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Saturday, Nov 21, 2009
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Black Box's cabaret alluring and accessible
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| Black Box's cabaret alluring and accessible | ||
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by Miryam Gordon -
SGN A&E Writer Sondheim, Newman and Weill (A cabaret)V Directed by Arne ZasloveV August 27 V Columbia City Theater Black Box Opera Theater performed an evening of songs chosen from the works of Stephen Sondheim, Kurt Weill and Randy Newman at the Columbia City Theatre. Five singing professionals, Victor Benedetti (also artistic director), Mary Jo DuGaw, Glenn Guhr, Dana Johnson, and Ross Hauck took stage to present three acts of song on August 27. Their voices, overall, are lovely to listen to, and they were deftly accompanied by Rhonda Kline on piano. The choice of what songs to perform and which order to perform them was not credited to any specific person. The choices were eclectic and the order was a bit odd. If it had an arc, it would seem that Act 1 was more somber, Act 2 was lighthearted and Act 3 was perhaps meant to be dramatic. The audience is left to imagine what connects Randy Newman's song, "Real Emotional Girl," to Stephen Sondheim's "Another 100 People." Or why Newman's "Davy the Fat Boy" was chosen at all. Arne Zaslove, a longtime Seattle director, is noted as the director for the production. Perhaps there is a tendency for someone with a particular focus to overemphasize that focus to the detriment of other aspects of a production - a sound designer usually turns up the sound, for instance - and in this case, there was an overabundance of "acting" in the progression of songs, which took often attention from the songs themselves. A few of the standouts of the evening were "Not While I'm Around," Sondheim's ballad from Sweeney Todd of a father to a baby, sung with quiet passion by Ross Hauck; "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" (Weill from One Touch of Venus) by Dana Johnson; and "Being Alive" (Sondheim from Company) by Victor Benedetti. Hauck's rendition of Newman's "Simon Smith and His Dancing Bear" was accompanied by a really great teddy bear. If part of the mission of BBOT is to help attract more audience to opera, a cabaret such as this might bridge the divide for people who love musicals, but haven't quite gotten all the way to opera. Past productions include comic opera one-acts that might encourage more new audiences, as well. No upcoming productions are listed on their website (blackboxoperatheater.com), but hopefully, next up will be another evening of one-acts or comic operas to continue the accessible and agreeable trend. |
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