Fathom Events: the Met's Scottish Opera

Anna Netrebko as Lady Macbeth in "Macbeth"
(photo: Metropolitan Opera)

The Metropolitan Opera’s current HD broadcast season began with a showing of its modern dress 2007 production of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Macbeth”, hosted by mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili (known throughout the opera world, including the Met, for her “Carmen”). This production starred Baritone Željko Lucic in the title role, who also sang the role when the production was premiered, and soprano Anna Netrebko as his consort. It was a resounding success, easily one of the most impressive such broadcasts in their history, and quite possibly the best ever, largely in part to a daring choice of a role by one of the principals.

The story is no doubt familiar to opera buffs as well as Shakespeare fans. On the moors of Scotland, Macbeth (the powerfully-voiced Lucic) and Banquo (the always dependably impressive bass René Pape) encounter witches who address Macbeth as King of Scotland, and prophesy that Banquo will be the father of kings, then promptly disappear. Then, the current King Duncan (Raymond Renault) makes Macbeth Thane of Cawdor. Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth (the luminescent Anna Netrebko) determines Duncan must be killed. Macbeth envisions the infamous dagger before him and does the deed. Banquo and the noble Macduff (the beautifully nuanced tenor Joseph Calleja) discover the murder, while the Macbeths feign horror. Macbeth is crowned King of Scotland, while Duncan’s son Malcolm (Noah Baetge) flees. Macbeth, fearing the prophecy about Banquo, arranges to kill him and his son Fleance (Moritz Linn); Banquo is slain but Fleance escapes. As Lady Macbeth sings a drinking song, Macbeth drinks in the news about Banquo’s death, while haunted by a vision of an accusing Banquo at a banquet. Meanwhile, back at the cauldron, Macbeth again finds the bewitching group. They tell him to beware Macduff but assure him he can’t be harmed by any “man of woman born” and that he’ll be invincible until Birnham Wood marches on his castle. The Macbeths resolve to kill Macduff and his progeny. Macduff, his family having been killed, joins the returning Malcolm to invade Scotland. (Here the Metropolitan Opera Chorus was especially effective as they once again sang solidly as though with a single voice). Lady Macbeth sleepwalks as she is herself haunted. Macbeth hears that she has died, and that the woods (camouflaged troops) are advancing. Macduff tells Macbeth that he was not born naturally but had a Caesarean birth (thus conveniently fulfilling the witches’ last prophecy), then kills Macbeth, declaring Malcolm King of Scotland.

The uniqueness of this production began with the concept of making the witches not a trio but a veritable coven tree of them, nay a whole forest. And they were hardly the forest’s prime evil. That honor went unquestionably to the lady of the house. It was Netrebko’s courageous choice to take on the demanding vocal requirements of the role of Lady Macbeth, and she brought the house down. Her acting was on a par with her singing, creating a performance that will be hard to forget and tickets that will be even harder to get. Thus it was a real coup for Fathom Events to offer such an exquisite event at a theater near you. But Netrebko was not the only reason for attending; Lucic, Pape and Calleja were all memorable. The performance was expertly conducted by the Met’s Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi. Technical credits included the Production by Adrian Noble, the minimal but striking Set and Costume Design by Mark Thompson, and eerie Lighting Design by Jean Kalman.

As is so often the case with this opera, it was Lady Macbeth who held center stage firmly in her murderous grip. Those who weren’t fortunate enough to see this broadcast will have another opportunity to do so when it is encored on Wednesday Oct.15 at 6:30pm. Miss it and you’ll be sleepwalking for ages trying to forgive yourself.

