Chicago at the Wilmington Drama League

The orchestra was perched on a rooftop in a brilliant set design by Kurt Kohl which let the audience see them and made them part of the show. As soon as we were seated, Chris Tolomeo and his jazz orchestra started some warm-up numbers from his CD to set the feeling of 1920s speak-easy. Then Kitty (Leeia C. Ferguson) came out in a gangster’s raincoat to do the house announcements in a well-written 1920's patois – letting those dancer legs peak out through the thigh-high slits.

Lights down, then up again showing back of a dancer who starts 'All that jazz' using the brilliant choreography created by Jody Anderson - whose 2007 Candlelight Theatre production of Chicago won the Philadelphia Theatre Alliance Barrymore Award. Not only were all the dancers top quality, but the production on opening night was as tight as anything I have seen in Delaware. Yet it was Barbara Wright's perfect cold stare/warm smile combination as Velda Kelly that made the show for me. I had seen Catherine Zeta-Jones in the film but I was even more captivated by Ms. Wright's dancing and her ability to give that "I'll-smile-when-I-murder-you" look throughout the show.

Watching a few clips of the movie showed me that although the fade-ins and technical gloss give it polish, there is a dimension missing on film that you get with live theatre that I could hardly describe. When Billy Flynn, the shyster lawyer (Jeffrey Santoro) does his shtick with the dancing girls and feathers - your mouth is still hanging open and asking: can this be Delaware? The well-seasoned musical backbone of the Tolomeo orchestra gave a tremendous boost to the smoothness of entrances and dancing.

Music Director Steve Weatherman and Choreographer Jody Anderson deserve much praise for this well-rehearsed show, but credit for coordinating the entire production goes to Director Matt Casarino who said he had never had a show so ready on opening night. The casting, the music and the dancing are so good that I highly recommend you catch a show during the run concluding November 13.

See wilmingtondramaleague.org

A Toast to the Fallen Woman

Danielle Rice, executive director of the Delaware Art Museum, hosted a delightful open discussion about fallen women of the Nineteenth Century and asked the audience why the theme permeated literature, music and art of the time. She started the ball rolling by showing slides of art depicting fallen women. Her first example was William Holdman Hunt’s The awakening conscience since it had been completed in the same year as Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata (the fallen woman). Her partner in leading the discussion was Lee Kimball, general and artistic director of Opera Delaware, who will present La Traviata at the Grand Opera House on November 7, 12 and 13. The two are friends, which made the lively discussion even more fun. Mr. Kimball bravely pointed out that usually it is the fallen woman who gets killed or arrested or punished, while the fallen man tends to walk away with only a few regrets.

After the discussion, the crowd mingled and enjoyed delicious hors d’oeuvres and drinks which they brought to the entrance hall of the museum, where the grand piano was waiting for Jeffrey Miller, chorus master and associate music director of Opera Delaware and Colleen Daly, soprano and Alak Kumar, tenor. The two will be singing the lead roles in La Traviata and if this foretaste in which they sang La Brindisi is any indication, the next time we hear those two could be at Lincoln Center.

The intimacy of the setting, the lively discussion and the informal concert made it feel as if we were attending a party at Barone Douphol’s house watching Alfredo flirt with Violetta in front of her rich lover…

Having had the hors d’oeuvre, my appetite has been whetted for the main course. See you at the Grand.

See www.operade.org

UD Orchestra in Puglisi Hall

Although I was slightly disappointed not to find Edgard Varese’s Ameriques on the program on October 20, hearing the Stravinsky arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner and his Scherzo a la Russe provided an equally eclectic salute to the United States and the fascination of European composers for the freedom and wildness they saw in this country in the first half of the Twentieth Century. The big band flavor with which Stravinsky had spiked his film music was a great vehicle for the large brass section of the college orchestra and Yael Hernandez did a fine job with the piano part.

Robert Brandt’s rendition of the first set of Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs showed his extremely strong baritone voice. He almost knocked me out of my chair with his ‘Hi-ro, the boatman’ but he lacked the playfulness of the fine solo passages by Tara Rozanski on the flute and the great trumpet and trombone entries in Simple Gifts. The viola section was superb in their entrances in I bought me a cat.

But in Dvorak’s late Nineteenth Century tribute to the country which had just begun to tolerate the wild sounds of Brahms and Beethoven, the UD Orchestra hit their stride. Their intensity and musicality showed the skilled leadership of Dr. Brian Stone. The second movement’s soulful melody was played beautifully by Bryan Walker (English horn) and the brief duet by first cellist Rachel MacLeod and concertmaster Eliza Krivo seemed magical to me. But as I worked my way through the mass of exiting musicians to congratulate them, I interrupted the conversation between English horn teacher Lloyd Shorter and soloist Bryan Walker. They patiently waited for me to utter my compliments and as I walked away, I heard Mr. Shorter say, …"and one more thing…"

Well, they are students after all.

See http://www.music.udel.edu