Shameless plugging, May 2010 edition

[chanaleh]

I'm singing Tessa in mitgsp's The Gondoliers! It opens in 11 days! You should all come see it! (Seriously, it's adorable. Plus -- Venice! Oh, it's too much happiness!)

Then, Honorable Menschen (now featuring cycon!) is once again joining Techiya to open for their spring concert, 8pm on Sunday, May 9 (a.k.a. Mother's Day). It's FREE! You should all come see it!

Lastly, for those who missed ncfo's Springtime for Haman last month (in which I played Haman's wife Zeresh), footage is now up on a new NCFamilyOpera YouTube channel! You can even see just my scene (with the illustrious SCO#1 as Haman): part 1, part 2, and part 3. Yay!

... There was more, but right now I forget. BED NAO PLZ. *zonk*

Comments

[besamim.livejournal.com]

You can even see just my scene

Bravissima! *Applause and whistles* I love it, particularly your solo in the second clip. I must say, though, that while a sympathetic Zeresh, not simply prophesying her husband's doom but actively urging him to avoid it, is certainly a plausible interpretation of her one line in the original text, I'm not entirely sold on the sympathetic Haman (y"sh). He is, after all, our very own "two minutes' hate" guy, and for good (if historically fictional in his case) reason.

I'm curious: why is the opera, which from these excerpts anyway seems to be a straightforward drama, called Springtime for Haman, suggesting a more typical Purim-spiel tone? Or was your scene an exception to the overall mood?

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

It's not really a straightforward drama -- it certainly takes a light touch in many places (this scene being one of the exceptions, or rather, the beginning is lighter than the end).

However, it is a rather complex little play, really. It very intentionally reworks Haman to be a more sympathetic and indeed tragic character -- his tragic flaw being his pride; it sets up a bit at the beginning where the Agagites are second-class citizens in Persia, so that it becomes really important to Haman that everyone bow down to him, and also how the Jews were responsible for bringing down *his* people (i.e. smiting the Amalekites) so he feels particularly, personally galled by Mordechai's refusal. (Not sure how historically defensible that is, but it adds an interesting layer to the narrative.) And it makes Mordechai out to be, while not a villain, more of a schemer and political social climber (e.g., his motive in getting Esther into the palace was to bolster his *own* standing).

So it's not exactly a Purimshpiel in the sense of reinforcing the archetypes. (Though awhyzip came out of the performance going, "Best! Purimshpiel! Evar!") The composer is himself Jewish, but also an MIT guy from way back and, as you might guess, a bit of an iconoclast in that intellectual-Cambridge way ;-) But there are some really good bits, including songs that made me cry every time (both Mordechai's, interestingly). You'd enjoy watching the whole thing.

-- Oh, but to answer your actual question about the title: I think he just couldn't resist!!! (He even *uses* that musical riff, in the scene where Haman is casting the pur -- Adar, springtime, you know.) And, on the whole, it's really not a bad fit for the tone. Note that the prequel opera is called simply "The Coronation of Esther", and while I haven't seen that one to compare the material, it's a MUCH less snappy title. ;-)

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

Is there a facebook invite for the concert on Mother's Day? I don't know that I can make it--Mother's Day is not a particularly happy day for me, but I might if it turns out I can. Thanks for posting about it:)

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Yup! Thanks for the reminder, I just went and invited everyone I have flagged on FB as "Boston". :-)

And *hugs* regarding Mother's Day.

[trowa-barton.livejournal.com]

I heard about #1.
Still, break legs, break balls!