BLO's "Traviata": Love Among the Flowers

The Cast of "La Traviata"
(photo: Eric Antoniou for Boston Lyric Opera)
 

Boston Lyric Opera got its season off to a welcome start with its production of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata”, not seen at BLO in the past decade. Based on a play which was in turn based on the novel “Our Lady of the Camellias” by Alexandre Dumas fils, with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, the opera is one of the most popular in the canon, and deservedly so. Though it failed miserably at its premiere, it gained popularity after some serious revisions by the composer himself. Verdi’s music for this work remains approachable to novices and is beloved by opera buffs. The story is an absorbing one, as a translation of the title would reveal, “A Woman Gone Astray”. Astray indeed; it often seems as though divas suffer from recurrent monetary insecurity, only relieved by a mid-plot dalliance or two with rich baritones, somehow leading to a late night return to the arms of a forgiving tenor. This may be attributed to the inflammation of the diva’s bank account (sometimes referred to as “diva-ticulitis”), or a worsening of a terminal illness culminating in a gloriously composed, and often quite lengthy, apotheosis of sorts as the diva and her stage character attain the heights of musical immortality. As such, putting aside nagging moral or ethical thoughts, it can be great fun for the audience anxious to see a loving reunion before the work finally ends. And so it was in this performance. Nanoseconds after the curtain raised, there was our heroine already coughing, a sure sign of dire things to come, but a few hours later, reconciliation there was, though at great cost as it almost always must be in operatic conventions.

In this production, Soprano Anya Matanovic, in her BLO debut, starred as Violetta, one of those operatic courtesans with a heart of gold, who gambles everything for a chance at true love. Tenor Michael Wade Lee (also in his BLO debut) portrayed Alfredo, her ardent lover who first loses but ultimately gains his Violetta in that justly famed reconciliation scene. Both began a bit tentatively but eventually slipped comfortably into their roles. Matanovic particularly shined with her vulnerability and honesty in her death scene. Alfredo’s father Germont, intent on preserving the honor of his family at all costs, was played by baritone Weston Hurt, recently heard at Boston Odyssey Opera’s concert of Korngold’s “Die todt Stadt”; he was the vocal hit of the performance with his commanding singing. Also featured were members and alumni of the BLO’s estimable Emerging Artists program, including Jon Jurgens (Gastone), Chelsea Basler (Flora), David Wadden (D‘Obigny), Rachel Hauge (Annina), Omar Najmi (Giuseppe), and David Cushing (Doctor). David Kravitz was the Baron. The performance was conducted by Arthur Fagen (mostly competent, if the pacing was more than slightly lugubrious in the scene between Alfredo and his father) and Directed by Chas Rader-Shieber. The Boston Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus gave some depth to the familiar score. Technical credits included effective Lighting Design by Mike Inwood, and Wigs and Makeup Design by Jason Allen. The most controversial technical element was the Set Design by Julia Noulin-Mérat, minimalist to a fault in the first half of the production (except for the edge of what was such a mammoth painting that Violetta must have been inhabiting an airplane hanger). After intermission the scene at Flora’s party was truly bizarre, seemingly aping 1930’s Berlin decadence with its distractingly gross debauchery. The Costume Design by Jacob A. Climer for this scene (straight out of “Cabaret”) and Violetta’s demise (oddly sporting a train that must have been over twenty-five feet long) added to the strangeness of the proceedings.

But “Traviata” is all about the music, and in the end that’s where the BLO truly delivered. It was a worthy start to what looks like a very promising season. Next up for the BLO is a far less familiar yet enticing production of Frank Martin’s “The Love Potion”, opening on November 19^th.

Fathom Events' "From Here to Eternity": Life Is a Beach

Robert Lonsdale as Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt in "From Here to Eternity"
(photo: Johan Persson)

 

The new musical “From Here to Eternity” has arrived on our shores, thanks to Fathom Events, as the latest stage-to-cinema offering from London. This eagerly anticipated adaptation by Bill Oakes from the 1951 novel by James Jones (which won the National Book award for Fiction and was adapted as a film in 1953, winning eight Oscars including Best Picture), was not a success. Even with Lyrics by Tim Rice (who was also the Producer, with Lee Menzies) and Music by Stuart Brayson (of the band Pop), directed by Tamara Harvey, it lasted just over six months, and failed to garner any Olivier Award nominations. When it opened in September 2013, the most cynical critics referred to it as “From Here to November”. (The actual title derives from a work of  Kipling: “Damned from here to eternity”). It was controversial, as it was actually based on the revised unexpurgated version of the novel released in 2011, which restored the author’s references to gay sex and prostitution. The stage show’s natural use of profanity and nudity may also have contributed to its early demise. Now that we’re able to judge the work for ourselves, even before its rumored transition to New York next year, one would have to say it surely deserved better. It’s not without its flaws, but these could be overcome with some careful editing. What this screening showed was just how worthy an effort it was, and how promising its future could be.

