Tag: operaworks

Every year we go to a fascinating show that is impossible to describe. The show is the finale of the Operaworks (FB) Advanced Artist Program called “Opera Reconstructed”. Here’s why this is so fascinating:

The Advanced Artist Program is for operatic performers in graduate school or beyond, who want to work in-depth on their repertoire – dramatically, musically, and physically. It’s goal is to teach the performers the “other” side of opera beyond singing. In particular, the not only learn how to address the business and marketing side, but they learn how to act and move on stage as actors and actresses — how to relate to other characters as characters, not just stand in front of a piano and sing. The program culminates with two performance shows of improvised opera. The show consists of three acts, not necessarily related. For each act, the students pick a location and come up with one paragraph bios of their characters and their relationship to the other characters in their act. They then pick arias, from both operas and other musical theatre, for each character to relate to another character. Improvising dialogue, they now put these characters and arias into a show. Here’s an example bio:

Brynne (Pulver), 42, was tragically murdered last year at her co-owned business, the speakeasy, Sassy Sally’s. She was the songstress for over fifteen years, and was a local favorite. A beloved mother, sister, and friend, she is survived by her daughter, Alexandra, and son-in-law Scott; her sister Johanna, and from what we are told, long-time lover Evelyn. Some say they still feel her presence in the speakeasy. Will she ever rest in peace?

If there is one constant in these shows, it is sex and violence. Perhaps this is because stronger emotions are easier to portray, to express. But the plots are convoluted (as one might expect from those familiar with opera), and remembering them a day after the fact can be difficult. It is also rare in these shows for a performer to sing more than one song — not a surprise when you have 32 performers and 32 songs in 2.5 hours.

This year the tree acts were only tangentially related: some characters from Act One reappeared in Act Three — even though it was almost 80 years later. Time discontinuity aside, that was really the only connection. Let’s look at the acts and the singers from what I remember.

Act One was called “The Speakeasy”, and took place in a 1920s speakeasy called Sassy Sally’s. Sally’s is run by Noelle (Thomson); she runs the establishment and interacts with all. Joanna (Watson) is the cigarette girl and assistant manager, and loves to daydream about her ex. Jaime (Billman) is coming off a messy divorce with Shelly (who reappears in Act Three). Evelyn (Tsen) was in love with Brynne (see above), and hasn’t been able to move on. But now she has feelings for Karen (Levandoski), a cop who was investigating the case.  Madelaine (M. Martinez) is the new songstress, and wants to end her days as a high-end prostitute. Maggie (Woolums) is a prep school graduate who was friends with Alexandra and Elena. Scott (Ballantine) was a guard at the state prison (which we see in the next act) and comes to the speakeasy after work. Alexandra (A. Martinez) is in a tumultuous marriage with Scott, and is also a bootlegger. Elena (Bird) has resorted to exotic dancing to support her drinking problem. Cole Perder (Douglas Sumi) was the speakeasy pianist, playing piano to fund his addiction.

Arias in this act were (in order) [🎶 title 🎼 composer 🎤 singer]:

• 🎶 Chacun à son goût 🎼 Die Fledermaus | Johann Strauss 🎤 Noelle Thomson (FB)
• 🎶 Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß 🎼 Guiditta | Franz Lehar 🎤 Gillian Watson (FB)
• 🎶 Johanna 🎼 Sweeney Todd | Stephen Sondheim  🎤 Matthew Billman (FB)
• 🎶 Steal Me, Sweet Thief 🎼 The Old Maid and the Thief | G. Menotti 🎤 Evelyn Tsen (FB)
• 🎶 Depuis le jour 🎼 Louise | Gustave Charpentier 🎤 Brynne Pulver (FB)
• 🎶 Sein wir wieder gut 🎼 Ariadne Auf Naxos | Richard Strauss 🎤 Madelaine Martinez (FB)
• 🎶 Glück, das mir verblieb 🎼 Die Tote Stadt | Erich Korngold 🎤 Karen Levandoski (FB)
• 🎶 Deh vieni, non tarder 🎼 Le nozze di Figaro | W. A. Mozart 🎤 Margaret Woolums (FB)
• 🎶 Mab, la reine de mendonges 🎼 Roméo Et Juliette | Charles Gounod 🎤 Scott Ballantine (FB)
• 🎶 Dearest Mama 🎼 The Ballad of Baby Doe | Douglas Moore 🎤 Alexandra Martinez (FB)

To me, the most notable performer was Ms. Thomson — she was comfortable as her character and kept interacting with others and playing throughout.

