OK, I know this is NYC-centric but I cannot overemphasize visiting Governors Island this summer. There is a new area opened, Liggett's Terrace, with a lot more areas for bike riders, several hammock groves, a great view of Lady Liberty (with an even better one to come!), etc.
Plus lots of ongoing fun all spring and summer long.
NOTE: Check on when to get on the ferry -- after a certain time (I *think* it's 11:30am) you'll pay a $2.00 round trip fee. Forewarned is forearmed.
I'll be there on 5/31/14 for the first installment of 'Rite of Summer' -- I know, it's jumping the gun.
ConcertMeister
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Back to the Barge (5/24/14)
The Barge, of course, is Bargemusic—an actual barge moored on the Brooklyn side of the East River—that presents year-round concerts, and that includes free Saturday afternoon Family Concerts. I hadn’t been there in a while, so imagine my surprise when I saw a holiday weekend concert on their schedule. I went, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Mark Peskanov, violin, and Doris Stevenson, piano, performed works of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Mr. Peskanov, who is also the Executive Director of Bargemusic, got the concert off to a nice start with a solo, the Siciliana from the Bach G minor sonata. He plays Bach very well and it’s obvious that he really enjoys it, as well.
Beethoven’s Sonata #5 in F Major (“Spring”) for violin and piano followed. The first movement was bright and somewhat dramatic, and a bit lengthy but interesting. (The violinist retuned before the second movement—not unheard of, but not particularly usual for him, either.) The next movement was slow and gentle, but still with some filigree runs for both piano and violin. The third was dance-like and had an off-the-beat rhythmic motif, while the last was playful. My scribbled notes had “scherzo”? As a slight aside here, the Bargemusic concerts are usually announced from the stage, so I have to do a bit more guesswork. The ‘con’ is that I have to do a little guesswork. The ‘pro’ is that I also usually do more online exploration afterward, and end up learning a bit more. It was a rondo, not a scherzo.
Up next was a single-movement Brahms Violin/Piano Scherzo that ventured more into the Romantic era with a deeper and fuller sound and repeating rhythmic passages. A fun, pleasant piece. Beethoven’s Sonata #7 in C minor followed, and began with a more complex feeling that the previously heard #5. The first movement was up tempo throughout, while in the second, the piano laid out a rather lengthy theme that was then taken up by the violin, with complex and shifting themes that followed. The third was playful, once again, and quite brief. The last movement was even more complex, with shifting moods and phrases leading to a rushed, presto finish.
And then we returned to the beginning, sort of. Mr. Peskanov played a solo Bach Gavotte—a charming way to end the concert. These Family Concerts are slightly less formal than some. The audience often includes families with children, but I consider this to be a great learning experience for them. Informal, however, does not include cell phones going off, and yes, that occurred again. Please be responsible, audience members; we don’t need those interruptions. I urge all of my NYC peeps (and visitors alike) to check out Bargemusic. As I said, they run a full complement of programming, but nothing beats free in NYC!
ConcertMeister
The Barge, of course, is Bargemusic—an actual barge moored on the Brooklyn side of the East River—that presents year-round concerts, and that includes free Saturday afternoon Family Concerts. I hadn’t been there in a while, so imagine my surprise when I saw a holiday weekend concert on their schedule. I went, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Mark Peskanov, violin, and Doris Stevenson, piano, performed works of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Mr. Peskanov, who is also the Executive Director of Bargemusic, got the concert off to a nice start with a solo, the Siciliana from the Bach G minor sonata. He plays Bach very well and it’s obvious that he really enjoys it, as well.
Beethoven’s Sonata #5 in F Major (“Spring”) for violin and piano followed. The first movement was bright and somewhat dramatic, and a bit lengthy but interesting. (The violinist retuned before the second movement—not unheard of, but not particularly usual for him, either.) The next movement was slow and gentle, but still with some filigree runs for both piano and violin. The third was dance-like and had an off-the-beat rhythmic motif, while the last was playful. My scribbled notes had “scherzo”? As a slight aside here, the Bargemusic concerts are usually announced from the stage, so I have to do a bit more guesswork. The ‘con’ is that I have to do a little guesswork. The ‘pro’ is that I also usually do more online exploration afterward, and end up learning a bit more. It was a rondo, not a scherzo.
