lindsaywarner.net

Seasoned Choreography on Young Shoulders

Posted Mon, 11/23/2009 - 22:31 by lindsay

Movement trumped emotion in BalletX's November program at the Wilma Theater, featuring three world premieres that frequently relied on pace, rather than interpretation to transmit.

With all-star choreographer Matthew Neenan (co-artistic director with Christine Cox) providing consistent works supplemented by guest choreographers of note, BalletX programs have become known for their edgy playfulness, danced by some of the city's ballet veterans. The November program however, hosted a cast of new faces, many of whom have not gone through the traditional rite of passage of Pennsylvania Ballet corps dancing. The new lineup featured the kind of quick, athletic energy that was suited to technical pieces; missing however, was the grace accrued through seasons of performances.

Meredith Rainey, whose own long, sleek lines are as familiar as Neenan's quirky flexed-foot stylings, experimented with androgyny in his ocean-wave inspired "They Break," with floating costumes designed by Martha Chamberlain that purposefully disguised male from female. By eliminating gender, the dancers were able to mirror each other's moves without regard to traditional roles, and some of the best segments in "They Break" occurred in the bold, daring leaps executed. Rainey favored strong, reactive lines which sometimes descended into domino-like chaos, counteracted with facial expressions that were blank to the point of being belligerent.

The Serious Business of Being Funny

Posted Thu, 10/01/2009 - 06:49 by lindsay

Most kids want to run away to join the circus at some stage in their lives. Lorenzo Pisoni ran away from the circus —  in footie pajamas.

The  mental picture of a young Lorenzo shuffling down the highway in PJs is humorous, but the scenario is representative of the serious themes behind the schtick: the father-son relationship on view in Philadelphia Theatre Company's one-man show Humor Abuse. Directed by Pisoni's college friend Erica Schmidt, Humor Abuse is a mostly true account of Pisoni's childhood growing up the son of two circus performers. Throughout the production, Pisoni performs pratfalls and physical gags, falls off of ladders, springs out of trunks, wears flippers, does back flips and employs an entire repertoire of physical humor — all of it handed down from his father, the professional clown Larry Pisoni.

The physical timing is first-rate, and Pisoni's 20 years of circus training and performance serves him well in this production. It's entirely possible to treat Humor Abuse as a behind-the-scenes tour of your very own circus, but the show also places a father-son relationship literally in the spotlight, showing the ragged edges hidden behind even the most sequined performers.

Summertime And The Music Is Easy

Posted Thu, 07/23/2009 - 01:00 by lindsay

    Summer orchestra programs seem generally be selected using one criterion: Will the program survive the beer and blanket test? As in, will the music stand up to the distractions of the summer season at the Mann, where themed picnics and fireworks tend to leave a longer-lasting impression than the music itself?

    Under the direction of Grant Llewellyn on Tuesday night, the Philadelphia Orchestra opened a two-week run of the expected popular favorites and crowd-pleasers, while also plugging the lesser-known work of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, a shining star in a program that luxuriated in easy-listening favorites.

    Easing into the program with Strauss' “On the Beautiful Blue Danube,” Llewellyn cruised at a relaxed pace that pleasantly contrasted the oom-pah-pahing that too often characterizes this piece. The languid tempo, though the perfect accompaniment for picnics and summer crowds, took its toll close to the end, however, as the final few bars came to their rather abrupt crescendo, taking the low strings seemingly by surprise at the work's close.

'Grease' Used To Be The One That I Want

Posted Fri, 07/10/2009 - 01:00 by lindsay

     Although spaced a decade apart and both hopelessly outdated, 1978's movie version of "Grease" and 1987's "Dirty Dancing" still exert an irresistible pull. It's hard to pinpoint the source of the attraction — certainly, Patrick Swayze and John Travolta were cute, but the films really succeeded on the strength of their characters: While behaving badly and acting like punk teenagers, they still exuded a powerful charisma that made thousands of teens want to get up and dance.
   That vital blend of attitude and charm was sadly lacking in last week's performance of Grease at the Academy of Music. The cast may have felt compromised by the substitution of its Danny Zuko for understudy Mark Raumaker, but the entire performance felt both coarsely performed and outdated.
    While the actors onstage played their guts out on the energy level, nailing that hand jive and cheesy dance moves, the main characters felt like carbon-copies of the 1978 film, but with a much less finely tuned realization of what makes Danny and his gang "cool" or Rizzo and her girls strut. As a result, the beloved tunes and familiar choreography felt as out-of-date as Danny's ex-girlfriends.

Centuries Later, Still 'Spring Awakening'

Posted Fri, 06/26/2009 - 07:22 by lindsay

    Dressed in neon lights and with jagged, contemporary choreography transporting its characters across the stage, Spring Awakening's shock value is wrapped in hipness and shrouded with casual cool. In 1891 when author Frank Wedekind's novel first appeared though, the story was banned by adults who feared it would taint their children's innocent young minds. The irony was evident even then, but more than a century later, Spring Awakening is even more of a poignant — and important — reminder that those whom we wish to protect with ignorance are usually the ones who are most in need of education.

'The Bulletin' Prints Its Last Paper

Posted Wed, 06/03/2009 - 07:51 by lindsay

On June 1, The Bulletin newspaper, where I spent over two years as Arts & Culture Editor, printed its last newspaper. Although no one could pretend to be surprised — late checks, unpaid freelancers, minimal advertising and visits from the PNC finance manager portended the eventual closing — the news still came as a shock. The publisher called an unexpected meeting at around 4:15 p.m., read a few sentences of a prepared statement, then proceeded to tell the staff that June 1 was their last paper. No “goodbye and good luck” issue, nothing. They were to pack up their desks and go home.
    For most, going home meant going to the local bar around the corner, where I met my former co-workers — having taken a job at the Philadelphia Museum of Art just one month ago — for drinks one last time. Everyone was several rounds in by the time I arrived, and feeling little pain as they downed drinks, talked to reporters from rival newspapers around town — the Philadelphia Inquirer broke the news — and commiserated.