Act Two, “The Prison”, took place in a prison. It seemed to concern a racial war between white prisoners and, umm, non-white prisoners (who were either Asian or Hispanic). The prisoners and other characters were: Carmen (Metry), a former foster child who found heroin on the streets; Mengtao (Zhou), a Chinese Black Widow who murdered seven boyfriends and is now in love with the guard, Nick (Harmantzis), who was brought up in an abusive environment and has pent up frustration and anger. Azur (Valcour) was sexually brutalized, and so strangled her oppressors and drank their blood. Katherine (Bruton) is a housewife with particular values, so she poisoned the blacks that moved into her neighborhood with arsenic. Christina (Ramos) had her child taken away, and is soon to be released — she’s also the only sane person in the unit. Eva (Kastner-Puschl) is a slutty murderer who killed her boyfriend, and subordinate to the leader of the “Whities” and makes out with the guard. Margaret (Boeckman) is a lifer who killed a nun who physically abused a friend, who is also under the rule of white supremacist Katherine. Lily (Barber) drowned her infant daughter and 3-yo son. Lau (Pu) is from a prominent family who killed her fiance. Elle (Logan) is a southern girl who had a psychotic break and dismembered the torso of her ex-husband. Quite a fun bunch. Tickling the keys was Dolores Cliburn (Mark Robson), a cross-dressing former piano instructor with a penchant for arson.

Arias in this act were (in order) [🎶 title 🎼 composer 🎤 singer]:

• 🎶 Poor Wand’ring One 🎼 The Pirates of Penzance | Arthur Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert 🎤 Julia Metry (FB)
• 🎶 Porgi, amor, qualche ristoro 🎼 Le nozze di Figaro | W. A. Mozart 🎤 Mengtao Zhou (FB)
• 🎶 Les oiseaux dans la charmille 🎼 Les Contes d’Hoffmann | J. Offenbach 🎤 Anna Valcour (FB)
• 🎶 Arrière! Ie réchauffe les bons 🎼 L’enfant et les sortilèges | M. Ravel 🎤 Katherine Bruton (FB)
• 🎶 Morrò, ma prima in grazia 🎼 Un Ballo in Maschera | Giuseppe Verdi 🎤 Cynthia Ramos (FB)
• 🎶 Cruda Sorte 🎼  L’italiana in Algeri | Giacchino Rossini 🎤 Eva Kastner-Puschl (FB)
• 🎶 Oh Rest in the Lord 🎼 Elijah | Felix Mendelssohn 🎤 Margaret Boeckman (FB)
• 🎶 Willow Song 🎼 The Ballad of Baby Doe | Douglas Moore 🎤 Amy-Louise Barber (FB)
• 🎶 En fermant les yeux (Le Rêve) 🎼 Manon | Jules Massenet 🎤 Nicholas Harmantzis (FB)
• 🎶 Mein Herr Marquis 🎼 Die Fledermaus | Johann Strauss 🎤 Feiling Pu (FB)
• 🎶 Quando m’en vo’ 🎼 La Bohème | Giacomo Puccini 🎤 Elle Logan (FB)

I’d list memorable performances, but I was so involved with watching this one I forgot to make any notes.

Act Three, “The Family Reunion”, brought together a large disfunctional family to see Grandpa Mark (Mark Robson). The family members were as follows: Katia (Kotcherguina), a fun-loving party-going college student.  Shelley (yes, the one divorced from Jaime of the first act) (Mitchell), who is still hurting from the divorce (80 years ago?). Laura (Remy), the father of the family who came out last year and is transitioning, trying to connect with her two daughters, Ekaterina/Katia and Lindsey, who is estranged from her sisters Anna and Sarah. Anna (Buck), the mother of three who just wants perfection, and who has cut ties with two of her rebellious children, Michelle and Jen. Carolyn (Forte) is married to Andrew (Metzger), the winner of a reality show. Jen (Hansen) is a feminist lesbian. Sarah (Baumgarten) is a single-mother to Andrew, and has found Jesus and judgement. Michelle (Drever) left home at 16 and is a paleontologist and does makeup. Lindsey (Fuson) is a defiant teenager feeling abandoned with her father’s transition and her sister going off to college.

