Our Town Coming to Our Nashville
Nashville Repertory Theatre is bringing Our Town to Nashville, a classic American play and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It follows the lives of two young neighbors, George Gibbs and Emily Webb, as their childhood friendship blossoms into romance and culminates in marriage. Not your standard play, Our Town is set in the theater itself and is guided by an amiable stage manager who interacts with the audience. The play explores everyday moments that reveal universal truths about love, family, and community. Our Town reminds us of the beauty in ordinary life, evoking a sense of wonder through our shared humanity.
Our Town will be at TPAC’s Johnson Theater October 25-November 3. For tickets and more information, see: Our Town — Nashville Repertory Theatre.
The NPO’s ‘American Legends and Brahms’
The Nashville Philharmonic recently wrapped up their spectacular opening to the 2024-2025 season. The program, titled “American Legends and Brahms” was an excellent featuring works by Aaron Copland, Joan Tower, Jennifer Higdon and of course, Johannes Brahms. This concert was a combination of exciting well-known material and an introduction to some lesser known works by American composers. Overall, the concert was engaging, powerful and exciting to witness.
The Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra opened the concert with one of Copland’s most known pieces, Fanfare for the Common Man. Written as a part of a collection of fanfares written for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 1942, the piece was named after a line from a speech delivered by the current Vice President of the time, Henry A. Wallace. Wallace said it was the dawning of “The Century of the Common Man” in his speech leading to the inspiration for Copland. This fanfare is simple, triumphant, and quite in your face at times. Composed solely for brass and percussion it was interesting to see an orchestra concert open without strings. The brass section lived up to the call and really showed off for this piece. The horns especially were loud and proud throughout. I was not expecting the orchestra to perform to this level, and it shook me in my seat.
Following the Copland selection, the orchestra played a piece by a true innovator for American composers, Joan Tower, whose work was influenced by Copland’s fanfare. Tower is a legendary figure in American composition. She was the first woman to win the prestigious Golden Baton awarded by the League of American Orchestras. They played Tower’s Sixth Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman which is the final installation in the collection of Fanfares for the Uncommon Woman. While all are directly influenced by Copland’s fanfare, the first one kept the original instrumentation with small additions in the percussion section. Originally the sixth fanfare was written for piano in 2014 but was orchestrated for a full orchestra in 2016. Tower dedicated this fanfare to Cuban American composer Tania Leon. The sixth stands as the longest of these fanfares and it was a welcome contrast to the shorter Copland fanfare. The orchestra must have loved this piece judging by the intensity by which they performed it. The almost never ceasing motor that changes voices kept the piece progressing and interesting. As one group took the motor another would play the melody or in many cases the melody would be built into the ostinato. You never knew which was going to come next, keeping the listeners engaged and working to unravel the communication between sections.
After the two fanfares we were presented with a much different piece by another modern composer, Grammy winner, and world-renowned composer, Jennifer Higdon. Blue Cathedral was commissioned as a celebration for the Curtis School of Music’s seventy-fifth anniversary. Conductor Christopher Norton talked about how this piece became something a lot more personal for Higdon as her brother, Andrew Blue Higdon, tragically passed away fighting cancer while she was working on this piece. The piece features the flute, which Higdon plays, and the clarinet, which her brother played. Throughout the piece the two instruments trade solos almost as if they are communicating with each other as Higdon and her brother did growing up. A slower and very powerful piece, the solemn music resonated through the hall as we were taken on this mournful journey. Though, as Higdon has said in interviews, the piece ended up being more cheerful than melancholy. The piece ultimately reflects Higdon working through the stages of grief while mourning the loss of her brother; the orchestra portrayed these emotions with extreme care and prestige. Several members of the audience were moved to tears, bravo!
To end the concert, the Nashville Philharmonic brought out Brahms’ First Symphony in C minor. A true masterpiece in the genre, it was composed over 20 years between1855 and 1876 and finally debuted far into Brahms career. The first movement is in the standard sonata form but what makes it unique is it has an introduction before the exposition. The introduction features the use of bizarre syncopations for the time and pizzicato strings over the timpani which is keeping the pulse. The exposition begins abruptly and brings in a new high energy theme that carries throughout the movement.
After the introduction things get a lot more Beethovenian (Brahms just turned over in his grave as I wrote this) as it continues throughout a standard symphonic form. The second movement is much slower which is to be expected, what is unexpected is it is in E major. Other than that, it remains pretty standard in a ternary form and a lyrical melody. It was very nice hearing the theme flow from bassoon to high strings to a soaring oboe. As the melody changed color between instruments so did the feeling of the movement as if there was a conversation between them similar to the Higdon piece. To end the movement the piece is restated in the Horns adding yet another tone color to the collection for this movement. The third movement is the expected dance style that became commonplace in the symphony. This one is made up of an allegretto in 2/4 and a contrasting trio in 6/8 also following a ternary form like the second movement. The only difference is the return of the A section functions more as a modified A section with lingering themes and effects from the trio.
The final movement to me was the most Beethoven of the four. It resolves leftover themes and tensions from the first movement with the transition into cut time and the presence of flaring themes in the strings. What was of note to me was the blaring strength of the bass trombone during this final movement. It was a much-needed effect that elevated this performance of the symphony from recordings I listened to before the concert. A small detail but a much appreciated one. The entire symphony was illustrious to say the least and was truly an honor to witness live.
