A "Scandalous" musical

"Scandalous!" composer-lyricist Glyn Bailey, second from left, framed by fellow book writers Theasa Tuohy and Keith Thomas. Director Stephen Duckham is at center right.

Almost every week that I have time to do so, I am usually in a theatre viewing one or more of the local productions that are presented at various venues about town. As a member of the Big Easy Theatre Committee, it is my duty to watch upwards of 100 productions a year. For someone who loves theatre it is both blessing and a curse. The New Orleans theatre community bounced back from Hurricane Katrina much more quickly than other segments of the city did. Now, three years after the storm did away with the Saenger Theatre, the only professional venue for touring shows in the city, many of the smaller theatres are up and running with very well-done presentations. Throughout the year there are a number of shows that are done with great care, but because of a lack of resources or limitations in the casts and technical crews, they come off with less-than-stellar productions. Typically, a small coterie of very talented actors and producing companies seem to take the lead in presenting the best shows each year. These include Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre, Southern Repertory Theatre, Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre, Rivertown Repertory, Actor's Theatre of New Orleans, Anthony Bean Community Theatre as well as producing companies like FourFront Theatre, Running With Scissors, All Kinds of Theatre, NOLA Project and InsideOut Productions. One of the consistently powerful producing companies is the Jefferson Performing Arts Society led by Artistic Director and maestro Dennis Assaf. Under Assaf's leadership, JPAS has consistently produced winners in theatre, opera and more popular presentations. Now, their latest production, "Scandalous!", a musical based on the life of British authro D. H. Lawrence, is enjoying its United States premiere and it is among the very best musicals I have ever seen. Glyn Bailey, the composer and lyricist wrote the show some nine years ago and presented it a few times in England before moving to Covington, Louisiana with his wife. He and Assaf go together and the two elected to mount this production for just four shows. Bailey convinced fellow book writers Theasa Tuohy and Keith Thomas and director Stephen Duckham to come to New Orleans for the shows. New York veteran actor Bart Shatto ("Les Miserables," "The Civil War," and "Dracula") and West End actress Lindsay Hamilton led the cast and chorus filled with local talents. In short the show is a smash. Assaf, who led the orchestra with precision, played Bailey's enchanting and compelling music with panache and I count "Scandalous!" as one of the finest presentations I have ever seen. I am only sad that the auditorium was only half filled at the matinee yesterday and that just two performances remain on Friday or Saturday nights. For more information, check out the web site for "Scandalous!"

New Orleans arts scene thrives

The last week has been a hurly-burly rush of all things cultural in New Orleans. In many cases I barely had enough time to catch my breath running about my regular business and then dashing to a nightime event. On reflection much of what I saw and heard left me breathless. First of all there was Beethoven and Brahms. The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the nation's only self-run and self-sustaining symphony orchestra (still not back in its home facilities since Hurricane Katrina), opened its 18th season with the first of the nine Beethoven symphonies (to be presented in order throughout the year) along with a spectacular Brahms Piano Concert 2 played with renowned pianist Jorge Federico Osorio. I knew it was going to be a special night when a closed curtain greeted the crowd at Loyola University's Roussel Hall. At performance time the curtain parted and members of the percussion section began drumming the opening section of John Corigliano's "Promenade Overture." The short piece introduces the various instruments and sections of the orchestra one at a time. As each player is introduced, they take their place on stage and continuing playing. It was inspired by Haydn's "Farewell Symphony" in which performers leave the stage one by one or in sections until no one is left. What a delightful way to open a season. It was refreshing and somewhat hip for a classical music event and, no doubt, the choice of energetic music director and principal conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto. The next night across town the Jefferson Performing Arts Society, a small but dedicated arts organization now in its 31st year of continuous operation, presented the first of two performances of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly." It was a spectacular production starring Hiroko Morita as Cio-Cio San in the title role. Not only was Morita incredibly beautiful, but being a native born Nipponese who was classically trained in both her native country and Puccini's native country of Italy, prepared her for a magnificently turned-in role. Artistic director and maestro Dennis Assaf lorded over the music and it filled the small auditorium with the sweet sounds of tragedy. I was astonished at how good the production values were. Sunday night it was time for the special last show of a Hurricane Gustav shortened run for cabaret singer Amy Alavarez and pianist Jefferson Turner in "He Loves and She Loves: The Gershwin Music We Love" at Cabaret Le Chat Noir. All of the Gershwin favorites and a few that are not as well-known, but nonetheless, beautiful were presented. From "Fascinating Rhythm" to "I Got Rhythm" to "The Man I love" and "Our Love Is Here to Stay," Alvarez and Turner's program had it all. The show ran a little over an hour, but during that time I was magically transported back to an era that oozed sophistication and charm. Alvarez's sweet register and Turner's masterful playing made it one of the best cabaret shows I've seen this year and a contender for the new Best Cabaret Performance category at the Big Easy Theatre Awards for 2008.