Nuevo de Music City
“Encanto” La Banda Sonora de un País
(English Version here)
En el consumo cinematográfico las películas de animación son generalmente apreciadas como entretenimiento infantil y las bandas sonoras como la música que suena detrás. Lo cierto es, que tanto animadores como compositores en el cine, elevan la creación artística al ajustarse a la meticulosa representación de los movimientos que nuestro cerebro da por hecho. En el momento en que un gesto y un sonido no sean auténticos, el público se desconecta de la escena. Mas allá de los ‘dibujitos’ y las canciones pegajosas, Encanto honra a la audiencia infantil y a una nación. Esta película he tenido que verla cada vez con una intención diferente; la de apreciar su trama, la de identificar los elementos folklóricos y paisajísticos, y la de abstraerme con su música. Nunca imaginé que esta última se materializara en un auditorio con la orquesta en disposición.
Los días 16 y 17 de marzo, el Schermerhorn se transformó en la “Casita” que acogería a familias y aficionados luciendo los trajes de los personajes de la película. Las expectativas aumentaron cuando el director Anthony Parnther introduce el espectáculo en una aterciopelada voz como si hiciera parte del doblaje de la producción. Parnther y algunos miembros de la Orquesta de Nashville estuvieron presentes en la grabación original de la banda sonora. Este solo acontecimiento acrecentó las ansias de envolverse de nuevo en la fantasía del filme, pero con la música ¡en vivo!
www.anthonyparnther.com)
La historia de Encanto está inspirada en la corriente literaria del realismo mágico; tan solo la oposición de estos dos conceptos, hace que su significado sea difícil de poner en palabras. El ejemplo más sencillo que encuentro para definir este estilo, es el personaje de Julieta que “con su comida cura todo mal, sus guisos son remedios de verdad.” La inconfundible sazón de una mamá tiene el poder de levantarnos el ánimo y la energía cuando estamos indispuestos. Esa es la realidad, pero ese “super poder” la hace mágica. La proeza de Germain Franco fue convertir este significado en sonido, ¿cómo enlazar la cotidianidad y la ficción en la música incidental? A diferencia del equipo de producción y del compositor Lin Manuel Miranda que viajaron al país de la belleza para documentarse de su multiculturalidad y diversidad, a Franco le llegó la propuesta de componer la banda sonora en medio de la pandemia.
La riqueza sonora de Antonio’s Voice es la prueba de la deferencia que tuvo la compositora con el folklore colombiano. La Costa Pacífica del país es un territorio vagamente explorado cuando se hace referencia a la biodiversidad y a la cultura latinoamericana. En esta región donde se combinan la selva con el mar, la raza afrocolombiana resuena a través de las voces femeninas y la marimba de chonta. Para esta pieza, Franco encargó el instrumento a un luthier de la zona y ella misma lo interpretó en la grabación. Logró reunir a un coro de mujeres “cantadoras” y dirigió las sesiones desde una ventana de Zoom. El resultado es alucinante; la orquesta se encarga de trasladar por las aguas del Atlántico los ritmos del bullerengue a la jungla que las separa de las aguas del Pacífico. El coro anuncia la llegada de Antonio en un frenesí que se hace cada vez más incontenible en los sentidos. Cuando el registro agudo de las voces se mimetiza en el timbre sinfónico, se hace tangible el encantamiento de la orquestación en las bandas sonoras. Si la tan sola pieza es una experiencia sobrecogedora, acompañada de una escena que representa extraordinariamente la megadiversidad colombiana, se convierte en una verdadera obra de arte.
Una de las cualidades que saltó a mis oídos la primera vez que escuché a la Sinfónica de Nashville, fue la transparencia y el balance en el sonido de las cuerdas. Esta particularidad es imprescindible en la música para cine; en múltiples secuencias un acorde se prolonga extensamente soportando el movimiento de las demás voces o sirviendo de transición en la trama. Es usual utilizar efectos digitales en la producción de las bandas sonoras para potenciar la intención o la atmósfera de una escena. Sin embargo, aspectos como el dominio de matices y la simpatía en la afinación fueron magistralmente conseguidos por la orquesta como si se tratara de una grabación. Para fabricar un efecto tridimensional del sonido, hubo secciones en que solo algunos miembros de cada fila interpretaban la melodía. Por ejemplo, en determinadas partes los últimos atriles de los violines eran los únicos que coloreaban con sutileza las bases de la percusión.
