Comic Potential at the Chapel Street Players

From the moment the lights go up, you can’t help but notice Jacie (Courtney Wallace) give a broad but quiet smirk as she plays the nurse on a hackneyed production with the unctuous doctor, the sobbing mother and the son who is being told he will have to lose his foot.

And suddenly, the doctor is not only unctuous, but full of ‘u’s, reassuring the mother and son that he will ‘umputate just below the unkle’….and then the exasperated director rants that his techs must fix this actoid, a robotic actor. And make sure he stays away from the fax!

Wallace’s Jacie is the light that keeps the stage going as she plays an actoid with a heart – a heart that begins to warm to the company director’s nephew. She is wonderful, spewing past scripts on cue for any event she had not been prepared for, and the results are fantastic – like pushing a button on a Chatty Kathy.

This futuristic comedy had a slow start on opening night but everyone seemed to warm up to the enthusiastic audience. Courtney Wallace has that rare ability to act like an actoid and really act within her spurts of role – including outrageous hamming and miming.

Mike Freeberry as Adam Trainsmith had perfect pacing – first keeping a shy and quiet demeanor as he visits his uncle’s production set and then blossoming into an inventive writer as he falls for Jacie the actoid and realizes his own Comic Potential.

Dina Bogino and Bill Starcher not only provided excellent comedy in the smaller roles, but their synthetic actoid acting was perfectly done – with exact repeats and total freeze motion.

The set was brilliant. Joseph Pukatsch built a great backdrop of moveable pieces that converted into different sets in seconds with excellent work by Robert de Remigio’s crew. This absolutely made the second act – allowing us to zip back and forth between scenes as if we were watching the sort of futuristic television production playwright Alan Ayckbourn envisioned.

See www.chapelstreetplayers.org.

Allergen Brings Hi-Tech, Fine Art Together

Back when (or, possibly, where) I studied art in the early '90s, there was a clear division between the technical and what is considered "fine art." Fine art students like myself didn't take computer classes. Not even Photography students -- and this was at one of the top art schools in the country. I thought it was pretty silly, even then. I didn't have my own computer, but, it seemed to me, what could be more "modern" than using computers in modern art? I took a computer class and was one of only two students who were not graphic design majors in the room. I felt over my head -- programs were more complicated 1992, and I didn't even know how to use a mouse -- and I never created anything memorable in that class. Still, I believed that computers and art were meant to be together.

Today, of course, computer technology is more accepted in the arts than it was 20 years ago, but I still get excited when I see an art show with work created with the computer as a medium.

"Allergen," an exhibition of illustrations by Patrick "PDub" Warner now on display at Union City Grille, is one of those shows. You wouldn't necessarily know it when you first walk into the gallery -- some of the pieces are huge, much larger than a typical physical digital piece. Warner explained that, to create pieces that large, they had to be printed by a sign company, who essentially made giant color copies on a special poly canvas. The result is striking, with bright, bold colors and a glossy finish. Warner is a commercial artist, and some of the pieces were converted from his own commercial work, giving it a genuine "pop" feel.

Several pieces represent flowers (a lily, a rose and an orchid) floating over a background of vintage war imagery. Other pieces feature a zip-gun, a frog, a rattlesnake and a spectacular larger-than-life parrot. My favorite pieces are one appropriately titled "Sunflower Galaxy" and the show's title piece, "Allergen," a violet explosion of flora and splashes of "ink" and "paint." The image on the opening postcard doesn't do it justice -- this is one worth stopping in to see in person.

"Allergen" runs through December 31.

Uniting Two Worlds

Delaware is truly lucky to be home to a musician as talented and versatile as Xiang Gao, creator and director of 6ixwire Project. Best known as a brilliant violinist, this Chinese born artist has set out on a mission to bring together east and west, old and new, the familiar and unfamiliar, through his musical and dramatic endeavors. As part of the Master Players Concert Series, the University of Delaware presents Erhu and Violin and The Butterfly Lovers.

The Butterfly Lovers is a collaborative effort between Gao and playwright/actor/director Danny Peak. Peak wrote the powerful narration, based on a centuries old Chinese folk tale. Gao arranged the music—a concerto written by Chen Gang—for violin, erhu and piano. With beautiful images by Vincent D’Amico projected behind the stage, the performance draws the audience in on a personal and emotional level: love, betrayal and loss are ideas everyone can relate to.

To see Cathy Y. Yang play the erhu, a Chinese two-stringed violin, is to witness pure joy. Each sound that comes from the instrument is perfectly executed and seems to emanate from her soul. The ensemble playing between Yang and Gao is astounding; the two not only echo each other’s phrases, but also the timbre of the other’s instrument. The folksy themes—at times joyful, playful, and filled with longing—are those of the ill-fated lovers, Shanbo and Yingtai.

Stephanie Shade reads an earnest and strong-willed Yingtai, a brilliant young woman who disguises herself as a boy so she might have the opportunity to study. Peak is the young Shanbo, who is completely taken with his lover’s beauty and intelligence. Their performance intertwines perfectly with the music and the visual elements. Also delightful is Rita Sloan, an award-winning pianist and faculty member of the University of Maryland School of Music.

The second half of the program includes Pablo de Sarasate’s Themes from Carmen, Fantasy Op. 25, scored for violin, erhu and piano. Another expert arrangement by Gao, the piece showcases the players’ virtuosity. The last portion of the evening features a jam session with fabulous amateur musicians. Their rendition of Van Morrison’s Moondance rocked the hall. Gao spoke about music and its purpose in the world, reminding us how he enjoys working with varied genres and performers. He also gave us a brief bit of music history, discussing the shared Persian roots of violin and erhu. Here, Gao has successfully married the instruments and styles to expand our musical and cultural horizons.

See http://www.6ixwireproject.com/.

See. http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2011/sep/master-players-series092010.html.