I'VE GOTTA ECHO my colleague Mike Oz and send a big fat So What? out to the folks on Mindhub and Valley Notebook fidgeting over the so-called "brain drain" affecting Fresno. Memo to those who worry that we're losing our "best and brightest" to major urban areas: Ever since young Marcus Tullius Overachiever bailed on his backwater town of Naples to head for the bright lights of Rome, say, it's been a rite of passage for some members of the younger generation to seek out fame and fortune in exotic locales. (Why is it, by the way, that it is always the best and brightest that we always seem to lament/gnash teeth/rent our clothing in a Biblical sense over and not the average, medicore, barely literate types who shove off for Santa Rosa or Topeka who wound our sense of civic pride?)
Once again, the end of the performing-arts season in Fresno is approaching, and while I will enjoy having more nights and weekends free, I will also miss the frenzy of activity as people have to pick between competing events.
You have one more chance to listen to the Fresno Philharmonic, which concludes its 2007-08 season with one more performance this afternoon (2:30 p.m. Sunday) at the Saroyan Theatre. My colleague George Warren reviews the performance in this morning's Bee.
I went to Saturday night's concert, which I enjoyed. It wasn't my favorite of the season -- I think I'd vote for the January concert featuring pianist Valentina Lisitsa -- and isn't necessarily the event you'd take a first-time Philharmonic-goer to -- but it's a rousing conclusion. Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms" is the kind of choral piece that can grow on you: perhaps not as beefy and rousing as some of the choral spectaculars we've heard from the Philharmonic in the past, but something that builds. The Copland symphony -- with its clear, open tones that somehow evoke the promise and sweep of America -- was also a delight.
Looking for a cultural event this weekend that won't set you back any dough? Fresno State's Associated Students is presenting a free concert 7 p.m. Sunday (May 11) by Kybele Dance Theater of Los Angeles. Founded in 2003 by Seda Aybay, it's a contemporary dance company comprised of 8 dancers. The athletic, strength and stamina-requiring movement vocabulary is created by fusing together elements of theatrical, modern, and different ethnic dance forms. The pieces are often enhanced with props such as fans, scarves and folding chairs and are performed to music that combines ethnic with modern melodies.
The concert, co-presented by the Fresno State Tap Tones, will take place at the Satellite Student Union. Could be a great Mother's Day finale. (And you don't even have to tell Mom that it's free!)
Everyone's got to call in sick once in a while. But some jobs are hard to fill. How do you replace an orchestra conductor on short notice?
You scramble.
That's what the BBC National Orchestra of Wales did recently when officials called Fresno Philharmonic music director Theodore Kuchar in a panic and told him conductor Walter Weller was ill. They wanted to keep the program as printed and asked Kuchar to conduct Josef Suk’s Asrael Symphony at that weekend's concerts. A broadcast recording of the symphony, which Kuchar had conducted in Prague only a few months before, had circulated through Europe and caught the attention of the Welsh orchestra. He was the only one who could do it, they said.
(By the way, a healthy Kuchar is in Fresno this weekend for the final concert of the Philharmonic's 2007-08 season, which you can read about in Friday's 7 section.)
So, Donald, you're all done with your theater and arts reviews for the week. Where to now?
I'm going back to "Urinetown." Tonight, in fact.
I don't often make repeat visits to local theater productions, especially more than one time within a span of less than a week, but there are certain shows (especially well-loved musicals) for which I'll make an exception. And with a limited-run production such as Fresno State's "Urinetown," you can't dawdle. The university stages a musical just once every two years, so it's a special event. (You can check out my review here along with reader comments.)
Why go again? There's so much to take in the first time in a show such as this: the costumes, the lighting, the musical nuances, the special little touches. Also, I'm wishing pretty strongly that the sound design, which was the only major flaw on opening night, has gotten better. Wish me (and all those hard-working students and community members at Fresno State) luck. "Urinetown" plays just three more performances: 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. If you've got a musical-theater bone in your body, you won't want to miss it.
Some things never change: The sun sets in the west. Food from McDonald's tastes worse an hour after you eat it. When Annie sings "Tomorrow," her side-stretched hand will sweep to the sky, and she will end the song in a spectacular, note-crashing climax so inspirational you'll want to rush out and invent some sort of new vaccine.
