Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Pittsburgh Symphony Orcestra, Thriller with Music of Michael Jackson



Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, 

A THRILLER with The Music of Michael Jackson

by Jenn Carr, Roving Pittsburgher Reviewer

On a chilly November evening, I attended the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, The Music of Michael Jackson at Heinz Hall with my son, Noah.  We were both interested to see how the symphony would interact with the King of Pop’s extensive collection of decade-spanning music. 

What a pleasant surprise!!  The Symphony was integrated with a professional troupe of vocalists, electric guitar, bass, keyboards and drum kit.  The solo vocalist was an energetic young man, Jason Delisco who paid homage to the enigmatic MJ without trying to be an impersonation of the man.  He was entertaining and engaging telling stories of how the music influenced him and other musicians.


The audience had come ready to fully enjoy the musical influences of Michael Jackson.  It was demonstrated in the whoops and hollers MJ-style throughout the evening.  Showing a great influence across people of all ages, there were many young children and teens dressed in the “Beat It” signature jacket, sequined gloves and sleek fedoras.  It was not a wasted effort to show your MJ influence as Delisco brought children up on stage to display their best dance moves.  It was not the ominous effects of Wagner or the crystallized delights of Tchaikovsky however; it was a wonderful evening of reminiscing across the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s of one man’s tremendous talents.

 


Jenn Carr, Your Credit Mechanic.com, the maven of credit repair and education can help you raise your credit scores an average of 50-100 points with her “90 Day Credit Makeover”.

Halloween Night Stomp



“STOMP” left us speechless and wanting more. . .
by Jenn Carr, Roving Pittsburgher Reporter



                                                                    
What a great way to spend a cold, rainy evening in Pittsburgh…in fact, what an awesome way to spend any type of evening.  My 12 year old son and I saw the production of STOMP.  We went to the show with the expectation that we were about to see a lot of drumming and banging on stuff.  


Immensely entertaining!! We were intrigued, amused, and downright flabbergasted by the entire performance.
The show starts so quietly with a lone, spiky-haired, muscular man pushing a broom, in a spotlight.  The man begins a tapping out a rhythm with the broom, his feet scratching and tapping along the stage floor.  Slowly he is joined by other members of the troupe, pushing brooms, scratching the floor, flipping brooms upside down to rhythmically tap the floor. It becomes a choreographed chaos of movement across the full stage.  You don’t know where to watch first. Performers cross in front of each other as they hand off their broom to another person. It was watching a very complex juggling act.


A parade of fantastical situations are brought to the stage from kitchen sinks, inner tubes, scaffolding, and a fantastic cigarette lighter sequence.


From off-stage 4 guys walk out carrying what looks like a drum kit.  However, it turns be out to be different size stainless steel kitchen sinks hanging from chains around their necks. It is hard to even imagine how kitchen sinks, rubber gloves and water can become a composition of rhythm and musicality. 
As the lights come up, the performers are bouncing in synch on large, truck inner tubes.  The squeak of the rubber against the floor is the foundation for this next composition.  Then, they start drumming on the tube and reaching across to tap sticks with their performing neighbors.  Unbelievably inventive!!


As if we were not already in awe at the creativity of the show, the complete cast lines up in the dark across the front of the stage.  Soon we realize, in each hand, they are holding old-fashioned cigarette lighters.  Click and swish, we understand the display and music will be created as they flick open the lids, spin the lighter wheel, ignite a flame and slam the lid closed.  However, the audience starts to understand the visual sequencing as flames appear and disappear in syncopation with the rhythm
The normal person does not look at brown paper bags, tire rims and rubber piping and imagine a concerto.  The skills of the performers and the talent of the producers shine brilliantly from beginning to end.


You walk out of the concert hall with a better appreciation for ordinary, even mundane pieces of our everyday can bring music to life.  The only bad point of the whole evening is walking out of the concert hall with a 12 year old boy tapping and banging on everything in arm’s reach.


