LUCIDITY

Eric McKeever, Lucy Shelton, Blythe Gaissert, and Cristina Maria Castro

Music and memory were the topics of Lucidity, the outstanding play with music presented by On Site Opera.  Wait a minute!  Wasn't this billed as a chamber opera? Yes it was. We can only report our own opinion. Lucidity worked as theater and the excellent music was fine to hear, as conducted by Maestro Geoffrey McDonald and performed by five fine instrumentalist, about whom more will be said later. But the vocal lines seemed boring and unmemorable; and what is opera if one cannot leave humming an ear worm?  We admit that David Cotes' libretto made excellent dramatic sense but, except for some fine vocal ensembles during the denouement, Laura Kaminsky's vocal lines added nothing to the text.

We would have enjoyed this more as a play with spoken dialogue, augmented by some musical performances where the scene called for them. The singers had fine voices but didn't have anything interesting to sing, just a lot of meandering recitativi. Surprisingly, their acting was superb and totally convincing.

The story concerns a retired opera singer/professor/composer named Lili, magnificently portrayed by Lucy Shelton who is actually a voice teacher at Manhattan School of Music. Lili suffers from dementia and she is dutifully (and resentfully) cared for by her adult adopted son Dante (well portrayed by Eric McKeever). Dante is talented in his own right but gave up his career as a pianist to care for his mother.

Under the direction of Dr. Klugman (portrayed by the excellent Blythe Gaissert), a neuroscientist suffering from writer's block, the young clarinetist/music therapist has been engaged to try to break through Lili's brain fog. Lili's problem is a neurological one, but the other three characters are psychologically blocked. Sunny, the music therapist (a winning Cristina Maria Castro), suffers from parental indifference to her career choice manifested by lack of support. And poor Dante is suffering from a hostile dependency on his mother and has blamed her physical neediness for his failure to thrive in the musical world.

The drama focuses on the effects the characters have on each other and the effect that music has on Lili's brain. We might add that this effect has been scientifically validated, a fact that lends verisimilitude to the story. Director Sarah Meyers succeeded in the storytelling arena and also in her direction of the characters. Fortunately this is not Hollywood and Dante and Sunny did not have a romance!

There was a moment when the story brought us to tears-- partially because we were moved by Lili's breakthrough and partly because she began to sing Schubert's "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen" the music of which touches us deeply, which contemporary music does not. If only Kaminsky's writing had the same impact!

This musical choice probably dictated the writing and directing which includes the onstage doubling of Sunny by clarinetist Yasmina Speigelberg and of Dante by pianist Kyle Walker.

 

By the end of the work, every character has had a breakthrough and in the final scene, Kaminsky's vocal writing became more lyrical as voices joined together in harmony.  Plays and musical pieces profit by a post climax peaceful resolution.

Staging  by Ms. Meyers was original and effective. The audience sat in elevated rows upstage at the Henry Street Theater of the Abrons Arts Center and the acting took place downstage and in the part of the theater where the audience usually sits. Scenic Consultant Cameron Anderson put Lili's home in this downstage space with minimal furniture, bookshelves, and a piano.  The remainder of the theater became Dr. Klugman's office and varying rooms in Lili's apartment. The apt costuming was by Beth Goldenberg.

Let us give props to the fine musicians of the American Modern Ensemble, comprising percussionist Brandon Williams, violinist Nikita Mozorov, cellist Dave Eggar, as well as the aforementioned pianist and clarinetist both of whom moved readily from the orchestra pit to the stage where they doubled the actor/singers.

Once more, On Site Opera has given us a thoughtful and artistic work which we will remember even when the music has been forgotten.

© meche kroop

 

ON SITE OPERA ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE

Joshua Jeremiah, Emily Pulley, and Jennifer Zetlan in Morning Star (photo by Pavel Antonov)

The hardy New Yorkers who braved the "fourth'easter" of the season were rewarded with a resonant evening, some insights into New York history, some fine music, and some very stiff necks. The latter point has to do with one of the hazards of staging works on site, which On Site Opera does very well; the space may be evocative but not comfortable.

Ricky Ian Gordon's Morning Star, originally commissioned by Cincinnati Opera, was staged in the sanctuary of the 1887 Eldridge Street Synagogue, now the Museum at Eldridge Street. General and Artistic Director Eric Einhorn has staged the work using all parts of the sanctuary, including the balcony. This worked dramatically but made viewing uncomfortable since much of the action took place at the rear.