The entire performance was far beyond anything I expected from the Nashville Philharmonic. All these musicians are top notch and perform greater than anything I wanted from a volunteer orchestra. If this is what I can expect for the rest of the season I am very excited to return for the next concerts. Everything was masterfully put together and executed on the concert and was fantastic to witness. Bravo Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra.
The NPO returns on December 15th and 17th and is currently accepting applications from composers and performers for their annual concerto and composition competition.
The MCR Interview
Nashville Ballet NB2 Director Maria Konrad on Dia de los Muertos
Angelica Trujillo conducts an interview that serves as a wonderful introduction to the new director of Nashville Ballet’s NB2 Troupe, Maria Konrad, as well as a thorough introduction to the ideas and aesthetics behind Konrad’s choreography for this world premiere of Día de los Muertos. Issues in presenting and mingling ballet, contemporary dance, folkloric dance and movement onstage are discussed. Dancer Nicole Bustamante answers a few questions on her own perspective of the work. The basic narrative of the ballet, including the primary characters, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Carlos Chavez, and Lola Avarez Bravo. Linares’ Alebrijes, their appearance and creation (with 3d printing) for the performance are discussed. Like, Share and Subscribe!
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Ten years ago I saw Moulin Rouge! for the first time on my friend’s laptop in our college dorm. I enjoyed the film, and when it was announced that the Broadway adaptation was making its way to TPAC, I got excited. While I didn’t remember many details of the plot, I remembered spectacle, music, and a satisfying mixture of comedy and melodrama. The Broadway show doesn’t disappoint.
For those unfamiliar with Baz Luhrmann’s film, it’s a 2001 jukebox musical set in Paris at the turn of the 20th century. The Moulin Rouge is a real cabaret (you can visit it today) and the birthplace of the can-can dance. It was in a poor district where wealthy aristocrats could play at slumming it and mix with the bohemian locals. One such local artist was the famous painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who designed posters for the venue, and who features as a character in the story.
The plot is simple: Satine is a courtesan who is the star performer at the financially struggling Moulin Rouge. Christian is new to Paris and hoping to make it as an artist. He quickly falls in with Toulouse-Lautrec and they work on a musical show to pitch to Satine, hoping to get it on the stage of the cabaret. Satine is told by Zidler, the founder of the cabaret, that after her performance that night she is to entertain the Duke of Monroth in her chambers upstairs, and that the great hope is to convince the wealthy aristocrat to provide financial backing to prevent the club from going under. In a fateful miscommunication, Satine thinks that Christian is the duke, and invites him upstairs after the show. In a hilarious scene she tries to seduce him while he’s trying to pitch the musical, and as they’re getting to know each other the real duke shows up at her door. Realizing the mixup, Satine covers for Christian’s presence by pitching the musical to the real duke, and convinces him to back the show. As the story progresses, Satine has to figure out what she wants, choosing between the poor but kind Christian and the selfish Duke who stands as the stereotype of her material ambition.
The Broadway musical has surprisingly little dialogue and is crammed absolutely full of music. The medleys are almost nonstop: pages 28-30 of the program are tightly packed musical credits listing the musical quotes. The music of the film has been updated, altering some of the major moments and adding to many of the minor ones with hits like “All the Single Ladies,” “Rolling in the Deep,” “Bad Romance,” “Chandelier,” and (delightfully) “Fidelity” and “Royals.” This is only naming a few of the recent updates (which even include a Rickroll). Each possible line of dialogue is used to break into song, musical quotes continually riffing off of each other. The frenetic pop music is fun but by the end of the night I felt over-stimulated in a way that even Broadway’s Beetlejuice hadn’t left me. My experience of the music reminded me of the first 55 seconds of this clip from Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid: STEVE MARTIN MAKES COFFEE. I went through phases of being entertained, finding it too much, and being entertained again. My only real musical disappointments in the updated arrangements were that “Roxanne,” the dramatic song of angst, was adapted in a way that felt less impactful than that of the film, and that “Firework” was used for Satine to express her inner conflict; I was tired of that song back in 2010.
The film is set in a cabaret that was the epitome of fin-de-siècle European decadence, and it won an Oscar for its costume design. Not to be outdone, the Broadway adaptation won ten Tony awards, four of which are for costumes, stage, choreography, and lighting design, all of which are fantastic and attention-grabbing. The opening of the musical showcases all of this at once, as we witness the Moulin Rouge’s spectacle: massive setpieces of opulent splendor have lingerie-clad dancers performing high energy sensual movements, while the lighting uses spotlights, silhouettes, and dramatic colors to set everything off. The imagination and skill in accomplishing the intended effect is very impressive.
Moulin Rouge’s cast is somewhat uneven: some actors are surprisingly pitchy or sound like they have been cast for the wrong vocal range, but the standouts are amazing. Christian Douglas plays Christian, and his voice is fantastic: strong, clear, and always in perfect control. While his character isn’t particularly interesting, he gives the role as much personality as possible. Robert Petkoff is the reprobate Zidler, and his dramatic showmanship, heart, and humor make him the most enjoyable character to watch. AK Naderer is Nini, Satine’s friend, and one of the dancers. No matter how crowded the stage, no matter what the choreography was, she always drew our eyes.
