Out West Arts: Performance at the end of the world

Given the amount of time I spend attending live classical music performances or theater here in Los Angeles, the number of times I actually come into contact with bona fide Hollywood celebrity types and/or the people who work directly with them in “the industry” seem relatively few. Not that it never happens, but I don’t often overhear phrases like “I loved your pilot” or “Let’s take a meeting” used in casual conversation. So it was very out of the ordinary on Monday to find myself in the presence of the aforementioned chatter and so much celebrity business, both on stage, on paper, and in the audience, at the Los Angeles return of Celebrity Autobiography at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. For the uninitiated, Celebrity Autobiography is a decade old recurring event that originated in Los Angeles under the guidance of Eugene Pack and Dayle Reyfel. The concept is simple and often hilarious like a clever party game. Celebrities, and in particular comics, get up in front of an audience and give dramatic readings of excerpts from the most poorly written books and autobiographies of other celebrities. The goal is humor and the strategy to achieve it often involves casting against type between author and reader.

Celebrity Autobiography has taken several forms over the years including a 2005 Bravo TV special and more recently a monthly residency at the Triad Theater in Manhattan which has led to a bit of a renaissance for the event which has, in part, brought its creators back to L.A. where it all began. The show is scheduled to make several monthly appearances on the Edye Second Space at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica into 2011. At the Broad Stage's invitation, I attended the second performance on Monday along with the likes of Lily Tomlin for what was a hysterical evening, if a bit long in the tooth. The cast rotates, and Monday’s group was superb, including Fred Willlard, Alan Zweibel, Brooke Shields, Laraine Newman, and Rita Wilson among others. Michael Urie read from Tommy Lee’s Tommyland as well as a tome by David Hasselhoff, which was superb. Florence Henderson meanwhile provided some critical reassessment of Madonna’s Sex from 1992. The other authors on the agenda included the likes of Mr. T, Suzanne Somers, Marilu Henner, and Tiger Woods. In perhaps some of the funniest routines of the evening, several readers came onstage together and reconstructed tabloid style events such as the breakup of Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson using dueling passages from their different tell-all accounts. I don’t want to say too much more about the actual readings, because the show is one of those things that is much funnier the less you know going in. If I do have any criticism of the program, it is that it can feel a little over rehearsed at times with some lack of spontaneity. Additionally some of the chosen book material is hardly hot of the presses from the world of celebrity publishing. The romance between Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fischer is certainly still a source for potential laughs, but it's hardly breaking news. There are two performances each scheduled for July 19th and September 26th in Santa Monica both of which will feature different readers and authors so check back at the Broad's site for more information.

Labels: Broad Stage 09/10

from l-r: José Adán Pérez, Yohan Hi, Hak Soo Kim, Ronnita Nicole Miller, Danielle Walker, Erika Wueshner, Placido Domingo, and Erica Brookhyser
Photo: mine 2010

Placido Domingo is back in town this weekend leading up to his performances as Siegmund in L.A. Opera’s new Ring Cycle starting on May 29th. But before attending to that business, he had another high profile gig for LAO on Thursday and Friday at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica where he hosted and conducted the L.A. Opera Orchestra in a recital featuring the many talented young artists of the Domingo-Thornton Young Artists program. The show was dedicated to the late and well-loved music patron Flora L. Thornton and was attended by a number of dignitaries including L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye. With so many big names in the sold-out audience and the most famous living name in classical music on the podium, it wasn’t surprising that the eight vocalists in the young artist program seemed somewhat nervous as things got underway.

The program’s first half consisted of a grab bag of opera showpieces. Erika Wueshner sang Elsa’s “Einsam in Trüben Tagen” for starters and was then joined by mezzo-soprano Ronnita Nicole Miller for the Barcarolle from Hoffmann. The tension has relaxed a bit by the end of the first half when the same pair delivered “Mira, o Norma” of all things. Both vocalists have sizable instruments and were splendid. Miller has had a number of higher profile gigs with LAO and is also appearing as one of the Rhinemaidens in the current Ring cycle performances. Valerie Vinzant and Erica Brookhyser sang the Flower Duet from Lakmé to a very enthusiastic response as well. There were two ensemble bits rounding out the first half including “Mir ist so wunderbar” from Fidelio and the Act I sextet from Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte. Both groupings featured great moments for some of the males in the program including bass-baritone Yohan Hi and tenor Hak Soo Kim.

