St. John Passion - Salt Lake Choral Artists

The St. John Passion is one of Johann Sebastian Bach's more interesting works. It is a dramatic representation of the capture, suffering, and crucifixion of Jesus Christ based on the book of John from the New Testament. This massive two-hour work displays some of Bach's most daring writing including the use of remote keys and chromatic melodic writing that is seamlessly intertwined with the sacred text. The work calls for choir, chamber orchestra (in which Bach scored for some unusual instruments that had fallen out of use even his time), a quartet of soloists singing arias, and three male soloists who play the actual roles of Jesus, Pontius Pilate, and an Evangelist.

Brady Allred

Perfectly timed for Easter, Salt Lake Choral Artists, conducted by Brady Allred and accompanied by the SLCA chamber orchestra (Alexander Woods, concertmaster), presented this masterpiece at the Waterford School's concert hall in Sandy. SLCA is a consistently fine group in Salt Lake City and this concert was no exception. Performed in English (a new translation by Neil Jenkins), from the first downbeat of "Hail! Lord and Master" the room was filled with sound and energy, the music foreshadowing the events to come. The choir was strong and confident.

Almost immediately, the Evangelist begins to narrate the story. Sung by tenor Chris Lecluyse, the part is vocally and emotionally demanding. The Evangelist sings through the entire work describing the events as they unfold. Lecluyse wowed the audience with his clear lyric tone and incredible stamina. His free and flexible voice was perfect for the narration as he displayed his interpretation of the drama presented.

Chis Lecluyse

Each of the soloists were excellent. Baritone, Christopher Holmes as Jesus gave a stately and noble performance exceptionally appropriate for the part while Rex Kocherhans as Pontius Pilate expressed great the depth of his roll and exquisite tone. Singing the arias (Bach uses the arias to express thoughts that aren't moving the action along, while the other soloists actually play parts that move the drama along), were soprano Carol Ann Allred, mezzo-soprano Anna Mooy, tenor Tyler Nelson, and baritone Darrell Babidge. Channeling a beautiful baroque lyric style, Carol Ann Allred sang with beauty and precision, most notably in the aria "O heart, melt in weeping." Amidst this difficult aria, Allred sang effortlessly and honestly, mourning the death of Jesus, she captured such sincerity for the text and music it was absolutely heartbreaking.

A challenge of the work is in the instrumentation of the first alto aria "From the bondage of iniquity." In a low range for mezzo-soprano Anne Mooy there were some balance issues as she was accompanied by the winds in their more powerful ranges. Her aria "It is fulfilled," with better instrumentation was stunning. Mooy sang this powerful text with such evocative dignity that expressed the tragedy and majesty of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This marvelously stately and noble aria was given humanity and courage by Mooy's wonderful performance.

Tyler Nelson

Tenor Tyler Nelson truly shined in his arias. Previously having sung with SLCA for their performance of the Mozart Requiem a few weeks ago, Nelson sang magnificently throughout. Most notable was his performance of the aria "Behold Him." Nelson really sparkled through the melismatic passages and long-held notes. His performance was effortless and polished. Baritone, Darrell Babidge interpreted some of the most interesting arias that were often accompanied by the choir. The part requires an extensive range and quick melismatic passages that he sang as fluently and naturally as can be.

Brady Allred presented another incredibly nuanced and polished masterwork. In the first half of the concert the orchestra experienced some tuning problems that were repaired before the significantly longer second half. Other than that, the performance was exquisite. The choir showed remarkable dedication and passion for the work as they took on multiple personas the music called for. The work is peppered with chorales, originally meant for the congregation to join for the Good Friday service, SLCA sang these small chorales like true works of art with very emotional interpretation, particularly the final choral "O Jesus, when I come to die" really showed off their skill, and more importantly, their sincerity. The chamber orchestra played with historically-informed nuance, with stand-out performances by members of each section. Throughout, the choir sang with an informed wide range of dynamics and impeccably fine distinction of articulation.

One of the most magnificent moments of the St. John Passion is the chorus "Crucify Him!" Bach puts the women and men sections in duets with each other and the moment is intense and SLCA conveyed it extremely vehemently and fervently making it one of the most stand-out moments of the evening.