Up next was a single-movement Brahms Violin/Piano Scherzo that ventured more into the Romantic era with a deeper and fuller sound and repeating rhythmic passages. A fun, pleasant piece. Beethoven’s Sonata #7 in C minor followed, and began with a more complex feeling that the previously heard #5. The first movement was up tempo throughout, while in the second, the piano laid out a rather lengthy theme that was then taken up by the violin, with complex and shifting themes that followed. The third was playful, once again, and quite brief. The last movement was even more complex, with shifting moods and phrases leading to a rushed, presto finish.
And then we returned to the beginning, sort of. Mr. Peskanov played a solo Bach Gavotte—a charming way to end the concert. These Family Concerts are slightly less formal than some. The audience often includes families with children, but I consider this to be a great learning experience for them. Informal, however, does not include cell phones going off, and yes, that occurred again. Please be responsible, audience members; we don’t need those interruptions. I urge all of my NYC peeps (and visitors alike) to check out Bargemusic. As I said, they run a full complement of programming, but nothing beats free in NYC!
ConcertMeister
Friday, May 23, 2014
NYRO (5/17/14)
It’s been a while since I caught up with New York Repertory Orchestra (David Leibowitz, Conductor)—I didn’t pay attention enough in the fall, and their winter concert was just unpleasant enough weather-wise to keep me home. Spring sprung and I finally made it. Parts of the program were completely unfamiliar, one I knew that I knew, and one I knew once we got into the meat of the piece.
Jagiellonian Triptych – Preambulum: Vivace, Cantio: Adagietto, Chorea polonica: Allegro non troppo (1966); Andrzej Panufnik (1914–1991)
Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 – Allegro moderato, Canzonetta: Andante, Finale: Allegro vivacissimo (1811); Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)
“Waltz” from Sleeping Beauty; Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 3, Op. 33 – Andante lamentando – Agitato, Andante tranquillo, Tempo scherzando, Largamente e pesante (1936-1938); Howard Hanson (1896–1981)
The first piece, for string orchestra, was written in a style intended to bring to mind restorations of music from Poland’s past, in this case, the Jagiellonian age (14th to 16th centuries). New music in an old style. The first movement was full, brief and quite pleasant. The second had a quiet opening, and remained calm throughout. The final movement had pizzicato strings at the beginning, followed by a nice build, with a grand and expansive finish. This was a nice way to begin the concert.
Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto was recognizable immediately upon hearing the opening theme. Overall, the first movement created a positive feeling, and the soloist, Oliver Fluchaire, played with an energetic and polished flair, becoming even more energetic with the return of the embellished theme. His wide-ranging cadenza was lengthy but very interesting. The second movement opened with woodwinds to start, followed by a melancholy, but beautiful, violin theme. In fact, that sort of describes the entire movement, which via attacca (no real break) led right into the third movement, where multiple themes were tossed back and forth between soloist and orchestra. The applause for Mr. Fluchaire was marred only by the boorish woman who insisted on taking photos even though there was a notice in the program to completely turn off all electronic devices. Why, yes, she did tick me off.
After intermission, we had a lagniappe with the Tchaikovsky waltz, and a guest conductor, Soyoung Joung. As explained from the front of the church, Ms. Joung won a conducting engagement as a prize at the orchestra’s recent fundraising event. She acquitted herself very well.
Howard Hanson is an American composer with strong ties to the Eastman School of Music. The first movement of his symphony was pleasant, if a bit meandering, gaining interest when the trombones played a chorale theme, and gaining more interest in the agitato section. It ended with a sense of expectancy. My notes for the second movement simply say, open, American(a) sound. The third opened with timpani and brass, leading to the rest of the orchestra in rhythmic and tuneful sections, always with an undercurrent in the timpani. After a large crescendo, it still had rhythmic tension from the low brass and low strings. In the last movement, the brash tuba and woodwinds flourish supposedly led to a recurrence of the earlier chorale tune but it didn’t quite come through for me.
So, it was an okay experience but not one that I would look forward to excitedly again. As always, though, I’m happy to broaden my horizons. The full orchestra and the violin soloist, especially, suffered slightly from the very live (almost over-reverberating) acoustics in the church. All in all, a good experience, and I’m glad I rediscovered this concert series.