La posición geográfica y la convergencia de múltiples razas hacen de Colombia un país con una extraordinaria variedad de culturas. En referencia a la música, su amplia organología define la naturaleza tímbrica de cada región. Franco y Miranda tuvieron en frente un abanico de posibilidades para enriquecer su composición y hacerla aún más genuina. La bandola, el tiple y el cuatro (cuerdas), los cununos y el maracón (percusión), la caña de millo y la gaita (vientos) hicieron gala en manos de intérpretes colombianos para la grabación. En este concierto se reemplazaron por instrumentos homónimos; el escenario rebosaba de guitarras y tambores al ritmo del bambuco y la cumbia. Sí, la cumbia colombiana.
Es admirable tanto en la composición de música incidental como su interpretación sin cortes, el ajustarse cronométricamente a cada escena. Las melodías y los efectos no solo acompañan una emoción, sino que reafirman el diseño sonoro por lo tanto deben ser ejecutados con precisión. Parnther es experto en el montaje de bandas sonoras como director y fagotista gracias a su amplia experiencia en la industria cinematográfica. La Sinfónica de Nashville parece estar dominando también este terreno con la atractiva selección de filmes que ha incluido en sus temporadas. El público ha sabido apreciar estos conciertos calificándolos como una experiencia de otro nivel, en consecuencia, separan sus sillas con suficiente anticipación.
Annie: New Broadway coming to TPAC
Annie has been around since the Little Orphan Annie comic strip started in 1924. It was adapted into a Broadway musical in 1977, which won 7 Tony Awards, and was adapted into three different films. Featuring the famous songs “Tomorrow,” “I Think I’m Gonna Like it Here,” and everyone’s favorite, “It’s The Hard-Knock Life,” the musical is on tour and coming to Nashville. I grew up watching the first film adaptation and I’m thrilled to see Annie in its original form: film musicals are great, but live music is always better.
Annie follows the adventures of Annie, an orphan girl in New York City during the Great Depression. Living in the cruel Miss Hannigan’s orphanage, she’s temporarily adopted as a PR stunt by Oliver Warbucks, a billionaire. They bond (to his surprise), and he decides he wants to adopt her. Miss Hannigan, however, decides to try to take advantage of the situation, and things don’t go as smoothly as expected.
This classic Broadway fare is a great family watch, and will be at TPAC’s Andrew Jackson Hall March 27-30. For tickets and more information: Annie | Broadway Shows in Nashville at TPAC. For more information about the Broadway tour: Annie Tour.
For St. Paddy's Day:
The Irish Tenors Bring a Taste of Ireland to Nashville
The world-renowned Irish Tenors including members Anthony Kearns, Ronan Tynan, and Declan Kelly, brought Saint Patrick’s Day to Nashville early this year. The tenors made their entrance to thunderous applause in black suits with emerald green ties after the incredible Nashville Symphony, directed by David Wroe, had already begun playing their first piece. The Schermerhorn concert hall was gorgeous with colored lights changing to depict the mood of each song performed, although the overall color was a light green in celebration of St. Patrick’s day.
Hearing the Irish Tenors in recording is spectacular, but nothing compares to the sound the three of them create in person. Each of the tenors voices has its own unique timbre and characteristics which meld together to create something spectacular. It is clear even from the audience that all three of the tenors, including newest member Declan Kelly, although unique individuals, have a connection and comradery which shone through, making their performance Thursday night cohesive. Each tenor has an absolutely gorgeous and wholly unique sound. Declan Kelly has a lighter, melodious voice with such a mastery of legato singing. Listening to any of his pieces could be a case study for how to sing completely on the breath. The best analogy I can think of to describe his voice is a line of pure silver that never stops traveling. An interesting mannerism I observed in Kelly, was that before beginning a piece, he would bop up and down slightly. This reminds me of a singing exercise that helps activate the core muscles in the stomach and I can’t help but wonder if this was the reason for that. Kelly has had a career singing opera and I can only imagine how lovely his Mozart must be.
Anthony Kearns voice is immensely powerful, and his high notes were incredible! The audience clapped furiously after each of his performances. I couldn’t help but notice that throughout the program he stood back from the microphone in order to be able to sing more comfortably. Kearns’ solo pieces were gorgeous, and I was especially taken with his performance of ‘Eileen Og’ and an aria from one of the three Irish operas ever composed. ‘Galway Bay’ performed by Ronan Tynan was epic, with sweeping phrases in the voice complemented by crashing cymbals and arpeggiated motion in the strings. ‘Galway Bay’s lyrics describe the beauty of an idyllic Ireland, giving those who have not been fortunate enough to travel to Ireland a glimpse at what might be in store. Tynan’s voice was robust, embodying the glorious description of Ireland, and he ended the piece with a soaring high note.
