MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2010
KLMNO
OPERA REVIEW
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WOLF TRAP
UP AND COMING:Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses (of “Crazy Heart” fame) are among the intriguing acts opening for big names.
A starry summer ahead at Wolf Trap
by Chris Richards
JAHI CHIKWENDIU / WASHINGTON POST
HEAVY HITTER: A ref (Joe Shadday) signals young Joe Louis’s (Nickolas Vaughn) defeat of an opponent (Craig Lawrence).
In ‘Shadowboxer,’ Joe Louis’s tumultuous life, once over lightly
Maryland Opera Studio world premiere uses the biopic approach
by Robert Battey
Boxing legend Joe Louis lived
a long, tumultuous life, with any number of epic events, profes- sional or personal, along the way. The life of the first black superstar athlete embraced and lionized by all of America was a never-ending series of confron- tations with opponents, manag- ers, racists, opportunists, the IRS, ex-wives and eventually drugs. In any given year, he like- ly experienced five or six operas’ worth of cliffhangers. Thus, the principal disap- pointment of “Shadowboxer: An Opera Based on the Life of Joe Louis,” lavishly mounted by the Maryland Opera Studio, is that the creators chose the shopworn biopic approach (the dying pro- tagonist experiences flashbacks of his entire life) rather than fo- cusing on and personalizing one or two dramatic events. It is al- ways an uphill climb for operas and plays based on historical events to create any real sus- pense (John Adams’s recent “Dr. Atomic,” about the first A-bomb test at Los Alamos, should have
JAHI CHIKWENDIU/THE WASHINGTON POST
A TRAGIC CHAMPION:
Vaughn is one of three who play Louis. VaShawn McIlwain is trainer Jack Blackburn.
served as a cautionary lesson to everyone).
“Shadowboxer” simply sails through Louis’s career, stopping here and there, and moving on. His colorful life is made gray by the need to hit all the general themes — racism, womanizing,
tax problems, etc. — while keep- ing moving. Librettist John Che- nault and composer Frank Proto have apparently collaborated on several multi-media works be- fore, but this is the first opera for either one, and it shows. What they gave us, essentially, was “Joe Louis; This Is Your Life!” set to music. It takes us a moment to figure out that three different cast members are portraying Louis, and it’s not always clear why one or another is used in a particular scene. Chenault has his semi- literate protagonist delivering words like “cloying” and lines like “in the squared circle of hell.” But many of the putatively operatic moments fall flat, such as Louis’s big “I am a man!” monologue against racists and his mother’s maudlin “They’re going to kill him!” outburst dur- ing his first loss to Max Schmel- ing. The emotions here are not only cliches, they do nothing to advance the story. Proto’s vocal writing is effec- tive in the choruses, ranging from the bouncy “Give us a buck,” to the eerie humming, to the crisp, cinematic Act I finale. But the solo writing is mostly in the tedious note-for-syllable ari- oso style that drags down so many modern operas. In the few spots where the characters actu- ally make music, such as Marva
Louis’s “I love the man who isn’t there” lament, the show comes alive. This world premiere, which opened last Saturday night at the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Center and runs through this Sunday, does dem- onstrate the high level of profes- sionalism of which the school is capable. Set design and staging (Erhard Rom and Leon Major) effectively blended live action with projections and sound ef- fects, and guest conductor Tim- othy Long drew a good perform- ance out of the student orches- tra. The cast had some question- able voices, but was mostly strong and moved well (I liked the three sportswriters, a clear echo of Puccini’s Ping, Pang, and Pong). University of Maryland voice professor Carmen Balth- rop, the one ringer, appearing as Louis’s mother, made manifest the difference between talented grad student and accomplished pro.
While “Shadowboxer’s” future
after this premiere is an open question, it is a testament to op- era’s multi-level vitality as an art form that the resources are still there to bring new works like this to such impressive fruition.
style@washpost.com
Robert Battey is a freelance writer.
Big stars under the stars. For years, that’s been the reliable — and often predictable — ap- proach that Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts has taken to its pop music program- ming. This summer will be no excep-
tion. The sprawling outdoor ven- ue in Fairfax County will an- nounce its complete summer sea- son Monday, boasting return performances from Aretha Franklin, the Beach Boys, Tony Bennett and many others — along with a number of dance, classical and theater offerings. This season’s overall show count is up to a whopping 107. (Let’s hope the temperatures don’t climb that high.)
