I understand the temptation to spill all in a blog. There are several things I would love to vent about, but discretion is a virtue I must cultivate.
NEWSNEWSNEWS
On May 23rd I will receive my MFA in creative writing from UBC. It's been a process with a few glitches and it has left me much further in debt than I have ever been in my life, but there it is. So I would like to thank the profs who guided me through the shoals of the workshop-based MFA, in no particular order:
Susan Musgrave, who never failed to take my work seriously even when I wasn't sure poetry was "my thing".
Gail Anderson-Dargatz, who challenged me to get out of my head.
Terry Glavin, whose regard for Orwell will never be forgotten.
Glen Huser, who put together a workshop which challenged, excited and encouraged.
Sara Graefe, my thesis supervisor who showed great insight, flexibility and grace.
I have been very fortunate to have these people in my life over the past two years. The time flew, my writing improved, and I've got piles of projects on which to work.
ARMCHAIR CRITIC - Oliver!
So on Sunday Candas and I went to see Oliver! at The Citadel. Huge show - cast of over 50 (lots of kids), and a set that overwhelmed everything. I'm not going to give a report card on individual performances. If I had the ear of the directors (which I don't) I would ask a few questions:
Why take a musical in which the emotional journeys are all so fragile, and the scenes so distilled, and then overwhelm it with a massive mobile set that takes the combined energies of the entire cast to move? My heart goes out to Krista Monson for valiant attempts at choreography on a nightmare stage.
Why make Fagin look so old when his song makes it clear 70 is distant?
What was said to Nancy, Fagin and Sykes about their solo numbers that led to ineffective staging and musical choices? These are accomplished performers, but they are not well-served here. Please give Fagin some stage and musical support in his number; please remind Sykes that a tense closed throat doesn't "read" as menace when it chokes off much of the sound; please encourage an actual journey in Nancy's reprise instead of a blasted belt from beginning to end (impressive, but it didn't serve the drama). Please support your title character in finding the notes.
I know these performers. If they are well directed, they can deliver top-notch theatre. And maybe there wasn't time for personal direction, given the logistics of the set. But I am tired of seeing fine performers like John Ullyatt in roles that don't suit them. Or Larry Yachimec (whose Actor's Nightmare remains on my list of favourite performances of all time) playing down his strengths for bland choices.
ARMCHAIR CRITIC - Verdi's Macbeth
Edmonton Opera tackled their first Macbeth recently with a charming disregard for text. The bearded witches were not bearded, Fleance jumps on the back of attackers (apparently this has to do with a miscued curtain which was then allowed to stay in the show), Malcolm doesn't run away when the guards are accused of killing Duncan, and Lady Macbeth begs for night to come when the stage is already black. Macbeth calls for his armour, says they'll meet their foes in battle (and he already knows the witches' predictions are unreliable) and then we're treated to a bare-chested fighting Macbeth. Ludicrous. And we were treated to a lot of cauldrons and braziers and cutesy flash tricks. Oh, and the lady-in-waiting did double duty as the head witch - which made a laughingstock of her later scene with Seaton where she sings about how distressing Lady M's behaviour is. The peril of surtitles is that the whole audience, not just the Italians, can read the text and see the discrepancy with what's happening on stage.
And the banquet scene - Macbeth at the downstage end of the table so everything has to be delivered upstage? And Lady M's sprightly "Everything is fine!" music quite ignored in the direction? And the scene starting out with as much celebratory cheer as the Oilers' dressingroom after the final game of the 2006 Stanley Cup... And what's with making the male leads fall down so much, and so early in their scenes that they then have to deliver wads of the scene propped up on their elbows?
Don't ask me why so many people wandering through the forest at night are doing so without aid of a lantern or candle. I'd love to hear what Brian Webb has to say about the process. Webb was credited for the chorus movement in one of the most statically-staged choruses in memory - the artfully posed witches were less threatening or interesting than your standard Zellers matrons, and in some places the chorus was left standing around the stage looking for all the world like they were waiting for someone - anyone - to give them something to do.
But like Oliver!, it was a production focussed on the set. In this case it was the flying scrims and their projections. How annoying. Especially with such fine singers in the leads.
Director Michael Kavanagh has given Edmonton some amazing operatic moments - Rake's Progress had stunning visuals (although some questionable other elements). So what happened here? Too many clever people at the production end and not enough attention to the basics?
