Curtain Tales

Burt Dow Deep Water Man!

2010-06-23T09:54:00.000-07:00

With opening night just over a week away, the cast and crew of Burt Dow Deep Water Man are hard at work. Yesterday, I joined sculptor, Michael Stasiuk, who is creating amazing props for the performance, to help paint the puppets for the show.

Like much of the performance, the creation of the props is a truly collaborative effort between people from away, local students, volunteers, and staff. Students in a Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School art class helped to make the puppets, designed by Michael Stasiuk. Under the direction of Mr. Stasiuk, a team of volunteers is helping to paint and decorate the giant sea-creatures that will share the stage with the human stars of Burt Dow Deep Water Man.

The puppets are being painted in the old Stonington Elementary School with a little help from the soothing guitar music sounding from the boom box. With some masking tape, several cans of paint, and a little help from Martha Stewart (or rather, her glitter), the amazing creatures are taking shape. Mr. Stasiuk mixed paints to capture some of the vibrant and often times clashing, yet miraculously working together colors, in the book by Robert McCloskey (the colors of the whales were described by one volunteer as “just like the colors I wore in the 80s!”).

We antiqued chickens and painted a giant octopus (just to name a few!), helped by the performance’s director and stage manager. After the puppets are initially primed in a solid color, Mr. Stasiuk and the volunteers are using paintbrushes and pieces of foam pillows to color and shade the props, sponging color on top of color, and sprinkling with glitter.

To see these fantastic props in person, buy your tickets to Burt Dow Deep Water Man! As someone who has been fortunate enough to catch a sneak-peek, let me tell you, the stuck-in-your-head-while-you-walk-around-the-house-singing tunes are not to be missed!

Is February too early be thinking about Shakespeare in August?

2010-02-17T12:34:00.000-08:00

By Alicia Anstead
I've been thinking lately about the way the performing arts, and plays in particular, linger in our thoughts long after the curtain goes down. Plays, after all, are completely ephemeral. They happen, and they're gone. Except they're not. Think of the plays you've been to that have stayed with you -- whether because of the play itself (themes of love or death, for instance) or the circumstances in which you saw the play (the friend you were with or the phase you were going through). The poet T. S. Eliot talks about measuring life in coffee spoons. But some of us measure our lives in plays. I do at least.

But that's about what happens during a play or after a play. What about everything that happens before a play? A few weeks ago, Linda Nelson and Judith Jerome announced that Measure for Measure, directed by longtime friend of OHA Jeffrey Frace, is the play for Shakespeare in Stonington this summer. (Mark the dates: August 19-29, 2010.)

I couldn't be happier, in part because the experience starts now. Or rather, it started for me as soon as I heard the news. Immediately I turned to my handy cell-phone app PlayShakespeare.com and downloaded the text. For three days during a conference in New York City, I breathlessly read the play on my phone while riding the train to and from the event. At one point, I was so engrossed I missed my stop and ended up several stations away from my own. Wow, do I love when that happens, even if I'm late for something else.

On this read through, I was struck by the utter strangeness of Measure for Measure. It's called a problem play, but it's more than a problem play. It's a testy exploration of justice, mercy, personal agency and, once again, marriage. (Remember all the messiness about marriage last summer with A Midsummer Night's Dream?! If not, re-visit the blog posts that explore: I do, I don't, I might, I couldn't possibly "aspects" of marriage.) M4M is set in Old Vienna, but the themes of premarital pregnancy, enforcing the letter of the law, a woman's right to her own body and the shiftiness of politicians are all very relevant in the 21st century. Alas.

Thus begins our journey. Seven months before the show, the art has started to work its magic. I'll be checking in from time to time between now and summer with reports, tips and teasers about the play, the production and other related news. In the meantime, I'll be thinking -- and I hope you will be too -- about this question: When does art begin? When does it end? And what happens in the space between?

This is the first of 2010's posts on ShakeStonington, OHA's blog devoted to all things Shakespeare, created and edited by OHA's critic-in-residence Alicia Anstead. You can subscribe directly to ShakeStonington, and be alerted to all future updates, by going to shakestonington.blogspot.com.

