by Patti and Ed Gallagher
The Steel City Theatre Company in cooperation with CSU-Pueblo Music Department presented a production of the musical “Grease”, opening on Thursday, March 19th at Hoag Hall on the CSU campus. It was an enjoyable presentation ending with a standing ovation. The show had many memorable moments, especially with much physical humor and wonderful dance sequences. The comic dialogue sequences, however, lacked snappy pacing with many deadly short moments of silence and were staged too far upstage away from the audience.
The show included a very large cast that caught the flavor of the 1950’s. Unfortunately, the diction of many of the cast was unclear although this did not include the enunciation of the leading characters, Sandy, played by Bethany Nafziger and Danny, acted by Curtis Fleecs, both displaying good singing voices. Bethany’s interpretation of the “nice” girl was underplayed but, at the end, when she was transformed into a much more appealing and aggressive persona, she was splendid. Curtis, the leading Greaser” was a consistently convincing character. Jenilyn Bartolo played Rizzo who succeeded in portraying a “naughty” young lady and did an outstanding job in singing and in preparing the audience for her transformation from the rivalry with Sandy to an influential friend. The singers were well prepared by Barbara Beck and the orchestra, directed by Alan Mills, was well balanced, never overpowering the singers. A few times it appeared that the microphone was turned off on the soloists making it difficult to catch the meaning of the songs. Especially effective were the dance sequences at the end of Act I and again at the end of Act II. There were so many characters that it would not be possible to review each, but outstanding performances were given by Jenni Barrett as Cha-Cha, Michaela Shults as Jan, Tanner Munson as Doody and very amusingly, the “Greasers”. There were excellent “cameo” performance by James Amos and Linda Harpel.
The setting, a large painting of a 1950’s juke box surrounded by staircases, was painted exquisitely but the use of the full stage of Hoag Hall was a mistake. Although it was intended to give space for the many dances, the forward part of the stage could have been utilized to greater advantage. Also, placing the wonderful orchestra in the remote part of the stage was a error because it should be a much more vital part of the production, not a necessary evil.
Grease will be performed Saturday and Sunday, March 20 &21, 7:30pm at Hoag Hall. Tickets are $5 and can be reserved by calling 719-289-0293.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
'Pied Piper' bids Fernando adieu
By SCOTT WHITED
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
The pied pipers of the Sangre de Cristo Ballet Theatre for nigh onto the last decade have been the wife-and-husband team of Artistic Director Karen P. Schaffenburg and her husband, Artistic Adviser Fernando Schaffenburg. Fernando is best known to the Pueblo public as Herr Drosselmeier, the mysterious enchanter that he played for many years in SBT's annual production of "The Nutcracker."
Sadly, a week ago Friday, Fernando Schaffenburg went to join the Great Ballet Company del Cielo at the grand old age of 83. Saturday's performances of "The Pied Piper of Hamelin," the latest entry in the Children's Playhouse Series at the Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center, were dedicated to his memory. His former charges did him proud.
The hour-long production told of the popular folk tale in which the title character rids Hamelin of an unpleasant infestation of mice. When the town council refuses to pay up, the piper lures all of the town's children off and away, ne'er to be seen again.
The moral for the hundreds of children in the near-capacity crowd? Always pay the piper. Whether they understood the moral or not, most of the children - and their accompanying adults - enjoyed the goings-ons.
Emily Aldag as the Piper and her Lieutenant Piper, Rebecca Van Dover, were green-clad in tights reminiscent of this weekend's St. Patrick's Day festivities. They entranced both their mice and children targets with lithe aplomb, especially Van Dover. The plethora of pesky mice was led by Sydney Gettel as the Queen Mouse and Megan Duling as the Princess Mouse. Gettel has matured into possibly the company's finest young ballerina, and this performance was demonstrative of her lovely dancing skills. She was precise in her footwork, beautiful in her posture, and warm in her personal presentation. Duling was a delightful complement to Gettel. She is quickly blossoming into one of the corps' stalwart fixtures.
The "Rainbow" of Paige Cipperly, Grace Lobato, and Cissy McDaniel brought entertaining elan to their featured dance, sporting solid-red, solid-white, and solid-blue full-length leotards as the Piper wound her musical web around their befuddled resistance. They combined bemusement and amusement in proper teen-age proportions.
The balance of the troupe, consisting of some 40 members, acquitted themselves well, their brightly energetic performances complemented nicely by a simple-yet-effective set design by Timothy F. Gately and a wide variety of complementarily colorful costumes designed by Jennee Duling.
Fernando and Karen Schaffenburg worked closely with Sydney, Emily, Paige, Grace, Megan, Cissy and Rebecca, as well as most of Saturday's other performers, over an extended period of time. Their expertise and guidance will continue to bear fruit, even now that one of them has moved on to a greater gig.
Vaya con Dios, Herr Drosselmeier.