Curious pop fans will want to
THEATER REVIEW
Full-throated Fierstein, fit as a ‘Fiddler’
Raspy-voiced actor takes role over the top — as tradition dictates
by Nelson Pressley
Harvey Fierstein is now play-
ing at the National Theatre in a little musical called “Fiddler on the Roof.” If top billing seems to be up for grabs between show and star, that’s the way it’s been ever since Zero Mostel appeared as Tevye the milkman in the 1964 premiere, muttering weari- ly to God while winking merrily at the audience. It was said of Mostel that he went too far, but that his irre- pressible comic presence was in- arguably mesmerizing, and any- way what could you do? Fier- stein is very much in that tradition: He is an enterprise unto himself, a show-biz whiz who somehow channels his raspy honk of a voice — a bro- ken-sounding instrument if ever there was one — and bear-size presence into a figure the audi- ence adores. He’s impish and childish, and by no means do all of his free-spirited punch lines feel absolutely true to Tevye, the hapless Jewish father of five daughters in Anatevka, Russia, circa 1905.
But Fierstein gives the show zestfulness, and he certainly seems to revere the whole she- bang. If he borrows laughs now and then at the expense of sin-
The bottle dance is a highlight, as usual, with four earnest rev- elers balancing wine bottles atop their wide-brimmed hats as they stride and kneel in unison, and the large cast takes eagerly and easily to the Robbins chor- eography that occasionally catches the whole village in vari- ous giddy whirls. “Matchmaker, Matchmaker”
JOAN MARCUS
RAISING THE “ROOF”: Harvey Fierstein as Tevye and Susan Cella as wife Golde in the touring production of the 1964 musical.
cerity, when the saga turns seri- ous he’s still formidable enough to tug at your heartstrings. (The show’s skillful book, which in- terrupts the singing and danc- ing with pogroms and exile, is based on stories by Sholom Alei- chem.)
And Fierstein’s singing? It’s profoundly odd, this husky buzz, but in his peculiar way Fierstein is unquestionably musical. The notes are there — never glorious, but Tevye’s seldom are — and so is the rhythmic spirit as Fier- stein raises his arms and shim- mies wishfully through “If I Were a Rich Man.” If you leave the theater humming, it’ll prob- ably be “Sunrise, Sunset” or one of the other melodies not keyed to Tevye. That’s fine: It’s mainly a comedic part, and Fierstein has that in spades.
In every other respect, this is a
very traditional “Fiddler.” It’s not a touring version of the 2004 Broadway revival starring Alfred Molina (eventually replaced by Fierstein, with Rosie O’Donnell as Tevye’s wife, Golde). Instead, it’s a remount of the reverent tour that stopped at Wolf Trap nine years ago. Director Sammy Dallas Bayes is in charge again, re-creating Jerome Robbins’s original choreography, and Steve Gilliam has again created a set that recalls Boris Aronson’s Chagall-inspired design. Thus this will look and feel (if not always sound) comfortably familiar to “Fiddler” devotees. The Jerry Bock-Sheldon Harnick score isn’t one of the greats, but it’s very good, and the vitality of “To Life” and of the long wed- ding sequence is still uplifting.
is an expected delight, with Tev- ye’s three older daughters zing- ing mops between them like dance partners as they contem- plate marriage — the chief en- gine of the difficult tradition- breaking that gives this piece en- during depth. The cast is sturdy (though some of the young men wooing Tevye’s
appealing
daughters are too bland), and the orchestra zips and strolls through the folksy tunes with authority. It’s a somewhat duti- ful affair, but you could do worse by “Fiddler” — especially with such an exotic, cuddly cat com- manding center stage.
style@washpost.com
Pressley is a freelance writer.