The time is 1941, at the Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, just months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In the solid tradition of wartime-based musicals of the past, such as “South Pacific” and “Miss Saigon”, the story concentrates on love affairs involving military men, in this case members of G Company: 1^st Sergeant Milt Warden (Darius Campbell), enters into an affair with Karen Holmes (Rebecca Thornhill) the wife of his superior, Capt. Dana “Dynamite” Holmes (Martin Marquez); Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt (Robert Lonsdale), a career military man, falls in love with Lorene (Siubhan Harrison), one of the New Congress Club girls (a dance hall hostess in the film, but clearly a prostitute in this version); and Pvt. Angelo Maggio (Ryan Sampson), has love for sale, as a sort of gay hustler. The relationship between Milt and Karen is a dangerous one, but no less than Prewitt’s naïve obsession with Lorene, or the plight of Maggio and his night job. Added to the tension is the “treatment”, or bullying, which Prewitt receives from his company when he refuses to box for the aforementioned “Dynamite” Holmes, based on some bad personal history.

The musical numbers, played by a terrific fifteen piece band, are many (perhaps too many, crying out for some trimming and tightening), and varied, ranging from ballads to blues to jazz, and big band to swing and even to somewhat anachronistic rock and roll (and sometimes with more brass than even the Army can handle). In the first act alone there are fourteen numbers, with several standouts: “Thirty Year Man” (delivered by the hunky yet vulnerable Lonsdale, who immediately captures and continually focuses our attention on his character), “Another Language” (a solo by Thornhill, a much more forward and experienced housewife than in the film), the rousing “You Got the Money” (sung by Harrison and the female ensemble), the lilting “Marking Time” (a solo by Campbell, a tall, dark and handsome Warden with a fine voice), “Fight the Fight” (an anthem twice reprised by Lonsdale, and a real showstopper), “Run Along, Joe” (a beautifully sad lament by Harrison), and the wonderful finale to the act, “More than America” (featuring Campbell, Thornhill and the Company). In the second act there are thirteen numbers, again with several memorable ones: “Love Me Forever Today” (a tender duet for Lonsdale and Harrison), “Ain’t Where I Wanna Be Blues” (early rock and roll as sung by Lonsdale and Campbell, the intricate quartets “Something in Return” and “From Here to Eternity” (both performed by the four principals), the poignant “Boys of ‘41” (sung by the Ladies), and “Run Along Joe” (reprised by Harrison).

The huge cast of thirty-three singing and dancing actors include the men of Company G: Fatso (Brian Doherty), Bugler/Anderson/Flight Captain (Warren Sollars), Sgt. Ike Galovich (David Stoller), Hal (Stephen Webb), and Privates played by Yiftach Mizrahi, Nuno Queimado, Dean John-Wilson, James Ballanger, Adam Vaughn and Matthew Wesley. The Congress Club girls include Maureen (Rebecca Sutherland), Billy (Lauren Tyrer), a trio (Lucinda Shaw, Christine Allado and Keisha Amponsa Banson), and a chorus of chorines: Abigail Climer, Lauren Varnham, Kirby Hughes, Carolyn Maitland, Jessica Ellen, Dale Evans, and Lauren Ingram. The technical credits included the terrific Set Design and Costume Design by Soutra Gilmour (at least for the ladies, as the men’s outfits are uniformly alike), striking Lighting Design by Bruno Poet, effective Sound Design by Mick Potter, moving Projection Design by Jon Driscoll, and fine Orchestrations and Musical Supervision by David White with Music Direction by Tom Deering. The Choreography by Javier de Frutos is sometimes frenetic, but this may be the result of the decision to film (and thus redirect) the show more as a movie than a live show.

This is a good show with great moments, superb singing and a lot of heart. It can be visually stunning (the attack on Pearl Harbor is amazingly portrayed). As often happens when a lengthy novel is adapted to the musical stage, it’s plot and subplot heavy, especially in the expository scenes of the first act. Some of the accents, purporting to be American, miss the mark (as do a few moments of out of synch syntax, such as the British “we’re different to them”, rather than the American “different than”, or even more correct “different from”). But these are small and easily corrected missteps on the way to the show this work could be. At it stands, it’s chock full of energy and vitality, with enough stirring numbers to rock a house from here to.....Broadway.

