4 posts tagged “performance”
I've been a huge Sound of Music fan since I was a kid. Sure, it's "just a musical" but It remains one of my favorite films of all time. It's pure escapism, but I love every piece of music and it just makes me smile. So I was thrilled that I had the chance to go see a professional stage production of it in Toronto this weekend.
My friend Eric and I hitched a ride with Junkii - who was off to Hamilton for school - and got dropped off in Toronto in time for the performance. It cost $100 ea for tickets, but it was worth every penny.
The production was incredible. The singing and acting were top-notch - especially Maria and the children - but even more impressive were the set designs and staging. The sets were on some sort of revolving stage, and set changes were seamlessly done. I knew from the start - from the first time we saw Maria - that we were in for a treat.
I was curious as to how they would show her coming down from the mountains, but it was brilliant. They had a large disc covering the stage, made to look like a grassy mountainside. With hydraulics, it was lifted in the air at a 45 degree angle, to make it seem as though you were looking down through the clouds on Maria laying on her back. As she started to sing, the disc slowly lowered to the stage as she twirled and danced about before running off to the abbey.
I could feel myself welling up during this number and - I won't deny it - it wasn't the only time. Tears were shed on several occasions. When Georg breaks down singing Edelweiss at the Salzburg festival....
Speaking of which, the festival scenes were brilliantly done, too. Basically they turned the whole Princess of Wales Theatre into the festival theatre, with Nazi flags flying from every balcony. This approach really encouraged audience participation, especially when they announced the festival runners-up.
Anyway, I won't recount the whole thing, but it really was a spectacle. And it compares favourably to the film. It's not going to replace the film for me, but I will hold this production dear.
In fact, I'd love to treat myself to musicals more often. I do enjoy them. I see Topol will be doing his farewell tour as Tevye in Fiddler On the Roof next winter. That would be a performance worth splurging for. And I see that they're mounting a musical production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert next Spring. I might be heading to Toronto a little more frequently than planned if I can expect the same calibre of production as I got this weekend.
I finally got my hands on the recording equipment from work again and have managed to make a recording of myself playing another Rachmaninoff piece - again from the series of Moments Musicaux (no. 3). I'm much happier with this performance than I was with the last one. It's still not perfect, but it's about as good as I can play it, which I think is pretty good.
The piece is about 5 minutes long - it's meant to be played adagio (slowly) and it's got a kind of a dark mood - but it's one of my favorites and I'm happy I was able to "master" it (in my own little way). Enjoy.
Generally I'm not a huge fan of dance. I'm more of a concert-goer than a dance-recital-attender. But I've always liked the tango - even as a kid. I remember begging mom to play Jalousie on the electric organ (she refused, saying it was too difficult) and asking if she knew how to tango. To my surprise, she said yes, but she never showed me, so no guarantees she wasn't stretching the truth there.
Anyway, what with the past few years of watching latin ballroom on TV (So You Think you can Dance, NOT Dancing with the Stars, thank you very much!), I figured we were primed for at least one outing to a dance recital. Earlier this week, we took in the touring show called Tango Fire, which was on stage at the National Arts Centre. I was mucho impressed.
This was a show from Buenos Aires featuring 10 dancers and 4 musicians (on the stage), plus a singer who came on from time to time. There were duets, group numbers, performances by just the band, the band with the singer... I think that's what I most enjoyed about it. Rather than just being about dance, the performers really showcased every aspect of the tango: the music and the dance both separately and together.
For certain, the dancers were great, displaying some amazingly tricky footwork and some thrilling lifts and throws, but I was most thrilled to find such a capable set of musicians touring with them. Their name was Quatrotango, and I need to see if they have any CDs of their own.
Here’s a short video preview from their website. If you’re curious, check out their site for tour dates.
At Nuit Blanche in Toronto this past weekend, we were promised a trip on the pillow fight bus. While the bus never materialized (although we did get to ride on the mylar bus), we did manage to find some professional pillow fighters during the evening's wanderings.
We got a short video of the event -- which includes some pretty impressive blows. Check it out!