A Maine Island View of the Oscars

2010-02-03T05:09:00.000-08:00

Wow. OK. 10 nominations for Best Picture? From my vantage point on a small island off the Maine coast: is such excess necessary?!

OK, here is this year's ballot, and here is the glory of running a theater that presents both live shows AND first-run movies: of the excessive number of 10 nominees, we will have shown more than half--that's right, at least SIX, more than the number of nominees there used to be--of the Best Picture nominees. So when you hit that ballot, even in rural Maine, you will have had a good shot of seeing the following nominees for Best Picture--and probably more:

The Blind Side (December 2009)
Inglourious Basterds (November 2009)
Precious (January 2010)
Up (June 2009)
Up in the Air (Feb 12-14, 2010)
Avatar (mid-to-late February, stay tuned for dates)

Is this a luxury of riches or . . . just a whole lot of films being produced?! I'll leave the judging to you. Complete a ballot and email it or mail it to us; the top FIVE (we're going to stick with the old scale!) most accurate ballots will win free movie passes to the Opera House. Happy Oscar-ing!

The Saints Go Marching In

2010-01-25T11:31:00.000-08:00

In 2008, OHA brought New Orleans' Own Hot 8 Brass Band to Deer Isle, where their playing brought a packed house to shake the Opera House floor -- and then all of downtown Stonington when they lead a traditional "second line" parade down Main Street on Sunday. Check out this great video of that event, to hear the Saints go Marching in Down East Maine!

Now it's a sadness that our own Patriots' performance was not excellent enough to land them in this year's Super Bowl. But since they couldn't manage it, how about those New Orleans' Saints?! For the first time since their founding in 1967, the Saints are in the Super Bowl, facing off against that old New England nemesis, the Indianapolis Colts.

Why write about the Saints on a performance blog? Opera House Arts has a long-standing connection to the music and culture of New Orleans--in fact, in the summer of 2010 we will be bringing one of New Orleans' legendary clarinetists, Dr. Michael White, to the island to be in a two-week residence at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and a featured artist at our 10th annual jazz festival.

The volunteer producer of our jazz festival, acclaimed arts journalist Larry Blumenfeld, is a passionate expert on New Orleans jazz, and recently sent us this link to a New Orleans'Saints Tribute Songs Playlist, including this video of trumpeter Kermit Ruffins' "A Saints Christmas."

Jazz lives in this year's Super Bowl!

"Precious" at the Opera House

2010-01-14T04:44:00.000-08:00

Many questions can be raised about our showing of the film "Precious: based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire" at the Opera House as part of our Alt-Movie Series this week. Why show a film about inner-city tragedy and dysfunction in our rural hamlet? Why show a film which could possibly further negative stereotypes of African-Americans in the nation's whitest state, where few have access to everyday encounters with racial and ethnic minorities? Why show films which detail poverty, abuse and their effects at all?

Because "Precious" is a complicated, beautifully made film which shows the potential impacts of poverty and abuse in ALL of our communities. It is a story which must be told--as Sapphire knew when she published the book on which it is based, "Push," in 1996. “Ralph Ellison spoke of an invisible man, but girls like Precious are our invisible young women—not seen by their own people let alone white society,” says Sapphire.

The character of Claireece “Precious Jones” Sapphire created and whom director Lee Daniels, along with producers Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, faithfully renders is so deeply human and fully realized, not only in her misery but in her imaginative, thoughtful processes, that it is impossible for any but the most pessimistic and politically orthodox critics (of which there have been many, both of the book and now of the film) to not be dumb-struck with empathy and compassion for her story. As Sapphire says, her story and this film are "for all the precious girls" in all of our communities. Let's make them visible, and let's all care enough to take action--as so many do in this film, from school principals to teachers to social workers--to offer them the love they deserve and need to chart their own courses from misery.

Why STREB?

