The Pear never backs away from edgy theatre, a tradition that’s alive and well in their current production – An Enemy of the People. Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 political masterpiece premiered in London in 2008 and made its Broadway debut in 2012. Though this version of Ibsen’s story is 90 minutes shorter than the original (the Pear’s production runs approximately 120 minutes including the intermission) and includes updated (and translated) language, the integrity of Ibsen’s material remains intact. The surprising aspect of this work is that although it depicts a situation in 1880s Norway, its themes and issues are just as pertinent to U.S. society today and include altruism and whistleblowing vs. profit and venal self-interest; media manipulation vs. the truth; free speech; and the educated elite vs. the working class. Continue reading →
TheatreWorks is no stranger to world premieres, or even to working with the powerful father-son artistic duo of Stephen and Scott Schwartz. Lest audiences think that the current TheatreWorks production of The Prince of Egypt is routine in any way, they can rest assured that it is not. The show is adapted and expanded from the 1998 DreamWorks film of the same name, and conveys its story of biblical proportions in an immensely creative and captivating way while providing some breathtaking theatre. The Prince of Egypt tells the story chronicling the early life of Moses up through his awakening as one of the Hebrews on his quest to “let his people go.” The production is a world premiere that Mountain View audiences will savor for reasons that will be described shortly. What will be seen on stage; however, stems from a collaboration that breaks new ground for TheatreWorks. The stage adaptation by Stephen Schwartz and Philip LaZebnik is being mounted in collaboration with the acclaimed Fredericia Teater in Denmark. Once the Mountain View run completes, Diluckshan Jeyaratnam (Moses) will head back to his homeland to star in the European portion of this co-world premiere in both Fredericia and Copenhagen, telling the story in both Danish and English beginning in April 2018.
What makes this production so spectacular? It’s all in the storytelling. The cast is a talented, diverse, international troupe that explodes with the grandeur and precision this story demands. The grand scale, with empires and monumental physical elements from the Egyptian pyramids, to the river Nile, the expansive desert, and the Red Sea are well-known, and generally not seen on stage. In a film, these can be included directly, but on stage, while they could be projected, a far more creative approach can also be applied. Per director Scott Schwartz:
“We call on cloth, light, and dance to represent water, fire, plagues, and more.”
This run just keeps surpassing itself. The Sunnyvale Community Players production of Fiddler on the Roof continues to receive not one, but two standing ovations every performance, and as of 29 September 2017 (one quarter of the way through its penultimate weekend), the run completely sold out. As written in the background pieces – promising cheers and tears, tech week chronicles from the pit, and why his run – this production means a great deal to everyone involved with the show. Rather than rehashing the background already discussed at length, this article attempts to provide some more video insights into this heartfelt journey. Continue reading →
Starting at the end of this story, on opening night, this Sunnyvale Community Players production of Fiddler on the Roof received not one, but two standing ovations! Needless to say, all the hard work over the many months, and especially this final week, Tech Week, paid off. This last week was a doozy, but we not only survived, we thrived, and the show runs at the Sunnyvale Theater Thursdays – Sundays through 8 October 2017. Now on to the focus of this article, the path through our final week of rehearsals from the pit.
Tech Week, or more colloquially, Hell Week, is always an adventure in the theatre, particularly for musical theatre. Tech Week is that last week leading up to opening night when all the elements are combined, both technical and artistic, which in the case of a musical also includes the music itself. Everything that can go wrong often does, but somehow, magically, it all works by the time the last element is added – the audience. Fiddler on the Roof is a big show, and this Sunnyvale Community Players production includes a cast of 38 (with around 20 of them wearing individual mics) and a full 25-piece orchestra (with every instrument on its own mic) covering every part in the licensed orchestration. By the time we arrived at the first day of tech, the cast had been rehearsing for two months, and two sitzprobes with cast and orchestra together had been conducted.
The video below is a sample from early in the week. The pictures in the video are still shots of the stage action from scenes throughout the show, and the audio is from our recording session of the John Williams mini-symphony on the second night of tech. Note that this Williams piece was originally written for the 1971 film version of Fiddler on the Roof covering the opening credits, the Entr’acte, and the end credits. We will be performing this work in its entirety each show as intermission entertainment, featuring Eric Sun playing the iconic Isaac Stern solo violin part:
According to a handy, modern medical dictionary, a paroxysm is defined as:
”
a sudden violent attack, especially a spasm or convulsion, or
the abrupt worsening of symptoms or recurrence of disease.