This month's Fathom Events include the Metropolitan Opera ("Macbeth" Oct.11 & 12, "Marriage of Figaro" Oct.18 & 22) and encores of  National Theatre Live's "Frankenstein" (Oct.27 & 29). Coming in November, "Of Mice and Men" (with James Franco and Chris O'Dowd, Nov.6).

New Rep's "Assassins": A Killer Show

The Cast of "Assassins"
(photo: Andrew Brilliant/Brilliant Pictures)

 

New Rep’s current production, second in their series of three musicals in a row, is “Assassins”, an extraordinarily complex show that, in the right hands, can be extremely powerful. And so it is in this production, featuring an ensemble of brilliant singers who are definitely up to this very challenging score. Unquestionably the most controversial work by the renowned Composer/Lyricist Stephen Sondheim (with Book by John Weidman), it’s a brief historical pageant of sorts with fewer than a dozen songs dealing with presidential assassinations, successful and attempted, throughout the last couple of centuries, from Lincoln to Kennedy. As such it’s unusual fodder for the stuff of musicals. It’s a challenging piece of guerilla theater, afflicting the comfortable without comforting the afflicted, in its relentlessly brazen depiction of the havoc wreaked by misfits looking for fame, love, hate, revenge, or whatever elusive motivation that drives them to death and destruction.

Audiences at its premiere at Playwright’s Horizons in New York in 1991 hadn’t a clue what sort of event they were about to witness. No one expected a light musical comedy from Sondheim and Weidman, but what they got was a theme that was a lot darker, more dangerous and disturbing than they expected: anyone can grow up to be President; anyone can grow up to be a killer. As the librettist Weidman put it, “Assassins” suggests that “while these individuals are, to say the least, peculiar, taken as a group they are peculiarly American…they share a common purpose: a desperate desire to reconcile the intolerable feelings of impotence with an inflamed and malignant sense of entitlement.” He went on to say that the reason for the frequency of these attempts (thirteen times in our young history) is because one of our country’s myths is that American dreams “not only can come true, but should come true, and that if they don’t someone or something is to blame”. When each one of Sondheim’s songs commands the stage, this production ascends the heights of musical theater at its best. When the music occasionally stops, however, so does the momentum, partly due to Weidman’s overwritten more comic moments, partly due to the uneven pacing and unsubtle delivery of these moments under the direction of Artistic Director Jim Petosa. Overall, the excellence of the singing, not just hitting the notes but doing so with intensity, makes for a most memorable performance. Sondheim requires them to deliver ballads, ragtime, a cakewalk and even a spiritual, all the while remaining firmly in character; amazingly, they do, with not a single missed nuance.

The play begins in a carnival shooting gallery, a prologue that not only introduces the characters we will encounter but also sets the tone of the piece as well as its related themes. It’s a shocking beginning, wherein the Proprietor (Benjamin Evett) urges an assorted bunch of people, most of whom turn out to be certifiable lunatics, to solve their problems by shooting a President (“Everybody’s Got the Right”). A Balladeer (Evan Gambardella, carrying a guitar which he never plays, and makes for an unwieldy prop, a strange choice for this role) enters to tell the story of John Wilkes Booth (Mark Linehan), in hiding after killing Lincoln (“The Ballad of Booth”). Then five witnesses each claim they intervened in the attempted assassination of FDR by Giuseppe Zangara (Harrison Bryan), who had been complaining of stomach pains (“How I Saved Roosevelt”) and ended up shooting Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak. There follows the shooting of McKinley by Leon Czolgosz (Kevin Patrick Martin), inflamed by the rhetoric of anarchist Emma Goldman (Casey Tucker), at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo (“Gun Song: The Ballad of Czolgosz”), with McKinley dying a week later. Next comes perhaps the most bizarre number in the show, ironically the most melodic song in the show, a duet by Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme (McCaela Donovan) and John Hinckley, Jr. (Patrick Varner) in which each sings of her and his infatuation with Charles Manson and Jody Foster respectively (“Unworthy of Your Love”). Fromme also meets up with Sarah Jane Moore (Paula Langton) to contemplate killing Gerald Ford. Next up is Charles Guiteau (Brad Daniel Peloquin), who shot Garfield after he refused to make him Ambassador to France (“The Ballad of Guiteau”).