I could not write about this concert without at least briefly mentioning how impressed I was with the Nashville Symphony. An instrumental piece was played in the middle of each half of the program. Conducted with both detail and musicality, the piece had gorgeous dynamic range and the handling of the music with such genuine passion made it a joy to hear the Nashville symphony. The first half of the piece was more subdued, with lovely, long, swelling phrases that were completed by a faster ending section which included the imitation of Irish dancing steps. Irish dance music came back in the last song of the first half in the form of a rousing dance song. Before the tenors even began singing, it was clear that they were excited to perform this particular piece, smiling at each other and generally just enjoying themselves. During the performance, the tenors even did a bit of a jig with Anthony in the lead during an interlude while the audience clapped along to the music, increasing the jovial mood.
Throughout the concert, there were times when certain songs resonated with members of the audience. It was touching to see that so many people who came out to see The Irish Tenors had personal connections, Irish heritage, or memories associated with the pieces performed. Many times, people would stand up thanking the tenors with standing ovations throughout the night.
An example of this utter appreciation was found in the audience’s reaction to ‘Danny Boy’. ‘Danny Boy’ is a well-beloved classic and hearing The Irish Tenors perform it was a truly breathtakingly beautiful experience. The slight syncopation between voices added an extra element which made the piece even more touching. The performance hall was completely silent during the tenor’s rendition of the piece. It truly does not get better than hearing this piece performed by such talented musicians in the presence of such an appreciative audience. The tenors ended the night with another rousing tune that the audience was invited to clap and sing along to. This made the overall concert experience feel less formal and more like singing with friends in a pub celebrating Saint Patrick’s day.
Beetlejuice: The Musical Is Better Than The Movie
On tour since 2022, Beetlejuice: The Musical is at TPAC March 12-17, and sold out almost every performance. I attended opening night, and despite the half-hour interruption due to some electrical problem that occurred twenty minutes into the performance, had a marvelous time. I’d never seen Andrew Jackson Hall that full, or the audience that enthusiastically engaged. I didn’t hear any grumbling during the unexpected delay; rather people seemed to find it a good opportunity to buy more concessions and merchandise, or squeeze in a trip to the bathroom.
The musical adaptation of the 1988 film is, in my possibly heretical opinion, much better. It isn’t afraid to shift some major story elements: the Maitlands, the nice couple who die at the beginning of the story, play a much more minor role, and Lydia (played by young Winona Ryder in the film) is made into a much more sympathetic character. Instead of simply being strange and morbid, she is struggling through grief at her mother’s death and her father’s seeming emotionlessness. Instead of focusing on the Maitlands’ struggle to figure out the afterlife, the musical has Beetlejuice burn their Handbook for the Afterlife before they awake as ghosts. In this, the conflict of the story is between Beetlejuice’s desire to join the world of the living and Lydia’s desire to reach her dead mother.
The musical begins with Lydia’s lovely and sincere ballad at her mother’s funeral. As it ends, Beetlejuice says, “Holy crap, a ballad already? And such a bold departure from the original source material,” then begins his song, “Welcome to a Show About Death.” The contrast between Beetlejuice and Lydia continues throughout the musical, balancing what many postmodern stories can’t seem to figure out: how to be vulnerable, sincere, and funny at the same time. Here, Lydia is focused on her loss and then, later in the story, on finding her mother in the Netherworld. Beetlejuice is that ridiculous sort of amoral agent of chaos, who is bad, crass, and disgusting but who is enjoying himself so thoroughly that you can’t help but enjoy him. Meta-humor is quite prevalent, especially at the beginning, with Beetlejuice setting up the story for the audience and yelling at people in the crowd. The self-referential humor isn’t overdone, and really fits in well with the material and the music theater setting. Having someone on stage occasionally give a flippant tweak to the fibers of the audience’s interconnected imagination is quite fun.
Like the film, the musical is frequently crass and there are plenty of sexual jokes that make it definitely not for children. I have seen comments online saying that the musical is too crude, which I find somewhat surprising: the original film has always been crude. The audience the night I attended was mainly adults, and if any of the parents who did bring children to the show were unpleasantly surprised, well, the show has a content advisory.
The story is weighted toward Beetlejuice’s personality, and the only character that can combat that is Lydia. The Maitlands have been changed from an comically idyllic couple into lame repressed millennials panicking about whether they should follow through on their original plan to have a baby, then accidentally electrocute themselves. The joke that they’re lame went for a little too long, so I didn’t really care about their plot points or character growth besides the fact that they helped Lydia. Delia, the life coach hired by Lydia’s dad to help her through her grief, is a ridiculous character mocking all the current “spiritual” pretensions, and leading to a funny song between her and Lydia, letting their conflicting philosophies battle, the dual extremes of believing in nothing and believing in everything.