”
In a broad sense, the first definition fits the 1880s meaning in terms of all outward appearances, but that’s not exactly what they meant by the word in those days – at least as it’s used in Sarah Ruhl’s play, In the Next Room or the vibrator play, currently on stage at the Pear Theatre. This work was inspired by Rachel P. Maines‘ research. Maines specializes in the history of technology and accidently discovered an odd connection between medical practice of late 19th century and technological advances in the use of electricity based on ads from numerous American women’s magazines from the era. The new gadget of the time was the precursor to the modern vibrator, and it was used to treat the nebulous, mostly female malady known as “hysteria” through “manipulation of the uterus” resulting in “paroxysms” that were supposed to fix the imbalance. Looking back from the present, it seems far more likely that the symptoms this 19th century device was supposed to treat resulted from taboos surrounding intimacy, ignorance, fiendish fashion norms, gender discrimination, and an extremely patriarchal society. Continue reading →
Sunnyvale Community Players’ production of Fiddler on the Roof is going to delight audiences in ways that no previous Fiddler production has. The well-known story is based on the works of Sholom Aleichem, often called the Jewish Mark Twain. Playwright Joseph Stein collaborated with composer Jerry Bock and lyricist Sheldon Harnick to create a captivating presentation of the lives of the people of Anatevka, a little village in Czarist Russia in the early 20th Century. Its themes of tradition vs. change, family, and community are timeless, and given the current state of the world today, they are especially timely. This Broadway favorite first hit the stage in 1964, became a highly acclaimed feature film in 1971, and is beloved the world over. Continue reading →
Robert Ford isn’t exactly a household name, and it’s been over a decade since he published his first (and seemingly only) novel. He went on to write several award-winning one-act and full-length plays that have been produced both in the U.S. and in Europe, but his novel remains a unique work. The Student Conductor was first published in the U.S. in 2003 with subsequent editions in Europe and Australia. It gives readers a look into Ford’s imagination as he conjures up plenty of intrigue and heart. He also guides readers deep into the magical world of classical music giving them an idea of just what it takes to become a professional symphony conductor. Continue reading →
A Theatre Near U tackles the stage adaptation of William Golding’s classic novel, Lord of the Flies, a story touching on timeless themes showing just how tenuous a thing civilization can be. Golding’s novel was published in 1954, a time of high tension in various parts of the world. He’s quoted as saying that writing this story was “like lamenting the lost childhood of the world.” He knew of whence he wrote having lived through both world wars, served in the Royal Navy in WWII, and spent several years as a schoolmaster. As such, he was well-versed in the fortitude and foibles of humanity overall, and of schoolboys in particular. Continue reading →
This summer, Foothill Music Theatre (FMT) shows its heart with its rendition of Shrek The Musical. The show is based on the animated DreamWorks film, Shrek, and it puts all of the magic and message of the film live on stage. The musical version (with book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire and music by Jeanine Tesori) debuted on Broadway in 2008 and in London in 2011. Since then, the show continues to be a family-friendly audience favorite as it now makes the rounds in regional and community theatres.
The story is, in broad strokes, a sassy mashup of traditional fairy tales mixed with some current events. Its well-known Freak Flag anthem packs a powerful, positive message about celebrating one’s uniqueness. The lively story turns the traditional boy meets girl theme on its head with a clever twist and sends audiences home in high spirits. Continue reading →
There is no question that music touches us deeply. There are also myriad studies showing the cognitive benefits of listening, but there are even more benefits when actively participating in making music. For the purposes of this discussion, the assumption is that the reader, for whatever reason, is now intent on learning to play a musical instrument. Whether their goal is personal or professional, an initial instrument must be chosen, i.e., they have to start somewhere. This commentary proposes that the piano be that starting point.
There can be many goals such as:
Mastering the piano and all of its intricacies;
Composing music;
Playing the guitar, or bass, or drums in a rock band;
Playing the violin, or cello, or bassoon in a symphony orchestra;
Playing the clarinet or trumpet in a wind band;
Playing the saxophone or trombone in a jazz band;
Conducting a band or an orchestra;
Teaching music;
Becoming a music therapist;
Developing more tools for connecting with family and friends;
Mastering one’s voice for the theater, the opera, or that rock combo.
No matter the goal, the piano is still the best prelude for all of it. It can take a lifetime to master the piano (if one ever truly does). Even when one studies it as a stepping stone to any other musical endeavor, the foundation that piano study helps to build makes everything else much easier to learn. Continue reading →
By Ande Jacobson
A Good Reed Review 