ConcertMeister
Jagiellonian Triptych – Preambulum: Vivace, Cantio: Adagietto, Chorea polonica: Allegro non troppo (1966); Andrzej Panufnik (1914–1991)
Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 – Allegro moderato, Canzonetta: Andante, Finale: Allegro vivacissimo (1811); Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)
“Waltz” from Sleeping Beauty; Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 3, Op. 33 – Andante lamentando – Agitato, Andante tranquillo, Tempo scherzando, Largamente e pesante (1936-1938); Howard Hanson (1896–1981)
The first piece, for string orchestra, was written in a style intended to bring to mind restorations of music from Poland’s past, in this case, the Jagiellonian age (14th to 16th centuries). New music in an old style. The first movement was full, brief and quite pleasant. The second had a quiet opening, and remained calm throughout. The final movement had pizzicato strings at the beginning, followed by a nice build, with a grand and expansive finish. This was a nice way to begin the concert.
Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto was recognizable immediately upon hearing the opening theme. Overall, the first movement created a positive feeling, and the soloist, Oliver Fluchaire, played with an energetic and polished flair, becoming even more energetic with the return of the embellished theme. His wide-ranging cadenza was lengthy but very interesting. The second movement opened with woodwinds to start, followed by a melancholy, but beautiful, violin theme. In fact, that sort of describes the entire movement, which via attacca (no real break) led right into the third movement, where multiple themes were tossed back and forth between soloist and orchestra. The applause for Mr. Fluchaire was marred only by the boorish woman who insisted on taking photos even though there was a notice in the program to completely turn off all electronic devices. Why, yes, she did tick me off.
After intermission, we had a lagniappe with the Tchaikovsky waltz, and a guest conductor, Soyoung Joung. As explained from the front of the church, Ms. Joung won a conducting engagement as a prize at the orchestra’s recent fundraising event. She acquitted herself very well.
Howard Hanson is an American composer with strong ties to the Eastman School of Music. The first movement of his symphony was pleasant, if a bit meandering, gaining interest when the trombones played a chorale theme, and gaining more interest in the agitato section. It ended with a sense of expectancy. My notes for the second movement simply say, open, American(a) sound. The third opened with timpani and brass, leading to the rest of the orchestra in rhythmic and tuneful sections, always with an undercurrent in the timpani. After a large crescendo, it still had rhythmic tension from the low brass and low strings. In the last movement, the brash tuba and woodwinds flourish supposedly led to a recurrence of the earlier chorale tune but it didn’t quite come through for me.
So, it was an okay experience but not one that I would look forward to excitedly again. As always, though, I’m happy to broaden my horizons. The full orchestra and the violin soloist, especially, suffered slightly from the very live (almost over-reverberating) acoustics in the church. All in all, a good experience, and I’m glad I rediscovered this concert series.
ConcertMeister
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Le Vent du Nord (5/18/14)
This world music quartet (with a guest bass guitar player) hails from Quebec and on Sunday wowed a crowd of about 250 with their traditional French-Canadian and Celtic dance tunes. Nicolas Boulerice (hurdy-gurdy), Simon Beaudry (guitar and bouzouki), Olivier Demers (violin and guitar), and Réjean Brunet (accordion) make up the quartet. And don’t let that list of instruments fool you—they all played multiple instruments as needed. I’m pretty sure that each took a turn on a guitar during the afternoon. The guest bass guitarist was also their sound design man. At one point, each (all?) of the instruments was (were) electronically miked. I wish I could have heard them unadorned—my bet is that these four could have done without a sound system altogether.
That and the fact that most of the high-energy songs they performed were very similar are my only minor quibbles. I especially liked a lot of the vocals, including four-part harmonies and at least one piece that reminded me of medieval part singing. The folk aspect lent a bit of raucous vocal tone but that was exactly what was needed. Some of the pieces were call-and-response types, where one guy would sing a phrase and then two or all three of the others would repeat it. They even expanded that to teaching the audience a phrase or two that we were then cued to repeat as requested during one of the songs. Not my favorite type of crowd involvement, as some of my regular readers will know.