The second act of the musical is different than that of the film, Lydia learning to value life, let go of her mother, and come to an understanding with her father. Even Beetlejuice has a brief moment of goodness, although don’t worry, he doesn’t suddenly turn into a good person. Both the musical and film share the same ending, of singing more Harry Belafonte as an unorthodox but happy family.
The sets, lighting, and practical effects are absolutely fantastic. They are over-the-top and Burtonesque, vibrant and active. The set changes frequently, the Maitlands’ house askew and at odd angles, like a more consumer-friendly, funhouse version of sets from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The lighting accentuates all the moments of ghostly magic, sometimes even blasting the audience with such bright flashes of light the stage becomes unseeable, allowing actors to leave the stage in their comparative darkness. The green glowing light of the doorway to the Netherworld is particularly well done. There are many practical effects, too: Beetlejuice tosses fire, removes and shifts limbs, hands appear out of platters or snakes from heads, a giant sand worm appears, and so on. In a world inundated with CGI and easy digital editing, it’s refreshing to be surprised and impressed, to wonder “how they did do that” before being pulled back into the story.
The music itself is great, Eddie Perfect’s lyrics being particularly funny, and they’re full of plot and dialogue, propelling the story forward. His adaptation of “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” and “Jump in the Line ” are fun and more than simple covers. I’d wondered going in if the music was going to be 80’s themed as part of a nostalgia-grab, but it isn’t. It uses the ensemble well and blends different musical elements to match the content: some dies irae, classic and modern Broadway sound, a little pop, and circusy and Elfman vibes.
Justin Collette as Beetlejuice is wonderful, his gleeful horribleness fun to watch and energizing the entire play. His gravely tone and strong voice work well and his comic timing is fantastic. If every other actor was a dud, he would still manage to make the show work. Luckily, that isn’t the case, and Isabella Esler is an excellent Lydia: sad but not whiny, strong but not unkind, with a sense of humor and a strong voice. To add to her perfect casting, she’s petite and all the adults characters tower over her emphatically. The ensemble gives strong choral moments and acrobatic dancing, especially during the song “That Beautiful Sound” when Beetlejuice dances with many doppelgängers of himself.
I recommend seeing the show: if you never were a Tim Burton fan, this musical tones down some of the grimy ghoulishness of the film, and if you are a big fan, it’s got even more theatrical vigor than the movie. The run at TPAC is almost over, but the show will be in Georgia, Kentucky, and even Tennessee again in the coming months, so if you’re interested see https://beetlejuicebroadway.com/.
The MCR Interview
Director Stephanie Dillard on the staging of Lauren Gunderson’s acclaimed play The Revolutionists and Women in Theater (WIT) Nashville
Stephanie Dillard is an opera-singer, audiobook narrator, theater director and the board president of Women in Theatre (WIT) Nashville which was founded in 2023 to showcase the incredible talent, stories, and voices of women in the performing arts. On March 8th and 9th, starting at 7:30pm, at the Darkhorse Theater, Women in Theater (WIT) Nashville showcases its first premiere with Lauren Gunderson’s acclaimed play The Revolutionists.
From the Street Theatre Company
Nashville’s Trail to Oregon!
Before I can get to the performance by Nashville’s Street Theatre Company, we must first discuss the subject of the parody, and the creators of this musical. First, The Oregon Trail games are much older than I had realized; in my solipsism, I’d assumed the game started and ended on CD in the 1990’s, but it originated as a game for kids in 1971 (on the HP 2100 minicomputer, which used teletype instead of a screen), and I can download the latest version to my phone today. 
The point of the game is to teach children how difficult the Oregon Trail was for its travelers. Different versions of the game differ, but after choosing the supplies for the journey and making tough choices on the trail, players meet with many misfortunes (unexpected or due to poor judgment) as they try to reach their goal. Death occurs frequently. Growing up, we never owned the game, but one of our friends did. It’s rather a meme now, and I’ve played the board game adaptation with friends and had a good time.
StarKid Productions (also known as Team StarKid) started at the University of Michigan in 2009, when their YouTube post of A Very Potter Musical went viral. Since then they’ve produced 13 musicals (parodies and originals), have featured in the top 10 on Billboard charts, and have gained hundreds of millions of views. My introduction to them was through a group chat on a Monday morning, when someone posted this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2EI65ZEqYQ, from their musical Firebringer. In 2014, StarKid Productions created a musical parody of The Oregon Trail, called Trail to Oregon! which is available to view on YouTube: The Trail to Oregon!. After seeing the Street Theatre performance I watched and compared different sections of the musical with the original video, and I have to say I think the Nashville performance is funnier and reflects the original game better. I may be biased because I saw it first, but I think they added more humor. In one deliberately heartless scene, the son kills a family of buffaloes. The lisping baby buffalo can’t walk very well, and in Street Theatre’s production the actor Elijah Wallace adds a new layer chaotic humor by making the baby buffalo’s babytalk ridiculously sensual. Besides additional jokes, I mainly prefer this cast’s interpretations of the characters, too: they’re all a little kinder to each other, a little more equal in their goofiness. Street Theatre didn’t simply mimic the popular video of the play, they performed their own quality interpretation.
