A pair of extremely contrasting musical theatre events this weekend. On Saturday to Covent Garden to see a performance of Mark Antony Turnage's new opera Anna Nicole. Then on Sunday we saw Pimlico Opera performing Jule Styne's musical Sugar at HMP Send, with a mixed cast of professionals and inmates.
There is no doubt that Anna Nicole is a terrific show, but I'm not sure whether its a terrific opera. A full review will appear in due course.
Sugar was amazing. Sugar (Victoria Ward), Jerry (Duncan Patrick), Joe (Rob Gildon) and dancers Philippe Reynolds and Adam Scown were the only professionals in the cast with the remaining roles and chorus all being taken by a group of hard working inmates. Being a womens prison of course, this meant that the women played everything, from flappers and floozies, to gangsters and lascivious old men, with remarkable success.
No, the performance wasn't perfect, but the energy and vivacity of the cast were infectious and the gangster were pretty scarily effective.
Michael Moody's production (in Kate Guinness's set) was ingenious, with audience on opposite sides of a rectangle, the beach at one end, the train and the band at the other. The draw back was that sight lines were not perfect and with a mixed ability cast, having the conductor off stage visible only via TV monitor was not ideal. Perhaps Moody felt that the occasional moment of rhythmic instability in the chorus was a small price to pay for such a brilliant use of space.
Toby Purser was the hard working, behind the scenes conductor. Designs were by Kate Guinness and Tania Spooner.
It is a strange experience, going to the theatre in a prison. But the energy, exuberance and sheer enthusiasm of the cast were infectious. I only hope that something of this rubs off when the circus leaves and life gets back to normal routine.
Monday 28 February 2011
Labels:
opera review
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts this month
-
Septura I first became aware of the brass septet, Septura , when noting their 2017/18 concert series Kleptomania at St John's Smith...
-
Bach: Brandenburg Concertos - title page Six Concerts avec plusieurs instruments: Bach, Vivaldi, Telemann; London Handel Players, director ...
-
Retrospect Opera's recording of Stanford's Shamus O'Brien in rehearsal Charles Villiers Stanford’s opera Shamus O'Brien pre...
-
Stravinsky: The Rake's Progess - Act Three, scene one: the graveyard Frederick Jones, Jerome Knox - English Touring Opera (Photo: © Ric...
-
Rediscovering her Polish musical roots: Jennifer Pike on the personal connections in her latest discJennifer Pike (Photo Arno) With her latest recording, violinist Jennifer Pike has been rediscovering her Polish roots. The Polish Violi...
-
Poster for the première of Léo Delibes' Lakmé Léo Delibes: Lakmé; Haegee Lee, Elgan Llŷr Thomas, James Platt, Julien Van Mellaerts,...
-
Stephen McNeff: A Star Next to the Moon - Jacob Harrison (Pedro Páramo) - Guildhall School of Music & Drama (Photo: David Monteith-Hodg...
-
Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra I get all sorts of mail, people sending my information on concerts and recordings. Everything gets gl...
-
The Afghan Youth Orchestra On Thursday 7 March 2024, the Afghan Youth Orchestra makes its debut at the Southbank Centre at the start of its ...
-
Jonathan Dove: The Enchanted Pig - Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, 2023 (Photo Greg Milner) On Monday 29 February 2024, the Royal Birmingha...
What two types of classical music are reasonably comparable?
ReplyDeleteIs classical music relevant to the rock music we listen to today?
ReplyDeleteI suppose I'm interested in looking at contrast and differences than wanting similarities.
ReplyDeleteWhat music followed the classical period but precluded more modern genres such as blues, jazz and country?
ReplyDelete