Arias in this act were (in order) [🎶 title 🎼 composer 🎤 singer]:

• 🎶 De tempeste il legno infranto 🎼  Giulio Cesare | George Frideric Handel 🎤 Ekaterina Kotcherguina (FB)
• 🎶 Still Hurting 🎼 The Last 5 Years | Jason Robert Brown 🎤 Shelley Mitchell (FB)
• 🎶 Obéissons quand leur voix appelle 🎼  Manon | Jules Massenet 🎤 Leigh Remy (FB)
• 🎶 V’adoro pupille 🎼 Giulio Cesare | George Frideric Handel 🎤 Anna Buck (FB)
• 🎶 Quanto è bella, quanto è cara 🎼 L’Elisir D’Amore | Gaetano Donizetti 🎤 Andrew Metzger (FB)
• 🎶 What Good Would the Moon Be? 🎼 Street Scene | Kurt Weill 🎤 Carolyn Forte (FB)
• 🎶 Tornami a vagheggiar 🎼  Alcina | George Frideric Handel 🎤 Jennifer Hansen (FB)
• 🎶 Prendi, per me sei libero 🎼 L’Elisir D’Amore | Gaetano Donizetti 🎤 Sarah Baumgarten (FB)
• 🎶 Sempre liberal 🎼 La Traviata | Giuseppe Verdi 🎤 Michelle Drever (FB)
• 🎶 I Want Magic 🎼 A Streetcar Named Desire | André Previn 🎤 Lindsey Fuson/FB
• 🎶 Say It Somehow 🎼 The Light in the Piazza | Adam Guettel 🎤 Matthew Billman (FB) and Shelley Mitchell (FB)

Again, this was an act where I was so caught up following the performances that I failed to make notes.

Technical Credits: Stage Direction: Zeffin Quinn Hollis (FB). Movement Coach: Dr. Paula Thomson. Improvisation Coach: Laura Parker. Artistic Director: Ann Baltz (FB). Additional faculty and Operaworks staff is listed on the Operaworks site.

Alas, yesterday’s was the last performance. Operaworks (FB) will have a winter production on January 16, 2016, so look for it.

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted. I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I subscribe at three theatres:  REP East (FB), The Colony Theatre (FB), and Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals).  I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows: August continues the theatre craziness, with a double header at Theatricum Botanicum (FB) the first weekend: “As You Like It” on Saturday, and the rescheduled “Green Grow The Lilacs” on Sunday.  The second weekend of August is equally busy, with “The Fabulous Lipitones” at  The Colony Theatre (FB) on Friday, our summer Mus-ique show on Saturday, and Concerts on the Green in Warner Park (with a Neil Diamond cover band) on Sunday. The third weekend of August is calmer, but only because we moved theatre off the weekend because my wife is driving my daughter’s car back to the bay area. As for me, I might very well go back to see the revised “Jesus Christ Superstar” at REP East (FB) — they are returning to have live music and I expect that will make a significant difference. The third week of August may see us back at REP East (FB) for their “secret seventh show”, which has been revealed to be “A Company of Wayward Saints“. After that we’ll need a vacation … but then again we might squeeze in Evita at the Maui Cultural Center (FB) the last weekend of August. September right now is mostly open, with the only ticketed show being “The Diviners” at REP East (FB) and a hold-the-date for “First Date” at The La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (FB). October will bring another Fringe Festival: the NoHo Fringe Festival (FB). October also has the following as ticketed or hold-the-dates: CSUN’s Urinetown (end of October – 10/30 or 11/1);  “The Best of Enemies” at The Colony Theatre (FB) (Ticketed for Sat 10/10); and  “Damn Yankees” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) (Ticketed for Sat 10/17). As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411.

 

When we were planning the shows for my wife’s birthday weekend, one of the shows on Goldstar had a description that said: “Each year at OperaWorks, the company creates a new opera out of a mash-up of famous arias and scenes from the opera canon. Taking the pieces that mean something to each performer, adding improvised dialogue and working them together into an original story allows both performers and audience to connect to these classical works from a contemporary viewpoint, and of course, it is never boring! If you are an old hand at opera then you will appreciate the way old favorites are transformed by a new context. If you are new to the scene, this is a great introduction to a genre that’s often hard to understand for the uninitiated.”

An opera mash-up. This sounded neat and different and fun and something completely out of our normal sphere of traditional plays, musical theatre, dance, or concerts. So last night saw us at CSUN for “The Cloud“, the final production of the 26th edition of OperaWorks.