Trail to Oregon! follows a family: Father, Mother, Grandpa, Daughter, and Son, all of whom the audience names at the beginning of the performance. Besides being fun at the time, each name is an opportunity for additional humor later on: the line, “That’s my son, [son’s name], the baby killer,” was made into a punchline after the audience named him “Plan B.” The family buys supplies, meets a bandit, and begins their journey, meeting the challenges of environment, equipment, hunting (there’s the excellent line from Grandpa as he takes the kids out to hunt: “You shot me, that means your turn’s over.”), snakebites, kidnappings, and more. Since the musical is a parody, it doesn’t have a tight plotline, but focuses more on joking about the familiar elements of the game. This show is about being silly, and it does that very well. The only time that it gets to be too much is for a moment at the end, when the character the audience voted for dies of dysentery, and their dying song is accompanied by the sounds of viscerally unpleasant flatulence for far too long.
The acting is great, and so is the singing. Benjamin Frieson makes the ridiculously optimistic father charming, and Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva makes the bandit’s sidekick disproportionately funny in relation to how many lines the character has. My favorite is Elijah Wallace, who plays the greatest variety of roles, from the baby buffalo to the villainous bandit. Eve Petty plays the daughter, whose teenage sensuality is especially well done, balancing naivete with readiness.
The set does an excellent job of showing the video game inspiration: the backdrop is painted into a pixilated backdrop of scenery from the Oregon Trail, and six large wooden boxes are moved around the stage to create the furnishings, as well as housing items under their lids, and the puppets used to perform the buffalo parents are a great touch.
This was my first experience with the Street Theatre Company. They perform at the Barbershop Theater, which is a small building off a gentrifying street not too far from the Darkhorse Theater. Street parking is readily available and the building is quite simple: step in through the front door and you’re in the black box theater, the diagonal of the stage pointing at you, and rows of well-cushioned seats are available along both sides of the diagonal, seating about 40 people. A small concession stand is right by the entrance, and the only downside of the space is that it has one single-stall bathroom, and during intermission the actors have it for a portion of the time. Hydrate accordingly. Due to limited space, the live band is in a building behind the theater and they pipe in and mix the sound. I thought they performed to a mysteriously good recording until Taryn Pray (the Son, “Plan B”) explained how they managed it.
I would tell you to buy tickets for this show, except I can’t: it’s entirely sold out. Street Theatre Company’s final show of the season will be Fun Home in June, and next season’s shows are already announced: https://www.streettheatrecompany.org/23-24-season.
From OZ Arts
MazelFreten presents Rave Lucid at OZ Arts Nashville
Absolument incroyable!
In Nashville for three performances, February 29 – March 2, MazelFreten helped audiences escape into a pulsing, euphoric world scored by house music. Described as a combination of extreme control and energetic movements, ten electrifying dancers astound in this high-velocity tribute to French electro-dance. These performances marked the French dance troupe’s first residency in Nashville, and only the second city in the United States ever visited by the company, having presented two performances the previous week in the Historic Asolo Theater at The Ringling in Sarasota, Florida. Following the final performance in Tennessee, MazelFreten returned to France where the company continues to present Rave Lucid through mid-May 2024.
Not confident with how French electro-dance music distinguishes itself from other like genres, I attempted to prime my sensibilities with a ‘French Electro Dance’ playlist on Spotify. The genre proved to be more melodic and developing than the trance house soundscape my instinct initially conjured. OZ Arts Nashville also attempted to set expectations with an ambient soundtrack that was played throughout the facility in anticipation of the performance. Also helping to set what would be a great evening experiencing new art was complimentary valet parking and a signature cocktail crafted specifically for the performances of Rave Lucid – offered both in an alcoholic and nonalcoholic version.
The performance space included stadium seating for the audience, made up of fourteen rows with about twenty seats in each row. General admission tickets allowed for patrons to choose where to sit, aside from several reserved seats near the front for members of OZ Arts Nashville. The stage was constructed with wings on each side resulting in an informal proscenium of sorts. A water-based theatrical haze engulfed the room, while anticipation of the closing night performance electrified all in attendance.
