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CONTENTSCONGRATULATIONS
TO . . ., 3 LIVE EVENTS I
Hear Museum Art (B.L.C./Greenfest) <> Mad Dreams and Brits
(Hickey), 6 DOTTED NOTES
INTERVIEW SPEAKING OUT!
THE PRINTED WORD RECORDINGSÀ outrance
à la Anderson (de Clef Piñeiro) <> RECENT RELEASES, 31 THE
PUZZLE CORNER: COMPOSER INDEX, 34 BULLETIN BOARD, 35 WEB SUPPLEMENTLive EventsEquinox
Chamber Players In Concert for Impact CD ReviewsHarrison
Birtwistle: Refrains and Choruses ObituariesArthur
Berger (1912-2003) |
[The
following text is not a review, but rather a factual report on a project
undertaken by one of NMC’s associate editors] A Progress Report:At the Temple of Dramatic StudiesB.L.C. ©2003Michael Dellaira:
Cheri. Libretto by Susan Yankowitz from the novel by Colette.
Carlin Glynn, director. With Maggi-Meg Reed and Lucas Steele. Actors
Studio’s Playwrights-Directors Unit, Lee Strasberg Theater, NY,
NY. June 30th. When Michael Dellaira set out to work on his opera Cheri he surely had no idea how much interest and attention this project would garner from both customary and unexpected sources. After an early workshop presentation at Lou Rodgers’ Golden Fleece, he was invited by the Center for Contemporary Opera to put the work on stage in a most unusual presentation. The idea was to perform this lyrical work in two contrasting modes as it turned out: have one act performed by singers with a leaning toward Broadway theater and the second by operatically trained singers. The results were judged by Leo Kraft as “original and stimulating” (See NMC, v10 #1, p.17). There were still other positive comments in the press, and the word soon got around. Estelle Parsons, current director of the Playwrights-Directors Unit of The Actors Studio, the famed bastion of Method Acting, heard about this novel theater piece and invited Dellaira and Yankowitz to present it there. But the schedule they adopted allowed only two weeks for rehearsals and musical rewrites; the composer and librettist then decided to prepare the two acts intact, but with some of the lines spoken rather than sung. This decision came about after an evaluation made with Carlin Glynn (of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas fame), whom Ms. Parsons had asked to direct the Cheri project. Thus a redirection, a new focus took place, and Cheri was performed in an interim version to highlight what worked and what did not. While the studio still classified Cheri as an opera, Dellaira and Yankowitz saw an opportunity to refashion it as a sort of hybrid of opera and music theater.
At the performance one could see immediately that the studio took a no-nonsense position on this enterprise and selected actors who could sing and singers who could act. They were all splendid. Casting was done with factors such as age, voice type and physical attributes carefully considered. The only unfortunate element was a clanky piano (played by Michael Pilafian), which did not appear to be a problem to the careful observer and listener who was looking for other elements. For one thing, this listener could hear just about every sung word, and that is something Mr. Dellaira was stressing. The leads were especially well done, with the part of Lea sung by mezzo-soprano Maggi-Meg Reed and Cheri by tenor Lucas Steele. With some clever staging, the work was made to look like a complete entity, the two acts separated by many years so as to paint a believable picture of the changed lives and the changes in heart and mind of the main characters. Perhaps The Method helps make such restaging work. Following the performance, the Studio’s principal raison d’etre became clear to guests. Many in the audience were members and were encouraged, perhaps expected, to comment on the work. We stress that the reading was held as part of a forum for feedback from Studio members and from invited professionals. This is how the Studio develops such works. A panel was also assembled to lead the discussion. It was made up of Ellen Burstyn (one of the three presidents of the studio*), Lee Grant, Peter Masterson, William Greaves, and it was moderated by Patricia Bosworth. Interestingly, Ms. Grant confessed she did not understand modern music, a term Mr. Dellaira claims he rarely hears applied to his work. A member of the audience felt the music didn’t sound very French to him. On a more positive note, Mr. Greaves was pleased to see a marriage of music with The Method.It was a most interesting
and informative afternoon. But where does it all go from here? Mr. Dellaira
and Ms. Yankowitz will have some time to continue work on the opera,
before the Actors Studio repeats the project next June in a revised
presentation. The goal is to then move the process forward to a short
run at the Studio, and then hopefully to an off-Broadway theater. |