{"id":2971,"date":"2020-12-29T16:52:20","date_gmt":"2020-12-29T22:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anngumpperdesign.com\/?page_id=2971"},"modified":"2020-12-29T16:54:43","modified_gmt":"2020-12-29T22:54:43","slug":"blue-viola-review","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/anngumpperdesign.com\/index.php\/blue-viola-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Viola Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"2971\" class=\"elementor elementor-2971\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-0cfb69b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"0cfb69b\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3c22ab2\" data-id=\"3c22ab2\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f4d7c98 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"f4d7c98\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"article-section-header\"><section><div id=\"article-header\"><div class=\"article-header-title\"><h1 class=\"article-headline\">Review: \u2018Blue Viola\u2019 plays the operatic blues<\/h1><div class=\"light-grey byline\">Written By:\u00a0<span id=\"noLink\" class=\"ttu\">Sheryl Jensen, for the News Tribune<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0<time class=\"timestamp\">Oct 2nd 2016 &#8211; 8pm.<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><\/div><div id=\"article-section-body\"><div class=\"article-body\"><div class=\"main-body\"><div class=\"first-p\">\u00a0<\/div><div class=\"p402_premium\"><p>The tightrope act that a 21st century opera must perform is both to please opera purists and to connect with a new generation of opera-goers.<\/p><p>Contemporary composer Peter Hilliard and librettist Matt Boresi bring their modern sensibilities to their opera, \u201cBlue Viola,\u201d the season kickoff for Lyric Opera of the North (LOON).<\/p><p>With its mix of blues, jazz, musical theater and modern classical music, \u201cBlue Viola\u201d is a sophisticated m\u00e9lange of the sounds and styles of the likes of B.B. King, Stephen Sondheim and George Gershwin.<\/p><p>Under the ever-impeccable baton of the DSSO\u2019s Dirk Meyer, the six-piece orchestra including, of course, a viola, (played elegantly by guest artist Tam\u00e1s Strasser) creates music that is at turns captivating, haunting, discordant and undeniably fresh and exciting.<\/p><p>\u201cBlue Viola\u201d tells the comic and tragic tale of a valuable viola that is accidentally left on a Chicago street and how it passes through the hands of a woebegone junk collector, his downtrodden girlfriend, a sleazy food-shop owner and ultimately into the clutches of a music aficionado who alone understands its worth.<\/p><p>The cast of four are all solid actors and consummate singers. Playing Mikey Stearns, the smarmy owner of a beef sandwich and cookie shop, Calland Metts shows his musical theater and opera skills, both in his acting and his always crystal clear singing.<\/p><p>As Fritz Humboldt, an intimidating rare instrument dealer, David Greenberg brings a commanding voice and physical presence to his role. His song about the differences between the violin and the viola, and ultimately his reverence for the viola, is one of the highlights of the evening. As he sings, \u201cThe viola discovers your heart\u2019s desire &#8230; and whispers it in your ear.\u201d<\/p><p>Mezzo-soprano Alicia Hall Moran (Arnita Seward) has appeared in such venues as Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and on Broadway where she understudied Audra McDonald as Bess in \u201cPorgy and Bess.\u201d<\/p><p>Arnita sees the viola as a means to escape her dead-end life where she laments that she \u201cain\u2019t never had a good day.\u201d Moran\u2019s luscious voice combined with her sensuous acting style demonstrate her facility to work across genres in theater, jazz and opera.<\/p><p>Baritone Jorell Williams, who originated the role of Vernon Addams with Urban Arias, has sung with many opera companies throughout the United States and has won many awards from a variety of foundations and in many competitions.<\/p><p>Vernon is both mocking and longing to be one of the \u201creal classy people\u201d who can just sit and listen to music \u201cin red velvet seats.\u201d Williams effortlessly combines a grittiness in this character with the velvet tone of his voice.<\/p><p>While Clyde Iron may seem an unlikely opera venue,\u00a0 Ann Gumpper\u2019s cutaway tenement set pieces blend well with the industrial style of the event space.<\/p><p>Bravo to director Jeffrey Madison for his crisp direction and to LOON for choosing this intriguing example of what the landscape of the 21st century opera may look like. \u201cBlue Viola\u201d shows how a new audience for opera may find their entryway through modern pieces to the enduring repertoire of classic opera.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Review: \u2018Blue Viola\u2019 plays the operatic blues Written By:\u00a0Sheryl Jensen, for the News Tribune\u00a0|\u00a0Oct 2nd 2016 &#8211; 8pm. \u00a0 The tightrope act that a 21st century opera must perform is both to please opera purists and to connect with a new generation of opera-goers. Contemporary composer Peter Hilliard and librettist Matt Boresi bring their modern [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2971","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anngumpperdesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anngumpperdesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anngumpperdesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anngumpperdesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anngumpperdesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2971"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/anngumpperdesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2974,"href":"https:\/\/anngumpperdesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2971\/revisions\/2974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anngumpperdesign.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}