I like the fact that "Annie" is predictably cheery. There are certain things that just seem right in this happy-go-perky musical: the cute dog; the evil Miss Hannigan; the eternal optimism of the orphans even when Annie gets picked to go live with the rich guy. The national touring production that opened Tuesday night at the Saroyan (and continues 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night for one more performance) might not be the snazziest or most cutting-edge touring musical of the year, but it knows how to get its happy job done.
The 10-year-old Amanda Balon (who has been performing since the age of 2, according to the program notes, and has her own Web site), who plays the demanding role of Annie, has a strong voice and a sassy personality. I think one test of playing Annie well is the ability to pull off the "I love you" scene with Daddy Warbucks in a heartfelt way that is neither too flippant nor too goopy. Scrappy and equipped with a powerful set of lungs, the young Amanda has no problems carrying a two and a half hour musical.
My colleague George Warren offered a review of Fresno Grand Opera's impressive "Porgy and Bess" in Sunday's paper. I saw the matinee performance and wanted to offer a few more thoughts:
The voices: simply amazing. The principals were world-class. Alvy Powell can bore a hole into you with his voice. Marquita Lister is a terrific actress as well as singer. Mary Elizabeth Williams was positively beatific. The growly Ashley Howard Wilkinson was tremendous. Judith Skinner was a feisty crowd favorite. Dwayne Clark oozed charisma. And the list went on and on. A couple of things came to mind: "Porgy and Bess" is hard to stage because the music is so taxing and the settings so varied. But also, you need deep pockets of talent to pull it off. Even when portions of the opera seem a little dated and even stiff, the voices in this production were so strong that they carried the day.
"It's a privilege to pee," the desperate crowd sings in "Urinetown, the Musical," a show about a city so short of water that its citizens have to pay to use the facilities. And it's a privilege to relieve yourself of the cares of the day and indulge in Fresno State's wacky and accomplished production of the acerbic Broadway musical.
Indeed, at the start of the show, as you watch members of the ensemble contorting themselves into various positions suggesting that an immediate restroom break would not only be desirable but essential, you become aware just how dedicated this cast and crew is when it comes to bringing the audience into a bizarre and amusing world. They can't wait to go for it. So to speak.
From the musical's light-hearted self-referential Broadway jabs (complete with "Les Miserables" spoof) and merry songs to its darker impulses involving environmental disaster, corporate greed and the tyranny of the masses, "Urinetown" connects on a number of levels. It's funny, tuneful, sardonic and downright thoughtful, which is quite an accomplishment considering the subject matter.
ArtHop in the spring: what a fine Fresno thing to do. Not too cold, not too hot. And light enough to easily find a parking place. Felicia Matlosz and I headed out in different directions Thursday night to hit some of the big ArtHop venues. At the top of the list is a new show at Fresno City Hall. Felicia writes:
This month's art scene in Fresno welcomes back a beloved figure: Polly Brewer, who owned Plums Contemporary Arts until she closed it in 2003. And I start by mentioning her because she has curated a wonderful exhibit on the second floor at Fresno's City Hall. It's called "Garden of the Sun," a companion event to the Vernacular Architecture Forum conference May 7-10 in Fresno.
It's a show that is rooted in the premise of how our region -- with its heat, rural landscapes and community icons -- is seen by talented artists and how this area influences their work. She freely admits there were many artists who would fit this show, but she wanted to give visitors a richer, deeper experience by focusing on the visions of seven artists in 32 pieces of art. And they happen to be well-known and respected figures: Adam Longatti (whose "House and Dog" is pictured above), Elaine Lynn, Pat Hunter, Robin Gay McCline, Sally DeLap-John, Jerrie Peters and Joel Pickford.
As we head into one of the busiest theater weekends of the year, lots of news to share:
The Woodward Shakespeare Festival is moving across the street from its current performance space. The company will shift from the mammoth Rotary Amphitheater, which in some ways was far too big, across to the activities area of the park, which is best known as the setting for the "Concerts in the Park" series.
The move is one result of the $1.5 million in renovations the city is completing on the underused amphitheater, including a shade structure, pictured. Though it was completed 14 years ago, the concrete amphitheater proved far too hot in the summer for most productions. (Um, you would have thought that someone involved in the design process -- the architects, say, or the folks who paid for it, or any 8-year-old you stopped at random in the park and showed them the plans -- would have anticipated such a problem, but no.) The Shakespeare folks were one of the few to utilize the space the past few seasons (ah, those theater folks are hardy creatures), but even they had to bring in misting machines to keep the broiling temperatures to manageable levels.
