Powerful Messages Told Through Equally Powerful Performances

By Guest Blogger, Ken Grant
Ken Grant has worked in Delaware media, politics and marketing for 25 years. He and his Lovely Bride enjoy Wilmington's arts and culture scene as much as they can.

Hip-hop artist Richard Raw performs.

Dr. Lynnette Young Overby (Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Experiential Learning at the University of Delaware) and Colin Miller have created a multi-genre event that communicates hundreds of years of powerful, emotional history through dance, music, images, video, documentary footage and media interviews. The University of Delaware Professor of Theatre and Dance (Overby) and the CAS Director of Global Arts (Miller) gathered dancers from the U.S. and South Africa to explore the tumultuous racial strife of each country.

The project, Same Story Different Countries – From oppression to resilience to liberation in South Africa and the United States – takes the audience on a journey from the African Savannah to slave plantations in the U.S. to civil rights struggles in both the U.S. and South Africa. The primary form of communication in the show is dance. Dozens of dancers transform the stage, expressing the joy of community, the pain of oppression, the strength of character, the outrage at injustice, and the determination of a spirit that continues regardless of ignorance and violence.

While the dancers were performing to music provided by a soundtrack or beautiful live voices, there was one segment performed to the sound of testimonies before the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission and an interview by Wolf Blitzer with civil rights activist Deray McKesson.

Well-known Wilmington hip-hop artist Richard Raw performed his latest hit, Shine Yo Light, in the part of the program titled “The Power of Walking Together,” encouraging the African American community to take pride in their history and heritage while shining a light for others to follow.

The choreography and performances left the audience amazed at both the technical expertise and emotional connection achieved by the performers.

Unfortunately, this production has only been scheduled for one performance in this region, with talks now of taking the program to South Africa. If the organizers stage another production in the U.S., you will absolutely want to experience this powerful piece of performance art for yourself.

See www.ccacde.org. 

Delaware Theatre Company Takes a Look Into 'Nureyev's Eyes'

Bill Dawes as Rudolf Nureyev and William Connell as Jamie Wyeth

It's been over 10 years since I (as many others) saw Jamie Wyeth's fascinating paintings and portraits of famed ballet dancer, Rudolf Nureyev in the Capturing Nureyev exhibit at the Brandywine River Museum. Now we are treated to the tale behind the paintings, as playwright David Rush's Nureyev's Eyes tells an equally fascinating fictional story of the very real interaction between the two artists who would create the masterpieces.

After playing in other parts of the country, the Delaware Theatre Company appropriately brings Nureyev's Eyes to the Brandywine Valley through a partnership with George Street Playhouse. Of course, the play has the connection to the area, but even if it didn't, this stirring two-man drama would still captivate.

From the elaborate set of Jamie's studio to the chic 70's costumes, this production gets everything right! Oh yes...and the actors who play the artists also deliver.

Told through a flashback, the 90-minute play gives a fictitious account of Jamie and Nureyev's collaboration over the span of 16 years. We watch the pair's prickly meeting at a posh Manhattan party, where Jamie's obsession to paint the dancer begins. Looking into Nureyev's eyes, Jamie sees the soul of the icon, and must make him his new muse. However, Nureyev is reluctant to work with Jamie, it takes some convincing for Nureyev to let the painter of pigs and cows paint him. Eventually he concedes to Jamie's requests and thus begins the tumultuous relationship.

Through riddles, the two perfectionists learn more about each other's passions, fears and insecurities. Although they do become friends -- Nureyev even visits Jamie and his wife in Chadds Ford -- they maintain their high expectations for this work. Neither man wants to compromise his artistic integrity; and so, lofty demands are placed on each other, leading to their many arguments.

Both also have great reasons for working on this project. For Jamie, the paintings will show his style and differentiate him from his family's legacy; for Nureyev, the paintings deliver him immortality. Nureyev also sees this as an opportunity for him to convince Jamie to give a good word about him to the head of the New York City Ballet -- a friend of Jamie's who soon will be naming the new Ballet Master in Chief, a job which Nureyev dearly covets.