Jenn Carr, “Your Credit Mechanic”
                                                                                                      
“Let us help you get back on the road to better credit”

Monday, November 26, 2012

"War Horse, an Adult Puppet Show"

by Good News Reporter, Joanne Quinn-Smith

Right after seeing “War Horse,” I came down with the flu but I thought this Broadway hit in Pittsburgh at the Benedum on November 13 was important enough to post anyway.  What a multi media event.  This was just not a play but a rendering of musical interludes, hovering screen video scenes and amazing puppetry. Yes it was a puppet show for adults.  As I looked around the room it was amazing to me how few children there were and that’s because the show was targeted for adults. 


The poignant Tony Award winning play displays the ravages and unfairness of war while still allowing the theatre audience a chance to revel in childhood fantasies, the memory of grandpa’s bedtime stories and the thrill of near real life adventure.
 Joey, the protagonist stallion of "War Horse," is believable with every toss of his tale and shake of his head.  For the length of the play I was transfixed by the beguiling eyes of a puppet and the very real and regal galloping steed.

 
Albert and Joey
Adapted by Nick Stafford from Michael Morpurgo's novel, "War Horse" spans a rural village in England with all of its competitive nuances between two brothers to the literally blood spattered events of World War I.   The touching story of a boy and his horse transfixed me like so many stories of childhood but with the accoutrements of modern theatre.   With a touching interlude of song during the performance and an overhead screen in the form of a torn journal page brings the elements of war starkly to the stage. 


What a wrenching story when the horse’s young man Albert and Joey are parted over the money that his father can get for him from the army.  But the real drama is in the movement of the horse Joey and one of his counterparts as three men moving the horse in unison portray the gallops and tail swished and head tosses that are so realistic. The poignancy of the story comes from Joey’s interaction and touching of all he meets from British and German soldiers to a young farm girl and her mother.  For two hours I was mesmerized by this multimedia production of War Horse.


Also my hat is off to the “handlers” of Joey and the other horses.  One could see that this took agility and training and timing.  Although we won’t remember those handlers, we will remember the gallant way that Joey filled up the stage with energy and charm and sometimes pathos but always with the regality of a thoroughbred. 


The life-size horses that regaled the audience onstage were created by South Africa's Handspring Puppet Company.   They whinny realistically, twitch their ears and swat their tails.  They amuse and captivate every bit as much as the characters in the both the movie and the book.  When you see “War Horse” you will be amazed at the pageantry and how life size puppetry, music, acting and multimedia presentation can tell a story that will leave you on the edge of your seat and wrapped up in the story of Albert and Joey. If this comes to Pittsburgh again be sure to see it.


Radio Host and Serial Blogger, Joanne Quinn-Smith is the host of PositivelyPittsburghLive™ Internet Talkcast and TechnoGrannyShow™  On her shows, Joanne has interviewed over 1800 guests.  As an advocate for small Business, she was awarded the National Small Business Administration Journalist of the Year Award.  She is also the publisher of PositivelyPittsburghLiveMagazine.com which is a 2010 National Stevie Award finalist for best Media Website or Blog. PPL Mag features the GOOD NEWS, about Pittsburgh  and is  Pittsburgh’s First internet radio and TV network. PPL Mag attracted 2.25 million visitors last year.  Her radio network has accumulated over one million listeners. The Creative Energy Officer of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates, Joanne also teaches her online media platform building to small businesses in a client personalized, “Web2.0 Gorilla Branding Training™”.  Connect with Joanne at:  http://joannequinnsmith.com

