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| Donovan Elliot-Smith as Prince Charming, and Shannon Jennings as Cinderella Credit all Photos Alisa Innocenti |
Today I found the
antidote, the remedy and the balance for all this cinematic darkness, something at the opposite end of the spectral
spectrum in the form of . . . drum roll, please, Cinderella.
To help celebrate
the tenth birthday of Resonance Works Pittsburgh, I headed down to the studio
theater at the Carnegie Library and Music Hall in Carnegie for a staging of
Cinderella, an unheralded opera by Pauline Viardot. While the Steelers were
getting shellacked at home by the Jaguars, I enjoyed a glass of punch and one
of the celebratory red velvet cupcakes by Grandview Bakery, part of the
opera-wrapped in-a party experience.
Before a
cabaret-style performance of four wonderful singers, accompanied by Robert
Frankenberry on piano, the audience was invited to try their hand a making a
magic wand (mine is now enshrined in my dining room waiting for my next trip to
a lottery machine where I hope to test its efficacy), take a photo next to
Cinderella’s ball gown, or peruse the cookie table where Sweet Bites shaped
them into Cinderella themes like carriages, slippers and clocks.
Folks who attended Friday and Saturday’s performances were also treated to specialty cocktails and wine selections by Bar Marco and hors d’oeuvres by LadyFingers Boutique Catering. After all, its was an opera-wrapped-around-a birthday party.
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| Donovan Elliot-Smith as the Prince and Gabriel Hernandez as Count Barigoule |
As expected the
best part of the event was the staging of Cinderella, a 70-minute long,
non-stop magical musical with intervals only for a bit of narrative. The
composer, Pauline Viadot-Garcia, was a singer, pianist, composer who was also a
muse and mentor for many prominent composers of her era (1821-1910). These included Saint-Saens, Massenet, Faure
and Gounod. She is reputed to have had an affair with novelist Ivan Turgenev
and was a close friend of Frederic Chopin. At the latter’s funeral, she sang
the mezzo role for Mozart’s Requiem.
It is said that
Charles Dickens was brought to tears by one of her performances, later telling
her “there is no genius in this world more sympathetic and responsive than
yours.”
For Cinderella,
written when Viardot was 83, the composer sticks to the original story line of
Perrault’s fairy tale., with a slight, but brilliant adaptation by stage
director Emily Pulley, who also sings the role of the Fairy Godmother.
Besides some
incredible singing, the staging is quite inventive. Everything takes place in
front of the audience no further back than five rows form the stage, which
gives the work a very intimate feel.
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| The Step-sisters (Katy Lindhart and Gilian Hassert) and Shannon Jennings as Cinderella. |
Accompanied by
Robert Frankenberry at the piano (Frankenberry also sings the role of Chopin),
Mauren Conlon-Gutierrez on violin and Elisa Kohanski on cello, the cast
includes Shannon Jennings in the title role, Donovan Elliot-Smith as Prince
Charming, Gabriel Hernandez as Count Barigoule, Katy Lindhart as Maguelonne
Pictordu, Patrick McNally as Baron Pictordu and Gilian Hassert as Armelinde
Pictordu.
As stage director,
Pulley adds numerous humorous touches and some wonderful choreography in a
dance at the royal ball that includes the snippets of the Egyptian and even the
chicken dance. It’s a veritable riot of humor.
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| Patrick McNally as Baron Pictordu |
With ten years of
programming to its credit, Res Works is one of Pittsburgh’s most inventive arts
presenters with a varied repertoire of presentations. Capping of a wonderful
decade of exhilarating music, their Cinderella birthday event was icing on the
cake. What made it even more exciting for me was the fact that WQED’s Anna
Singer sat only two seats away from mine.
For a look at
upcoming performances and the rest of Res Works season, go to
www.resworks.org.
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