I attended the October 9th show. TPAC’s Jackson Theater was packed with people and looked to be almost entirely sold out. Everyone around us was excited for the show and remained fully invested the entire time. They responded to all the musical quotes, laughed at all the jokes, and when a character died at the end the hall was full of sniffles and stifled tears.
The show is full of lights and colors, nonstop music and activity and dancing, and the experience is a lot of fun. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the movie and to anyone who’s never heard of it: there’s no better setting for a story about live theater than on a Broadway stage.
Moulin Rouge! will be at TPAC until October 20, before moving on to Chattanooga. For tickets and more information, see Moulin Rouge! | TPAC and for more information about the national tour, see US Tour – Home – Moulin Rouge! The Musical.
Cinema in Nashville:
The 2024 International Black Film Festival
The International Black Film Festival (IBFF) held its 19th annual festival this October 2nd-6th. The IBFF is the only African-American established and inspired film festival in the state of Tennessee. Its mission is to “encourage culturally accurate depictions of all people in film with special emphasis on providing a forum of access for underserved and unheard voices as well as to showcase the artistically rich creativity and diversity found around the globe.”
This year’s films certainly fulfilled their mission! The 2024 festival included feature length narrative films and documentaries as well as narrative and documentary shorts. Besides the films, industry panels discussed everything from AI to finance, and networking mixers as well as the awards ceremony made for a full five days. Our journalists were only able to cover a small taste of the many offerings: A Documentary Feature (The Tennessee 11), one collection of Narrative Shorts, and one Narrative Feature (The 6th).
The Tennessee 11 (Review by Y Kendall)
It started with a 911 call. Panic in the voice of a woman reporting a horror. The horror—nearly predictable in twenty-first century America—a school shooting. But this time was different.
The 19th annual International Black Film Festival opened to an undeservedly sparse audience of a few dozen viewers. But the power of the story riveted every witness to this screening. The Tennessee 11, directed by Rod Blackhurst, was supported by Builders Movement, Citizens Solutions, and Convergence: Center for Policy Resolution, non-profit organizations dedicated to building unity in communities. This film originally premiered on September 23, at the Oscar-qualifying 2024 Nashville Film Festival.
In accordance with its advertised tagline, “In a divided America, can they find common ground on guns?” the film tells the story of a community effort bringing together eleven Tennesseans from different walks of life to deal with the issue of gun violence in our state. This came in the wake of the shooting at Covenant School in Nashville, a predominantly white Christian school in the upper-middle class Green Hills neighborhood. The shooter was a white former student who identifies as male.
The Tennessee 11, as they’re now called, comprises one middle school administrator, a high school teacher, a college literature professor, a combat vet who serves as a mental health counselor, a marriage/family therapist, a former State Trooper, a college student, a self-proclaimed “gun advocate,” a community activist who was formerly a gang member, and two pastors, one black and one white. For three days, conflict resolution specialists guided the group to eight consensus proposals that were placed on a website garnering over 30,000 community comments and majority agreement on five of the proposals.
Periodically, words appeared on a textured linen-appearing screen, alternating with scenes of parents and police outside Covenant, scenes of protests within and outside the Tennessee Capitol, the narrative of the eleven citizens willing to work toward change, and screens of cloudy black, white, and gray spills that seemed an apt visual metaphor for the varied points of view.
It would have been quite effective as a test of the group’s effectiveness to have at least a summary of all eight proposals on one of the text screens, because one of the proposals was actually passed into law in April 2024. HB2882/SB2923 is, unsurprisingly, one of the weakest of the proposals, requiring “local education agencies and public charter schools to provide students with age- and grade-appropriate instruction on firearm safety.”
Given the initial intransigence of the “Second Amendment” purists, it’s amazing any agreement was reached. For gun instructor Tim Carroll, even a mention of the term “gun safety” triggers a defensive reaction. Similarly, Jay Zimmerman, the vet counselor, held that owning guns is a “god-given” Constitutional right. Meanwhile Professor Brandi Kellett declared that “the right to carry a gun without a check or a permit infringes on my right to be safe.” Notably, all the pastors and the therapists are male and pro-gun-ownership. One is even an NRA member. But, Ron Johnson, Nashville Community Safety coordinator, whose mother died as collateral gun violence, spoke for all by sagely stating: “There’s nobody who lives in a community that don’t wanna be safe.”
The film’s director and cinematographer effectively used both closeups and panning over the entire group, spaced with poignant vignettes from individual life experiences: college student Jaila Hampton putting flowers for a memorial honoring her dear friend, a young black man dead as collateral damage in a senseless gun incident in Memphis, and vet Jay Zimmerman walking in the woods as he fondly remembers hunting with his grandpa in Elizabethton.
Mark Proctor, a white male with 24 years of Highway Patrol officer experience may have been the glue holding the prospect of success together. The pro-gun faction couldn’t dismiss his law enforcement credentials and his sincerity allowed the other side to put aside their concerns about over-policing and lax public safety to believe in his clear support for sensible legislation.
After the film, there was a brief discussion involving four of the eleven: Kellett, the lit professor who was removed from the Capitol for holding a sign supporting increased gun legislation; Johnson, who coordinates community safety programs; Proctor, the former State Trooper, and William Green, pastor and board member for the IBFF. The discussion was led by Leon Ford, a young wheelchair-bound victim of gun violence resulting from a traffic stop by a member of the Pittsburgh Police Department. Mr Ford, shot five times in a case of mistaken identity, is a mental health ambassador, recognized with President Obama’s 2017 Volunteer Service Award and named in Forbes 2023 “30 under 30.” Notably, none of the strongest “pro-gun advocates” attended the discussion.