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
The pied pipers of the Sangre de Cristo Ballet Theatre for nigh onto the last decade have been the wife-and-husband team of Artistic Director Karen P. Schaffenburg and her husband, Artistic Adviser Fernando Schaffenburg. Fernando is best known to the Pueblo public as Herr Drosselmeier, the mysterious enchanter that he played for many years in SBT's annual production of "The Nutcracker."
Sadly, a week ago Friday, Fernando Schaffenburg went to join the Great Ballet Company del Cielo at the grand old age of 83. Saturday's performances of "The Pied Piper of Hamelin," the latest entry in the Children's Playhouse Series at the Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center, were dedicated to his memory. His former charges did him proud.
The hour-long production told of the popular folk tale in which the title character rids Hamelin of an unpleasant infestation of mice. When the town council refuses to pay up, the piper lures all of the town's children off and away, ne'er to be seen again.
The moral for the hundreds of children in the near-capacity crowd? Always pay the piper. Whether they understood the moral or not, most of the children - and their accompanying adults - enjoyed the goings-ons.
Emily Aldag as the Piper and her Lieutenant Piper, Rebecca Van Dover, were green-clad in tights reminiscent of this weekend's St. Patrick's Day festivities. They entranced both their mice and children targets with lithe aplomb, especially Van Dover. The plethora of pesky mice was led by Sydney Gettel as the Queen Mouse and Megan Duling as the Princess Mouse. Gettel has matured into possibly the company's finest young ballerina, and this performance was demonstrative of her lovely dancing skills. She was precise in her footwork, beautiful in her posture, and warm in her personal presentation. Duling was a delightful complement to Gettel. She is quickly blossoming into one of the corps' stalwart fixtures.
The "Rainbow" of Paige Cipperly, Grace Lobato, and Cissy McDaniel brought entertaining elan to their featured dance, sporting solid-red, solid-white, and solid-blue full-length leotards as the Piper wound her musical web around their befuddled resistance. They combined bemusement and amusement in proper teen-age proportions.
The balance of the troupe, consisting of some 40 members, acquitted themselves well, their brightly energetic performances complemented nicely by a simple-yet-effective set design by Timothy F. Gately and a wide variety of complementarily colorful costumes designed by Jennee Duling.
Fernando and Karen Schaffenburg worked closely with Sydney, Emily, Paige, Grace, Megan, Cissy and Rebecca, as well as most of Saturday's other performers, over an extended period of time. Their expertise and guidance will continue to bear fruit, even now that one of them has moved on to a greater gig.
Vaya con Dios, Herr Drosselmeier.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Chorale’s ‘Creation’ a Contemplation (unabridged)
Scott Whited
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN REVIEWER
As God hath created order out of primordial chaos, so the Pueblo Choral Society hath brought impressive harmonic arrangement out of a disparate group of local musical entities.
The Chorale presented Franz Josef Haydn’s “The Creation” Saturday evening at Hoag Recital Hall on the Colorado State University-Pueblo campus. A near-full house was treated to not only the full-throated Choral Society itself, but also to a number of guest artists: CSU-Pueblo’s Concert Choir; Pueblo County High School’s “Voices of ‘09”; and especially a 36-member Guest Orchestra assembled by Dan Masterson and under the guidance of Concertmaster Ilya Shpilberg. The result was a musical experience not often encountered by local audiences: a classic oratorio, the focus of which was the creation story as depicted in Genesis.
An extended orchestral overture entitled “The Representation of Chaos” brought a dramatic tension to the evening’s first moments. Called a “musical depiction of a beauty almost frightening in its chromatic and dissonant texture” by renowned composer Leonard Bernstein, the sequence transformed to a more familiar harmonic structure as the piece moved to the primary performance device of the evening – a series of soloists singing extended lyrical passages from the Biblical text.
Bass Brent Ritter portrayed The Angel Raphael, commencing the vocal music with the eternal “In the beginning God created the heav’n and the earth.” He was followed by tenor John Blinn as The Angel Uriel and soprano Rose DePalma as The Angel Gabriel. The three celebrated God as He brought forth the light, the rain and snow, the land and rivers, until “with verdure clad the fields appear.” Punctuated and beautifully augmented by the combined choirs and the orchestra, by the end of Part I, many in the audience felt communion with one of the more powerful passages: “They marvel at the wondrous work with awe and joy, the hosts celestial.”
Though not celestial, the hosts terrestrial soared as though their voices were wingèd.
In Part II, God brought forth the great whales and flutt’ring creatures, and every living creature after his kind. But the whole was lacking still. The Angels Uriel and Raphael told us of God that, “Male and female created He them, and behold, it was very good.”
The combined musical forces could not hold back at this foundational animation of that which had been without Life, bursting forth with a crescendoing “Achieved is the glorious work. The praise of God shall be our song. Glory be to the Creator, forever be His name exalted, Hallelujah.”
