snap paparazzi Halloween 32: Fall of the CAC benefiting Project Lazarus ~ New Orleans ~ Photos by Tony Leggio, Hubert S Monkeys

Transcription

1 snap paparazzi Halloween 32: Fall of the CAC benefiting Project Lazarus ~ New Orleans ~ Photos by Tony Leggio, Hubert S Monkeys 16 The Official Mag : AmbushMag.com Nov , 2015 Official ficial Mardi di Gras Guide GayMardiGras.com

2 GayNewOrleans.com SouthernDecadence.com Nov , 2015 Facebook.com/AmbushMag The Official Mag : AmbushMag.com 17

3 18 The Official Mag : AmbushMag.com Nov , 2015 Official ficial Mardi di Gras Guide GayMardiGras.com

4 GayNewOrleans.com SouthernDecadence.com Nov , 2015 Facebook.com/AmbushMag The Official Mag : AmbushMag.com 19

5 trodding the boards by Brian Sands New Orleans Ballet Association through May 7 The New Orleans Ballet Association opened its season with the Twyla Tharp 50th Anniversary Tour for which this acclaimed ballet and modern dance choreographer of stage (Tony Award-winner Movin Out), film (Hair, Amadeus, etc.) and television, rather than resting on her laurels, created two new works. Adding to the special nature of the evening (NOLA is one of only 17 cities where this program will be presented) was that one of them, Yowzie, was set to a jazz score performed by New Orleans own Henry Butler. Each ballet was preceded by a brief Fanfare set to music by John Zorn. The first, played by The Practical Trumpet Society, with its constant motion and Renaissance-y/Baroque-ish feel was a perfect lead-in to Preludes and Fugues with its music by Johann Sebastian Bach (though the pause between them was so short I wasn t entirely sure at first where one ended and the other began). Preludes and Fugues offered a brilliant melding of classical and modern choreography. Aided by James F. Ingalls luminous lighting and Santo Loquasto s casually elegant costumes the men in gold shirts and slacks, the women wearing short dresses in colors from some royal court palette Tharp created gorgeous stage images. Opening with a jazzy pas de deux, Tharp provided intricate footwork for duos, trios and ensemble passages as well as some occasionally herky-jerky moves that intriguingly contrasted with Bach s music. Tharp has said that Preludes and Fugues is her tribute to four choreographers who influenced her early on Merce Cunningham, Jerome Robbins, Martha Graham and George Balanchine. This may be so, but if I caught a little Balanchine here, sensed some Graham there, Tharp blended parts of each of these iconic dancemakers into a style all her own. If Tharp doesn t take herself, or Dahnce, too seriously, leavening many sequences with humor, she can also be both serious and tender while exploring relationships in all their variations. As Tharp and her superb dancers worked their way through about half of The Well-Tempered Clavier, I didn t want it to end. I can t say I felt the same way, however, about Yowzie. Yes, the music (including tunes by Jelly Roll Morton and Fats Waller) was wonderful; the spirited dancing, especially by the extraordinary Rika Okamoto, was great; and the exuberant choreography, on its own terms, was delightful. But if Tharp captured the feel of Bourbon or Frenchmen Street, the overall effect was nothing but the most Daniel Baker, Ramona Kelley, Nicholas Coppula, Eva Trapp-Coppula in Twyla Tharp's Prelude and Fugues obvious of narratives and outdated cliches of touristic overindulgence, a superficial stylization of what we see here all the time. Loquasto s costumes evoked Mardi Gras or the type of Jazzfest crowds you see when any member of the Grateful Dead is performing, but Yowzie might actually have been more interesting if Loquasto had dressed the dancers in day-to-day clothes and Tharp had shown the fallout from all the excess in a more serious way. (Let s not even talk about the overture to a gay 3-way that was preposterous.) That said, I seemed to be in the vast minority as Yowzie was an obvious crowd-pleaser. NOBA s season continues with the renowned Dance Theater of Harlem (Nov. 21, Mahalia Jackson Theater), Ailey II s young dance talent (Feb. 27, Tulane s Dixon Hall), Cuban contemporary artistry from Malpaso Dance Company (Mar , NOCCA s Lupin Hall), the exciting Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (Apr. 2, Mahalia Jackson Theater), and Che Malambo (May 7, Mahalia Jackson Theater) whose