From G&S sings to Song of Songs

[chanaleh]

So, lately, I've been doing and seeing some awesome stuff, performance-wise.

Two weekends ago, I went and did the negass 35th Anniversary Sing-Out marathon, wherein they sang through (no dialogue) all 13 extant Gilbert & Sullivan operettas in two days.

They did casting by application, basically, so I got signed up to sing three solo roles all on the Sunday, which was perfect: Tessa in The Gondoliers (which I did for mitgsp last spring), Iolanthe in Iolanthe, and Kalyba (one of the two little princesses) in Utopia, Ltd..

I would have liked to attend more of the entire weekend, but my experience at the Brown University G&S marathon with DD at the end of April suggested that I would blow out my voice for Sunday if I went and sang all day Saturday. So I just drifted in for a few hours Saturday afternoon and sat in the audience to sing Ruddigore and Sorcerer (with cycon turning out a brilliant J.W. Wells).

On Sunday: Gondo went over great, with cycon as my Giuseppe. Iolanthe I always love -- partly because it was my first G&S experience, I think, and my considered opinion is that while it can be a fun show to watch, it's WAY more enjoyable actually being in it. (Best G&S women's chorus ever: stompy fairies!) The role of Iolanthe herself is actually pretty small, but her song at the end where she appeals to the Lord Chancellor (and the subsequent passage of Big Reveal and Impending Doom)? I get literal chills from singing it, every time. :-) And it was fun to finally get to perform with thomasfreund, who was spectacular as the LC.

I stayed on stage to sing with the chorus for Yeomen (I bought scores for that and Ruddigore, in preparation, so I have a relatively complete collection now). And then Utopia, which I can kind of take or leave (and didn't do such a great job of preparing my part in any case), but it was reasonably fun to go through and remember some of the bits that *are* good. (Plus the Blue Hill Troupe in NYC, to which I have been commended, will be doing it this coming year, so... good to get a refresher!)

Overall, I had a ball, met a bunch of new people (including some NYC folks with some good ideas about what to get involved with there), and enjoyed the subsequent frenzy of activity on the NEGASS Facebook group very much. Tons of gratitude to suntop, ods_bodikins, and thomasfreund for putting the whole thing together.

Also, at the Sing-Out, MLC was advertising the Longwood Opera's annual G&S Scenes Night (co-sponsored by negass), and I wrote afterwards and asked her if I could be in it (probably with "When A Merry Maiden Marries"), and she said yes! And asked if I wanted to recruit people to do an ensemble as well! Does anyone want to go in on a madrigal or something? It sounds like they especially need men to round out the program, so I'm going to send an email to some of those personally, but talk to me in any case. Or, y'know, Marion, or anyone you think relevant. :-)

There are also Monday-night sing-throughs of Mikado, Pirates, and Iolanthe scheduled for July.

Audience-wise: A week ago Thursday, I took the yeshiva bochur to this pop-music adaptation of Song of Songs at the BCA. (Side note: I hate it when groups don't put each "current" show on its own permanently-linkable, subsequently-available page; same goes for negass about the sing-out! thank you theatreatfirst for having always done this right! thank goodness also for Facebook events! but anyway... :-)

I was not at all sure it would be better than cringe-worthy, but I am always a sucker for Biblical material. Specifically, or perhaps relatedly, I wasn't sure how goyish a production it would turn out to be, but to my delight, it was very Jewish. (In fact, when we walked in, the audience was at least 25% composed of Jews I recognized, mostly even from what I consider the Cambridge Jewish community -- including magid, who waved us to front-row seats directly in front of her! -- and so was the donors/supporters list in the program, which amused me even more.) Turns out the composer (and company founder) is also the arts chair at Gann Academy. :-)

So what was it like, in fact? It was not so much a play as a music and dance revue with some dialogue, organized around the character of a teenage girl both pondering/observing love (as played out by two additional women and two men in a variety of impressionistic scenes) and experiencing it for the first time. It had a certain grunge aesthetic, at least visually (I'm not sure how I would classify it musically), but it was really quite beautiful at the same time. And, yes, passionate (in fact YB said afterwards that it was a bit outside his comfort zone to watch, especially from so close up! But there was nothing about it that struck me as the least bit obscene or even particularly explicit, just... highly charged, well-choreographed, very embodied contact between the characters). If you're curious, you can get the soundtrack here. I certainly had to, because there was at least one piece I thought had potential for a good Menschen arrangement. :-)

This is not even to mention theatreatfirst's Equus, which was remarkably (would you all be offended if I said "surprisingly"?) well done and of course deeply thought-provoking, and ASS's Midsummer Night's Dream, which I enjoyed very much despite its provoking no thought whatsoever. ;-)

Is anything going on tonight that we should go see?? (Assuming I make some headway on my website rebuild, which is my major goal for this weekend.)

P.S. In non-theatrical news, my workplace is looking to hire a school social worker OR clinical psychologist for grades K-5. (They're -- by which I mean I'm -- also still looking to replace me, in case anyone interested missed that memo.)

Comments

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

Much though singing G&S would be a lot of fun, it might be the tipping point for overcommitment. It's been ages since I sang any and I miss it; but I have the mid-July PMRP shows, plus something I'm doing a (very) small thing for in September that nonetheless takes time, plus the Big Broadcast of 1954 toward the end of October.

[moria923.livejournal.com]

I know you'll have your choice of takers (especially women), but I'd love to sing a G&S madrigal with you, and I can do the contralto part!

[dpolicar]

I might, I might not... it would depend a lot on why you were surprised, I suppose. :-)

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

I'd love to try the sing-outs and madrigals sometime. However, now is not that time. :)

[navrins]

Hm, I'd probably have time for some singing during the summer. I think you know my tastes and abilities along those lines.

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

I'm not offended, assuming you thought it would be fine and were merely surprised that it was spectacular :) I'm very glad that you had a chance to see it.

[cycon.livejournal.com]

Holy crap!! When did Juliet resume her summer sings?!

[awfief.livejournal.com]

Wow, I feel so uncultured compared to you!

Hey, do you have any desire to see The Addams Family on Broadway? I'm considering selling our tickets, mid mezzanine, A101 and A103, face value $92 each, for Tue Sep 27 2011 at 7 pm (the night before the first night of Rosh Hashanah). The issue is monetary, we probably need to buy Tony a new computer RSN.

You were the first person I thought of, if you don't want them I'll post to LJ/FB and see who does.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

I'm not that keen on it offhand, to be honest; see if you get any more eager takers, and I'll think about it if not? But thanks for thinking of me :-)

[desireearmfeldt]

I might be up for madrigal singing (rather, I'd love to do madrigal singing, I'd want to know what the logistics involved were before actually volunteering :) ) -- sadly, G&S is a bit short on the 17-women numbers that aren't outright chorus numbers...