Skaters use songs from musicals for performances

Yesterday, I had the priveledge of sitting at the Exhibition of Champions from the 2007 National Figure Skating Championships, held here in Spokane. The TV schedule shows a broadcast of Feb. 18 from 4-6 p.m. on ABC. The medal-winners from each discipline performed whatever routine they wanted to whatever music they wanted -- unlike in competition, which is purely instrumental. Many chose rock 'n' roll or hard rock. My favorite chose showtunes.
Unfortunately, the sound system in the Arena made it impossible to understand the names of the performers, so I don't know who they were. I'm going to make educated guesses based on the photographs from the usfigureskating.org site.
Alissa Czisny took to the ice in a laced-up costume reminiscent of a peasant dress, such as one Aldonza might wear; the music was the theme from Man of La Mancha, as sung by Linda Eder. (I'd bet that half of the audience thought it was Barbra Streisand.) The powerhouse singer put La Mancha on her solo album, and performed it live at Carnegie Hall in an evening of divas.
Immediately following her was pair Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, with Bette Midler's The Rose, from the film of the same name.
Soon after came an ice dance couple who "Dreamed the Impossible Dream," with an edited version, but most of it was the version with Linda Eder. (I'm guessing it was Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov?)
Songs from movies or musicals are pretty common in performance, although for competition they have to be instrumental versions. The year of Tara Lipinsky's tutu (to quote Car Talk), her exhibition was to the animated film Anastasia, written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. Once Upon a December and Journey to the Past were sung by Liz Callaway, a respected soloist (and the best interpretation of Meadowlark anywhere!) But my all-time favorite use of musicals in skating came from Paul Wylie and Nancy Kerrigan.
Paul and Nancy had the same coach, and Paul had spent some time skating pairs before focusing on solo men's competition. When he and Nancy both won silver in the 1992 Olympics, they were both to perform in the exhibition. I remember watching Kerrigan in a white costume skating to one of Kim's solos from "Miss Saigon," performed by Lea Salonga. Soon after Paul came on with "Why God?" from Saigon, the male love interest. He had a white jumpsuit, with the same kind of accents as Nancy's. Then they stepped on the ice together and performed the duet "Solo Saxophone" from Saigon. It was beautiful. I can't tell you anything special about the performances other than they worked beautifully with the music -- and Kerrigan landed the spin Paul threw her into. (The look on the coach's face was priceless.) And in the age of YouTube.com, you can see the moment for yourself. (I also just saw Nancy Kerrigan's performance of Defying Gravity for a TV special. My only quip - why so few jumps for "Defying Gravity?")
In any case, the great thing about music from musicals is that they tell stories in song. The skaters have a few minutes to tell a story in dance, jumps, and body expression, and if the story is told partially in the song, all the better.

Jan 17: Comden & Green

Betty Comden and Adolph Green are my heroes. Betty in particular. Performers AND writers, they wrote lyrics that are so wonderful to sing, that are completely natural to the thought process. One of my favorites is "A Little Bit In Love" from Wonderful Town, which I didn't put in this show because I've played it recently on the Audra McDonald show. (And Audra is THE interpreter of this song!) Complex rhymes (for the tongue, at least) flipping into a little simple thought:

When he looks at me, everything's hazy and all out of focus,
When he touches me, I'm in the spell of a strange hocus-pocus,
It's so ... I don't know, I'm so... I don't know!
I don't know, but I know if it's love then it's lovely!

It's not easy to pull those "I Don't Know"s off with the right innocense, nuance of shading (so each is different in each repetition), and complete wonderful bewilderment. It's a wonderful lyric.
The other favorite song of mine from Comden & Green is a gem called "The Story Of My Life." Many of their songs were fun and free, but this meloncholy mood really speaks true. It was cut from Wonderful Town, probably (like Bernstein's own Ain't Got No Tears Left in On the Town) because the producers thought it was too depressing. I love to hear it particularly because it's depressing -- any time I'm depressed, it reminds me that other people do feel this way.

You dream you hear a lovely song,
All night you're haunted by its theme.
When you wake up, the notes are wrong
The song has vanished with the dream;
Well, that's the story of my life.

Betty died last November, Adolph died in 2002. Their partnership lasted 60 years (longer than their marriages -- to other people). They only earned a half-dozen or so Tony Awards, far fewer than they deserved I think. Comedy is an art, and they mastered it.