This was another wonderful performance from Brady Allred and the Salt Lake Choral Artists. Remarkably, this is the third masterwork SLCA has performed in the past month (previously performing Mozart's and Brahms' Requiems)! What is most impressive is each performance has been absolutely exquisite. Emotionally informed and impassionately performed, the musicians on stage presented Bach's St. John Passion as an unforgettable night with one of the greatest pieces of music ever written. There is one more chance to see this concert Saturday April 19th at the Waterford Concert Hall in Sandy at 7:30 p.m. I can think of no better or more appropriate activity to prepare for Easter, and even for the non-religious, this is truly a magnificent experience of marvelous music.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - Midvale Main Street Theater

Lately, musical comedies like The Book of Mormon and Spamalot have found extreme popularity among audiences. Most of these popular shows are best categorized as farces and have laugh-a-minute jokes, yet tend to lack depth in their characters and stories. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is not one of these.

The musical is a bit unconventional. It is in the format of an actual elementary school spelling bee. The characters regularly break the fourth wall and address the audience, whether they be love interests, family members, or actual contestants who they pull up on stage to spell. With a certain amount of improvisation, it is a riot (pandemonium?) and one never knows exactly what to expect next. Whether is absurd words with even more absurd definitions, or the unique and silly characters, it's guaranteed to give a laugh; but what separates this show from the aforementioned farces is that is has sincerity that may even touch your heart a little as you are laughing.

A new theater to my radar, the Midvale Main Street Theater gave an excellent performance of this great show. With a daring line up for normally conservative Utah (Spring Awakening, The Rocky Horror Show), Spelling Bee (music and lyrics by William Finn) drew a large crowd and pleased them all. Michelle Dodge and Jourdan Kelly Dixon played the "adult" proctors of the competition. The roles call for a significant amount of improvisation and Dodge's self-involved and proper former winner juxtaposed with Dixon's portrayal of an educator recently returning after an enigmatic absence who seems to be on some kind of mood-stabalizing drug, the two were a riot with playfully entertaining awkward chemistry.

The entire cast of spellers were adorable at playing half their ages. Mary K Nelson as Marcy Park gave a wonderful performance as a young girl with too many expectations placed on her. Watching her transformation to learn about what is important in life was very rewarding. Garrett Grigg, as the former winner now facing the challenges of puberty gave a sincere performance and showed off some impressive singing skills when he took on the persona of another contestant's father in one of the shows most poignant moments: when Olive (McKenzie Heaton) laments about her parents being absent from the bee and other moments in her life. Heaton's heartfelt portrayal of one of the show's most pitiable characters was passionate and genuine. The trio between her and her parents (played by Grigg and Dodge) "The I Love You Song" was the show's most evocative moment and all three sang beautifully.

Everyone in the cast did an excellent job from the quirky Mitch, (Aaron Ford) the progressive and self-assured Logainne (Erica Renee Smith) to the winner possessing a "magic foot" he used to spell, William Barfée--pronounced bar-FAY (Michael Howell). In an interesting casting decision by the Midvale Theater, they cast a Carolyn Arambula Crow as Trish, the "comforter" who would console the losers, and sometimes give them some life advice. Normally played by a man, Crow was fabulous in the role as a quintessential latina. Her performance was laugh-out-loud funny, yet fully dimensional and realized. Her dedication was apparent in both her singing and her acting leaving the audience dying to see what her next line would be whether she was consoling the actors, or the audience members pulled on stage who inevitably lost.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee plays at the Midvale Main Street Theater through April 19th. This is a well-done performance of a fun and sometimes very touching piece of theater.

Mozart, Bernstein & Nielsen - Utah Symphony

After more than a month of absence, this week maestro Theirry Fischer, Artistic Director of the Utah Symphony, made a triumphant return to the podium. Though Mark Wigglesworth and Jerry Steichen did wonderful work with the symphony, it is extremely a welcome sight to see Fischer back!

Opening the concert was one of classical music's greatest hits and most well-known pieces: "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" (Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K 525) by Wolfgang Amadé Mozart. The reduced string section presented the famous work and with Fischer at the helm did a historically informed piece that remained true to its authenticity yet provided a remarkably fresh interpretation that was as exciting as it was familiar.

Kathryn Eberle, associate concertmaster of the Utah Symphony, gave a excellent performance of Leonard Bernstein's Serenade (after Plato's "Symposium"). The work is characteristic of Bernstein, full of wit and charm. Bernstein's symphonic work has an unbridled quality about it, free of convention and the working of a unrestrained creative genius. Maestro Fischer and the young Eberle were an excellent team from the exquisitely passion-filled lyricism of the first movement to the showy, theater-like final movement. Eberle showed an incredible range of capabilities and handled the piece like a true master.