Mark Murphy, Executive and Artistic Director of OZ Arts Nashville, welcomed the crowd and provided a quick introduction to the work about to be showcased. Murphy joked that MazelFreten had saved enough energy for this final performance, a significant reality about which we would soon have a better understanding, while he also gave permission to make noise and to post about one’s experience on social media. Even still, I found myself caught between the stoicism of conservatory training and wanting to express my appreciation and support for the performers in real time. Fortunately for the company of MazelFreten, others in attendance were less inhibited and offered vocal encouragement throughout the performance.
Rave Lucid runs about fifty minutes in length without pause. Seven music selections have been choreographed with such thought paid to the pacing of each vignette, as well as the overall arch form of the piece. The complete track listing used in Rave Lucid is provided below:
- Fille de Minuit & Ino – “Dance of Desire”
- Alessandro Cortini – “Scappa”
- Lokate featuring Doctor & Bay C – “Flow” (Nightshift Remix)
- NiKiT – “Radar”
- Subaltern – “Forever” (Ben Macklin Dub Mix)
- NiKiT – “Harmony”
- NiKiT – “Trance State”
Strict choreography looks to be interjected with improvisatory opportunities for each performer throughout the work. Moments of high intensity are coupled with fragile phrases of such intimacy. This elided juxtaposition of emotion kept my attention, not once allowing my thoughts to drift from the artform, making the experience seem to be over in a flash.
MazelFreten’s Rave Lucid features the artistic direction, design, and choreography of Brandon Mesele and Laura Defretin. The work is performed by ten dancers: Khaled “Cerizz” Adbulahi, Achraf “HFLOW” Bouzefour, Téo “Le Mino” Cellier, Thea “X23” Haggiag-Meier, Adrien “Vexus” Larrazet, Manuela “Emrose” Le Daeron, Alice “Aliché” Lemonnier, Marie “Mariejuana” Levenez, Jonathan “Vision” Lutumba, and Océane “Haja” Maréchal. The music of NiKit and Midnight Girls is featured, along with Judith Leray’s light design and costumes by Sting Masele.
The choreography created in dialogue with Alessandro Cortini’s “Scappa” was particularly moving. Following an opening number that uses the entire company, this second movement begins with a solo dancer focused on a single beam of light generated from the opposite side of the stage. Distorted pulsations in the music ascend, becoming easier to perceive as melody – albeit through a filter of John Adams – that continue to get louder to the point that makes the music both an auditory and physical experience. Economy of gesture on stage brings a heightened significance to each movement. Pairs of dancers follow behind the protagonist. It seems obvious that each couplet is host to one dancer experiencing hardship while another offers support, but the exact narrative seems to be left to the viewer to contextualize.
MazelFreten was founded in 2016 by Laura Defretin, an award-winning hip-hop artist, and Brandon Masele, a world champion electro dancer. Bringing electro-dance and dance battle culture to the concert stage, Rave Lucid is one of six productions created for the company’s repertoire. Aiding in the preparation of the next generation of dancers, Defretin and Masele have created INTRO training courses in urban dance for women and La Planke for electro dancers respectively.
Our respect for OZ Arts Nashville should continue to grow. Having the artistic eye and financial courage to curate such innovate programming as Rave Lucid is inspiring. Nashville was one of only two cities to host the premiere tour to the United States for MazelFreten. I’m proud to have experienced such a superlative in person. One should seriously consider attending the remaining three performances this artistic season sponsored by OZ Arts Nashville, particularly if one is unsure about what exactly is being presented. While mainstream arts organizations continue to establish excellence with perennial favorites, it is organizations like OZ Arts Nashville that help to further develop regional culture through highlighting artistic experimentation. Find out more about upcoming performances at OZ Arts Nashville by visiting the organization’s website.
Beetlejuice at TPAC
Tim Burton’s classic film Beetlejuice came out in 1988, the movie score done by Danny Elfman. A nice childless couple dies in a tragic car accident, slowly realizing they’re dead and noticing strange things in their house, which they discover to be an invasive species: the living. As they attempt to rid themselves of the obnoxious parents and the strange daughter (young Winona Ryder), they call upon the help of a chaotic and dangerous creature named Beetlejuice, with unexpected results.
The Broadway adaptation was created in 2018 and the national tour has been going since 2022. When I first learned that there is a musical adaptation of the film, I didn’t sigh at more blatant nostalgia-cashing by a franchise-flaunting studio, but thought that a musical adaptation might be an even better version of the story than the original. The film is already so crazy with set design and Elfman’s wild music: adding musical numbers and live-theater energy sounds promising. I’m looking forward to finding out!