2010-01-11T03:50:00.000-08:00

Choreographer--or I think I'd better say movement artist--Elizabeth Streb was one of three panelists on the opening plenary, facilitated by OHA's "our own" critic-in-residence Alicia Anstead, for APAP 2010. Presenting between our lugubrious new NEA chairman, Rocco Landesmann, whose comments re support for artists waxed so spurious one could only yawn; and my fellow Bowdoin College grad Paul Miller, a.k.a. DJ Spooky (download his app for your iPhone and become your own DJ), Streb--ice-pick thin with a stand-up shock of died black hair at 59--brought the session to life with her remarks on the importance of--well, yeah--movement.

Streb showed a video message she had created when asked if she would send a message to newly-elected President Obama last year. After some hesitation, she did it. Her message is: there is one simple solution to solving the problems you face--war in Afghanistan, an economic recession, a need to overhaul our country's health and education systems. That solution is movement. If you, Mr. President, insist that every American must jump up and down three times every morning, turn around, and throw their arms up in a giant X--slowly but surely our problems would be solved.

It's a dramatic way to make an important point: the human body is a kinetic (i.e., movement) machine, and we as Americans simply don't move enough to function as well intellectually, emotionally, economically, and politically as we need to to face the current challenges the world presents to us. And moving with consciousness through the artistic discipline of dance--and Streb might argue, especially highly physical dance of the type she practices, which can veer toward the NFL--might take us to places we never before knew to be possible.

So, people, let's do it! Stand up and jump up and down three times, now and every morning. Spin around and throw your arms up into the air in a giant X! Let's move it. The new decade is on. -- Linda

Getting Serious About Creativity in the Classroom

2010-01-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

Following on my concept of "the whole new mind for a whole new decade" posted earlier this week, Thursday afternoon I helped to lead an Education Leaders Institute (ELI) meeting in Augusta. The focus is to create a team of innovation leaders from around the state to re-design public education--moving it from the WHAT is being taught to the HOW of students learning . . . with a focus on ensuring that creativity, imagination, and innovation are primary learning methods for the new century.

This all hooks together with OHA's Kennedy Center Partners in Education program with our local schools, which helps teachers learn to integrate artistic processes and disciplines into their classroom teaching to advance the creativity of HOW their students are learning literacy, math, and interpersonal skills.

Another key piece of this in Maine is the MLTI laptop program, which in many communities has been a huge gift for how their students are learning and taking off with the innovative skills demanded by our changing economy. Deer Isle hasn't done as well with MLTI as we might, and therefore we are including technology integration as an art form--digital media arts integration--in our Kennedy Center offerings. The importance of the MLTI program to creativity brought Apple's Jim Moulton to our Thursday ELI meeting. Jim is a fantastically innovative thinker, especially around education. Check out this piece he wrote back when he blogged for Edutopia's Spiral Notebook, "It's Time to Get Serious About Creativity in the Classroom." -- Linda

For the New Decade: A Whole New Mind

2010-01-08T03:29:00.000-08:00

I see from my Facebook page early this morning that everyone is off to the usual new year’s resolutions: exercise and weight loss.

But what about our brains?

Some of the most interesting research and policy recommendations to emerge from the decade just past have to do not with the benefits of physical exercise, but rather with the social, political, economic and yes, personal benefits of understanding and exercising our brains.

I therefore propose we consider the value of pursuing whole new minds for this new decade.

Both brain research and first-hand documentation of the experience of stroke victims, such as brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor’s, have increasingly brought us the news that our emotions, behaviors, learning capacities—and resulting social and economic successes—are as much about choices we make, and educational opportunities we are offered, as about innate genetic or biological factors.

In short, the ways we learn to understand the world and to express ourselves are the result not of uncontrollable tissue but of the conscious development and nurturing of specific neural pathways: pathways which throughout our lives can be re-shaped and re-developed, even in old age, even after devastating brain injuries or stroke. Having trouble holding a job because you can’t control your anger? You can learn to consciously re-direct the habitual flow of neurons when you react to something, and change your seemingly uncontrollable responses. Are fears and anxiety keeping you from the family life or career you want to have? The focus of most meditative practices is to shift the locus of understanding from our task-oriented left brain to our right, which experiences connectedness and wholeness and can reduce the power of our daily anxieties.