Since there was no printed program, I have no titles to report, though if I’m remembering correctly one was Adieu, Marie (or something very close to that). The staged movement was minimal yet effective, with the members pairing up or grouping together. Of special note, the fiddler, for in reality that’s what he was, also provided percussion via what appeared to be a small wooden stage/sounding board that he used to create clog-like rhythms. Some impromptu dancing in the aisles led to the guys saying that anybody could join in—which sort of led to a standing ovation because a lot of folks were up on their feet, grooving, at the end of the last piece on the program. Sneaky, boys, very sneaky!
Throughout there was much rhythmic clapping from the audience and that carried over into the well-deserved encore. As eclectic as the quartet was, so was the audience. We ranged from little children to tweens/teens to adults (up to 75 or 80 years old would be my best guess). This was a venue that was new to me—Abrons Arts Center at Henry Street Settlement—on the Lower East Side. Not my usual stomping grounds. It was a very nicely appointed 300-seat theater. I’ll keep an eye out for more performances down there.
This free Neighborhood Concert series under the auspices of Carnegie Hall is winding down for the season. I didn’t quite make my goal of a concert in each borough but I certainly got to see new venues and different parts of the city. Bravo Carnegie, bravo Le Vent du Nord, vive les French-Canadiens!
ConcertMeister
That and the fact that most of the high-energy songs they performed were very similar are my only minor quibbles. I especially liked a lot of the vocals, including four-part harmonies and at least one piece that reminded me of medieval part singing. The folk aspect lent a bit of raucous vocal tone but that was exactly what was needed. Some of the pieces were call-and-response types, where one guy would sing a phrase and then two or all three of the others would repeat it. They even expanded that to teaching the audience a phrase or two that we were then cued to repeat as requested during one of the songs. Not my favorite type of crowd involvement, as some of my regular readers will know.
Since there was no printed program, I have no titles to report, though if I’m remembering correctly one was Adieu, Marie (or something very close to that). The staged movement was minimal yet effective, with the members pairing up or grouping together. Of special note, the fiddler, for in reality that’s what he was, also provided percussion via what appeared to be a small wooden stage/sounding board that he used to create clog-like rhythms. Some impromptu dancing in the aisles led to the guys saying that anybody could join in—which sort of led to a standing ovation because a lot of folks were up on their feet, grooving, at the end of the last piece on the program. Sneaky, boys, very sneaky!
Throughout there was much rhythmic clapping from the audience and that carried over into the well-deserved encore. As eclectic as the quartet was, so was the audience. We ranged from little children to tweens/teens to adults (up to 75 or 80 years old would be my best guess). This was a venue that was new to me—Abrons Arts Center at Henry Street Settlement—on the Lower East Side. Not my usual stomping grounds. It was a very nicely appointed 300-seat theater. I’ll keep an eye out for more performances down there.
This free Neighborhood Concert series under the auspices of Carnegie Hall is winding down for the season. I didn’t quite make my goal of a concert in each borough but I certainly got to see new venues and different parts of the city. Bravo Carnegie, bravo Le Vent du Nord, vive les French-Canadiens!
ConcertMeister
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Mary Pickford: Sweetheart, Superstar (5/10/14)
Saturday’s silent was Little Lord Fauntleroy, starring Mary Pickford and Mary Pickford. (Come again, ’Meister?) Yes, in this 1921 ten-reeler—pretty much the equivalent of a full feature—Miss Pickford played Cedric Errol (who becomes Little Lord Fauntleroy) and also plays Widow Errol (Dearest, Cedric’s mother).
Cedric’s late father was a son of the Earl of Dorincourt. The Earl did not approve of the marriage and has little to do with the wife or young Cedric. Cedric’s fortunes change upon the death of the Earl’s sole surviving son. Not only does Miss Pickford win over the old codger as Little Lord Fauntleroy (“LFF”), the Earl and LLF’s mother also make amends.
The real genius of the film is that Miss Pickford seems to be shorter as LLF and taller as the mother. And the scenes where she appears as both, together, are so seamless that I wasn’t giving the least thought to how difficult that was to pull off in 1921. While she was convincing as a boy, she wasn’t quite totally convincing—a close-up of Mary Pickford, without the trappings of an LLF suit, is just too darned pretty!
