Ottawa Citizen Review: Spirit of Orpheus
THEATRE REVIEW
Packing 100 years of music in one show
Orpheus society incorporates songs from 65-plus musicals
BY PATRICK LANGSTON
Not fussy on My Fair Lady? Well, The Music Man is tuning up right around the corner. You could live without the cornball Indian Love Call (from Rose Marie)? The snappy Telephone Hour from the teenage saga Bye Bye Birdie will supplant it before you can warble, “When I’m calling you, oo-oo-oo.”
In fact, with its cornucopia of selections from more than 65 past musicals and a clutch of original numbers and tunes from potential future shows, The Spirit of Orpheus — the jubilant song-and-dance celebration of Orpheus Musical Theatre Society’s first 100 years that opened Friday at Centrepointe Theatre — has something for everyone.
The Spirit of Orpheus was commissioned by the society, which prides itself on being “the oldest, continuous performing, amateur musical theatre group in North America.”
Society mainstays Michael Gareau and John McGovern created the work, Mark Ferguson orchestrated it, artistic director Len Boone keeps the show moving at a lickety-split pace, and conductor Marlene Hudson leads the nimble orchestra through the quick-change demands of accompanying the big, brassy Don’t Rain on My Parade from Funny Girl one minute and the wistful A Wand’ring Minstrel I from Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado the next. Phew. Guiding the audience through this engaging dash are the Spirit (Orpheus veteran Sheila Shields) and Neo (the gifted Kara Prost, a relative newcomer).
Neo, in a storyline that’s more a series of hooks on which to hang the songs and dances than a real narrative, is an aspiring Orpheus member. Like us, she learns about the society’s musical energy and remarkable diversity by watching the show unfold. Eventually, she auditions for Orpheus and — it’s hardly giving away the plot — lands a role.
Over the course of the show, the Spirit recounts to Neo the society’s history from its glee club origins through its stints at the plush and now-vanished downtown Russell Theatre and a couple of high school auditoriums to its current incarnation as a mostly Broadway production society playing Centrepointe since 1995.
The narrative, expository and frequently stilted, is the least of The Spirit of Orpheus’ charms. That’s more than compensated for by vocalists like Eugene Oscapella performing The Music of the Night from Phantom of the Opera, Monique Cyr as the gospel belter on How Blest We Are from Big River and the hearty chorus on Brigadoon from the show of the same name.
The choreography by Val Keenleyside, Debbie Kaplan and Debbie Millett is strong, especially the showstopping Steam Heat (Skinny Rabbit shines here). David Magladry’s lighting design, smoothly mood-enhancing, also merits praise.
The Spirit of Orpheus is a toast to the past. Its exuberance says that Orpheus is itching to plunge into the future. The Spirit of Orpheus continues at Centrepointe Theatre until June 9. Tickets and times, 613-580-2700.
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7 comments:
hot. congrats :)
blind them with that shine!
I love how you put up the whole thing to show us that you shine. we know you shine!
you're shiny and pretty.
just because you're shiny and pretty doesn't mean you can NOT blog. blog again. i miss you.
"if you want to be somebody, if you want to go somewhere, you better wake up and pay attention." some very wise words brought to us by the down-on-their-luck, fighting-the-influence-of-gangs street kids singing in Whoopi Goldberg's rag tag afterschool choir. All they've got is a voice and a dream. It's deep man. It's deep.
seriously. where are you?
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