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Art Matters:

Laura Kennelly

Freelance Writer, Editor, and Photographer

For books, etc. I like see: Things I Like

Cleveland Theatre Reviews for Cool Cleveland

The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, Playhouse Square, 2/4/2014

Pure musical joy abounds in this 2012 Tony Award-winning musical. The blend of Gershwin music magic combined with fine acting and dancing made it easy to forget the harsh winter storm rolling into Cleveland on opening night. Yes, this Playhouse Square’s Porgy and Bess is not the film version (a personal favorite) or the original four-plus hour masterpiece by George and Ira Gershwin; it’s smartly altered version for musical theatre audiences.

What's changed? For one thing, the creative team who worked it over for Broadway (Suzan-Lori Parks and Diedre L. Murray) cut out the boring parts traditional for operas (where everyone has to sing every word), changed things that would have been hard to stage (Porgy is not carried around in a goat cart; he has a brace and a stick) and kept the most memorable songs (“Summertime,” “It Ain’t Necessarily so,” etc.).

A certain amount of spice has also been added. Porgy’s allusion to Bess and his new life adds sly humor. (When responding to Catfish Row neighbors’ speculation about what’s causing Porgy’s good mood, Porgy says “Nothing,” looks at Bess, and then launches into “I Got Plenty of Nothing.”) Rich-voiced Nathaniel Stampley (Porgy) and gorgeously lyrical Alicia Hall Moran (Bess) showed love’s transformative powers and delights. Watching Moran’s tormented Bess so soon after hearing about Philip Seymour Hoffman’s untimely death made Bess’s addiction sadly relevant. The charismatic Alvin Crawford (Crown) showed a man scarier than the hurricane. (He responded with a smile when the audience, taken with his strong portrayal, gave him an honorary “boo” at curtain call). Sporting Life, another evil character (acted by the nimble Kingsley Leggs, conveys the light-hearted side of skepticism in “It Ain’t Necessarily So.”

The vivacious ensemble that re-creates Charleston’s Catfish Row in the 1930s does a stunning job, especially considering that the set is plain and there is, basically, no scenery other than what they generate through dance, song, and attitude. (Local note: Ensemble cast member Adrianna Cleveland is a Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music graduate.)

Porgy and Bess does what Carmen almost did, let a heroine survive. Porgy and Bess features a strong woman (granted, she has an addictive personality) and the plot doesn’t kill her off at the end. I’m stumped trying to think of another popular opera where at least some of the main female characters don’t end up dead or abandoned, but usually dead (La Traviata,Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Aida, Carmenimmediately spring to mind). Here Bess leaves for New York and an uncertain future, but Porgy (the eternal optimist) is sure he’ll find her. Although there’s a world of grief on Catfish Row, the two lovers survive. Amazing.

Conductor Dale Rieling led the 23-piece orchestra (most from Cleveland) that brought out many of the subtle complexities of the Gershwin score. It's too bad that huge wall speakers sometimes distorted their efforts (and blasted our ears), but how else can sound be provided in a venue as large as the Palace? There are fancy new systems and maybe some day we can get one too (See[https://www.sfcv.org/article/the-digital-system-that-fixes-concert-hall-sound])

For more about the show itself, see http://www.porgyandbessthemusical.com/

A Collection of Reviews of Cleveland-area Events in Cool Cleveland

ART

Reviews published In Cleveland's Scene Magazine: Art for the Masses ; Practical Matters [Review], Pulse of the City ,Concrete Solutions, Brain Teasers,Culture: Face ValueSubtle Force, No Hurry, Still Waters, Shouts and Murmurs, Flexing Those Abs, Fragments of Truth

MUSIC

Cool Cleveland: Preview of Apollo's Fire, February 2008; Music & Vision Daily: "An Authentic Voice" [review of Opera per tutti], Northern Ohio Live : "Piano Forte," [Cleveland International Piano Competition], July 2007, "Take Note" [Opera at the Cleveland Orchestra and at Opera Cleveland], April 2007; see also "Raising the Score" ; "Rainey Days," [School for the Arts], December 2005; "Played in the Key of She" [Cleveland Women's Orchestra], January 2006

CD Review: Turtle Island Quartet , A Love Supreme: Tribute to John Coltrane [jazz]; Ezra Weiss, Get Happy [Jazz]; Apollo's Fire, Christmas Vespers or Apollo's Fire [baroque]