Toward the end of the story, a woman surfaces and says that her son is the real heir. By the time it’s proven that this is not true, LLF and the boy have a fight, with LLF ending up with a black eye.
There were gags in this comedy-drama but not as much slapstick as in some of the other films I’ve seen in The Silent Clowns Film Series. This series will continue with three more Mary Pickford films; each program will also show shorts along with the feature. Little Lord Fauntleroy, at ten reels, was presented on its own, and Ben Model, piano accompanist, got a well-deserved ovation at the end. He was tickling those ivories non-stop for quite a chunk of time.
The other three are from 1918, 1917, and 1918, respectively, with the shorts dating from 1910, 1911, and 1912. It will be interesting to see how they compare with this more mature work. Also of note is that these films are being shown in collaboration with the Mary Pickford Foundation. In addition to being a Sweetheart and a Superstar, she was also a quite keen businesswoman and kept tight control of her productions and films.
ConcertMeister
Cedric’s late father was a son of the Earl of Dorincourt. The Earl did not approve of the marriage and has little to do with the wife or young Cedric. Cedric’s fortunes change upon the death of the Earl’s sole surviving son. Not only does Miss Pickford win over the old codger as Little Lord Fauntleroy (“LFF”), the Earl and LLF’s mother also make amends.
The real genius of the film is that Miss Pickford seems to be shorter as LLF and taller as the mother. And the scenes where she appears as both, together, are so seamless that I wasn’t giving the least thought to how difficult that was to pull off in 1921. While she was convincing as a boy, she wasn’t quite totally convincing—a close-up of Mary Pickford, without the trappings of an LLF suit, is just too darned pretty!
Toward the end of the story, a woman surfaces and says that her son is the real heir. By the time it’s proven that this is not true, LLF and the boy have a fight, with LLF ending up with a black eye.
There were gags in this comedy-drama but not as much slapstick as in some of the other films I’ve seen in The Silent Clowns Film Series. This series will continue with three more Mary Pickford films; each program will also show shorts along with the feature. Little Lord Fauntleroy, at ten reels, was presented on its own, and Ben Model, piano accompanist, got a well-deserved ovation at the end. He was tickling those ivories non-stop for quite a chunk of time.
The other three are from 1918, 1917, and 1918, respectively, with the shorts dating from 1910, 1911, and 1912. It will be interesting to see how they compare with this more mature work. Also of note is that these films are being shown in collaboration with the Mary Pickford Foundation. In addition to being a Sweetheart and a Superstar, she was also a quite keen businesswoman and kept tight control of her productions and films.
ConcertMeister
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Phillip Dyson, Piano – Moonlight Sonata (5/3/14)
Sonata in E flat Major, k.282; Adagio, Menuetto 1 & 2, Allegro; Mozart
Papillons, Op. 2; Schumann
Rhapsody, Op. 79, No. 2; Brahms
Clair de Lune; Debussy
Prelude in G minor, Op. 23, No. 5; Rachmaninov
Waltz in C sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2; Chopin
Consolation No. 3 in D flat Major; Liszt
Waltz in A flat Major, Op. 69, No. 1 ‘L’adieu’; Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66; Chopin
‘Moonlight’ Sonata, Op. 27, No. 2; Adagio, Allegretto, Presto; Beethoven
This concert could almost be called Classics Lite, in that most of the pieces are very familiar to audiences—maybe not by their titles, but definitely by the recognizable tunes and phrases within larger pieces. Do an internet search on any of them and you’ll most likely see what I mean. Playing entirely from memory, there may have been a few minor lapses, but the overall playing and performance was quite impressive. Both the Mozart and Schumann pieces were written at early ages (18 and 21, respectively), and the youthful qualities showed, though not in a bad way.
Mr. Dyson spoke to us from the stage and recounted that the Schumann was twelve short movements. To me, they seemed more like vignettes than movements.
Clair de Lune is actually the third movement of a larger work, Suite Bergamasque, by Debussy but it’s often played as a stand-alone piece, as it was here. In the Rachmaninov Prelude (written first, even though it’s No. 5—oh, those wacky composers and publishers!), Mr. Dyson showed a very good control of dynamics. In fact, at one point I was thinking, “That’s really too loud,” until the controlled playing made me realize what he was doing.