Because of content gaps in the film, viewers are left wondering what was left on the cutting-room floor. For example, the film made no reference to the “well-regulated” text of the US Constitution’s oft-mentioned Second Amendment. Post-discussion, I was able to ask Pastor Green if that had ever come up. It had not. The film also made no mention of proper storage of firearms or any parental responsibility if underaged children get their hands on legally owned firearms and committed crimes with them, but Pastor Green assured me that that had been part of the discussion.
Ultimately, The Tennessee 11 tactfully shows the benefit of civil conversations in a free society. Yet Professor Kellett’s words remain true: current Tennessee gun policies are disproportionately weighted toward gun proponents and this is unlikely to change.
Short Suite 2 (Review by Bethany Morgan)
Superman Doesn’t Steal
This short is a slice of life set in the 1970’s in Atlanta during the Atlanta Child Murders. It is based on the writer’s (Tamika Lamison’s) own childhood. It opens with two children discussing superheroes and villains. The older brother, Jackson, explains to his sister, Harriet, that Robin Hood could be viewed as a villain because he stole, but he was actually a hero because he gave to the poor. As the short goes on we see that some people we view as heroes, like police officers, can be villains. Conversely, we see that a father who makes a choice to discipline his son, out of fear rather than anger, is not the villain that he might have appeared to the son in that moment, but a man doing his best to protect his family: a hero. Jordyn McIntosh did a stellar job as Harriet. The story is told from her viewpoint, and I found myself grateful for her curiosity because we see private moments when she peeks into rooms or through windows. Ellis Hobbs IV is wonderful as her older brother: slightly annoyed with his sister at times, and thinking he knows best. The most poignant moment of the film is the mom and dad sitting on the bed after everything is over, crying together. Seeing the vulnerability of the father who has to be strong for his family is beautiful and Tamika Lamison and Mustafa Shakir do a really lovely job. This is a captivating short that you should take the time to watch. Don’t skip the credits; they’re set to Shakir’s song “Black Super Hero:” a throwback to the big beats of the 90’s.
Diamond Mines: The Public Art of Ronald Llewellyn Jones
This documentary showcases the Houston Museum of African American Culture’s choice to commission Ronald Llewellyn Jones to create public art that would continue its efforts to create a sense of empowerment and pride in Houston neighborhoods characterized by segregation and high levels of poverty. John Guess Jr, the director of the film and the CEO of the Houston Museum of African American Culture, reveals an anecdote: he had told Jones that they wouldn’t be seeking permits for the art, only for Jones to reply that he wouldn’t work with permits anyways. He created a beautiful piece made of string, connected to trees and concrete blocks, that resembles a web with geometric shapes, similar to the facets of a diamond. Jones explains how the neighborhood where he placed his work is slowly changing due to gentrification. They come in like the area is a diamond mine, he says, but they view the land as the diamonds, when it’s actually the people that are diamonds. Members of the community were interviewed and spoke about what it meant to them to see such a unique and grand work of art in the middle of their neighborhood. Another clip shows Jones picking up trash in the area. He explains how change can start with just one person and one action: someone will see him pick up trash and decide to do it as well. John Guess Jr points out that Jones’ work is never vandalized, it’s too precious to the community. This was my favorite of the four shorts. Jones’ ability to turn hardships into blessings, and areas of poverty into areas of beauty was truly amazing to behold.
Ghostwriter…
Written, directed, and starring Vonii Bristow, this narrative short tells an important story: what happens to the families of a person that has been killed by police brutality. We have heard the stories of Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd and many others. Perhaps we haven’t always considered how these deaths have affected family members or if it’s possible to move on from the grief of a loved one being murdered by someone in a position of power. The short opens with a young boy, Simi, (Terrell Johnson Jr.) asleep. His mother (Rachelle Neal) comes in to read the note that he has left for her on his bedside table. Although she takes the letter with her, the boy wakes up to see it still sitting on the nightstand. We piece together that she has passed away but it isn’t clear until the end when the boy, now grown up, reveals the memory of a policeman pulling the family over and shooting her off camera. There is no clear resolution to the emotional toll that this has taken on the boy and his relationship with his father (Cornelius Muller). While I really loved the idea for this film, some choices didn’t make sense. The person to trigger him (by using the nickname his mother always used for him) is his old therapist, who apparently is dating his father. This is an unnecessary complication. The ending, although depressing, is a good choice, reminding the audience that there is no end to grief and real life doesn’t always have a happy ending.
The Nights of Verona
This narrative short is a contemporary prequel to Romeo and Juliet that follows Mercutio (Jean Elie). He must broker an alliance between his family and the Capulets in order to quell the power of the Montagues, while being terrorized by Queen Mab (Amber Azadi) with visions of his imminent death. The film goes back and forth in time and includes nightmarish hallucinations. It seemed inspired by Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film Romeo + Juliet with bright colors and an almost frantic pace, although I would describe it as much more gritty and less campy. I admire the boldness of adding to Shakespeare’s play; however, I found the film difficult to follow and lacking substance. Art should have a message of some sort to convey and maybe I need to rewatch this short, because I didn’t get anything out of it, which is frustrating because this is the one I was most looking forward to watching. There are some things that I enjoyed: the costuming by Mieshia Petersen is flawless, the creepy Queen Mab adds the perfect amount of horror, and the all black cast is such a refreshing look at Shakespeare whose plays would have been performed by an all white, male cast when originally produced.
