Saturday, June 24, 2017

The Regency Era invades Boca with Sense and Sensibility



Calling all Janeites!  Calling all Janeites!  Mr. Henry Dashwood has died, leaving his home to John, son from his first marriage, and John’s scheming wife, Fanny, who has convinced her husband to banish his father’s second wife and her three daughters from their home, relegating them to Barton Cottage in Devonshire.  The shock of it all!  A mere cottage!  And the three young women, two of marriageable age, Elinor and Marianne, have no attachments and the bereft Dashwood women have but a very small inherited income.  If you are an inveterate Jane Austen enthusiast, you of course recognize this as the beginning of Sense and Sensibility, her first novel published in 1811.  It is a whirlwind novel of scandal, gossip, attachments made and attachments broken, the manners and mores of Regency England, and of course love.

Here is a wonderful adaptation written by Kate Hamill for the stage which opened last night, and a high energy production by FAU’s Department of Theatre and Dance.  Ultimately, the affections of the steadfast Edward Ferrars, and the stalwart Colonel Brandon win over the sensible Elinor and the mercurial Marianne, respectively, but before that much anticipated denouement, we are treated to a dizzying array of plot complications and impediments to love conquering all.

The cast made up mostly of MFA Graduate Students and two equity actors are all equally professional.  If this is the future of South Florida Theater, it will flourish.  It is a large cast including several members of “gossip groups,” sort of a Greek Chorus which brings the audience into the temper of the times.  Hilariously, they also function as dogs and horses in the play, just adding more action to what is already a lot of moving parts on stage as the minimalist scenery is on wheels and the cast is constantly moving them into new places. Comedic elements emerge throughout the production

Although it is impossible to comment on each and every performer (complete cast list below), they are all very convincing, but a special call out to Jessica Eaton who plays Fanny, her malice giving no grounds, and Traven Call who captures the essence of dog, horse, and finally the foppish brother of Edward, Robert Ferris.  Amanda Corbett plays Elinor and Gabriela Tortoledo is Marianne, both performing flawlessly in these two demanding major roles.  

What makes this production so enjoyable is the period Regency costumes (Dawn Shamburger), the music of the times (Sound Design by Rich Szczublewski), the fast moving choreography (kudos to Jean-Louis Baldet the Director and Suzanne Clement Jones, Stage Manager), and, again, a cast thoroughly committed to their craft.  Technical and Lighting Design is by Thomas M. Shorrock, and K. April Soroko is Scenic Designer.  A special mention goes to the Dialect Coach Jenna Wyatt -- getting that right is half the battle in such a production.

If there is one minor quibble (not to me personally, but it might be to some) it is the length, more than 2-1 / 2 hours including intermission.  Of course a familiarity with the novel would be helpful.  If you haven’t read it, there is always Wikipedia.  But after you’ve seen it, maybe you will want to read it as well as all of Jane Austen and become a Janeite like my wife Ann! 

CAST

Elinor Dashwood...................................Amanda Corbett+
Marianne Dashwood.............................Gabriela Iortoledo+
Margaret Dashwood..............................Abby Nigro
Mrs. Dashwood.....................................Kathryn Lee Johnston*
John Dashwood/Dr. Harris/Gossip E...Gray West+
Edward Ferrars......................................Sean Patrick Gibbons+
Fanny (Ferrars) Dashwood....................Jessica Eaton+
Colonel Brandon....................................Stephen Kaiser+
John Willoughby....................................Zak Westfall+
Sir John Middleton................................Barry Tarallo*
Mrs. Jennings.........................................Rachel Finley+
Lucy Steele/Gossip C.............................Laura M. Goetz
Anne Steele/Gossip D............................Savannah Marino
Robert Ferrars/Gossip E........................Trayven Call+
Gossip A.................................................Tara Collandra
Gossip B.................................................Erin Williams+

*Member of the Actors’ Equity Association (AEA)
+ M.F.A. Graduate Student

Amanda Corbett, Sean Patrick Gibbons and Gabriela Tortoledo  -Photo by Zak Westfall

Sense and Sensibility has Friday – Sunday performances 7 p.m. June 23 through July 22 with 2 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday as well at Studio One Theatre, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton.



Thursday, June 22, 2017

Too Late Now



We think of Lerner and Lowe as a team, but lyricist Alan Jay Lerner worked with other composers such as Burton Lane on the film Royal Wedding in 1951.  It includes this gem of a song, a memorable contribution to the Great American Songbook, touching lyrics by Lerner and a suitable Burton Lane melancholic melody.  Supposedly, they wrote it over the telephone. 

Although it’s been recorded by many, it’s Judy Garland’s sad rendition I think of as the song was written for her but she dropped out before Royal Wedding was filmed and was replaced by Jane Powell.  This YouTube recording was from her TV show, performed some dozen years later.  It takes on a genuine sadness given the back-story.

Too Late Now
Too late now to forget your smile
The way we cling when we danced awhile
Too late now to forget and go on with someone new

Too late now to forget your voice
The way one word makes my heart rejoice
Too late now to imagine myself away from you

All the things we've dreamed together
I relive when we're apart
All the tender words together
Live on in my heart

How could I ever close the door
And be the same as I was before?
Darling, no, no I can't anymore
It's too late now

My rendition in the “recording studio” of my living room has its technical drawbacks, but I tried to capture the pure simplicity of this wonderful melody.