Alert educators and parents have known for some time that intelligence and achievement are not all about biological I.Q., but rather about the stimuli the brain is offered—say, the number of words to which an infant is regularly exposed; the aspirations and expectations that are set for and by us; and the encouragement we receive for different types of behaviors. But how much of this new brain knowledge, moving us away from the old worlds of I.Q. tests, has made its way into our public policy, public schools curricula, and, more importantly, our daily lives?

For adults, integrating current knowledge of brain development into our lives and the lives of our children can take several forms.

On behalf of our children, researchers increasingly recognize that our public education systems are too “left brain” focused: our classrooms are good (sometimes) at teaching facts and basic math and literacy—all functions governed in the left hemispheres of our brains—and much less good at teaching problem solving and the type of creative and innovative thinking being demanded by the U.S.’s position in the global economy. Teaching creativity and innovation requires development of the right hemispheres of our brains: sectors most effectively developed through learning in and through artistic practices (the performing and visual arts). Best-selling writers Daniel Pink (author of the recent Drive and A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future, from where I borrowed my title) and Thomas Friedman (Hot, Flat, and Crowded) have been consistently and loudly eloquent on this subject and its importance to U.S. competitiveness in global markets: but are we working to change our local schools, and parenting, accordingly?

And with the new understanding that the brain is in fact a lifelong learner—plastic and flexible throughout our lives, “allowing for greater complexity and deeper understanding,” according to professor Dr. Kathleen Taylor in a recent New York Times Education Life story—are we adults keeping our brains and communities as healthy as we might be? Research shows our more mature brains hunger for learning that is not merely about taking in more stuff, but rather that which challenges our perceptions of the world: a kind of stretching of the brain beyond its comfort zone that breaks it away from established connections, thereby encouraging the growth of new pathways. “If you always hang around with those you agree with and read things that agree with what you already know, you’re not going to wrestle with your established brain connections,” Dr. Taylor concludes.

Taking new routes to work; learning new languages; having conversations with those different from us as well as those who share our world views; experiencing the arts and ensuring our children do as well; meditating: these are new year’s resolutions which will, in the long term and as importantly as physical fitness, benefit our national health as well as our personal well-being. Whole new minds for the new decade.

"Life by Lobster" DVDs available for the holidays!

2009-12-03T11:55:00.001-08:00

The insightful new documentary from Iain McCray Martin is now available for sale at OHA. For just $15 dollars, you can own the latest production from Opera House Arts' Imagination Project Public Access Digital Media Studio.

"Life by Lobster" examines the the continuation and barriers for a young generation of commercial lobster fishermen. Martin's compelling footage included images of Deer Isle and Stonington and conversation with local lobstermen. Martin was a 2005 graduate of Deer Isle-Stonington High School and 2008 graduate of Emery University. The film was screened at the Camden International Film Festival, Reel Pizza in Bar Harbor, and the Grand in Ellsworth. To buy "Life by Lobster" and other films produced through the Imagination Project visit the OHA store http://shop.operahousearts.org/main.sc

Island Readers and Writers History and Book Tour

2009-10-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

The Island Readers and Writers Book Tour

Recently, I participated in the Island Readers and Writers History and Book Tour as videographer. The tour, which ran from October 5th till 16th, visited the year-round island communities of Vinalhaven, North Haven, Isle au Haut, Swans Island, Frenchboro, Isleboro, Isleford, Stonington, Mount Desert Island. The tour will visit Matinicus on November 5th!

Chris Van Dusen, writer and illustrator, brought his children’s book “The Circus Ship” to community members and school students, and Opera House Artistic Director and Storyteller, Judith Jerome, told the history of the Royal Tar.