The 6th (Review by G. E. Tipton)
The 6th is a Narrative Feature written, directed, and starred in by local MTSU alum Ricky Burchell. While the IBFF is a welcoming space for first-time filmmakers, Ricky Burchell is hardly new to the scene: his IMDB lists 14 director credits and seven of his films are currently available on Prime Video.
The title of the film refers to the 6th Amendment of the Constitution. For those of you who (like me) can never keep the numbered amendments straight, this is the amendment providing rights to citizens undergoing criminal trial, such as the right to a speedy and public trial, a fair jury, legal representation, the right to know charges, and so on.
The urban drama starts viscerally: nighttime in an alley, one man beats a prone man with a metal pipe. Then we see what happened prior to the brutal event. The man who had been committing the violent act is prominent Atlanta attorney Marcus A. Coles (Burchell) just won a major victory and chooses to take on what at first seems like a simple defense case. Asked by his friend, rapper-producer Feylon X (Lil’ Flip), to defend a cop who claims he’s been framed for stealing evidence, what seemed like a straightforward case begins to spiral out of control: Feylon X is murdered and Coles is called in as a possible suspect. We see the slow corruption of Coles’ already compromised character as he has an affair with a fellow lawyer, attempts to investigate the murder, clashes with police, defends his client, and tries to protect his friends. The 6th’s message is that you are who you surround yourself with. Constantly defending and befriending criminals, Coles admits himself to having changed his ideals, from becoming a lawyer because he believed in truth and justice, to deciding that it’s actually all about winning. While not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America, I’d give this film an unofficial R-rating due to sexual content, profanity, and violence.
The characters are varied: a chauffeur/assistant, reporter, computer hacker, rappers, music moguls, nightclub owners, thugs, and clean and dirty cops. The cast is diverse and avoids any typecasting. Several characters speak Spanish as a first language and my only regret is that a brief scene includes their comic dialog in Spanish but doesn’t provide English subtitles. While not what I’d call an action movie, The 6th does have action scenes: car chases, gun shots, explosions, and murder. Much of the drama is conveyed through conversation and multiple story threads are explored and developed. I appreciated the sense of humor that appeared throughout the film, providing relief to the constantly mounting tension. In one such moment, Coles and his assistant come to their colleague computer hacker for help, and she welcomes them into her office while only wearing a towel. They’re clearly uncomfortable but she’s unfazed and asks them, “Don’t you shower?”
The plot was occasionally confusing, switching from event to event, and leaving some of the character’s actions and motives unclear. Some of the unevenness in the film was explained in the Q&A after the showing, when Burchell said The 6th was originally conceived as a ten part series, but conversations with distributors convinced him to adapt the story to a feature length film. He hopes to complete the story with a sequel, possibly in an episodic series format, which I think would suit his writing.
All the women are talented at their jobs and make sense. This film passes the Bechdel test: two women have a conversation with each other that’s not about a man. The only portion that cracked me up and felt a little man-writing-women was that no matter how late or unexpectedly Coles shows up at their houses, the women (with the exception of the computer hacker) are always wearing lingerie with full makeup and carefully styled hair.
While set in Atlanta, The 6th was shot in the Murfreesboro area. At the Q&A Burchell stated that the film was shot on a low budget, and the cast backed him up on this, calling the effort a family endeavor and cheerfully mentioning how they all played many roles behind the scenes: acting, carrying sandbags, changing lights and working long days. While this budget constraint is occasionally noticeable during some special effects (explosions and some gunfire), I think their hard work and good management of the budget is successful. The costumes match each character and the sets are good, with a variety of locations and plenty of extras.
Some of the shots, especially of car chases, are of impressive quality. To suit my personal taste, shaky-cam is almost completely avoided, except for a few brief moments where it fits the nature of the scene.
The casting is good, each actor enjoying their role and fitting the requirements of their character. As of publication, the full cast and crew credits have not been released, so I cannot give credit to everyone who deserves it. I can say that I enjoyed the haughty-eyed attitude of Hannah Brake, and Chanelle de Lau’s seeming straightforwardness. This film engaged its audience at the IBFF and I hope the cast and crew will continue to make films, develop the local film industry, and create more entertainment for us Tennesseans!
To learn more about the IBFF or to join their mailing list so you don’t miss the festival next year, see International Black Film Festival. Each year we work to expand our coverage of Nashville’s film festivals, and we look forward to covering and celebrating their 20th annual season next year!
Upcoming: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf
Circle Players proudly announces its 75 season with the upcoming production of Ntozake Shange’s groundbreaking choreopoem, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf.” This poignant work weaves together the stories of seven women, each grappling with issues of love, loss, and identity in a society that often marginalizes their experiences. Through a blend of poetry, music, and movement, Shange’s piece addresses themes of racial and gender discrimination, empowerment, and the struggle for self-acceptance.