The evocative story concerns a family of immigrants in 1911 and 1932. They came from Riga in Latvia where, we gather, some unspeakable things were done to Jewish folk. But this compelling story could be paralleled in present time with any new immigrant group trying to adjust to a difficult life in a new place. The destructive effects of family secrets and the effects of tragedy on successive generations are both common themes in the theater.

The story concerns the widowed Becky Felderman (performed by the powerful soprano Emily Pulley) who has immigrated to the USA with her three daughters. The eldest, Sadie (affectingly sung by mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert) is the smart one who has never felt loved. The second is Fanny (sweet voiced Jennifer Zetlan) who will marry Irving (terrific tenor Blake Friedman) who will not let her sing.

The youngest girl Esther (performed by soprano Cree Carrico who plays "adorable" very well) captures the love of Sadie's main squeeze, the teacher Harry (fine baritone Andrew Lovato). Poor Esther dies in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (about which we have more to say further along) on her wedding day.

Important to the family is Aaron Greenspan who never gives up on his romantic pursuit of Becky. . Joshua Jeremiah used his keen dramatic instincts to create a believable character.  His powerful baritone matched well with Ms. Pulley's soprano. We particularly liked a song he sang in Yiddish which was mostly understood by this German-speaking reviewer. He was reminiscing about what he missed about Riga. Becky joined in with some not-so-happy memories.

We enjoyed Martin Bakari's sweet tenor in the role of Prince, a street peddler.  Smaller roles were taken by mezzos Chrystal E. Williams and Allison Gish. Only David Langan's bass-baritone was stentorian and unattractive as the rabbi.

Music Director Geoffrey McDonald did his customary superlative job conducting the American Modern Ensemble, a dozen fine musicians who made the most of Bruce Coughlin's orchestration for chamber orchestra. The wind section was particularly notable. The chamber orchestra was situated at the rear of the sanctuary and the sound floated forward with ease.

We have nothing but good things to say about the orchestral writing but we have a hard time finding something to praise about Ricky Ian Gordon's writing for the voice. The puzzling part of this is that Mr. Gordon wrote the most beautiful vocal line for Irving--"Oh Morning Star", a love song sung to woo Fanny.  Would that all the writing had been this melodic!

We did like the way that arias became duets and duets became ensembles.  The voices blended beautifully.  We just wanted to hear some melody! We liked Becky's song "Men come, men go, family abides". "Three loving sisters" was an interesting trio evincing a complex collection of emotions. 

Of all the sisters, Sadie was the most disagreeable and yet Ms. Gaissert's performance left us with sympathetic feelings. Her jealousy and bitterness clearly came out of feeling unloved.  She sang "Smart never won a man's heart". The early 20th c. was not kind to smart ambitious women. Her defensiveness was revealed in "Is it my fault?".

There was a 21 year gap between Act I and Act II; Summer Lee Jack's costumes were appropriate for both periods. Emilia Martin's wigs were as unflattering as wigs usually are. Shawn K. Kaufman's lighting design was splendid, especially for the fire which was so convincing that we nearly forgot it was "theater".

The libretto by the late William M. Hoffman seemed just fine, although a substantial amount could not be understood. Anyone who can rhyme "latkes" with "hot kiss" is OK in my book!

And now we come to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire story, the worst workplace disaster in NYC history until the World Trade Center attack of 2001.  The death toll was 146 people; greed and carelessness were to blame. If you seek more information, we refer you to http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/

The pre-opera lecture we attended added a great deal to our appreciation of the work itself. Two member of the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition spoke to the audience of their personal experience as relatives of women who lost their lives in the fire. These two generous speakers were Mary Anne Trasciatti and Suzanne Pred Bass whose memories brought the story alive for us. 

We were happy to learn that the tragedy had a silver lining in that the cause of labor was advanced; workplace safety has been addressed (and is still being addressed!) as was working conditions. The flagrantly indifferent owners of the factory were acquitted due to the efforts of a high-powered attorney who intimidated the young women witnesses.  So sad!

To bring the story to the present, Governor Andrew Cuomo has donated a significant amount of money to establishing a memorial so that this tragedy will be remembered.

(c) meche kroop

I'M NOT GETTING MARRIED TODAY!

