects (by Orsolya Szánthó). Excellent period costuming was also achieved by Mo. George (with help from the Theatre Development Fund).

Even if one is not a fan of Victorian Gothic melodrama one would find the telling of this tale to be compelling and the staging original. In a feat of trompe l'oeil, what appeared to be a complex set design was achieved by a doorway center stage flanked by two "rooms" upstage which were suggested by skewed rectangular frames, each behind a scrim, one representing Dr. Jekyll's laboratory and the other an office. A simple chair with an old-fashioned gramophone stood downstage. The staging area included stairways up to and including a wraparound balcony lending an immersive feeling to the work. 

Lighting was created by Sierra and projections by Orsolya Szánthó, who also created the set design. The entire affair was co-directed by Mo. George and Attilio Rigotti, who also played the part of Utterson. Obviously everyone seems to have multiple talents and are presumably members of The Curiosity Cabinet, listed as Producer.

The acting was on point, just  sufficiently melodramatic for the audience to appreciate the historical period. The eponymous hero/villain was played by Kyle Decker Pitts with his friend Utterson played by Mr.  Rigotti. Maayan Voss de Bettancourt made quite an impression as narrator, slipping seamlessly into several other roles. Blake Friedman also assumed several roles. It was difficult to accept that all this drama had been created by three actors!

Mo. George's music was original and often spooky and served a similar mood enhancing function as a film score. Indeed there was a filmic quality to the piece, reminding us of film noir. Joined by a violin, a flutist stage left seemed to be playing instruments of different registers, . Out of sight was a percussionist who provided all manner of sounds and sound effects. A cello was listed on the program but we did not see. 

It was altogether a stunning evening of theater and about as long as a film and no longer than was necessary. As is customary we always mention a "quibble" and here it is. It is just our preference for natural voices, not just for opera but also for theater. There is a texture to amplification that our ears do not like. We were sitting very close to the musicians and found that the "incidental" music, which was anything but incidental, often drowned out the words of the actors.

Even with that reservation, we still found the work original, artistic, compelling, and satisfying. If the psychiatric illness of multiple personality disorder was recognized in the late 19th century we know not; but we suspect that the import of the novella was the exploration of the dual nature of mankind. Whichever way you take it, you will be marvelously entertained.

© meche kroop

PAPER DAUGHTER

        Whitney George conducting Bea Goodwin's "Paper Daughter"

There are very few people who can persuade us to depart from our customary reviewing goal--that of fostering the careers of young opera singers and encouraging the success of small opera companies. Tops on our list of such people are composer/conductor Whitney George and writer/director Bea Goodwin. We can count on this team to create works of originality and high emotional impact. Although we only had space in our schedule to see two of the six works that they presented at The Cell, we continue to hold their artistry in high regard.

Maestro George composed music for The Curiosity Cabinet Ensemble, comprising pianist Kristin Barone-Samadi, percussionist Tamika Gorski, flutist Alice Jones, and cellist Thea Mesirow.  Ms. Goodwin's "Paper Daughter" told the story of an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague in San Francisco's Chinatown at the turn of the 20th c. and its effect on one family. Grandfather (Angky Budiardjono) is telling his grandson (Chu Sam) about the plague death of his mother ( Cynthia Yiru Hu) who had been adopted in an apparent scheme designed to bring Chinese children to the USA). Rob Chen played a number of parts, including a USA Immigration Officer.

Some stories are best told by essay and commentary (like some irrelevant and boring contemporary "operas") and others by original theater.  This story of anti-Chinese bias (dramaturgy by Yutong Yang) was theatrical and powerfully told; it filled us with sympathy and sadness. We were reminded of one of our earliest theatrical experiences in New York City, created (if memory serves us correctly) by solo artist Winston Tong, on the subject of foot binding--a work so powerful that we remember it decades later and can still feel the pain.

The work was part of a double feature festival entitled In the Throes of Death, produced as a tribute to the Golden Age of Radio, including "On Air" and "Applause" signs with live "incidental" music and authentic foley sounds (Patrick Litterst). We wondered whether anyone remembers the days before television when families gathered around the radio and used their imagination to visualize the dramas presented. We wondered what it might have been like to have experienced this work in a dark theater. 

We, as the "studio audience", had a different perspective, that of witnessing the actors in the drama standing in front of microphones. (Truth to tell, we found the sound design wanting and wished that the microphones had been only props. Regular readers will recall how deeply we detest amplification). The titles  (Miriam Rochford) were projected onto Chinese fans mounted on the rear wall. (Scenographer was Luther Frank with Lighting Design by Sasha Finley and 

Projection Design by Sierra Shreves).

The second half of the evening was the dramatization of "The Strange Library", a novella by Haruki Murakami.  What impressed us the most was how different Mo. George's music was from the Asian inflected melodies of "Paper Daughter". Apropos of the chilling plot of  "The Strange Library", her music served to intensify the spooky feelings of the story. There was nothing "incidental" about Mo. George's music, which was effectively realized by The Curiosity Cabinet Ensemble and sensitively conducted as only the composer can.

Unfortunately, the festival has ended but watch out for future productions by this superb partnership.

© meche kroop