The show will be at TPAC March 12-17 and is almost entirely sold out, with few tickets remaining. Beetlejuice | Broadway Shows in Nashville at TPAC
Wayne Marshall Does it All at the Nashville Symphony
Thursday night the Nashville Symphony featured the multi-talented Wayne Marshall who performed as the conductor, organ, and piano soloist in a jazzy program. Marshall has developed a long career that spans the globe performing in all three of those roles. He has held positions as Chief Conductor with several orchestras and has made dozens of recordings as a soloist. He is known for his interpretations of Bernstein and Gershwin in particular which made this program a real treat:
- Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
- Francis Poulenc: Concerto in G minor for Organ, Strings, and Timpani
- George Gershwin: Second Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra
- Duke Ellington: Harlem
This program highlights the divide between the ‘Classical’ and ‘Jazz’ realms and showed that, perhaps, the divide is not as large as one originally suspects. Although each of the composers were born within a year of each other (except for Bernstein in 1918), they each operated in separate musical worlds. Bernstein had the classical credentials to bring Jazz and Broadway into the concert hall, Poulenc wrote ear bending harmonies with the simplest melodies, and Gershwin and Ellington operated almost exclusively in the jazz realm but created these unique symphonic masterpieces.
I was absolutely amazed in reading the program before the concert that this was the first performance of the Bernstein Symphonic Dances on a classical program for the Nashville Symphony. That fact floored me – especially for a group that prides itself on championing American music. Marshall mounted the podium without a score or a baton and proceeded with one of the faster tempos that I have heard. It even seemed to catch some of the players off guard, but eventually the group fell into the irresistible groove of Bernstein’s music. What struck me about this performance in particular is just how much fun this music is. That is one of Bernstein’s great gifts – his ability to infuse his music with his personality: big, brash, loving, fun, and occasionally raunchy. All these various moods were present throughout the performance and the audience loved to see the orchestra snap and shout “Mambo!” Marshall highlighted a lot of the syncopations in his conducting which occasionally created some timing difficulties, but also encouraged the orchestra to bring out the punchiness of this music.
Next up was Poulenc’s Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Timpani. The Nashville Symphony’s Martin Foundation Concert Organ is a beautiful instrument. Taking up almost the whole back wall of the Schermerhorn center, the instrument makes a big statement visually and audibly. Poulenc’s piece starts out exactly how I want an organ concerto to: loud strong minor chords on the organ contrasted with delicate strings. The concerto is about twenty minutes long divided up into seven differentiated tempo markings creating an arc of loud and powerful music, to softer middle sections, and back to a strong finale. Poulenc started writing the piece in 1938 around a time when he was rediscovering his Christian faith. Poulenc had never written for the organ before and to prepare for this commission he spent many months studying the masters of the instrument: J.S. Bach and Dieterich Buxtehude. What he produced has become one of the few standards for the organ repertoire that is from outside of the Baroque period.
Marshall played brilliantly. He seemed most at home sitting at the organ bench, as his playing and physical gestures were the most dynamic. The organ part is not too difficult, on account of Poulenc’s original commissioner of the piece, but Marshall brought out many subtilties and nuance in his performance. One way he did this was through his interesting choices of registration for the organ, filling in brass and woodwind gaps in the orchestra. The Symphony’s string section was a fantastic supporting partner in this concerto. Most of the players could not see Marshall from behind the large console of the organ, but they followed his playing expertly and matched his energy. To me Poulenc’s music is such an interesting oddity: phrases, melodies, and harmonies are all slightly out of place but for some unknown reason it all comes together in a beautiful whole.
During the intermission the organ was replaced with a piano for Gershwin’s Second Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra. This piece, originally titled Rhapsody in Rivets, was originally borne out of George and Ira Gershwin’s music for the film Delicious. Not as renowned as Rhapsody in Blue, which just celebrated its’ 100th anniversary, Gershwin’s Second Rhapsody is a fantastic piece showing his compositional development. Gershwin himself said that the Second Rhapsody was “in many respects, such as orchestration and form, it is the best thing I have written.”
The Nashville Symphony played this piece exceptionally well Thursday night. Gershwin’s writing seems to be a lingua franca for the group. Crescendos swelled to their peak almost taking me out of my seat. Marshall’s playing was enthralling as he jumped between conducting and playing, sometimes literally, making it back to the piano just in time. The only issue of this piece was the piano was placed, with its lid off, with Marshall’s back to the audience. This is standard placement for when a conductor leads from the piano, but it caused the sound of the piano to occasionally get lost in the thickly orchestrated score.
Last on the concert was Duke Ellington’s Harlem, a piece that I was unfamiliar with from a composer whose works I deeply admire. Duke Ellington shaped and molded our conceptions of the Jazz sound and is one of the great fathers of American music. With over a thousand compositions, many of his works have become standards of the jazz repertoire and his music has expanded into the larger cultural consciousness. To transcend your area of expertise in this way and gain a wider cult
ural significance is a rare accomplishment, only achieved by the greatest of the great: Yo-Yo Ma, Michael Jordan, Steve Jobs, etc.