Part III featured mezzo-soprano LaShele Warren as Eve and baritone Charles Rann as Adam. They were both much appreciative of the Creator’s largesse and vowed to Him that they would “praise Thee now and evermore.” The assembled musical multitudes seconded that emotion, and a well-deserved standing ovation was heard round about.
To partake of a monumental sacred work by a major classic composer, one that will celebrate the 210th anniversary of its premiere in just 10 days, is both uplifting and somewhat disconcerting. Language and music such as this is elemental, moving past sensory interpreters directly to primal nerve centers. The vibrating vocal chords and violin strings give embodiment to making one’s hair stand on end.
And yet we are creatures of habit. More appropriately, we are creatures of popular culture. The extended solos, beautifully sung though they were almost uniformly, became – at times – tedious. Where was the hook? Where was the middle-eight? Ah, here is the authority of the scores-strong choir, overwhelming our doubts with mesmerizing power.
The fault – to the degree there may be one – is not in our (pop) stars, but in ourselves. Artistic Director Mark Hudson made a bold choice for one of his last outings as conductor of the Choral Society, and the entire ensemble is to be commended for challenging its audience – to rewarding results.
One final observation: it was noted with happiness by more than one patron that it was a joy to see younger performers such as DePalma and Warren take their well-deserved places in the PCS spotlight.
The Pueblo Choral Society’s next performance is “The World of Love” on April 25 at the Pueblo Convention Center.
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN REVIEWER
As God hath created order out of primordial chaos, so the Pueblo Choral Society hath brought impressive harmonic arrangement out of a disparate group of local musical entities.
The Chorale presented Franz Josef Haydn’s “The Creation” Saturday evening at Hoag Recital Hall on the Colorado State University-Pueblo campus. A near-full house was treated to not only the full-throated Choral Society itself, but also to a number of guest artists: CSU-Pueblo’s Concert Choir; Pueblo County High School’s “Voices of ‘09”; and especially a 36-member Guest Orchestra assembled by Dan Masterson and under the guidance of Concertmaster Ilya Shpilberg. The result was a musical experience not often encountered by local audiences: a classic oratorio, the focus of which was the creation story as depicted in Genesis.
An extended orchestral overture entitled “The Representation of Chaos” brought a dramatic tension to the evening’s first moments. Called a “musical depiction of a beauty almost frightening in its chromatic and dissonant texture” by renowned composer Leonard Bernstein, the sequence transformed to a more familiar harmonic structure as the piece moved to the primary performance device of the evening – a series of soloists singing extended lyrical passages from the Biblical text.
Bass Brent Ritter portrayed The Angel Raphael, commencing the vocal music with the eternal “In the beginning God created the heav’n and the earth.” He was followed by tenor John Blinn as The Angel Uriel and soprano Rose DePalma as The Angel Gabriel. The three celebrated God as He brought forth the light, the rain and snow, the land and rivers, until “with verdure clad the fields appear.” Punctuated and beautifully augmented by the combined choirs and the orchestra, by the end of Part I, many in the audience felt communion with one of the more powerful passages: “They marvel at the wondrous work with awe and joy, the hosts celestial.”
Though not celestial, the hosts terrestrial soared as though their voices were wingèd.
In Part II, God brought forth the great whales and flutt’ring creatures, and every living creature after his kind. But the whole was lacking still. The Angels Uriel and Raphael told us of God that, “Male and female created He them, and behold, it was very good.”
The combined musical forces could not hold back at this foundational animation of that which had been without Life, bursting forth with a crescendoing “Achieved is the glorious work. The praise of God shall be our song. Glory be to the Creator, forever be His name exalted, Hallelujah.”
Part III featured mezzo-soprano LaShele Warren as Eve and baritone Charles Rann as Adam. They were both much appreciative of the Creator’s largesse and vowed to Him that they would “praise Thee now and evermore.” The assembled musical multitudes seconded that emotion, and a well-deserved standing ovation was heard round about.
To partake of a monumental sacred work by a major classic composer, one that will celebrate the 210th anniversary of its premiere in just 10 days, is both uplifting and somewhat disconcerting. Language and music such as this is elemental, moving past sensory interpreters directly to primal nerve centers. The vibrating vocal chords and violin strings give embodiment to making one’s hair stand on end.
And yet we are creatures of habit. More appropriately, we are creatures of popular culture. The extended solos, beautifully sung though they were almost uniformly, became – at times – tedious. Where was the hook? Where was the middle-eight? Ah, here is the authority of the scores-strong choir, overwhelming our doubts with mesmerizing power.
The fault – to the degree there may be one – is not in our (pop) stars, but in ourselves. Artistic Director Mark Hudson made a bold choice for one of his last outings as conductor of the Choral Society, and the entire ensemble is to be commended for challenging its audience – to rewarding results.
One final observation: it was noted with happiness by more than one patron that it was a joy to see younger performers such as DePalma and Warren take their well-deserved places in the PCS spotlight.
The Pueblo Choral Society’s next performance is “The World of Love” on April 25 at the Pueblo Convention Center.
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