Under Michael Mastro's masterful direction, both William Connell (Jamie) and Bill Dawes (Nureyev) prove they are outstanding actors. Mr. Connell's subtle performance beautifully captures a painter who is living in the shadow of his celebrated father and grandfather, while working to make his own mark in the harsh world of contemporary art. Although subtle, Mr. Connell shows great strength when verbally sparing with Mr. Dawes, who is stunningly scary as the intense, over-the-top star. Mr. Dawes achieves the great task of creating a full character that ends up being likable. He perfectly portrays both Nureyev's explosive diva-like persona and his sensitive, vulnerable side. Although defected from Russia many years ago to become an international star, even his fame, fortune and public adoration can't replace a family he misses and eliminate his fears of being followed by the KGB.

BTW - a few interesting facts learned at opening night - Nureyev is not pronounced as most people say it (Nur-e-ev), but is actually pronounced (Nur-a-ev). And the smock Mr. Connell wears in the play was loaned to the actor by Mr. Wyeth himself.

Nureyev's Eyes runs through March 20 at the Delaware Theater Company. Visit www.delawaretheatre.org or call 302-594-1100 for additional information and tickets.

Mamma Mia...That's Some Fun Set to Music!

By Guest Blogger, Ken Grant

Ken Grant has worked in Delaware media, politics and marketing for 25 years. He and his Lovely Bride enjoy Wilmington's arts and culture scene as much as they can.

Lord Byron said, “All tragedies are finished by a death, all comedies are ended by a marriage.”

The US Touring Company of Mamma Mia. Photo provided.

Of course, when your play’s first act is set on the day before the wedding and the second act is set on the wedding day itself and you add in the music of Abba, a cast of vocal and physical acrobats with hundreds of costumes and more than 30,000 rhinestones – then you get a dose of fun that infects The Playhouse on Rodney Square and spills joyously out onto Market Street. Welcome to the traveling production of Broadway's smash, Mamma Mia!

The story centers around several trios of characters – from young Sophie Sheridan (Kyra Belle Johnson) and her friends Ali and Lisa (Kat Borrelli and Christina Eskridge) planning for Sophie’s wedding, to Sophie’s mother Donna (Eris Fish) and her lifelong friends Tanya and Rosie (Laura Michelle Hughes and Sarah Smith) still struggling to figure out how to have a successful relationship. Then, there’s the three men from Donna’s past – Sam, Bill, and Harry (Chad W. Fornwalt, Ryan M. Hunt and Andrew Tebo) – who are invited to the festivities under false pretenses.

Wedding drama is always fun to watch from the outside – but in this case the drama isn’t created by a young couple unsure about their future, but rather a young bride seeking answers about her past and the generation before working through their various regrets and lingering questions.

All of the performers capture the essence and effervescence of Abba while exposing a deeper layer of emotion (hope, longing, resignation, desire).

You don’t have to be intimately familiar with the music of Abba to be caught up in the fun of this production. For those who grew up with the music, this is a great trip along memory lane; and for those who didn’t, this show could turn them into new fans of the Swedish pop phenomenon.

The staging for this production seems deceptively simple at first, but becomes incredibly versatile as two pieces transform the set from indoor, outdoor, and alleyway locations on a small Greek island.
Make no mistake – this production delivers fun and gets the audience smiling, laughing, clapping, and yes, even dancing.

If you’ve gone to see a blockbuster film in the past few years, you know that you probably shouldn’t leave until all of the credits have run, as more and more movies offer nice little "surprises" at the end. Likewise, do not assume that when the cast offers their bows at the end of this musical that the entertainment is over. Stay where you are and enjoy – you won’t be sorry!

Mamma Mia is playing at The Playhouse on Rodney Square March 4-6.

See http://duponttheatre.com/mamma-mia.