Saturday, June 17, 2017

Sondheim Side by Side with Cecil and Mays



My favorite bass player, David Einhorn, knowing my love of Sondheim, gifted me Our Time, Tommy Cecil and Bill Mays’ incredible jazz interpretation of Sondheim’s work.  As it is indicated as “Volume 2” I was able to find their first CD of Sondheim’s music, appropriately called Side by Side.  I don’t think I’ve ever written a “plug” for anything in this space, but I make an exception for these two CDs. (Amazon carries both.)

Tommy Cecil and Bill Mays

They take the beautiful and frequently complex music of Sondheim to another level (although some of the pieces Sondheim was only the lyricist), probably the most unique jazz pieces I’ve ever heard.  It is an equal partnership between a gifted bassist and pianist.  We’ve seen Bill Mays at the Colony on Palm Beach, intended to go back this year, but learned that the Colony had cancelled his brunch gigs on Sunday, probably due to financial considerations.  He is perhaps one of the best jazz pianists at work today.

No drummer is necessary for this pair. In fact a drummer would interfere with their accomplishment, a unique collaboration of two gifted musicians, their voicing and rhythm just perfect.

Before these two CDs I had collected a series of Sondheim jazz albums by the Terry Trotter Trio, the only such authorized renditions by the great man himself, Stephen Sondheim.  I listen to them frequently but now I’m fixated on the innovative work of Cecil and Mays. Here are the tracks from the two CDs:

Side By Side (Sondheim Duos)

1 Something's Coming 7:09
2 Not While I'm Around 6:25
3 Broadway Baby 8:00
4 Every Day a Little Death 6:10
5 Ballad of Sweeney Todd 4:50
6 Small World 6:52
7 Side By Side By Side 5:27
8 Anyone Can Whistle 6:28
9 Comedy Tonight 7:06


Our Time (Sondheim Duos 2)

1 Everybody Says Don't  5:33
2 Johanna 3:44
3 Our Time5:59  
4 Moments in the Woods 6:09
5 Finishing the Hat 4:48
6 The Miller's Son 5:55  
7 Losing My Mind 4:19
8 The Best Thing That Has Ever Happened 5:44
9 Agony 6:05
10 Being Alive 5:44
11 Rich and Happy 6:08

Friday, June 16, 2017

I Love My Wife



Cy Coleman’s I Love My Wife is the title song from his 1977 musical about wife swapping – a very popular “sport” in those days, the same year NYC’s Plato's Retreat opened for swingers.  After the fantasying by the husbands in the show, they come to the conclusion that they have the best in their own wives.  Thus this song.  If it were not for Frank Sinatra perhaps the song would be as forgotten as the musical but, thankfully, Sinatra saw the genius of this beautiful ballad, the repeated musical phrases resulting in such a haunting melody.  He recorded it as a single using a Nelson Riddle chart. The lyrics, by Michael Stewart, latch onto those musical phrases (these of course are not the entire lyrics):

But just in case, you didn't know
I love my wife

and later in the song….

But just in case, you hadn't heard
I love my wife

and later again…

But just in case, you couldn't guess
I love my wife

and the concluding

But just in case, you couldn't guess
Or hadn't heard
Or didn't know
I love my wife
I love my wife
I love my wife

mmm….
I love my wife

My piano rendering of this wonderful melody is dedicated to my wife of nearly 50 years, Ann.


Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Flag Day Despoiled



I was going to write a piece about Flag Day with photos.

Now, the depressing news about the shooting at a baseball practice field of Republican members of the congressional baseball team leads to other thoughts.  Thankfully no one was killed other than the gunman.  Good riddance to him. And thankfully the brave Capitol Police were there to take him down.

But will this be a time that we pull together long after the incident?  Or will it just pull us further apart?

I’ve heard comments such as Representative Mo Brooks’  “It’s not easy to take when you see people around you being shot and you don’t have a weapon yourself.”  According to initial reports the deranged gunman had a military assault style weapon.  One can understand the helplessness and the impotence felt by Rep. Brooks.  It is an outrage that we cannot even enjoy our national pastime without feeling threatened this way.  And it is an outrage that political divisiveness should lead to any kind of violence.

But unless we all pull together the subsequent dialogue can go two divergent ways.  One could lead us down the path of greater authoritarianism and the call for arming more citizens (although a greater police presence is going to be necessary when many of our Representatives are in public venues).  The other path could call for the long-needed ban of military grade weapons.  Are we all supposed to be armed  with AR-15s on our baseball fields?  I’m no Pollyanna and know that such a ban would have little impact on what happens in the near future.  I’m thinking long term.  This is not about challenging the 2nd Amendment, and it is not about Republican vs. Democrat.  It’s about common sense banning military weapons, doing comprehensive background checks, expanding our treatment of mental illness, and developing better early warning signs of mentally disturbed people from social networks and prior arrests.

I worry about how this horrible incident will move the country in the future.  Will we come together, E pluribus unum, or be driven apart, politicizing this horror?  I look to the flag and wonder and hope.