Wings & Wonderland
I propose to ignore the excitement over some current events* and get personal and gay and all that and talk about musical theatre. This explains, in part, why I've been distracted for awhile and relatively inattentive in this place. (That, and still feeling I'm catching up after returning from Rome, and giving more attention to working on Ars Hermeneutica things — including a new feature at Science Besieged: Book Notes. Why not have a look?)
As I may not have mentioned before, Isaac and I are involved, twice a year, with musical theatre productions at his church: St. Matthew's UMC in Bowie, MD. (More details on this page.) This started out 10 years ago this fall as a way for him to keep his choir members off the street and raise some money for the new pipe organ that had just been installed. Anyway, now it's time for production #21 — our 10th anniversary as it happens! — and I'm directing.
Mind you: I started out taking tickets. Then I operated spotlights. Then, another singer was needed in the cast. Then I did a lead role. Next thing you know we've had tap-dancing classes and now I'm directing. Yes, it could be just a power grab on my part, but I prefer to think it's because of this show I've wanted to put on for a few years that will star our usual director.
The show in question is called "Wings". The music is by Jeffrey Lunden and the book and lyrics are by Arthur Perlman, based on the play of the same name by Arthur Kopit. The story concerns one Emily Stilson who, in her youth, was an aviatrix and dare-devil wing-walker. As the show opens Emily, now an older woman, has a stroke which leads most noticably to speech aphasia. The drama is presented largely through her eyes as she makes it through her initial terrifying confusion to recover her sense of adventure and realize a new attitude about the end of her earthly existence. Contrary to the way any description of the plot makes it sound, the show is surprisingly positive and life-affirming. David Richards wrote (in 1992) an unusually positive review of the show in the New York Times called "A Hounting [sic] New Musical Illuminates A Gallant Soul" that's worth the few minutes it takes to read it. There is a recording of the original cast which is quite good.
"Wings" is a longish one-act piece; to balance it, I'm doing a shorter comic one-act opera called "Scenes in Wonderland". The words are by Lewis Carroll, the music is by Seymour Barab, a composer and cellist living in New York. (Search for his name at online record stores and you'll see that he's done a fair amount of playing for broadway and jazz recordings.) Anyway, "Scenes in Wonderland" sets 9 excerpts from Carroll's "Alice" books, complete with narrative, for vocalist and narrator. Mr. Barab evidently finished with the music rather recently so we get to work on our production from scratch — no recordings, no reviews, no pictures, nothing. Exciting! He writes with an agreeably light touch, and his musical style is pleasantly modern without being aggressive about it.
Anyway, up until a couple of weeks ago most of my effort went into arranging performance rights and materials rentals. This past Sunday we finally had our "auditions" — really a hazing ritual in which the usual cast members who are available and interested show up and sing a song and get a part. With that done, we now have a cast and I'm spending this week doing the casting, which is about half finished; however, my lips are sealed until next Sunday, as is our tradition.
Next week we have a read-through / listen-through, and then we begin rehearsals. Performances are over the last two weekends in October — details on request for anyone who might be interested. I'm secretly hoping that all three authors might happen to come to a performance since they are all extant and living in New York, but I won't say so aloud until I need to terrify the cast into better performances.
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* My surprise in all this discussion about Lamont's decisive victory — which I think is a bellweather — is the fear the Lieberman's running as an Independent will split the Democratic vote and give away a Democratic seat in the Senate. Now, I wouldn't want to bank on it strategically, but given the incredible support Lieberman has from Republicans, not to mention the offer of help via Karl Rove from the White House, doesn't it seem more likely that Lieberman will split the Republican vote or perhaps, given the discussion of how weak the other Republican candidate is, gain virtually all the Republican vote? They can't change the ballots, but I expect the Republican party to look for ways to support Lieberman (surreptitiously or overtly) to try to get him elected as the better Republican candidate in November.
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I welcome comments -- even dissent -- but I will delete without notice irrelevant, rude, psychotic, or incomprehensible comments, particularly those that I deem homophobic, unless they are amusing. The same goes for commercial comments and trackbacks. Sorry, but it's my blog and my decisions are final.
on Thursday, 10 August 2006 at 02.52
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The more I think about it, the more it seems possible Lieberman's selfish perfidy augers toward him flipping at some point to the GOP. Win or lose, I don't think he would want to do it right away.
One reason I say all this is because the danger of him costing Democrats a Senate seat gives Democrats a strong incentive to do everything in their power to crush his candidacy. Meaning, this is likely to get really nasty.
Lieberman has an inflated ego, a very high regard for the value of his public service and an overdeveloped sense of entitlement. Being smote hip and thigh won't set well, making me think he's likely to react by saying, "To hell with you; I'm going over to the other side."
That's an easily bearable outcome if he loses in November, but much less so if he wins.
on Tuesday, 10 October 2006 at 13.42
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[…] our fall musical production: "Wings" and "Scenes from Wonderland". (I wrote some about this back in August.) They are coming along quite well, but there's been a continuous str […]