The “Royal Tar” was a steamship, carrying circus animal, that sunk in Penobscot Bay in 1836. It is reported that survivors were taken to both Isle au Haut and Vinalhaven. However, the question of what happened to the animals on the ship lives in many islanders minds, and has created legends and folk tales, which today are still spark active and vibrant dialogue in these small island communities.

"The Circus Ship" is a children's picture book that tells a more cheerful and hopeful tale of historic steamship.

The tour was welcomed in many communities with stories and family traditions related to the steamship the Royal Tar. The team visited island schools and historical societies telling the both history of the Royal Tar and reading and talking about Chris Van Dusen’s new book "The Circus Ship".

-Emma

Special Thanks to the Maine Arts Commission and the Maine Humanities Council.

Q2: Habitat on August 7th and 8th of 2009

2009-09-25T07:00:00.001-07:00

Amanda Crockett

2009-08-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

Last night, on August 12th, comedian and trapeze artist Amanda Crockett appeared for the weekly "Live! for $5". She wowed the crowd with jokes, juggling, dancing, and trapeze work! She encouraged audience participation with jokes and interaction. "Live! for $5" is made possible through support from the Whitman Family Foundation.

9th Annual Jazz Festival

2009-07-29T10:45:00.000-07:00

July 24th and 25th were jamming nights, at the Stonington Opera House, with the Deer Isle Jazz Festival. The event was the 9th annual festival and continued with the tradition of showcasing innovative jazz musicians.

On Friday, July 24th, the Danza Quartet performed. It was New Orleans "deep cuts" with pianist Tom McDermott and clarinetist Evan Christopher. The show explored music of New Orleans, French West Indian beguine, Brazilian choro, and Trinidadian calypso. The quartet was completed with drummer Shannon Powell (who has drummed with Diana Krall and Harry Connick, Jr., among many others), and Matt Perrine (arguably the finest sousaphonist in the world). Pianist Tom McDermott had spent the week prior to the performance in residency at the Haystack Mountain School of Craft in Deer Isle.

On Saturday, July 25th, the Pyramid Trio with Roy Campbell (trumpets) performed showcasing avant-grade, modern jazz. Campbell is one of modern jazz's most articulate and wide–ranging trumpet voices. His Pyramid Trio references the musical lineage that spans Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. This year marks Parker's return visit to Stonington; he was a performer and Haystack artist–in–residence in 2004. The trio also includes drummer Michael Wimberly.

Each night's performance was opened by local bands;on Friday, saxophonist Duncan Hardy's quintet; and on Saturday, George Stevens Academy's awarding–winning combo, Musaic, directed by Steve Orlofsky.

Is That All There Is

2009-07-24T15:03:00.000-07:00

An excerpt from the July 22, 2009 performance by Adele Myers and Dancers at the Stonington Opera House, as part of the Live! for $5 series presented by Opera House Arts.

Old Gray Goose

2009-07-24T13:27:00.000-07:00

Jeff (Smokey) McKeen and Carter Newell perform an old-time classic by Bonnie Quinn as part of the Live! For $5 series at the Stonington Opera House on July 15, 2009.

Adele Myers and Dancers

2009-07-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

As a part of the weekly Live! for $5, at the Stonington Opera House, Adele Myers and Dancers appeared. The show was an inspiring blend of music, contemporary dance, and storytelling. The humorous and sometimes unsettling choreography explored human interaction in a modern and dynamic manner.

During the Talk Back session, the Connecticut-based dance company explained their dance style and voiced their delight at Deer Isle and the community of the Opera House. The Opera House Arts’ Live for $5 Family Theater Series is a six week long series of hour-long, live performances designed so that all family members, regardless of age, can enjoy live theater.

Live! For $5 tickets are available only at the door beginning at 6:30 p.m. Live! for $5 is made possible with the generous support of the Whitman Family Foundation. For more information call 367-2788.

Life by Lobster

2009-07-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

Last night, the Stonington Opera House filled the house when it screened Iain McCray Martin's documentary: "Life by Lobster." The film is the latest production from Opera House Arts' Imagination Project Public Access Digital Media Studio. Other films from the studio have included "Tire Tracks" and "Island Prom."