After intermission, or the interval as Mr. Dyson referred to it, we were treated to Chopin and Liszt. As a side note, Mr. Dyson had a costume change for the second half—a dark suit as opposed to his fawn-colored one for the first, including a change of socks and shoes (I don’t know about undergarments).
While he obviously knows his way around a keyboard, I found some of his phrasings in both Chopin and Liszt to be just the slightest bit mannered. I’m guessing that it is a stylistic choice, still it somewhat interrupted the flow, to my ears. The Liszt is special for me, as it was played at a memorial service I attended about six years ago. It moved me then and it moved me now. The third Chopin piece is what I call the “Always Chasing Rainbows” Fantaisie.
‘Moonlight’ Sonata is not a name that Beethoven ever gave to the work; that only came about five years after his death. While the first movement is monumentally famous, the other two movements are also quite beautiful and technically fiery, and the whole sonata was beautifully played here. Mr. Dyson gave us an encore of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. One of the sections was reminiscent of honky-tonk–style jazz. It certainly underscored why he has been invited to the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival. As I said, he really knows his way around a keyboard.
ConcertMeister
Papillons, Op. 2; Schumann
Rhapsody, Op. 79, No. 2; Brahms
Clair de Lune; Debussy
Prelude in G minor, Op. 23, No. 5; Rachmaninov
Waltz in C sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2; Chopin
Consolation No. 3 in D flat Major; Liszt
Waltz in A flat Major, Op. 69, No. 1 ‘L’adieu’; Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66; Chopin
‘Moonlight’ Sonata, Op. 27, No. 2; Adagio, Allegretto, Presto; Beethoven
This concert could almost be called Classics Lite, in that most of the pieces are very familiar to audiences—maybe not by their titles, but definitely by the recognizable tunes and phrases within larger pieces. Do an internet search on any of them and you’ll most likely see what I mean. Playing entirely from memory, there may have been a few minor lapses, but the overall playing and performance was quite impressive. Both the Mozart and Schumann pieces were written at early ages (18 and 21, respectively), and the youthful qualities showed, though not in a bad way.
Mr. Dyson spoke to us from the stage and recounted that the Schumann was twelve short movements. To me, they seemed more like vignettes than movements.
Clair de Lune is actually the third movement of a larger work, Suite Bergamasque, by Debussy but it’s often played as a stand-alone piece, as it was here. In the Rachmaninov Prelude (written first, even though it’s No. 5—oh, those wacky composers and publishers!), Mr. Dyson showed a very good control of dynamics. In fact, at one point I was thinking, “That’s really too loud,” until the controlled playing made me realize what he was doing.
After intermission, or the interval as Mr. Dyson referred to it, we were treated to Chopin and Liszt. As a side note, Mr. Dyson had a costume change for the second half—a dark suit as opposed to his fawn-colored one for the first, including a change of socks and shoes (I don’t know about undergarments).
While he obviously knows his way around a keyboard, I found some of his phrasings in both Chopin and Liszt to be just the slightest bit mannered. I’m guessing that it is a stylistic choice, still it somewhat interrupted the flow, to my ears. The Liszt is special for me, as it was played at a memorial service I attended about six years ago. It moved me then and it moved me now. The third Chopin piece is what I call the “Always Chasing Rainbows” Fantaisie.
‘Moonlight’ Sonata is not a name that Beethoven ever gave to the work; that only came about five years after his death. While the first movement is monumentally famous, the other two movements are also quite beautiful and technically fiery, and the whole sonata was beautifully played here. Mr. Dyson gave us an encore of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. One of the sections was reminiscent of honky-tonk–style jazz. It certainly underscored why he has been invited to the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival. As I said, he really knows his way around a keyboard.
ConcertMeister
Sunday, May 4, 2014
April Songbook (4/28/14)
April’s edition featured composer/lyricist Katie Thompson and sixteen of her compositions. Almost all of them had a rock component—some driving, some bluesy, some power, and some rock-tinged. In general, her lyrics were pretty good, although some of the humor was a bit heavy handed. While I liked her style, there was too much similarity for my taste.