Director Cynthia C. Harris brings her vision to life, showcasing a talented cast of local artists who infuse each character with depth and authenticity. “My vision for this production is inspired by a photo of my mother and her four sisters around the kitchen table in the late 60s.” Harris says. “When they got around the table together, they shared stories and solved each other’s problems. I thought of other concepts and settings, but the image of the five sisters never faded. Thus, the seven characters in my interpretation of FCG are sisters reuniting in response to intimate partner violence inspired by the youngest sibling. Their stories are shared as medicine and signs of their unconditional love and support. The Ladies serve as sacred witness to each other’s healing and transformation. I hope that those in attendance will leave feeling witnessed and with more hope than they entered with.”
Each performance has a corresponding color theme. Audience members can dress to impress in the color to be eligible for 2 free tickets to Circle Players’ next production “And the World Goes ‘Round”. One winner will be chosen for each performance.
This production is suitable for ages 13 and up due to mature themes.The show runs October 11-20th at the Looby Theater. For tickets and more information, see: https://www.circleplayers.net/.
from Franklin Light Opera
The Pirates of Penzance
It’s easy on the one hand to write off the dramatic merits of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operettas, especially when they’re compared against much of the rest of the standard operatic repertoire from the second half of the nineteenth century. But at the same time, their silliness and levity are real strengths of W.S. Gilbert’s dramatic sensibilities. His libretti present these humorous, somewhat thin dream worlds that gradually twist themselves into ever more convoluted knots. That these narrative knots are usually unceremoniously cut in two seemingly only because it’s time for the play to wrap up contributes to the sense that the stories themselves are hardly more than trifles.
But this sense of unreality allows his libretti a degree of thematic abstraction belied by this very unseriousness. The characters, plots, and settings come across as sketches or caricatures, but this enables them to work themselves out like the elements of a probing, pleasant dream. Patience, for example, satirizes both military bluster and a certain type of vain, pretentious artsy dandy. However, neither our “fleshly poet” Bunthorne nor Patience nor any of the dragoon guards ever feels any more human than is required for the particular dramatic moment. So Bunthorne is not really “a” poet dandy, but rather the ur-Poet Dandy in the complete abstract and likewise for the rest of the cast.
What’s more compelling than Gilbert’s topical satire of the mores of London’s youth in the 1880s is that the plot concerns specifically a contest for the hand and heart of Patience. The ostentatiousness of England’s military and imperial tradition here come into conflict with the exact type of sentimental, genteel enlightened individualism which was all along the object of its “civilizing” mission. If we find Gilbert’s resolution of this conflict silly or contrived, I think it’s because the strength of his libretto is that it finds an intuitive and comedic way to highlight this contradiction by following the thread of its own logic, rather than offering some kind of prosaic and hollow way “out” of the problem.
This same sensibility is even clearer in The Pirates of Penzance where the key to its understanding lies quite conspicuously in its subtitle, The Slave of Duty. Frederic finds himself humorously caught between his duty to the pirates who have raised him into adulthood and that of the upstanding, affluent world he wants so desperately to marry into. The specific logic of this snare is characteristically Gilbert-esque: the confusion of “pirate” and “pilot,” Frederic’s leap day birthday, etc., but the ironies run deep. The pirates, though uncouth, are loyal and honorable, refusing ever to harm an orphan, while Major-General Stanley and the police are cowardly and deceitful.
Even though I think the themes of Pirates are, on the surface at least, more readily obvious than those of Patience, Gilbert’s libretto wades into far murkier waters here. We encounter the same conflict between the old imperial guard and a competing social force seeking to replace it, with a distinctive mixture of sharp contrast and ironic equation (“That’s the Pirate King’s tune!” protests the Major General at the start of his own number). But unlike the figure of Bunthorne, whose point of reference is a bit more straightforward, the titular pirates seem at times to refer to England’s working underclass with Frederic struggling for his own class mobility, but might just as well seem to stand for the disruption in England’s social fabric presented by the industrial revolution, where the power of capitalists, which had up to this point long remained largely upon and across the sea, suddenly found itself come ashore.
It’s hard to say what to make of Gilbert’s resolution here, where the at the height of tension the pirates submit “in Queen Victoria’s name” and are allowed to marry into polite society. An obvious, superficial reading of the final scene would hold that the duty to the nation and to the crown supersede all others, in a kind of direct inversion of the nineteenth century Marxian argument that international working-class solidarity would eventually overwhelm any nationalist loyalty. But of course this final plot beat is played as tongue-in-cheek as the rest of the operetta, making it hard to take this moment at face value. This is why Gilbert’s silliness and levity are features and not bugs. Only in the unreality of a farcical dream world could a portrait of Queen Victoria possibly be enough to resolve intractable class conflict.
But I think this quality of Gilbert and Sullivan’s works accounts for more than just an analytic appreciation of their themes or subtext. Their abstraction is a particularly theatrical one, which like a magic trick turns even modest stagings into something joyful and wonderful. It’s no wonder these works have been staged consistently by companies of all sizes over the last century and a half.
I had exactly this quality of Gilbert and Sullivan’s in mind during the Franklin Light Opera’s recent production of Pirates. Even with little more than a fishing net and an accordion for nautical color, the production managed to evoke the setting and tone perfectly at a glance. Pirates of Penzance is at its best at its funniest, and the cast kept the crowd laughing the whole night, especially the posh bluster of Chad Jones’ Major-General Stanley and an especially charismatic and athletic performance by Andrew Hutton as the Pirate King.