Then the group, led by Samuel Byck (Peter S. Adams) who had planned to fly into the Nixon White House, sings “Another National Anthem” about how they haven‘t solved either their own issues or the country’s problems, but must follow the American Dream to win their prizes at the shooting gallery. In one of many time-warped scenes, Booth encourages Lee Harvey Oswald (also played by Gambardella) to shoot JFK (“November 22, 1963”) from the Texas Book Depository, which he does, a chilling moment given the relatively benign role this actor had been playing up this point. The ensemble (including Jesse Garlick) then sings "Something Just Broke". In the Finale (a reprise of “Everybody‘s Got the Right”), they all (for the first time including Oswald) reload and get ready to shoot again, but this time it’s not a President they’re aiming at.

It’s essentially a revue, but an atypically coherent and focused one, belying this critic’s usual dismissal of the form as not being true theater. Every member of the cast gets a chance to excel, with standouts including the excellent Evett and the imposing Linehan. The technical credits are all superb, from the Musical Direction by Matthew Stern, the terrific Scenic Design by Kamilla Kurmanbekova assisted by JiYoung Han (dominated by a stylized American flag with 32 bullet holes in its stars, and discarded debris from political rallies at both sides of the stage), the Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl, the Lighting Design by Jedidiah Roe, to the Sound Design by Michael Policare. The near-perfect sound balance deserves special mention, as the eight piece band is at the edge of the stage, eliminating the tinny sound that often results when the musicians are hidden and seem to be in some other county. This is a triumph of technical and performing synergy. One wishes that the direction had respected the material more, rather than punching a lot of the funnier lines.

Some dispute the appropriateness of the subject for musical theater, yet other tragedies have been successfully musicalized, at least after enough time has elapsed to view them from a distance. Consider, for example, the sinking of the Titanic, fodder for at least three musicals in the past: “Unsinkable Molly Brown” (a comedy yet!), “Hello Again”, and, of course, “Titanic”. The assassins and would-be assassins of this current piece deserve analysis, as some of them tragically altered the course of history, obviously disregarding the old adage that one’s freedom to use her or his elbow ends at another person’s ribcage. Time is not the only thing that’s warped in this work. Sondheim claimed “some were less than crazy, and some were more then crazy”; Weidman stated that the most disturbing discovery they made was “the lives they lived up to that point and what those lives reveal”. Despite its relentless evil, the play, for a discerning viewer, affords considerable interest, primarily due to Sondheim’s terrific pastiches of period musical styles, and the lens held up to what makes these wounded wackos tick. If one can put aside the insanity of the various protagonists, it’s a fascinating view into the psyches of those people on the periphery of normal life who may well be in part a product of our American political culture. It conveys one of the possible logical outcomes of demonizing an opponent as so often happens in our own day, especially in politics. For the most part, where “Assassins” is concerned, musical comedy it’s definitely not; it’s that rare entry for the non-operatic stage: musical tragedy. It doesn’t attempt to present any choice of persons to feel for, except, as an audience member at the original production of the show put it: “Us. You’re supposed to feel for us”.

Canadian Cornucopia: One If By Land, Two If By Sea.....

Current Exhibition at Bar Harbor's Abbe Museum

On a recent journey by sea to Maine and through the Canadian Maritimes, three visits to two museums and a reenacted venue stood out as examples of just how different such institutions can be. Two were reached by sea, one by land (via a rental car), and were all worth a side trip, as the Michelin Guide might put it.