“Shrieks of laughter night after
night.” -TheWashington Post
Fiddler on the Roof
Book by Joseph Stein, music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Directed by Sammy Dallas Bayes. Lights, Ken Billington and Jason
Kantrowitz; costumes, Tony Ray Hicks; music director, David Andrews Rogers. Through May 2 at the National
Theatre. Call 800-447-7400 or visit
www.nationaltheatre.org.
n Mon–Fri at 8, Sat at6&9,Sun at3&7 x
Added Shows:Tue,Wed,&Thu at 5
TKTS: 202-467-4600
www.kennedy-center.org/shearmadness
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arrive at Wolf Trap shows early — many of the season’s most inter- esting performers appear on the underbill. Texas singer-songwrit- er Ryan Bingham, whose single “The Weary Kind” was made fa- mous in the film “Crazy Heart” starring Oscar winner Jeff Bridges, is set to open for country crooner Lyle Lovett on Aug. 17. John Hiatt is another potential show-stealer. The rock maverick will perform tunes from his laud- ed new album, “The Open Road,” when he warms up for the Levon Helm Band on July 21. And while country icon Willie Nelson is set to headline Wolf Trap on Aug. 3, his son Lukas Nelson will open for B.B. King on July 18. Nelson- the-younger may qualify as coun- try music royalty, but he’s proving to be a respectable blues guitarist in his own right. There are a handful of first- timers performing, too, including ’90s soft-rock survivors Counting Crows and Rodrigo y Gabriela, a Mexican duo known for their ag- ile guitar work. Other season highlights run the pop spectrum: Jeff Beck, Earth, Wind & Fire, the Four Tops and the Temptations, the B-52s, Backstreet Boys, Julio Iglesias, Harry Connick Jr., Anita Baker, Beres Hammond, Jackson Browne and Sheryl Crow. Wolf Trap’s dance offerings
have dropped to two: the final, fi- nal, this-time-we-mean-it “River- dance” farewell tour, June 2-6, and the eagerly anticipated Paul Taylor Dance Company on July 20. The latter engagement will feature an as-yet-unnamed work commissioned by the park in honor of Taylor’s 80th birthday, which will fall just nine days after the world premiere. Also on that program will be Taylor’s “Beloved Renegade,” inspired by Walt Whitman’s verse, and “Also Play-
ing,” a vaudevillian romp featur- ing misfits and matadors, both created last year. “I’m a huge dance fan,” said
Wolf Trap President Terrence D. Jones. “I wish we had more this season, but hopefully it’ll be stronger next season.” Jones said he had hoped to bring in Ballet West and another contemporary group this summer, but both backed out too late to find re- placements. For classical music, “Wolf Trap” has become largely synonymous with “Theme Park.” This season will offer orchestral evenings de- voted to James Bond, Bugs Bunny and the video game Final Fantasy. There are also musicals, in- cluding a Rodgers and Hammer- stein program, and an evening with Idina Menzel offering selec- tions from “Rent” and “Wicked.” But the National Symphony Or- chestra, under associate conduc- tor Emil de Cou, will offer more canonical fare. Joshua Bell re- turns to play the Bruch “Scottish” Fantasy that he was originally scheduled to perform the last time he appeared with the or- chestra in November. There’s also an evening of different musical takes on “Romeo and Juliet,” from Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky to Gounod to “West Side Story.” And there is that old summer- concert standby: Holst’s “The Planets,” with NASA images pro- jected on a screen behind the stage. We haven’t seen this in Washington for, well, several months. Over at the Barns, the Wolf
Trap Opera continues its laud- able work presenting young art- ists, offering Mozart’s “Zaide” (an early-ish and unfinished opera that seems to be performed with increasing frequency, perhaps due to the market’s saturation with other Mozart works); Rossi- ni’s operatically droll “The Turk in Italy”; and Britten’s “Midsum- mer Night’s Dream,” as well as two recitals by the New York Fes- tival of Song led by the endlessly inventive Steven Blier. On the lighter side — light opera, to be precise — is a production of “The Mikado” by the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players (NY GASP), a decades-old troupe. This summer’s theater offer- ings include “Cats” (making its first appearance at Wolf Trap), in June, as well as “The Sound of Music” in September. For a complete list of this year’s schedule, visit washingtonpost.
com/clicktrack.
richardsc@washpost.com
Staff writers Sarah Kaufman and Anne Midgette contributed to this report.
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