On the jump: More on Woodward Shakes' new space, awards for the Fresno State dance program, a memorial service for beloved theater professor Phillip Walker, a Helen Hayes acting award for GCP alum Heidi Blickenstaff and a roundup of the theater riches available this weekend.
I've seen Alfred Hitchcock's famed movie "Rebecca," which was based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier, several times, but I hadn't seen the play, which du Maurier also adapted, until Saturday. It turns out that the movie and play are very different but both highly satisfying.
In the movie, which featured performances by Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine and an indelible Judith Anderson as the menacing Mrs. Danvers, we are immersed in a gloomy, Gothic world bearing an unforgettable Hitcockian stamp. In the stage play, which is being mounted by Good Company Players in a nicely shaped production, we get less of that "total immersion movie experience" that you might associate with "Rebecca." The atmospheric machinations of the play are far less strident than the movie. What you do get with the play, however, is a crisp and chilling cerebral experience that can be as tense as the movie in its own way.
The young Mickey Rooney's hair: Gloriously thick and blond. In some scenes of "The Human Comedy," the classic 1943 movie written by Fresno favorite son William Saroyan, Rooney's hair was such a strong presence that it was almost a character all its own: barely restrained at times as it threatened to fly all over the face of its 22-year-old owner, under control at others like a Sunday School 'do whipped into place by a fussy mother.
The old Mickey Rooney's hair: At 87, there isn't much of it these days. But the rest of Rooney, who graced the Tower Theatre Friday night with his presence at a special screening of the film, was in fine form as he joked and joshed with the audience in remarks before the film began. Standing with his wife, Jan, on the Tower stage, the prolific star -- who at last count has made 311 movies -- offered a sweet introduction that ranged from his views on movies today ("There was a time you could go and understand every bit of the dialogue") to his thoughts on why he's still working ("You don't retire. You expire.")
The scene: A great turnout at the 800-seat Tower for this event in celebration of the Saroyan centennial, with the center section pretty much filled and lots of moviegoers in the side sections. The audience was richly represented by members of the Armenian community, and before the screening started, you could hear snippets of folks talking about the Great Man himself: "I remember being just across the street from him," said a woman with very tall hair.
In Friday's issue of 7 I have an interview with Nancy Miller, director of "Rebecca" at the 2nd Space Theatre. Here's a continuation of the interview:
Did Daphne du Maurier adapt the play after Hitchcock made the movie from her novel?
The play was first produced in London (with Margaret Rutherford as Mrs. Danvers!) the same year the movie was released, so it would seem she was at work on it pre-film.
I'm a day late for the official Earth Day, but I was really taken with yesterday's Web pick from Very Short List. It's a site called Swaptree that lets you trade away CDs and DVDs you don't want. Instead of throwing them away, you mail them off to someone who does:
Swaptree — started by Greg Boesel and Mark Hexamer in 2004 to help people barter things — is remarkably simple to use: You sign up for an account (“join us in 8 seconds”), then rifle through your books, CDs, DVDs, and video games to find the ones with which you’re dying to part. Put them up on Swaptree (by typing in the UPC code or ISBN number), and the site instantly shows the items you can get in return — you pay only shipping, which Swaptree handily calculates for you. Wondering what to do with that dismal M. Night Shyamalan film you bought on DVD because you assumed it would be as good as The Sixth Sense? Put it up. Maybe you can acquire Fritz Lang’s M in exchange.
I like the idea of recycling those unwanted copies of "The Lake House" instead of chucking them in a landfill. I'm definitely going to try it out.
The Fresno Philharmonic is scoring a coup this weekend by bringing in the world-renowned percussionist Evelyn Glennie, who has been profoundly deaf since age 12 and "hears" music in a fascinating way. I have an interview with her on the cover of Tuesday's Life section, and in it she has some fascinating things to say about music, life in Scotland, her recent concert tour and taking advantage of our senses. For those looking for more information about Glennie, here's an interesting news segment:
There are lots of perks that come with being parents, but for Robynn and James Reilly, this one was unique: They got to be movie stars. (Sort of.) In "Ball Point," a short film that won last weekend's Best in Show award at the Get Reel Film Festival held at the Tower Theater, the Reillys played a pair of screaming/arguing parents. ("Hey, we've been married 21 years and figured we could adlib something," Robynn Reilly says.)
Her daughter, Hannah, was one of the creative forces behind the two-minute film, along with J. Ross Holly and Peter Thronson. Here's the clip on YouTube:
On the jump: More about the festival and a complete list of winners.
