It Must Be October! The Coffin Ball at Talleyville Frame Shoppe

Photo: Ophelia von Gray

While most of the attention on First Fridays is focused on downtown Wilmington, it's always worth the short drive up Concord Pike to the Talleyville Frame Shoppe & Gallery -- especially this time of year, when horror-themed art takes center stage. This year, artists-slash-shop owners Ric and Wendy Frane focused on a coffin theme for contributing artists and, appropriately, named the opening event The Coffin Ball.

Each artist started with the same canvas: a flat toe-pincher coffin shape. Other than the base, there were no limits: Pat Higgins used his as a panels for comic-style pieces; Paul Romano created a carved 3D piece; Kristen Margiotta painted an upside-down bat in her distinctive big-eyes style; Adam Cruz, Ric Frane and Leila Marvel explored dark femininity with paint; Baron Von Reign utilized digital photography; and Ophelia von Gray applied her soft sculpture "Guten Monster" art into dimensional, coffin-shaped wall art. Several of the artists went with a bit of a Dia de Los Muertos theme, including Poppycock Tattoo c-owner Tina Marabito's Our Lady of Guadalupe, Poppycock tattoo artist Dave Mele's skeleton fortune teller and Wendy and Ric Frane's dead bride and groom pieces. Other themes, such as Tina Imel's "Death of the USPS" and Higgins' "Greed" made social statements. As a whole, the collection represents a spectrum of Delaware artists with a dark side, all of them highly talented.

L-R: Pat Higgins, Adam Cruz, Ophelia von Gray, Kristen Margiotta, Leila Marvel, Wendy Frane, Ric Frane.

The Coffin Ball itself was more than a gallery opening, it was also a rock 'n roll masquerade party featuring DJ Shadylady and live music by -- who else? -- Coffin Fly, who rocked it as usual with their twisted brand of rockabilly.

Photo: Kristen Margiotta

The Coffin Ball artwork will be on display through October at the Talleyville Frame Shoppe and Gallery at 3626 Silverside Road (between the PNC bank and the Chuck E Cheese).

Les Six

The Delaware Symphony champagne series at the Hotel DuPont Gold Ballroom October 4 was a whirling delight of early twentieth century compositions. The program featured DSO woodwind principals and principal French horn in five solos and a grand finale sextet.

Pianist Lura Johnson, recently named principal piano to the DSO, was a powerhouse – playing every one of the quite difficult pieces and bonding extremely well with all five soloists. William Short was able to show his marvelous tone in both high and low registers in Henri Dutilleux’s Sarabande et cortege for bassoon and piano. (Having heard him play in Richard Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra in both his final Curtis concert and the recent DSO opening, his smooth sound and control was no surprise.)

Charles Salinger’s arrangement of Max Bruch’s Kol Nidrei for clarinet was a more somber and subtle piece, allowing Salinger to show his amazing control and dynamic gradations in a narrow range of sound. Karen Schubert’s horn sound in Paul Dukas’ Villanelle for horn and piano had the volume needed in that room to stand against the full sound of the grand piano’s open lid and Johnson’s strong attacks.

Jeff O’Donnell’s delicate oboe sound (which had been sorely missed during his year-long hiatus from the DSO) and Kimberly Reighley’s flute were both high enough to be in an almost different sound zone from the piano and this enhanced the effect of each performance, allowing their control and technical brilliance to be clearly heard.

And the Poulenc sextet was one of those moments in musical performances where everything seemed to click among the six musicians – the rollicking music resounded in the ballroom – and here is where the strength of Johnson’s piano playing really showed. What other pianist could have prepared that many notes for a single evening’s concert and still play with energy and gusto up to the very last note?

See www.delawaresymphony.org.

Newest Blogger Lives It Up at "The Life"

Charles "Ebbie" Alfree, III is the newest blogger at Delaware Arts Info! We welcome him aboard and hope you enjoy his first installment!

The Wilmington Drama League opened its 2011–12 season with the Cy Coleman Broadway musical, The Life. The show chronicles the trials and tribulations of prostitutes and pimps in New York City the early 1980s—in those days before Disney and chain restaurants reformed 42^nd Street and families began visiting the city again.

Watching the production, directed by the incomparable Tina M. Sheing, I realized how much prostitutes and everyday people actually have in common in the workplace.  Sure prostitutes might not have offices like a high-powered lawyer or executive, but they deal with the same pressures — contending with sexual harassment, working long hours, having coffee (or beer) breaks cut short.  In addition, there are the everyday stresses all people confront in their personal lives — balancing careers and relationships, worrying about getting older, wanting to be loved.  I’m sure all people can relate to at least one of these issues.

Although I was thinking about these similarities during the show, it didn’t stop me from enjoying the action on the stage! I was entertained by the show’s R&B and gospel–inspired musical numbers brought to “life” under the music direction of Matt Casarino.  The terrific performers, many in heels, brought dance numbers alive with some Fosse-esque choreography by Jody Anderson.

I must admit I loved listening to the lead prostitutes, best friends Queen (played by Sharon Brown Ruegsegger) and Sonja (played by Rebecca Gallatin), sing duets. By themselves their voices were strong, but combined they soared!  I also loved that Ms. Gallatin’s look was reminiscent of (get ready for a retro reference) Nancy Allen in Dressed to Kill.

The Life might have ended its run (closing night was October 2), but WDL is ending their season with another show of similar working girls – The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (May 4-19, 2012)!  And, I must admit I’m looking forward to their upcoming production, Barefoot in the Park (October 28-November 12)…One of my faves!

See www.wilmingtondramaleague.org.