Albums played:
Comden & Green Perform Their Own Songs
Bells Are Ringing
That's Entertainment! The Best Of The MGM Musicals
Leonard Bernstein's New York
Bells Are Ringing revival
On the Town
The interview clips come from Do Re Mi revival
These links support purchasing new music for Wednesday Matinee. Thank you!

Festivals - Asassins and Forever Plaid

Every other year, the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) has festivals looking for the best of the best.
The Washington State festival, "Kaleidoscope," takes place March 9-11 in Walla Walla at the Little Theatre. Participants include Spokane Civic Theatre with a shortened version of the upcoming musical Assassins by Stephen Sondheim.
The Idaho State Festival takes place Feb. 16-17 in Lewiston. Participants include the Lake City Playhouse, with a shortened version of Forever Plaid, their fall musical production.
By the way, LCP has a fundraiser for taking Forever Plaid to the festival. Feb. 2, see Forever Plaid at The Old Church in Post Falls, tickets $15. The festivities start at 6:30 with a meet and greet followed by the show at 7:30 and closes with the announcement of Lake City Playhouse's 2007-2008 season.

Civic announces '07-'08 season already

2007 is barely into double-digit days and Spokane Civic Theatre already has announced its upcoming season of shows.
The pattern has, at least since 1994 (after the "JC Superstar at Christmas" fiasco), been to start with a classic "golden era" musical, a kid-friendly musical at Christmas, and end with a musical. For the past few years, they've also had a main-stage, one-night concert of a big musical that could never pay off for the Spokane audience (Hair, Jeckyl and Hyde.) Most excitingly, each season includes a musical in the Studio theatre, either something pretty new or controvercial that would NEVER fly on the main stage.
Those slots this year:
Opening Musical: SOUTH PACIFIC
September 28 – October 28, 2007
This Oscar and Hammerstien show was highly controvercial for romantically mixing Polynesians with Whites. (Gasp- the horror ;-p) Highly fun, several good roles for women.

Concert Musical: INTO THE WOODS
October 21, 2007
This is my favorite Stephen Sondheim show, probably my favorite show period, and certainly the best memories of being onstage. I had the honor of being the Baker's Wife way back in '95? at the Lake City Playhouse. I fell in love with this show with the London production in '90/'91, and I still love to pop in my tape of the Broadway Great Performances version (a show my husband saw live, and I'm still envious). When Civic did this on the main stage, in '92? it was the first community theatre to get the chance to do it (thanks to Jack Phillips). Unfortunately, I heard it didn't sell well. Maybe it was still too new, maybe it's the Spokane Sondheim curse. But seriously, how can you lose by combining Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and his Beanstalk, and Rapunzel? The script is fantastic and funny, the songs have something to say while being completely entertaining.... Okay, I'll get off the soapbox. Needless to say I'm thrilled that Civic will do at least a concert version.

Christmas Musical: THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER
November 16 – December 16, 2007
I have never heard of this show, but a quick Google shows it's based on the Christmas Tree Ships, specifically the Rouse Simmons which was lost in a storm in November 1912. Christmas Trees (Tannenbaum) were a German tradition, and immigrants loved to have that reminder of home in the new world at Christmastime. So it's a story of tradition, ancestors, and human fellowship. One theatre specifically said Schooner is not appropriate for children younger than 6 (my guess being some characters die and the storm scene would be potentially frightening). In any case, now that I know it exists and a CD is out there, somewhere, I'll look for more on the songs themselves.

Studio Musical: THE LAST FIVE YEARS
January 25 – February 17, 2008
Jason Robert Brown is a young, prolific songwriter for the stage, with a pop style. If you watched Audra McDonald's PBS concert at Lincoln Center last fall, she sang one of his songs as he accompanied on piano. Last Five Years is a two-character work, completely out of synch with time. A man and a woman meet, marry, divorce in the span of five years; the two tell their stories separately. Somewhat confusingly, Cathy tells her story backward; the show begins with her "Still Hurting." Jamie tells his side of things chronologically, beginning with meeting his "Shiksa Goddess." It's not a new gimmick, and I'm not sure it's more than a gimmick, but I'm still looking forward to a local production of a new-ish (2002) work.

Closing: THE MAN OF LA MANCHA
May 16 – June 15, 2008
Don Quixote! The Lord of La Mancha! A male-heavy show, and an operatic one to boot. Unfortunately, there is a problem of finding enough Spokane-area men who sing, especially in spring. (For example, the Chorale has mid-April and mid-May concerts.) I wish the director and producer luck in casting.