"Life by Lobster" examined the the continuation and barriers to commercial lobster fishing for a new generation of lobstermen. Martin's compelling footage included images of Deer-Isle and Stonington and conversation with local lobstermen. A talk-back discussion after the show included impressions from Martin, a 2005 graduate of Deer-Stonington high school and 2008 graduate of Emery University, as well as commentary from the film's subjects.

Biffing Mussels

2009-07-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

Biffing Mussels

2009-07-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, OHA opened our annual Live for $5 Series with a short comedic play by Mike Gorman, originally from Vinalhaven. "Biffing Mussels," performed by Tommy Piper and Melody Bates (shown here), professional actors from our "A Midsummer Night's Dream" cast, also included all six of the teen counselors from our Island Arts Camp; plus Dave Bennett, Peter Richards, Galen Koch, Judith Jerome, and other special guests. There were about 100 kids in the audience, and they screamed with laughter at the absurd silliness of the play.

From the guy who teaches us how to "biff" mussels in 40 feet of water (shown in red shirt, right); to the guy in the checkered coat who is fascinated with a new way to count grains of sand on a beach; to the guy who eventually strips down to his skivvies and says "I think that is really interesting" throughout the play, triggering waiters to appear and pour more coffee over the pair--"Biffing Mussels" is a terrific way for young and old alike to experience the theater of the absurd. What is absurdity? What is comedy? What makes live theater like this, with an audience full of children, so magical and special? If you don't know the answers to these queries, you will have to attend a show and find out. OHA's full schedule is at www.operahousearts.org.

The Quarry

2009-06-08T13:46:00.000-07:00

Last week was an exciting time at the Settlement Quarry. On June 3rd, artist in resident Tawanda Chabikwa worked with Stonington-Deer Isle students on dance and story-telling though movement at the Settlement Quarry. While at the Quarry, Tawanda and artist Mia Kanazawa, who had designed sea-gull heads and wings for the children to use, helped the students work in groups to create choreographed dance sequences.

The work was in conjunction with the in-development production--Q2:Habitat. Q2 is based on the original 2007 Quarryography. A sneak peak of Alison Chase, Mia Kanazawa, and Nigel Chase collaboration at the Quarry will take place this August 7th and 8th. Full production scheduled for August 2010. Rain date: August 9th

Fragiles

2009-05-23T07:19:00.000-07:00

A great picture surprised me when I walked into the DI-S K-8 school at 8 a.m. Friday morning to finish preparing for our show, "Sea of Birds," at the Reach Performing Arts Center: a first grade class circled around our teaching artist's lobby installation, finishing their learning from the artist's residency under the initiative and guidance of their teachers. They had collected "fragiles"--objects which they understood to be fragile, like the stories we tell each other about our lives. They were placing these fragile objects--slender forsythia branches, delicate paper objects, etc.--onto the fragile stick-and-tape structure they had created as a place from which to tell their own storytelling emerged (in the form of drawings on fragile paper, strung along the ceiling above the stick dome).

In creating these structures and teaching about and with fragile objects and spaces, Sebastienne Mundheim, our visiting artist, was giving the students a tactile, visual sense for something abstract: the fragility of our stories and memories. How are our stories fragile? In the way that "truth" is fragile: it is created amongst us, never by ourselves alone. There is our experience of something--and our memory of it, which is always slightly different from the actual experience. Then there is our telling of the memory, which shifts the experience again; and the hearing of this telling by the person or persons to whom we are telling it. Then the person to whom we told our story tells our story to others. And on the story goes into the world, each detail important to us, to our understanding of our shared world, and delicate as it is passed from mouth to ear and heart to heart.

And thus the students, placing their "fragiles" upon the delicate structure in the lobby, from which their drawings of the stories their mothers had told them emerged.