The Williamson County Performing Arts Center is a smaller venue than others up the road in Nashville, with no place but the wings of the stage for a small pit ensemble. This made for a few practical issues for the FLO, namely questions of balance between acoustic instruments, the electric piano playing through the auditorium’s sound system, and the unmiked voices of the cast here and there, as well as a few moments where the pit and the cast found themselves unsynchronized—unfortunately most prominently on Friday night during the famous Major General’s number. That said the balance was perfect where it counted—most notably during Sullivan’s rapturous Mozartian ensemble writing at the end of the first act.
I have little doubt these technical faults were forgotten by the majority of the audience by the end of the performance, mostly because everyone seemed to be having so much fun. It’s community theater after all, and one gets the sense many or most of those in the crowd showed up to support family and friends in the cast, crew, or pit. Community theater, in its personal and local nature, too, has a way of transforming what might otherwise be limitations into strengths. Community Gilbert and Sullivan, then, is a perfect marriage of material and performing forces, and has me looking forward to the FLO’s production of Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors later this year.
The MCR Interview:
Actress Lisa Arrindell and ‘Jubilee’
Actress Lisa Arrindell speaks with MCR journalist Andrew Davis on Tazwell Thompson’s Opera ‘Jubilee’ premiering at the Seattle Opera this month. They discuss the history of the Jubilee Ensemble and experience of participating in the production. (please like, subscribe, and share!):
From Russia to Romania
Balanchine’s Serenade and Vasterling’s Dracula
Born with the sound of church bells near his home in Bohemia, Bohuslav Martinů’s music was an effective choice for Paul Vasterling’s Dracula. After all, Martinů was born in central Eastern Europe, the same region that gave birth to the Dracula legends. The poignant melodies of his Nocturnes, Pastorales, and Concertino (often featuring Nashville Symphony Principal Cellist Kevin Bate who deserved solo mention) merged with Martinů’s incisive rhythms and haunting harmonies. This music elegantly sheathed Bram Stoker’s Gothic tale of a conflicted spirit. Dracula, the vampire; his flirtatious victim Lucy; Renfield, the crazed acolyte; and the targeted young lovers Jonathan Harker and Mina were joined onstage by a host of the living and the undead skillfully danced by the Nashville Ballet (NB).
The warnings of sex, nudity, and violence were rather oversold as the only nudity was Harker clad in a 19th-century undergarment; a few kisses constituted the sex. Likewise, as with many 19th-century melodramas, the violence is referenced rather than revealed, as in the inventive use of slender red scarves representing the blood from the vampires’ bites. This restraint makes the effect more powerful.
This was the strongest of Vasterling’s works I have witnessed. What worked so well was the fluid fusing of classical ballet, like flurries of bourée steps, with modern dance movements, like sharp angles in the arms. There are definite similarities with the Michel Fokine setting of Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird, especially the use of modern dance elements for the evil, unearthly creatures—Katschei’s creatures in Firebird; Dracula’s undead—when attacking the hero. Even Eric Harris’ bedraggled costumes for the undead served as a flattering tip of the hat to Marc Chagall’s 1945 Firebird costuming.
Vasterling’s choreographic art was especially powerful here with Mina (Jamie Kopit)’s passages delicate and graceful. Lucy (Marissa Stark) moved from innocent flirtation to post-bite sensuality. Dracula, played with stage-ruling authority by Owen Thorne, was given wide open spaces on stage, broadly spreading arms, expansive first-position arabesques, and the wonderfully dramatic use of his swirling red-lined black cape, while Harker (James Lankford)’s moves were appropriately more self-contained.
Only two issues caused a bit of a twinge. Harker’s scene with the undead showed more strength in his movements than one might expect, given his wounded condition. Renfield’s derangement, skillfully rendered by Garritt McCabe, was much more successfully represented in his passages writhing and crawling on the floor. Although this is Gothic horror, the sudden appearance of the massive cross seemed out of balance with the minimalist use of lights and props in the rest of the production.
But these are minor quibbles. The well-deployed use of narration from the dancers, lighting, props, whooshing sound effects with disembodied voices (no one was credited with sound effects), and a live orchestra playing compelling music, succeeded in creating a modern exemplar of Richard Wagner’s Gesamtskunstwerk, a total artwork. This expert fusing of every element of theater gave this work particular strength.
The choice to open the program with an elegant work by Vasterling’s stylistic ancestor, George Balanchine was inspired. For Serenade, the dancers of the Nashville Ballet were coached by Eve Lawson, a répétiteur from the Balanchine Trust, a non-profit dedicated to preserving the integrity of the great choreographer’s works. The corps de ballet work was some of the finest I’ve seen from the company.
As for the work itself, his first choreography upon immigrating to the USA, Balanchine’s clever use of a non-narrative piece by Tchaikovsky, a composer renowned for classical dance’s strongest narrative ballets remains deeply moving, the best of both worlds. The vision of choreographing an instrumental work from the composer of Nutcracker and Swan Lake can never be understated, nor can Balanchine’s gorgeous delicacy and velvety synthesis of classical and modern techniques with a touch of his signature humor.
This was indeed a night to be remembered, opening one of Nashville’s strongest years of dance in living memory. Other performances by NB, along with the TPAC International Dance series, and avant-garde works at OZ Arts should keep dance lovers gratified throughout the 2024-2025 season.