Blythe Gaissert and Leah Partridge (photo by David Andrako)

It's a grand old ballroom at the Stanford White designed Harmonie Club and we are all atwitter anticipating a glamorous wedding.  We are greeted by liveried servants with goblets of wine and take our seats at beautifully appointed tables.  The feast is about to begin.  There will be live music and we are happy to be seated near the musicians. Crystal chandeliers glisten overhead in 19th c. glory.

There is a gorgeous bride, a real beauty.  BUT THERE IS NO GROOM! Poor Aurelia Havisham has been stood up by Matthew Compeyson.  What a disaster!  But she was stood up many long years ago and has gone bonkers.  And who doesn't love a mad scene? Watching someone decompensate has a weird thrill.  What will they say? What will they do?

This wedding was another one of On Site Opera's devilishly clever concepts of immersive opera. This production inaugurated their sixth season of producing rarely seen operas in unusual locations that are well suited to the material. To do this successfully requires tight creative collaboration among highly talented people.

General Artistic Director (and Co-Founder) Eric Einhorn possesses finely honed directorial skills and exquisite taste. No doubt he helps his singers get inside the characters they portray--a necessary skill since they are often just inches away from an audience member. There is never a lapse of dramatic honesty and urgency.

Producer, Co-Founder, and Executive Director Jessica Kriger has the skills to bring all this together.  Under her guidance, On Site Opera has expanded its sixth season which now comprises three additional events.

Music Director Geoffrey McDonald handles his chamber orchestra with incomparable skill. He was fortunate to have the string quintet known as "Sybarites" augmented by seven winds, percussion, harp and piano, performing the score to Miss Havisham's Wedding Night the 1979 monodrama by Dominick Argento.  The orchestration was quite interesting with growling bass and profuse employment of percussion.

The Hector Berlioz 1829 monodrama La Mort de Cléopâtre served as curtain raiser but was anything but a throwaway. Mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert made a convincing Queen of Egypt with her gloriously smoky timbre, lyrical phrasing, and fine French diction. The vocal line varied from angular to lyrical, all of which she took in vocal stride. The libretto was written by Pierre-Ange Vieillard de Boismartin.

Her costuming by Fay Leshner was completely on the mark and the hair and make-up design by Affan Malik made her look exactly as we had imagined Cleopatra would look.

Although she was not ditched on her wedding day, her plight shared a common theme with that of Miss Havisham. After two successful liaisons with Anthony and with Caesar, she is unable to win the affections of Octavius and commits suicide by snake bite. The rubber snake was so cleverly manipulated that we thought it was real.

We were shaken by this performance although the main event was yet to come. Ms. Havisham was portrayed--NO! LIVED--by soprano Leah Partridge. It was so utterly convincing a portrayal of delusion and hallucination that we feared poor Ms. Partridge would go over the deep end.  Fortunately, she emerged unblemished at the end, her contorted face restored to its lovely shape.

Her voice is a thing of crystalline beauty and it was well employed in the service of the text written by John Olon-Scrymgeour who based her character on the character of the same name in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. The phrases are wildly disjointed and make only the strangest kind of sense--something psychiatrists call "primary process thinking".

It is interesting that Miss Havisham does not lack self-awareness. She opens by singing "It is Miss Havisham's Wedding Day! Unique behavior is expected".  Later she admits "I am a little out of my wits". Costume, make-up and hair design all contributed to the feeling of disjointed reality.

In a directorial masterstroke, the monodrama ended with Cleopatra joining Miss Havisham for tea, thus linking the tales of abandoned women. The audience was served wedding cake before having the opportunity to greet the artists. Performing up close and personal like that with no other singer to bounce off seems to be the most demanding form of performance but Ms. Gaissert and Ms. Partridge deserved all the accolades they got.

Shawn Kaufman was responsible for the effective lighting design.

One rarely witnesses such an effective coming together of the arts. There are many excellent small opera companies in New York, each one with its own special take. This form of producing opera is original and highly affecting.  It is also costly to produce since the audience must be limited. We'd bet that the ticket income doesn't come close to meeting the costs of production. Financial support is always welcomed.

We are already on board for The Tell-Tale Heart, the premiere of a new opera by Gregg Kallor taking place in a secret crypt on October 26th and 28th. Don't miss your chance.  It is sure to be sold out.

(c) meche kroop