Thierry Fischer

After an extremely audience-pleasing performance of the Overture from Candide, the symphony presented Danish composer Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 5. Often associate with war, the symphony is one of Nielsen's most powerful works. It challenges the concepts of classical form and is unpredictable modern writing, consisting of only two movements. Principle clarinetist, Tad Calcara, dazzled as usual as he played the lyrical and evocative lines. Also of note was Keith Carrick on snare drum. Through the first movement the snare pierces through the texture and Carrick improvised so powerfully that it gave new emotion to the oft-oversimplified instrument, at a tempo independent of the rest of the orchestra (as if trying to throw the rest of the orchestra off). The impending doom and excitement alluded to by the snare came helm as the orchestra swept the audience away in such a grand statement of the theme. Nielsen is truly a wonderful composer and this work is one of his greatest. The symphony was in absolute top form playing this powerful symphony so exquisitely throughout and it was a remarkably expressive and memorable performance.

Blue Man Group

I sincerely hope you did not miss another opportunity to see the Blue Man Group at Kingsbury Hall this past week!

Blue Man Group began in 1987 and is a show that combines experimental music, comedy and multimedia to share an experience that is completely unique.

Blue Man Group has roots in French mime shows and has been updated for audiences today. It runs deeper than simple jokes and music, the Blue Men represent innocences and even self-consciousness as they are always confused by the audience's reaction to the naiveté or their attempts to do "normal" behavior such as have an elegant dinner or teach people how they should behave in a rock concert. By being "blue," they challenge the concept of race and cultural norms. Though the show is hysterically funny, inventive instruments like the "drumbone" (an interactive instrument made from PVC piping) are wildly brilliant and they have become well-respected for their inventiveness.

I have seen the show five times in various cities and never grow tired of it. It has wild appeal to all people. It speaks to people because of the comedy, because of the innocence, the creativity, and because of the concept of "the outsider" (the Blue Men are outsiders as a group, yet even among them, their is often one who deters from how the other two are behaving). A fascinating and fun-filled show! I will end this review/recap with a quote projected on the stage before the show starts, one that I love very very much.

If you would like to establish a connection with people from another culture, it's always good to offer a few gifts as a gesture of friendship. But, an even better way to forge a lasting bond is by creating something together. Whether it's a meal, an art project or a spontaneous dance party, when you create with others, you create a connection that lasts a lifetime.

From "The Social Synapes" by Nora Epinephrine and Sarah Tonin

Deathtrap - Pioneer Theater Company

March 28 - April 12, 2014, Pioneer Theater Company presents Ira Levin's popular 1978 play Deathtrap.

The Tony-nominated play Deathtrap hails as one of Broadways longest-running plays, and especially one of it's longest-running thrillers and eventually made into a popular film. The plot follows a fame-obsessed playwright who creates and executes devious plans in order to get what he wants. What follows is a show full of unpredictable twists and turns meant to keep the audience as in the dark as the characters, which it usually successfully does. [Spoiler alert ahead]

As I sat watching this well-done performance of Deathtrap, I couldn't help but wonder about the initial popularity of this play. We watch the playwrights write the play we are currently watching, and this novelty of a "play-within-a-play" quickly wears off. The material feigns to be so self-aware that I think in actuality it is completely unaware of itself and the banality of the novelty. It is chock-full of unlikeable characters and plot holes. The stock characters are painfully familiar theater tropes (the hysterical wife, the gay theater men, the conniving and devious gays, the kooky foreigner) leaving none with dimension. For the sake of symmetry (the playwright seems to be obsessively trying to convince the audience of his knowledge and skill, which unfortunately doesn't translate to the actual work) the final act is superfluous and needlessly tacked on, almost in a desperate attempt give the only likable character a chance to be disliked.

With all the flaws in the source material, the production of the Pioneer Theater Company is excellent. Most notable was the sincere portrayal of Myra Bruhl by Gayton Scott. Her early demise in the show is the real tragedy as her skills are excellent and she is a true star. Kymberly Mellen's portrayal of the foreigner with ESP, Helga Ten Dorp, was charming and clever. These were the stand out performances that sometimes made the other actors look a bit amateurish by comparison.

The real star of the show was the exquisite set designed by Dan Zimmerman. It was dark and brooding, full of intricacies and details that were really remarkable, yet could be warm and inviting. Truly one of the best sets seen on the Pioneer Theater Stage in a while.

Next, Pioneer Theater will present Sweet Charity as they finish off their 2013-2014 season.