Medea

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Medea
Hannah Montgomery as Medea

asdf The introduction to this play was quite unusual.  The audience sat on all 4 sides, and a member of the chorus sat somewhere in each section.  But the stark setting worked well, and the actors moved through the diagonals in the sections, so it didn’t matter which section you were in.

The play was well done, and Hannah Montgomery did a solid job as Medea.  Jason, better known in the myths, has lesser role in this play, but Adlai Coleman did a good job.  The chorus, including Hanover High alum Kate Budney, acted well as a chorus, often speaking together.

The play is a grim one, and I hadn’t read in a long time.  But it is a good play. I don’t remember the original well enough, but this version was certainly brief, and intense, with no fluff, finishing in less than 90 minutes.  Euripides is really a modern ancient playwright.

Medea Program

Cabaret

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Cabaret banner

Virginia Ogden as the Emcee

This was a very popular show, and only a few seats were available when we finally got our tickets.  Fortunately all the seats are good in Moore Theater.

This was another great show by the Theater Department: strong cast, great lighting, sound, dancing, sining.  Truly a professional production.  Virginia Ogden as the Emcee and Justine Goggin as Sally Bowles were both good singers and actresses.  It was great to see Owen O’Leary, Hanover High alum, in a big role, and he sang well.  The first half was quite long, followed by a quite short second half, I’m not sure why the split went there.  However, the ending was quite powerful, with the lighting and costumes quite effective.  Sally’s bittersweet and ironic Cabaret song was a great way to end.

In looking up the show, I did remember Liza Minelli, and that was in the Bob Fosse movie.  But the original goes back to a novel by Christopher Isherwood, echoed as Clifford Bradshaw in the show.  He did indeed live in Germany in that period with Jean Ross, the model for Sally Bowles.  His autobiographical novel Goodbye to Berlin features her and the events that eventually become Cabaret

Program Notes

Sally Pinkas with Patricia Shands

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Sally Pinkas and Patricia ShandsI sat in the front row, as I usually do for piano solos, but I forgot that this included clarinet.  I should have been much further back.  I’m afraid I didn’t enjoy this concert very much – too modern, too much of an effort.  I left after the first half, missing the Brahms Sonata that I probably would have enjoyed, but I didn’t think I could stand the Berg.

Program notes

Dartmouth College Glee Club

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This concert was in Rollins Chapel with the choir around the organ.  The first piece was Elijah by Mendelssohn, and the interesting start had the choir in two lines along the side of the chapel, moving into position on the stage as they sang.  I really enjoyed that feature, and it reminded me of the Hanover High Baccalaureate.  The three soloists were recent Dartmouth graduates, including James Ragan who I remembered from Dartmouth Idol.

The second half was Brahms, and the two selections from Ein Deutsches Requiem were lovely.

After the concert, as people file out, the group broke out into an informal gospel song, which was a lot of fun, and a great way to tag the end of the show.

Program notes

Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra

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The first half of this concert was relatively short, starting with a Flute Concerto by Mercadante.  I hadn’t heard of this composer before, but it was a nice piece.  The second piece was Oblivion by Piazzolla, not in the program.

The second half was what I came to hear: Mahler’s first symphony.  This was with a very crowded stage, and many performers beyond the student code.  And what a great symphony it is, especially the moody “Frère Jacques” movement.

Program