GENERAL ARTS REPORTING

MORNING JOURNAL, LORAIN: Current stories are listed on the Morning Journal site (search for "Laura Kennelly"); older ones include, "I Love You Because something to love on Playhouse Square" [Musical theatre review] (1-25-09]; "Opera Splendor" [Harvey Pekar opera], (1-18-09); "Back to Back Romance" [preview of "I Love You Because"], (1-11-09); "Tales of Clashing Youth: Rent and Footloose" [preview], (1-4-09); "Pops with a Twang" [Cleveland Pops and 3 Redneck Tenors], (12-28-08); "December Dazzle" [Holiday lights], (12-21-08); "Gift of [Local] Gab" [Gray Publishing], (12-14-09); "Favorite Musical Things" [CD/DVD reviews], (12-7-08); "Christmas Schooner Sets Sail for French Creek" (11-30-08); "Freedman's Carol" [Gerald Freedman and Great Lakes Theatre], (11-23-09); "A French Flair for Cinderella" [preview of Oberlin opera theatre] (11-16-09); "Fashion Fair is Fashion Care" [Ebony fashion show], (11-8-08); "Legally Blonde" [at Playhouse Square], (11-1-08); Kid Delicious" [Hansel & Gretel] (11-2-08); "Gilding More Than Lillies" [Cleveland Museum of Art "Artistic Luxury" exhibit] (10-18-08); "Broadway Series" (9-14-08); "City Music" (9-7-08); "Talk the Talk" [Sondheim & Rich at Oberlin] (8-31-08); "Sailing with Ceramics" (8-17-08); "New Fire for Firelands" [Symphony] (8-10-08); "Stocker Kicks It Up a Notch" [Stocker Arts Center Season] (8-3-08); "Another Oberlin Bow" [Piano Competition] (7-27-08); "Museum Magic: CMA Opens 1916 Building" (7-20-08); "Blossom Blast Off" (6-30-08); "O What a Beautiful Season" [Ohio Light Opera] (6-22-08); "Summer in FAVA's Favour" (6-08-08); "Under the Sea" [Rusalka] (6-1-08); Vatican Splendors" (5-25-08); "Fame of Andy Warhol" Allen Art Museum (5-4-08); "GroundWorks Dance Theatre at Obelin," (4-22-08); "Forever Tango Brings It All to the Sandusky State Theatre" (4-13-08); "All's Well That Ends Well for the Great Lakes Theatre," (4-4-08);"Oberlin Spring: Recital Series" (3-30-08); "Oberlin Opera Theatre Looks into Lurid Life of Roman Emperor om The Coronation of Poppea, " (3-9-08); "Young Trio to Play in Sandusky," (3-9-08);"TrueNorth at French Creek Nature Center," (2-10-08), "LCCC Takes You Down Home"," (2-3-08); "Classical Sounds of Area Artists [DVD, CD reviews], (1-20-08); "Looking Back on 2007,"; "Here's the Buzz on Local Books for the Holidays," "Sounds of Christmas," "Area Theatres Light Up Season," "Say Amen to Workshop," "A Homecoming for All-Star Art",; "Fired Up in Sandusky," ; "Oberlin Arts Series Goes from Dixie to Sweden," "Strange New World at FAVA," "New "Artseen" Gallery in Vermilion," "Stars, Stripes, and Classical Music Forever: July 4th," "The Jewish Connection: The Maltz Museum" [taken from the Morning Journal, Lorain, p. 26 of PDF], "Arts Boom or Bust," "A New 'Shrew,'" "Sing Out the Season," "Dream of Dance," "Alma de la Tierra," "Raising Cain Park," (7-23-06)

POETRY

A Certain Attitude: Poems by Seven Texas Women (Pecan Grove Press, 1995); "Pre-Op," Valparaiso Poetry Review; "Clytemnestra Jr. in Detroit" A Measured Response, "Helen of Troy with Insomnia at the Clavier," A Certain Attitude, plus numerous others in little magazines.

TRAVEL/LIFESTYLE: "Light on Lighthouses: Sandusky Lighthouses" (July 13, 2008), Morning Journal; Northern Ohio Live,"Travel: Columbus, Ohio" (March 2008); "Haute Fashion with an Eye to Charity," Morning Journal; "Area's Biggest Holiday Displays", Morning Journal; "Lakeside: Back to Basics," Lake Erie Living; "Heavy Mettle: Or Things That Go Plump in the Night," October 2000.

RADIO MUSIC CRITICISM:

"Considered Opinions," Review of "Red: An Orchestra" for WCLV 104.9FM; "Considered Opinions," Review of Kent/Blossom Concert for WCLV 104.9 FM [2nd review on page]

Works discussed and cited in : "Flannery O’Connor’s Preachers and Mikhail Bahktin" (article in Flannery O'Connor Review by Ralph C. Wood), Reclaiming Klytemnestra by Kathleen Komar (considers "Clytemnestra Jr. in Detroit")

Reviews [including Cool Cleveland Reviews]: "Cosi fan tutte," reviewed in Morning Journal, Lorain (3-7-2010)

Good Things [by other people]

Contact: LKennelly_at_gmail.com