OperaWorks (as the programs director noted at the start of the performance) is a program that brings together a group of aspiring opera performers (usually college age), and teaches them the business. That is, it doesn’t teach them how to sing, but rather how to perform: how to act on stage, how to move in a non-operative fashion, how to interact with other characters on stage, and how to do the things that moves the student from being a “singer” to being a “performer”. The production we saw was the culmination of this year’s advanced artist program. The students in the program each selected an aria from whatever opera they wanted. They then combined them, created characters, created a storyline, and performed it. The result was fascinating–something that I (as a more traditional theatre audience) hadn’t seen before. I couldn’t understand the arias (other than what was in the program), but I could feel the emotion. The only indication the songs were out of context was the shifting language of the words. It was just wonderful.

The program was constructed as three acts. Just before each act, the audience was given a sheet listing the arias and the characters in that act. I’ll try to summarize these and comment on what I saw.

Act I took place in a New York Subway. There were a few basic storylines that interacted, ending up (as most operas do) with death. As the act opens, we see the characters on the subway. The first interaction is between Lindsay (Lindsay Reigel – FB), a janitor, and Jenna (Jenna Siladie – FB). They had been in rehab together; Lindsay made it out, but Jenna didn’t. Lindsay tries to convince Jenna to try again, but Jenna resists, singing “Voyons, Manon” (Manon, Jules Massenet). Jenna then interacts with Anna (Anna Ward – FB), who is obsessed with her cell phone. She sings “O luce de quest anima” (Linda de Chamounix, Donizetti) [O light of my life, I will only live for you] about her love of her cell phone. Jenna convinces her to try drugs instead. Other characters we meet over the course of the act include Alexis (Alexis Alfaro), who is looking to meet his love from the Internet, Alina (Alina Roitstein/FB). Alina, however, has a secret that only Madame Lavonna (Amanda McGarry – FB), the owner of a high-end escort service, knows. Madame Lavonna, always on the lookout for talent, attempts to recruit Kimberly (Kimberly Waite/FB), a runaway needing money. Lavonna also has to deal with the departure of one of her top escorts, Lisa (Lisa Stidham). Lisa is leaving to be with Brendan (Brendan Stone), a former CEO of a large hedge fund company, fired for unethical business practices after his now ex-wife, Cass (Cass Panuska – FB) turned him in.  Cass is also in the subway, wandering and pregnant, living as a pickpocket. Anyway, Lavonna doesn’t want Lisa to leave, so she dispatches Alyssa (Alyssa Narum/FB) to kill her. Alyssa is a paid assassin working for Madame Lavonna; she is also Kimberly’s estranged sister and doesn’t want her to go work for the Madame. Lastly, playing piano was Kelly Trackarumblin (Kelly Horsted – FB), the last of a long line of toll both operators.

This is much more complicated than one sees in the simplified world of music theatre. I’m sure most of this is due to the nature of the mashup, but I also understand convoluted stories and characters are traditional in the opera world. Arias in the act, other than ones I mentioned above, were “Dies Bildnis is bezaubernd schön” (Die Zauberflöte, Mozart); “In uomini, in soldati” (Così fan tutte, Mozart); “Ma quando tornerai” (Alcina, Händel), “Warm as the Autumn Light” (The Ballad of Baby Doe, Moore); “Notre amour” (Fauré), “Que fais-tu, blance tourerelle” (Roméo et Juliette, Gounod), “Hence, hence, Iris hence away!” (Semele, Händel), “Je veux vivre dans la reve” (Roméo et Juliette, Gounod), and “Dove sono i bei momenti” (Le nozze di Figaro, Mozart). Of course, the artists did a wonderful job with the music. Watching them sing you could see that they love this music; you could also see how an opera singer sings differently than a musical theatre performer. Where I saw this most was when Cass Panuska was singing her Mozart aria. She appears to be pregnant in real life, and it was fascinating to watch the muscles in her diaphragm move her baby as she sang. What a wonderful way to be rocked to sleep! You don’t see that power and concentration in a typical musical theatre performer. What was more interesting in this act was watching the artists deal with being actors: creating characters, even if they were in the background. I noticed this particularly in the movements of Jenna in the background, who stayed in character as the drug addict, or Alyssa slinking around as the assassin (as well as the movements of Cass, who was sneaking around stealing things). About the only negative here (which was truly minor) was Amanda’s Madame Lavonna. Her singing voice was wonderful, but a couple of times her speaking voice had more of the operatic timber to it than did any other character.  But that’s truly minor; the performances here were wonderful.