The second half of the evening featured zarzuela arias and ensembles of various stripes and the singers noticeably relaxed and had more fun with these pieces. Most notable was the best four minutes of singing the whole night, which belonged to baritone José Adán Pérez. He sang “Amor vida de mi vida” from Torroba’s Maravilla with the kind of expression that made it feel like he was producing all of the sound, both orchestral and vocal, on stage. If vocal performance in opera is about communicating beyond the meaning of the spoken word, Pérez proved he is capable of much greater things. The evening concluded with Danielle Walker and Hak Soo Kim leading the rest of the ensemble, including four young singers from Washington National Opera’s young singers program, in Verdi’s “Libiamo ne’lieti calici” from La Traviata. Perhaps one of the most rewarding parts of the performance was getting to see Domingo work directly with these young singers outside of a competition format. It was a lovely showcase that the company should do more of.

Labels: Broad Stage 09/10, LA Opera 09/10

Juan Diego Flórez
Photo: Trevor Leighton 2009

Juan Diego Flórez may be the ideal tenor for our times. In an era of recession and environmental awareness, everyone is trying to make the most out of what they already have in a way that frowns on copious consumption and excessive waste. And, as if on cue, Flórez arrives with a voice that may seem meager and prosaic by comparison to others, but that he has used to amazing international star-making effect in spite of its limitations. On Tuesday, he appeared in a solo recital at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica for a brief California stop wedged between performances of La Fille du Regiment in San Francisco and Il Barbiere de Siviglia, which will open in Los Angeles later this month. It was a sold-out show and Flórez seemed relaxed and almost casual in a program that wasn’t organized around a specific PR campaign or marketing agenda. Instead it was filled with the carefully chosen and expertly developed material the tenor has made his name on. Flórez’ voice can be thin and lacking of a certain warmth and richness but the agility and control, not to mention spectacular high notes, he can produce effortlessly have rightly made him a hot commodity and an ideal bel canto tenor particularly in the works of Rossini.

Staying true to form, the first half of the Santa Monica program focused exclusively on Rossini, including three concert arias, as well as big ticket numbers from La Cenerentola and Semiramide. His vocal dexterity throughout all of this was impressive and more than a bit endearing. He’s a charming and handsome man to boot, which makes some of this material absolutely killer. But to be honest, it was when he took the smallest steps outside his comfort zone in the second half that things got really interesting. First up were two French arias, “Pourquoi me reveiller” from Massenet’s Werther and “Ah, leve-toi soleil” from Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette. This is territory more traveled by the likes of Ramon Vargas, Roberto Alagna, and Rolando Villazon on international stages in recent years, but Flórez managed these works well making a convincing argument for a passionate but more compact approach. Following this were three Zarzuela numbers, which proved that there is still truth to the old chestnut that vocalists sound best singing in their native language. Although Flórez’ French is quite good, hearing him sing in Spanish was like hearing a whole different performer who was suddenly unbound from the careful and methodical preparation behind the Italian repertory that has made him famous.

He concluded the main body of the evening with Donizetti’s "Ah mes amis", an aria that has become his calling card of late. While it may have been a bit obvious to put this in the prime spot in the show, it’s hard to blame him for giving the people what they want. If it gets you on the cover of the New York Times, you probably want to repeat it as often as you can. While the performance runs the risk of becoming a parlor trick, it’s one hell of a trick. The encores were what you’d expect – “La donna è mobile”, “Una Furtiva Lacrima”, and “Ah, più lieto”. All were done with real care and sounded wonderful. So, say what you will about the innate quality of his voice, he is an exciting performer who, like the best vocalists, is able to thoughtfully assess his strengths and limitations and build a magnificent career around them.

Labels: Broad Stage 09/10