all-male company of 14 gauchos from Argentina promises precision footwork, drumming, singing and whirling boleadoras (lassos with stones on the end)! Broadway in New Orleans/Cinderella at The Saenger Theatre through June 19 So this gal meets a prince but there s some problems but she helps him sort out some issues and then they get married and live happily ever after. Wasn t The Little Mermaid great? Oops, that was September s fairy tale at the Saenger. October s was Cinderella or, more properly, Rodgers + Hammerstein s Cinderella just to make sure you don t get it confused with Rossini s or Massenet s or Disney s. Okay, enough snarkiness. Any opportunity that gives you the chance to hear seven classic R&H songs is not to be sneezed at. What with William Ivey Long s sumptuous costumes that ingeniously transformed from rags to riches before our eyes, and grand staircases that magically appeared on Anna Luizos set, itself reminiscent of old-fashioned storybook illustrations, this touring production was certainly wondrous to look at. But if I didn t mind Douglas Carter Beane s updating of Hammerstein s original book, which added contemporary references, revamped one of the stepsisters into a dorky but nice gal, and made Cinderella a more conscious shaper of her own destiny, it lacked one crucial aspect drama. Whether it was how Cinderella would get to the ball or seeing whom the shoe would fit, things went by too quickly, like a parent speedily telling a child a bedtime story. And having set up a vote that would transform the kingdom into a democracy with the good Prince versus the evil Regent, Beane resolves things too easily and, presto!, everyone s taking their bow. Perhaps I m asking too much, but I would ve preferred an Into the Woodslike rendering that told the basic story in Act One and showed how a newly democratic land turned out in Act Two. Of course, that probably would ve forced all the show s wonderful original songs (Impossible, Ten Minutes Ago, A Lovely Night, etc.) into the first act leaving a musically wan second one. As it is, the score has been filled out with some numbers that had been dropped from other R&H productions (South Pacific, Me and Juliet, etc.), and understandably so as they re not top tier. Director Mark Brokaw, who s better known for his work on edgy new plays regionally and off-broadway, efficiently kept things moving along but tended to let the big production numbers go on just a bit too long. As Cinderella, Kaitlyn Davidson did a nice job, singing prettily and acting convincingly, but perhaps constrained by the dutiful demands of princesshood, didn t leave much of a lasting impression. Andy Huntington Jones was earnest and decent as Prince Topher but his youthful white-bread-y looks made him appear almost too young to be having the existential crisis that the script calls for; the swarthy handsomeness of Santino Fontana, who originated the role on Broadway, seemed more appropriate. The rest of the cast were all fine with Blair Ross amusing as the imperious Stepmother and Aymee Garcia, the lone truly nasty stepsister, leading a rousing rendition of the Stepsister s Lament. Did I enjoy Cinderella? Despite my reservations, overall, yes. But I m looking forward to having some real people inhabit the Saenger stage instead of fairy tale folks. Oops, Beauty and the Beast returns in December (Dec. 29-Jan. 3). At least the turn-of-the-century newspaper boys of Newsies will offer some deliverance first (Dec. 1-6). On the Boards... Before all the Nutcrackers and Christmas Carols of the holiday season descend upon us, there s still time for some serious dramas and some not-so-serious musicals; impressively, many of these are original works making their debut. Southern Rep presents the world premiere of Song of a Man Coming Through, the true story of Earnest Knighton Jr., who turned his journey through death row at Angola into a transformative experience. Drawn from the firsthand accounts of Bishop Joe Morris Doss and the other members of Mr. Knighton s legal team, Bishop Doss and his son Andrew Doss have written this play that fulfills Knighton s request that his story be told. Song of a Man Coming Through features Robert Diago DoQui, Mike [continued on 22] 20 The Official Mag : AmbushMag.com Nov , 2015 Official ficial Mardi di Gras Guide GayMardiGras.com