Act II was completely different. Act II took place in a wax museum (they said it was abandoned, but an abandoned museum wouldn’t be putting up new displays or have a guard). As in “Night at the Museum”, the waxworks come alive in the evening and interact with each other. The quest for love was a big theme here: both between the characters, and between the guard and one of the mannequins who is currently characterless. This act opened with the guard, Josef (Josef Curtis/FB) bringing in Dasha (Dasha Jensen – FB), a confused mannequin stripped of her identity, longing to be touched. Watching this is Annalise (Annalise Belnap – FB), a teenager lost in drug addition. Other characters in the wax museum were  Dorothy Louise Taliaferro “Del” Martin (Maria Bellanca – FB), the first lesbian to be married in California; “Del” was in love with Melissa Scott (Alyssa Callaghan/FB), a pastor in denial about her porn star past. Scott is loved by Dr. Homer Adkins (Anthony Whitson-Martini – FB), a chemist who has trouble accepting the relationship. Also at the museum is Lolita Lebrón (Zohaniris Torres/FB), a Puerto Rico nationalist, Louise Ranier (Meera Crow – FB), the first woman to win two consecutive Oscars; Charlotte Brontë (Isabella Ivy – FB), the author of Jayne Eyre; Selena Quintanilla (Andrea Flores – FB), the Queen of Tejano Music, and Walter Hagan (Daniel Hunter-Holly), a professional golfer. No real relationships here, other than the fact that Hagan is a womanizer and attempts to hit on anything (which naturally evokes reactions in the other characters–particularly Lolita Lebrón. Liberace (Eric Sedgwick – FB) was at the piano.

Arias in Act II were “Lonely House (Street Scene, Weill); “Je suis encor tout étourdie” (Manon, Massenet); “When the air sings of summer” (The Old Maid and the Thief, Menotti), “Meine Lippen, sie Küßen so heiß” (Giuditta, Lehár); “Canto Negro” (Cinco Canciones Negras, Montsalvatge), “Regnava nel silenzio” (Lucia de Lammermoor, Donizetti), “Vedrai, carino” (Don Giovanni, Mozart), “Nobles seigneurs, salut!” (Les Huguenots, Meyerbeer), “La maja y el ruiseñor” (Goyescas, Granados), “Vedró mentr’io sospiro (Le nozze di Figaro, Mozart), “Chévere” (Cinco Canciones Negras, Montsalvatge), and “Chi il bel sogno di Doretta” (La Rondine, Puccini). As in Act I, the singing her was top-notch; I was particuarly taken by the performances by Zohaniris Torres, Maria Bellance, Isabella Ivy, and in particular, Dasha Jensen. Jensen was remarkable especially because her costume permitted one to watch her incredible muscle control. Again, it was also fun to watch the artists learn to play characters, in particular Ivy’s Brontë, Bellanca’s Martin, the anger and interactions between Hunter-Holly’s Hagan and Whitson-Martini’s Adkins, and the fire and anger of Torres’ Lebrón.

Act III was the inspiration for the title of the piece, as it takes place in the Internet cloud. Yes, yes, I know — but we’re dealing with opera folks, not engineers like me… so suspend your disbelief (just like you did when you watched Tron). We’re introduced to the cloud through Erin (Erin Anderson – FB), an “oracle” who can connect you with any information in exchange for “likes”. As the act begins, we meet Simon (Simon Barrad – FB), a porn start who has become addicted to his own sexually-deviant website. Simon has created a virus, Sarah (Sarah Young – FB) and unleashed it to destroy the Internet in order to reconnect with Tiffany (Tiffany Mortensen – FB), his former love. Opposing Simon are Karen (Karen Hogle Brown), an online website hosts who controls Simon through sexual addition, and Alex (Alexandra Hill – FB), a CIA spy on a mission to prevent the attack. Erin, the Oracle, directs Alex to talk to Greg (Gregory Voinier – FB), Simon’s business parter, who is now focused on Jessica (Jessica Vadney – FB), an online reality-sex star. Greg is estranged from his daughter, Laurel (Laurel Semerdjian/FB), who is looking for love online to deal with her desk job at the CIA. Lastly, Tiffany is supported by Theresa (Theresa Pilz – FB), the avatar of her deceased mother. Overseeing this all is HRH Kevin (Kevin Bylsma – FB), the all knowing all seeing pianist CEO of the Universe.