Monday, November 19, 2012


Roving Pittsburgh Review

"Good People" by David Lindsay-Abaire

by Helene Vidovich and Amy Caligaro




Life in a lace curtain world?
. . .like a cornucopia, leaving one with much to choose and digest.
"Good People" by David Lindsay-Abaire and aptly staged by Jeff Cowie, captures life's little moments and situations and leaves one with much fodder for future discussion. Kelly McAndrew, who portrayed Margaret, was exceptional. The performance evokes a variety of iconic experiences--anger, love, fear, deceit, laughter, social taboos and life's dichotomies.
    Amy thought the landlord was hysterical: "who doesn’t have someone like her in our lives?" Margaret's best friend Jean challenged the zeitgeist of the "Southie" neighborhood [Everytown]. Mike's wife Kate, although insecure, conveyed strong ethics and a heart of gold. "When Mike started his rage, I nearly jumped out of my seat." And, when Margaret picked up Kate's vase to retaliate, a collective gasp rippled through the audience.
Let’s see -- Caregiver for a mentally challenged child, class struggles, homophobia, racial diversity -- sprinkle in some vulgarity and an affair…voilĂ …a well-written, convoluted play.
    Good People: Is it a statement or a question? Our values and mores are challenged. When life hands you lemons, go to a game of Bingo!


Amy Caligaro, Silpada Director  







Helene Vidovich,  Freelance Roving Pittsburgher Reviewer

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Don Giovanni, Plot After Plot


Reviewed by Good News Reporter
Joanne Quinn-Smith



First of all I have to say for having been written in the seventeen hundreds, the modern daytime soaps could not have done it better.  From Olympian numbers of sexual partners to blatant anti-social behavior Don Giovanni was the stuff of dark serial soaps.  One could not help but get caught up in the story, the musicality and the character development.  Even if you do not understand Italian, you could not escape any of this.
I read that one reviewer was distracted by the movable blockades or banisters used for exits and entries of characters. I have to say that was not a challenge for me.  Actually I was rather impressed with the changing of scenes without moving scenery.  I found it very subtle and not distracting.  I was too busy with the opera and its many subplots to worry about the scenery.  However I did love the changing of the lighting colors on the chair in the balcony.  That was symbolically impressive. 

Don Giovanni and Zerlina David Bachman Photography
My favorite male character however was the servant Leporello(Wayne Tigges) who although he rants and rails about his master, really wants to be him as most of the men in the drama do. Mr Tigges wonderful body language was only surpassed by his voice.  Also I was absolutely enthralled by the wily and suggestive young maiden. Zerlina (Sari Gruber), who leavers her husband on their wedding night to spend time with Don Giovanni. Again her playful antics matched her playful voice.  Developed better she was probably Don Giovanni’s moral or amoral counterpart.

The cast was strong, the plot was stronger and just like so many Titan classics, the story and the presentation left you wondering what happened to the other characters when they no longer had Don Giovanni to color their lives.

Don Giovanni-Hell!  David Bachman Photography
Unlike many operas which leave you humming an aria or tune this was truly a story or many stories woven into one with drama, intrigue, intense character development and true entertainment value.  I especially like that there really was no triumph of good over evil as the vengeful goals of many of the characters actually pulled them down to Don Giovanni’s level.  There was actually a lot of grey area as to the morality of the play.  But true to the times, morality was very pragmatic at the time.  Even though written two hundred years after The Prince, the Machiavellian spirit has prevailed on the story line of this opera.



Radio Host and Serial Blogger, Joanne Quinn-Smith is the host of PositivelyPittsburghLive™ Internet Talkcast and TechnoGrannyShow™  On her shows, Joanne has interviewed over 1800 guests.  As an advocate for small Business, she was awarded the National Small Business Administration Journalist of the Year Award.  She is also the publisher of PositivelyPittsburghLiveMagazine.com which is a 2010 National Stevie Award finalist for best Media Website or Blog. PPL Mag features the GOOD NEWS, about Pittsburgh  and is  Pittsburgh’s First internet radio and TV network. PPL Mag attracted 2.25 million visitors last year.  Her radio network has accumulated over one million listeners. The Creative Energy Officer of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates, Joanne also teaches her online media platform building to small businesses in a client personalized, “Web2.0 Gorilla Branding Training™”.  Connect with Joanne at:  http://joannequinnsmith.com