Magic

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

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

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

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

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

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!