Arias in Act III were “Come now a roundel” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Britten); “Come scoglio” (Così fan tutte, Mozart), “No word from Tom” (The Rake’s Progress, Stravinsky), “Smanie implacabili” (Così fan tutte, Mozart), “Vision fugitive” (Hérodiade, Massenet), “Be kind and courteous” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Britten), “Laurie’s Song” (The Tender Land, Copland), “Der Hölle Rache” (Die Zauberflöte, Mozart), “Flowers bring to every year” (The Rape of Lucretia, Britten),  “Pierrot’s Tanzlied” (Die Tote Stadt, Korngold), and the finale, “Des cendres de ton coeur, réchauffe ton génie” (Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Offenbach). Again, the singing was at the top of the game; in particular, the finale when all of the artists came together to blow the roof off the recital hall. But, of course, the focus wasn’t the singing, it was the acting. A particular standout here was Erin Anderson, who was in character throughout the intermission (handing out “likes” for the OperaWorks Facebook page); her behavior reminded me of the marionette’s from Wisdom 2116. It was also fun to watch her interaction with Jessica Vadney. Jessica was very, umm, well endowed, which worked well with her character as an online sex star. In a battle to get more “likes” with Erin, the interchange over chests (as Erin was much less endowed) was quite well played. Of course, as operas will do, there was lots of death in this one, including the death of the Internet (which troubled me — I was wondering if it was a reflection of the artists on the problems created by technology).

So, over these three acts, was there a theme? I think so, and it was essentially the same theme that we saw Friday night in Fluffy Bunnies: the search for a love and meaningful relationships.

[ETA: Here are some pictures of the production.]

This production also got me thinking about the differences between traditional “Musicals” and “Opera”. After all, there are some sung-through musicals — look at Evita, Sweeney Todd, Rent, and even productions such as The Pirates of Penzance. What makes these musicals as opposed to opera. Is it the style of the music? The style of the performance? Particular conventions of the story? This production got me curious about that, and the only way to find out is to attend more opera to see the difference.

Turning to the technical. The stage (as well as the entire recital hall) was adorned with pillars that were covered with pictures that either (a) reflected characters in the wax museum, (b) reflected characters in “the cloud”, or (c) reflected the individuals in the program. It was fascinating to wander around and look at these; they actually also provided props for use in Act III.  Lighting was a mixture of normal leikos and overhead lights that could be individually controlled. For the most part, this worked well, although there were times the stage was not lit as it should have been, or the focus was off slightly. This was probably an artifact of the recital hall; the normal stages were probably unavailable due to TADW productions. There was no program credit for lighting design. This production didn’t need any sound design, given the voices. From what I could determine, costumes were provided by the artists themselves; there was no program credit for costumes. Zeffin Quinn Hollis (FB) was the stage director.

OperaWorks is an annual program whose summer program is held at CSUN. There is one more performance of “The Cloud” at 2:00 pm today. Tickets are available at the door or online.

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts: Next weekend sees us at a more traditional musical, specifically “Meet Me In St. Louis” at Cabrillo Music Theatre in Thousand Oaks. August has a bit less, as we’re going to have some vacation days and will be taking Erin to start UC Berkeley. We’ve only got two shows scheduled: “Memphis” at the Pantages at the beginning of the month, and “Play Dates” at REP East at the end of the month. As an aside: we will be vacationing in Palm Springs, so if anyone knows of live theatre going on there in August, let me know. In September theatre activity resumes, beginning with “Blame It On Beckett” at the Colony Theatre on September 1 and “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure” at REP East on September 29. I”m also looking into “Silence: The Musical” at the Hayworth Theatre, which starts September 8 and runs through December, and “Xanadu” at DOMA, which starts September 7 and runs for about 3 weeks. October brings some traveling for family: the Cal Parents Weekend at UCB (looking less likely now), and the bat-mitzvah of a cousin in Fresno. It will also bring “American Fiesta” at the Colony Theatre, “The Book of Mormon” at Broadway LA/The Pantages, and “1776” at Cabrillo Music Theatre. Continuing the look ahead: November will bring “Moonlight and Magnolias” at REP East, which is booked for the end of the month. It may also bring “Seminar” at The Ahmanson Theatre (still undecided on ticketing) and a concert performance of Raul Esparza at VPAC, especially if Erin flies in for it (he’s singing on her birthday). Non-theatrically, it will also bring “Day Out with Thomas” at OERM (certainly on some or all of Veterans Day weekend – November 10-11-12). Lastly, to close out the year, December has nothing formally scheduled (other than ACSAC), but will likely bring “Anything Goes” at the Ahmanson, and may bring “Judy Collins” at VPAC. Lastly, what few dates we do have open may be filled by productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411, or discussed in the various LA Stage Blogs I read (I particularly recommend Musicals in LA and LA Stage Times).