Music History in the Music City
How the Fiddle Became the Violin
On Sunday, September 29th, Music City Baroque put on a wonderful historical program mapping the history of violin in folk and art music. Titled “How the Fiddle Became the Violin” the event detailed the vibrant history of the instrument from the Renaissance until the 19th century. Pieces by John Dowland, Johann Schop, Antonio Vivaldi and several cultural folk tunes with unknown composers were delivered expertly by the musicians in their group. Guest artist, and concert programmer, Brandi Berry Benson proved to be extremely knowledgeable on the music and her insight added a whole lot of context to the pieces that were performed.
Starting in the Renaissance, Ms. Benson performed a few dance pieces including one of John Dowland’s most famous lute compositions, Lacrimae Pavan. She explained how the original violin band was primarily used for formal functions and associated with some kind of dance. At the beginning of the tradition these dances were created in order to accompany the song or tune. These two John Dowland tunes were originally composed for Lute as were many of Dowland’s compositions. Lacrimae Pavan is considered to be one of the most popular songs of the period, musicologists have claimed that it was one of the most distributed pieces of music of the Renaissance. Alongside this piece Ms. Benson performed a Galliard by Dowland and another dance tune Green Garters by John Johnson. All these pieces were arranged for string quartet and lute accompaniment. It was a pleasant experience to be taken back into the Renaissance and learn more about the origins of Violin playing in folk music.
Following the Renaissance, we are taken into the early Baroque with a collection of dance tunes written by John Playford in his collection “The English Dancing Master”. They selected three tunes from the 1651 collection: “Mr. Isaac’s Maggot”, “Long Cold Nights”, and “Queen’s Jigg” all were arranged for string quartet by David Douglass. As Playford’s title would suggest, all these songs have associated dances. We still haven’t gotten to the time where the song is made for the dance, so these dances were likely all unique to the song being played. These songs adapted some of the art music aspects of the Baroque period but retained, in vitality, the folk aspects of the Renaissance. The presence of newer contrapuntal technique is present but does not affect the dance style of the music. Ms. Benson detailed these intricacies before performing this part of the concert. She also showed complete understanding and mastery of these developing techniques during the performance.
As we advance further into the baroque and early classical period a lot of Violin music transitions into art music. However, the folk tradition continues throughout this period. Ms. Benson selected several pieces that still upheld folk music on the European continent with the added intricacies of Art music. Selections included the popular “Folia” , this one composed by Antonio Vivaldi; a newer version of the aforementioned Lacrimae Pavan, this one by Johann Schop; a Sonata by Dario Castello and several other pieces to express this transition from the older folk music. Especially of note was O’Carolan’s Concerto by Turlogh O’Carolan. This piece enunciated the differences between folk on the mainland continent and in Ireland, England and Scotland. This concerto is said to have been written in response to Francesco Geminiani’s visit to Dublin and his critique of O’Carolan’s violin music. No matter the history behind it, it stands as an excellent piece to show the collaboration between folk and art music in Ireland. Alongside this Irish concerto, the group performed a newer version of Lacrimae Pavan. Johann Schop put his own German spin on the English tune. He retained the original melody but added several folk elements from Germany, Austria and Bavaria. Ms. Benson made sure to mention the cultural differences in the music despite it being the same tune. One of my favorite pieces played was Vivaldi’s rendition of the Iberian folk tune, Folia. It is argued whether or not the Folia is a specific melody, harmonic structure or compositional technique. Despite this, Vivaldi’s version stands as a remarkable Italian take on this Iberian tune. I do wish Ms. Benson talked a little more on the cultural history of this specific piece, but like several other pieces she performed she simply let the music do the teaching.
The final part of the concert was dedicated to Folk tunes that “crossed the pond”. These folk pieces of varying cultural origin were brought over by several different groups to America. From these songs a lot of American folk tradition grew, including the likes of Bluegrass and other Appalachian music. Ms. Benson selected tunes of British, Irish, Scottish and French origins suggesting that a lot of these tunes came over with the original settlement of North America with the youngest piece written sometime in the early 19th century. It is important to note that this is the time where we transition from a dance being made for a song to the more modern method of a song being composed for a dance. This is especially present in bluegrass and modern country music with the line dance.
It’s interesting to me that this program was detailing the development of the fiddle to a violin but now it’s almost as if the violin is once again becoming the fiddle. In the Scottish selection from this part of the concert, like “John Come Kiss Me Now,” it is apparent that at this time they were significantly less interested in the art music aspects and almost solely interested in the music for the preservation of folk tradition in a new land. The group closed the concert with this hearty and fulfilling presentation of the roots of bluegrass and American folk music.
Overall, the concert was simple, concise and effective at displaying the diverse history of the Violin as an instrument in folk and art music. There were some interjections of history given to the audience but for the most part the history was laid out in the music and Ms. Benson often let the music tell it for her. The accompaniment for the group was extremely interesting as he used period accurate string instruments including the lute and early versions of the guitar. This effect was a great choice for the concert and created an atmosphere that truly felt like you had traveled back in time to come to this concert. Music City Baroque did an excellent job in selecting guest artists and developing a program like this. Education of music history are often lectures on what happened, but it was a nice breath of fresh air to listen to the music of the period live.