Technically, the first one chronologically isn’t part of the Canadian Maritimes, but rather a doorway to them, namely in the town of Bar Harbor, Maine. It’s an easily overlooked gem, given all there is to do in the area (notably, of course, Acadia National Park), but a rewarding one nonetheless. It’s the Abbe Museum in downtown Bar Harbor. (It has a small branch in the park grounds as well, but that was not open at the time of this visit). It has a truly unique focus on the Native American nations of the area we now know as the State of Maine, consisting of the Maliseet, Micmac, Penobscot and Passamaquoddy, collectively referred to as the Waponahki or “People of the Dawnland” displayed with emphases on community outreach and involvement as well as archeological research. One of the most satisfying aspects of this museum is its emphasis on student art. It also concentrates, in its temporary exhibits (such as the current “Twisted Path: Questions of Balance”, concerned with the environment) on important social issues. It’s a valuable adjunct to a visit to an area so greatly appreciated for its natural splendor but often neglected with respect to its historical importance. Easily reached by car or by sea, it’s a very worthwhile stop.

The next highlight, reached by car from Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island, is the recreated venue of “Anne of Green Gables”, based on the series of novels made so universally popular by author Lucy Maud Montgomery. Part of Parks Canada, this is the Cavendish National Historic Site, officially named Green Gables Heritage Place. While Anne herself is of course a fictional character, the farm formerly owned by relatives of Montgomery was the setting for exteriors filmed for the phenomenally successful films based on her several works. While interior filming was produced in sound stages in Ontario, Canada, the outdoor scenes that depicted Anne’s musings about the Haunted Wood Trail, Lovers Lane, and Balsam Hollow Trail, as well as the daily workings of the farm itself, were filmed on this site. It was clearly a magical experience for many of the tourists thronging the complex, especially visitors from Japan, where the series (both in written form as well as on film) gained a huge following. The Green Gables House has been faithfully furnished to recreate the film sets, and guided tours are offered in season. For anyone who’s a fan of Anne, it’s a must-see destination.

So is the last in this threesome of attractions, easily reached by sea, namely the new Museum of Civilization in Quebec City. Although a bit controversial architecturally, this museum is filled with fascinating examples of Canadian history, including a 1720 shallop that was unearthed when excavating for the building itself. The site is also used for temporary exhibits such as the current one on Greek statuary on loan from Berlin, beautifully displayed and dramatically lit. With its easily accessible location in the lower level of the city, it has proven to be a successful addition to the other museums in Quebec City.

These are just three examples of what can be enjoyed on a cultural level while travelers take in the dramatic visual splendors of Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, the rolling green hills of Prince Edward Island, and the majestic heights of Quebec City. Add in a lobster roll, some mussels, and an authentic French crepe, and you have the makings of a great voyage indeed…followed most likely by a month of a South Beach Diet regimen.

Fathom Events' "A Streetcar Named Desire": Sex and the City

Gillian Anderson (with Ben Foster in rear) in "A Streetcar Named Desire"
(photo: John Persson)

We are probably all of us at some point or other in our lives dependent on the kindness of strangers. Certainly Blanche Dubois, the heroine of Tennessee Williams’ classic play (his second major work) “A Streetcar Named Desire”, has always been just that. In the Young Vic London production (the fastest selling show in its history), still set in New Orleans but not in 1947 but the present day, she continues to fascinate in her iron-willed vulnerability. Blanche is especially compelling when portrayed by an actress of the caliber of Gillian Anderson, opposite an equally commanding performance of the brutish Stanley Kowalski as played by Ben Foster. On a par with the two leads are Vanessa Kirby as Stanley’s wife Stella and Corey Johnson as Mitch, making a stunning quartet. Helmed by Australian director Benedict Andrews, with a continually revolving steel framed set by Swiss designer Magda Willi, this is a surprisingly fresh and relevant production. The rest of the impressive cast include Eunice Hubbel (Clare Burt), a Mexican Woman (Lachele Carl), Steve (Branwell Donaghey), a Young Collector (Otto Farrant), Pablo (Troy Glasgow), another unnamed Woman (Clare Prempeh) and a Doctor (Nicholas Gecks) and Nurse (Stephanie Jacob). This is a raw, sexy production with a strong violent subtext. It’s an unusual emphasis (especially the portrayal of Stella’s neediness and competitiveness with her sister for her husband) that makes the play seem all the more contemporary and uncomfortably pertinent. As Blanche herself says, she doesn’t tell the truth, she tells “the truth as it ought to be”. By the end of the play, after Blanche, who entered having lost her home, leaves having lost her mind, it’s a shattering experience all around, for the audience as well, largely due to the extraordinarily compelling level of performing.