Check out the photos at our Facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5780599838#/photo.php?pid=1905369&id=18518578665&ref=mf

Magic

2009-05-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure nothing makes me happier than spending a day in the fall and one or more in the spring working alongside OHA's great volunteers to clean and spiff up the theater for the coming season. Last Saturday we had so much fun: the doors flung open and passers-by sticking their heads in; Cathy Marshall (Seamark's director) showing up to paint in her wonderfully paint-spattered painting pants, and doing a beautiful job of giving our expanded concessions counter coats of OHA Red and OHA Yellow; Michele Leveque of El El Frijoles making our stage the cleanest in the COUNTRY; Ted Crouch quietly fixing the broken window and back door of the office; Tinker and Sharon scrubbing the green room; and me crawling all over, organizing the shop (!), hoisting things up to the catwalk and out to the deck . . . the place took on this magical smell of what can only be called, well, love: and by the time I shut all the doors and turned out the lights I was sad to go home. You can catch the magic, too, Saturday May 23 when we hold another volunteer cleaning day. I'm not making this up: the magic is there.

Spring in Stonington

2009-04-22T12:20:00.000-07:00

It feels as if spring has finally arrived in Stonington, and OHA couldn't be more excited! The summer 2009 schedule is finalized, and it is filled with many excited events. A highlight is the annual Shakespeare in Stonington production, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” directed by Julia Whitworth.

One thing that makes this year so exiting is this is the 10th Anniversary of Opera House Arts. The 1912 Stonington Opera House, on the National Register of Historic Places, was renovated and repaired by Opera House Arts, which was incorporate as a 201 C 3 nonprofit organization in 1999. Opera House Arts helped restore and reopen the historic theatre. Many wonderful performances and community events have taken places at the opera house over the past ten years, and on August 15th and 16th, OHA will hold a 10th Anniversary Revue-Looking Forward, Looking Back. The event will includes some of the most popular OHA performances: Broadway singers, TV Stars, Randy Judkins, and Mike Miclon in John Cariani's "Falling in Love," the Moose Boy; the Lobster Girl; opera; The Vigina Monologues; pianist Paul Sullivan; and much more...
Download a copy of the 2009 schedule here: http://www.operahousearts.org/documents/summer_2009.pdf

Bus to Bamako

2009-03-06T10:47:00.000-08:00

On February 18th, Pierre-Marc Diennet premiered his in-development play “Bus to Bamako,” at Opera House Arts. The play, starring Pierre-March Diennet and Sean-Michael Bowles, was the story of one man’s experience working as a photojournalist in developing countries.

The play begins in a hotel bar in Bamako, the capital city of Mali, where Peter (Pierre-Marc Diennet), a young American, is talking about his experiences. He is a photojournalist on assignment in Mali and is clearly troubled by the things he has seen and in fact some of the things he himself has done during his travels. Peter tells different stories to Baba (Sean-Michael Bowles) a young university student, and culminates with one story in particular, during a bus ride to Bamako, where his own actions have left him disillusioned and cynical.

“Bus to Bamako” was a powerful play reading which was beautifully acted and looked at very important and challenging issue. It will be extremely interesting to see future productions of the play and see the direction and movement of the story. At Opera House Arts, the production was concluded with an audience reaction discussion. Director and actor Pierre-Marc Diennet was very interested in what the audience had to say and plans on incorporating many of the suggestions into future productions.

For more on play readings and other live performances at the opera house check our web-site at http://www.operahousearts.org/livetheater.php

-Emma

Milk

2009-02-24T02:54:00.000-08:00

How could the events detailed in this film have occured 30 years ago?

That's what I was thinking by the end of the biopic "Milk," which we screened this weekend, one of the most moving and inspiring movies I have seen in a long time. But then, of course, this was my life: Harvey Milk was first elected as the nation's first "out" gay official (after several failed attempts)in 1977, the year I came out at age 16. The protests he lead against Anita Bryant's national attempts to deny gay people our civil rights; and against the infamous Prop 6, or Briggs Amendment, in California which threatened to have all gay school teachers fired (!)-- these were the initial events of my own activism. This was a time when gay culture was very much a bar culture; gay life was very much about sex; this was very much pre-AIDS. Gay pride marches were not solely celebrations of our unique lives, but rather angry protests against our oppression.