She opened by singing “Gotta Get Better,” from the show she’s currently writing, Haunted. Three others from the show were presented, with “Sleeping in the Ground” my favorite of the bunch. She was able to wrangle some top-notch talent throughout. In the first set alone, there was a guy who is currently in Motown and a female swing from the Off-Broadway musical Heathers. Both performed very well.
Another set included five songs from R.R.R.E.D. A Secret Musical, apparently about redheads putting a halt to the earth being turned into a place with no redheads at all (I’m not making this up, you know!). Three of the titles are “The Rules,” “I’m Not Pregnant,” and “Redheaded Stepchild.” Why, yes, Ms. Thompson is a redhead. R.R.R.E.D. has seen productions in Los Angeles and NYC (at NYMF—New York Musical Theatre Festival). From the songs presented, it seems as though this show might have legs. One of the performers in this segment is getting ready to begin a new musical version of An American in Paris in Paris! The idea is for it to open on Broadway in 2015. But I digress.
One of the songs from Trunk Songs (songs written for other shows but not used in them—in this case, mostly from R.R.R.E.D.—or other occasions) was “Too Pretty,” which was a nicely written and performed waitress’ lament. In addition to writing for musicals, Ms. Thompson also composes stand-alone songs, some of which have made it onto three CDs. One of these songs, “My Heart,” was of interest to me because of the descriptive way words were used to portray various aspects of the singer’s heart without actually ever saying the words “my heart.” I found that to be rather clever.
For me, the most infectious humor came from the last piece on the program, “I Love New York,” which catalogued some of the frustrating, mind-numbing difficulties that are a part of this fair city—yet still we love it.
Ms. Thompson is definitely talented, and she has a knack for attracting very talented people who want to work with her. Without experiencing the book, or a more complete storyline, of her musicals, I can’t fairly assess how well they hang together. Maybe by hitting the highlights only there was a bit too much sameness. Maybe that’s tempered within the framework of a show. I’ll certainly keep her on my radar screen from time to time.
As usual, this series is a well-produced, effective square in the patchwork quilt that is new theater music and up-and-coming composers, lyricists, and performers.
ConcertMeister
She opened by singing “Gotta Get Better,” from the show she’s currently writing, Haunted. Three others from the show were presented, with “Sleeping in the Ground” my favorite of the bunch. She was able to wrangle some top-notch talent throughout. In the first set alone, there was a guy who is currently in Motown and a female swing from the Off-Broadway musical Heathers. Both performed very well.
Another set included five songs from R.R.R.E.D. A Secret Musical, apparently about redheads putting a halt to the earth being turned into a place with no redheads at all (I’m not making this up, you know!). Three of the titles are “The Rules,” “I’m Not Pregnant,” and “Redheaded Stepchild.” Why, yes, Ms. Thompson is a redhead. R.R.R.E.D. has seen productions in Los Angeles and NYC (at NYMF—New York Musical Theatre Festival). From the songs presented, it seems as though this show might have legs. One of the performers in this segment is getting ready to begin a new musical version of An American in Paris in Paris! The idea is for it to open on Broadway in 2015. But I digress.
One of the songs from Trunk Songs (songs written for other shows but not used in them—in this case, mostly from R.R.R.E.D.—or other occasions) was “Too Pretty,” which was a nicely written and performed waitress’ lament. In addition to writing for musicals, Ms. Thompson also composes stand-alone songs, some of which have made it onto three CDs. One of these songs, “My Heart,” was of interest to me because of the descriptive way words were used to portray various aspects of the singer’s heart without actually ever saying the words “my heart.” I found that to be rather clever.
For me, the most infectious humor came from the last piece on the program, “I Love New York,” which catalogued some of the frustrating, mind-numbing difficulties that are a part of this fair city—yet still we love it.
Ms. Thompson is definitely talented, and she has a knack for attracting very talented people who want to work with her. Without experiencing the book, or a more complete storyline, of her musicals, I can’t fairly assess how well they hang together. Maybe by hitting the highlights only there was a bit too much sameness. Maybe that’s tempered within the framework of a show. I’ll certainly keep her on my radar screen from time to time.
As usual, this series is a well-produced, effective square in the patchwork quilt that is new theater music and up-and-coming composers, lyricists, and performers.
ConcertMeister
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