UPDATE 4/21: Check out the amazing photo from the event, above, provided by Bee photog Tomas Ovalle. It shows Tim Shaghoian, Paul's son, performing under the "acoustical cloud" in the new concert hall.
There were many stellar moments Wednesday night at the official grand opening of the stunning new performing arts building at the recently opened Clovis North Educational Center -- a complex that includes the 750-seat Paul Shaghoian Concert Hall -- but the first real throat-gulper came when the basses sang.
The low, rumbling voices of the Clovis East High School Timberwolf Choir, soft as a rustle of leaves, introduced the song "Sure On This Shining Night" with such tenderness and musicality that it almost felt otherworldly. As the young men sang, their sound seemed to creep out at first from them, then slowly fill the hall with a sturdy warmth, much like a pleasant fragrance wafting in on a breeze. The choir (which is headed to New York City next week for a schedule that includes a performance in Carnegie Hall, by the way) sounded terrific. So did the other performing groups on the program.
It was all part of a celebration of one school district's spectacular dedication to the arts. The $17.5 million building, which includes the 150-seat Dan Pessano Theater, has to be one of the nation's finest high school performance facilities. For that, the school's governing board and administration, along with the pro-education Clovis district residents who approved the bond measures that made the building possible, deserve congratulations.
You probably meant it in fun but I found it offensive and demeaning to the Idol contestants. Brooke White is a refreshing example of what a genuine and humble person is and a sharp contrast to the Hollywood celebrities we regularly see. I only hope people don't believe you are reporting actual words from these contestants.
A Fowler reader writes:
After reading “What a tangled ‘Idol’ we weave,” with its blatant use of bigoted stereotypes, in Sunday’s Spotlight, I have one rhetorical question. Good grief, Donald, could you be more mean spirited?
Here's the scary thing, oh Fowler inhabitant: Yes, I could, absolutely. "American Idol" can do that to me.
The scenic design in "Glengarry Glen Ross" is the best I've seen at the newish Severance Building theater space.
As this chipper yet gratifyingly dark production of Artists' Repertory Theatre's production of David Mamet's classic script opens, we're confronted with a cramped, claustrophobic jumble of vividly red upholstered restaurant booths. They appear smashed together, as if someone has moved all the furniture to one side of the room for carpet cleaning. Behind the gaudy booths, separated by a few desultory Chinese-restaurant-type screens, we see the guts of a sad and tired real-estate office: a few clunky metal desks shoved together, a coat rack on the wall for the salesmen to hang their inevitable off-the-rack suit jackets, several feeble parcel maps showing the "choice" Florida lots being offered to unwitting investors.
The practical benefits of the scenic design are obvious: It's as if you get the two settings called for in the play with the ease of a single unit set. All you have to do is remove the restaurant tables after the first two acts and expand the office furniture. But the effect of the set (designed by Jeff White) is more than just expediency: there's an Expressionistic impact -- a visceral emotional draw -- as well, particularly in the opening of the play. It's as if the cramped furniture is somehow paralleling the hemmed-in lives of the characters, who seem to be trapped in a never-ending, Sisyphean task of unloading worthless real estate on the same unsuspecting march of naive people.
Fresno State's Petrelli: Can she reach acting gold?
(UPDATE 4/20: Brad Myers reports Saturday from the Kennedy Center in Washington that Ferin Petrelli didn't win, alas. The top two awards went to students from Montclair State University in New Jersey and California State University, Fullerton. But congratulations to her for making it to the nationals!)
Fresno State's theater department has a stellar record in recent years sending students to the most prestigious student acting competition in the country: the Irene Ryan Acting Competition held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. This year it's the talented Ferin Petrelli, who is competing on Saturday for a national title at the American College Theater Festival. She and her acting partner, Danny Cobb, made it to the nation's capital by winning the five-state Western regional finals at Laramie, Wyo., and have spent the week in D.C. in a variety of acting seminars and competitive exercises. Petrelli (pictured with co-star Adam Schroeder) originally was nominated for her role in Fresno State's "Polish Joke."
Fresno State theater prof Brad Myers is jetting out to to Washington for a whirlwind trip (he's also directing the upcoming "Urinetown") to watch his students compete. He says that Petrelli is planning scenes from "Laughing Stock" by Charles Morey and "Two Truths and a Lie" by Mary Michael Wagner, along with a monologue from Shakespeare's "The Two Noble Kinsmen."
On the jump: a list of Fresno State's regional American College Theater Festival winners.
Random ruminations