The technical contributions are all top drawer, from the Music by Alex Baranowski (utilizing the music of Jimi Hendrix, Chris Isaak and Patsy Cline), to the Costume Design by Victoria Behr, Lighting Design by Jon Clark, Sound Design by Paul Arditti, and Fight Direction by Bret Yount. But it’s the set that commands one’s attention with its constant changing of perspective. This works in the theater, as noted in the introduction to the broadcast, to make each audience member’s experience unique, different from every other theatergoer. In this HD broadcast of the production, it’s sometimes distracting, but this could have been avoided with more carefully synchronized camera rehearsal.

Williams prefaced the published version of the play with a quote from “The Broken Tower” by Hart Crane: “And so it was that I entered the broken world to trace the visionary company of love, its voice an instant in the wind (I know not whither hurled) but not for long to hold each desperate choice”. Blanche is the epitome of desperation, which was a product of the era in which the play was written, a time of post-war political and emotional uncertainty and insecurity. That it speaks to us in much the same way in such a timely manner is sobering. As do all greatest works of literature, it deals with universal themes and very familiar conflicts. Blanche’s last line in the play is, literally, the famous one: “Whoever you are…I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”. After Stanley soothes Stella, the very last line of the work, spoken by Steve at the card table, is a mundane call back to reality: “This game is seven-card stud.” And there you have it. Life goes on, for Stanley and Stella, which will always be the same, yet thanks to their exposure to Blanche’s fantasies, in some fundamental ways, forever changed. As are we.

Just announced by Fathom Events: the Broadway production of “Of Mice and Men” with James Franco and Chris O’Dowd, November 6^th at a participating theater near you. Also upcoming from National Theatre Live” are an encore of “Frankenstein” as well as two new productions, “John” on December 9^th and “Treasure Island” on January 22nd.

PEM's "Calder": Master Builder in Motion

Calder's "Blue Feather" c. 1948
Sheet metal, wire and paint. Calder Foundation, New York
Copyright: 2014 Calder Foundation, New York/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Photo: Calder Foundation, New York/Art Resource, NY
 

The current special exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum (or PEM), in Salem, “Calder and Abstraction: from Avant-Garde to Iconic”, now on view through January 4, 2015, is a revelation even for those who have always loved Alexander Calder’s mobiles and stabiles. In its only East Coast venue (organized by the L.A. County Museum of Art and the Calder Foundation), it consists of forty of the sculptor’s works, both full sized and maquettes, all made between the 1930’s and the 1960’s. Even for those quite familiar with Calder’s style and use of color, form and motion, it’s a unique opportunity to appreciate his work in such a graceful and serene setting.

The installation is so spectacular it just about takes one’s breath away, but fortunately there are several areas in which to sit and watch his mobiles and their shadows work their magic, and to meditate on how they so beautifully fill their space. The soft background music (for example, compositions by Erik Satie) completes the totally engaging experience. But it is Calder’s words one should also attend. He stated that there is in his work an underlying sense of form, namely the system of the universe, which is “a rather large mobile to work from”. He added that “just as one can compose colors, or forms, so one can compose motion.” Tellingly, he also noted that “a mobile in motion leaves an invisible wake, or rather, each element leaves an individual wake behind its individual self, a slow, gentle impulse.” Above all else, his creations convey either the freedom from earth that results from an object freely floating, or the solid foundation that supports a multitude of forms.

This is one exhibition one simply can’t rush through if it’s to be fully experienced. The stark white walls and chairs invite a more leisurely and contemplative visit, which is difficult to describe adequately. It has to be seen and thus felt to be as effectively stunning as it is. It may well be the single most beautifully installed exhibit of his (or any other artist’s) work ever composed. And composed you will be.

While there, if you haven’t already done so, do take in the Yin Yu Tang, a Chinese House, with timed entries (and a self-guided audio tour) all for a small additional entry charge. Over two centuries old, with sixteen bedrooms and occupied in China until the 1980’s, it’s unique in this country. It’s well worth the trip to PEM in and of itself.