It's a different world now, although having come of age in that one I sometimes have difficulty believing how different it is. With gay people on TV and in movies; on the covers of national magazines; and also increasingly part of our public political life--such as Christine Quinn, a lesbian who is the chair of the New York City Council--our fight has moved toward achieving the right to marry. Yet as we suffer the responses to that fight, we see how much homophobia is still alive in parts of our culture. Where are the out gay federal legislators? Judges? Mayors? Governors? We're not there yet, Harvey: but we sure have come a long way. Thanks to you for your inspiring, fearless leadership.

And for those of you who have not yet seen "Milk," including Sean Penn's amazing, Academy Award-winning performance--get thee to your local theater.

Alt-Movies Series: Synechdoche, New York

2009-01-19T16:00:00.000-08:00

The Alt-Movies Series is a new program which debuted this winter season at Opera House Art. Every month a different alternative or independent film is screened, and this past week “Synecdoche, New York” was shown.

“Synecdoche, New York” is the directorial début of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich). It reminded me of what a surrealist painting might look like if became a film. It was dark, dramatic, yet comic-filled with hidden means and illusions.

At times, the story feels disorienting, yet intentionally so, as if, the entire goal was to tease the audience. The title helps to explain a little. Synecdoche is when a part of something is substituted for the whole, or a situation in which the representation of something comes before the thing it represents. In the movie, a replication of New York City is created by the protagonist in an old rundown warehouse. He creates an alternative world, which becomes a reflection and mirror of his own life, and it breaks down the distinction between art and reality.

The film begins in Schenectady, NY where theatre director Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his painter wife Adele (Catherine Keener) are living with their four year old daughter. They appear to have a somewhat strained, but normal life. He is a theater director with a touch for making the classics new and interesting. Yet their marriage is failing. The couple proceed through comic therapy with a psychologist-guru (Hope Davis). Cotard begins a flirtation with his secretary Hazel (Samantha Morton), but he is introspective and self absorbed and nothing progresses. Then Adele takes their daughter and moves to Berlin where she becomes famous for painting very small portraits that people view through magnifying glasses.

The feel of the movie changes, and any sense of complete realism disappears. Caden grows obsessive about his health and is convinced he is dying. The film is filled with innuendoes and double meanings. Caden has clearly lost touch with reality. Unexpectedly, he receives a MacAurther genius grant which provides him with the means to pursue his artistic dreams.

Caden is alone with his art. He is determined to create something magnificent and profound, a world of brutal honesty. In an old warehouse in Manhattan’s theatre district, Caden builds an alternative world. He cast actors and actress to playing different people from his own life. He begins to build massive sets and stages of the places he has lived and worked. He is trying to make sense of loss and sorrow and in the process he creates a world that mirrors the one outside. He confuses his art and reality until the difference is barely discernable.

To look for total realism with in this film, you will be disappointed. Yet there are some interesting truths about life and art touched on in the film. “Synecdoche, New York” might not always make sense, but then neither does life. In the end, it’s about the struggle to leave behind a legacy, to make your mark in this world and create something unique and profound. Caden wants to proove he is special and accomplished. Instead, it leads to emptiness and sadness because he is convinced that his art will enhance life. Until the end, he continues to believe his greatest delusion-that his play is the only way to make his life real and meaningful.

-Emma

Welcome

2008-12-31T12:58:00.001-08:00

Hope everyone had a pleasant and festive holiday season. Welcome to the latest from Opera House Arts, Curtain Tales, a blog about the historic Stonington Opera House. The blog will contain interesting stories about OHA as well as happenings at the opera houses and in the community.

The winter time on the island might seem bleak and empty, but at OHA something is always going on. We have year round movies, play-readings, and community events. Check out some upcoming events at http://www.operahousearts.org/calender.php

So don't forget to come and visit OHA!