Harlem was originally commissioned by Arturo Toscanini and Ellington wrote two versions. The first for Jazz Band was premiered at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1951 and the second was scored for full orchestra, with the orchestrated help of Luther Henderson, was premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1955. Toscanini never ended up conducting this piece, much to my disappointment to hear the old great Italian Maestro conduct jazz! The orchestral version adds five saxophones to the traditional instrumentation. Instead of sounding like an orchestral piece with added saxophones, like Ravel’s Bolero, it sounds more like a jazz band and an orchestra combined into one, which was Ellington’s aim, as he called this a “Concerto Grosso for our band and the symphony.” This trend of blending the Jazz and Orchestral ensembles is something that Jazz/Classical composers like Wynton Marsalis have continued with pieces like his Swing Symphony.
In Ellington’s memoir Music Is My Mistress he wrote a programmatic note saying “[Harlem] has always had more churches than cabarets. It is Sunday morning. We are strolling from 110th Street on Seventh Avenue, heading north through the Spanish and West Indian neighborhood toward the 125th Street business area. Everybody is nicely dressed, and on their way to or from church. Everybody is in a friendly mood. Greetings are polite and pleasant, and on the opposite side of the street, standing under a street lamp, is a real hip chick. She, too, is in a friendly mood. You may hear a parade go by, or a funeral, or you may recognize the passage of those who are making our Civil Rights demands.”
When this program was originally announced Harlem was the opener of the concert, but I am happy that they moved it to the end. Its language is so enthralling, and its style is so clear that it made the most successful impact as a piece that night. The demands on the winds and brass players are immense: screaming trumpets, wailing trombones, and swinging reeds are called for throughout. The percussion section was the backbone of the piece, keeping everyone in time and eventually having an improvisatory section at the end. The ending felt like a real celebration and the audience was buzzing with excitement as they left the concert hall.
Latino in Nashville, April 2024
(Versión en español aquí)
The Nashville music scene is expanding into an exhilarating landscape of Latin American artists and projects. Mariachi, Banda, Salsa, Cumbia, and Rock in Spanish are just some of the genres that make the festive nights of the venues vibrate. Here’s an invitation to delight live with the sounds and moves of three projects that will perform in April on the colorful stage of Plaza Mariachi. 
MARROCKO
Saturday, April 20th
4:30 pm – 5:15 pm
This duo from Cali (Colombia) has a cutting-edge style that blends Latin pop and rock with indie folk nuances. Guitarist and producer Alex Zúñiga and vocalist Guile Gadel reflect the freshness characteristic of Rock en español and its contemporary lyricism in their compositions. Among their productions, the band has an album titled “Mar de Rock” where their songs alternate between romantic and introspective lyrics. Marrocko’s proposal has captivated the city’s audience with performances at the 2023 Nashville Shores Waterpark Latino Fest and the halftime show of the local team Nashville SC with a guitar solo that infused energy into the crowds.
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BALLET FOLKLÓRICO SOL DE MÉXICO 
Saturday, April 20th, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Sunday, April 21st, 4:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Sunday, April 28th, 4:00 pm – 6:30 pm
The perfect complement to a live Mariachi, Banda, or Marimba show is the authentic steps of Mexican folklore. Ballet Folklórico Sol de México transports its audience to the grounds of Sinaloa, Veracruz, Chihuahua, Jalisco, and Chiapas, where the colorful regional costumes sway gracefully. This group has reunited expert dancers with their native dances in a city where Mexican music is increasingly positioning itself in the international expression. Their trajectory in Nashville already spans a decade, and among their experiences stand out performances such as the launch of Estrella Jalisco beer at the Nashville Music Center, as well as Los Tigres del Norte concert at the Bridgestone Arena, being the first folkloric group on this stage. In addition to events, Ballet Folklórico Sol de México seeks to promote interest and appreciation for Mexican cultural manifestations through visits to schools in the metropolitan area and calls for new dancers to join their project.
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RITMO SABROSO
Saturday, April 20th
8:30 pm – 10:00 pm
As its name suggests, Ritmo Sabroso is an orchestra that inevitably gets the audience on their feet to join in with their moves to the rhythm of salsa, merengue, and cumbia. These genres have undoubtedly permeated Latin American celebrations for generations and the music scene across the Atlantic. Ritmo Sabroso brings together musicians with extensive experience from Venezuela, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the United States, countries representative of the sonic and cultural richness of these genres. For those looking to enjoy a tropical night this weekend, this is an event you can’t miss!
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