12
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Mountain Views-News Saturday, January 30, 2016
On the Marquee: Notes from the Sierra Madre Playhouse
SEAN’S SHAMELESS
REVIEWS:
ST. LUCIA
By Sean Kayden
ARTISTIC VS. BUSINESS DECISIONS
By Artistic Director, Christian LebanoToday I
feel like a grown-up. An odd thing to say for a
man in his 50’s, I know. Today I said “no” to a
project I had hoped to bring to the Playhouse. I
know that audiences would have loved it, but it just
didn’t pencil out. It might have sold better than
the number I assigned to the calculations but I have
learned to be conservative in my predictions after
a couple of spectacular failures. I have to think
about the long-term health of SMP and this show,
while fun, would not have returned enough on
its investment. I don’t think purely economically
when I talk about returns either. I consider the
extrinsic elements, as well – and when evaluating
the whole package, it wasn’t worth pursuing.
In contrast to that decision is a show I am hoping
to announce soon for our summer slot – after
Always…Patsy Cline we have decided to reserve
the summers for our yearly musical offering and
I hope you’ll be as excited about what we are
planning as I am. It is one of the greatest musicals
this country has ever produced and it will tax all the
resources of the Playhouse. But this one does make
sense to stretch for – it will assert what I hope the
Playhouse will be, the kind of work we’ll do, and
through its ambition declare that we’ve arrived.
That’s a roll of the dice worth making.
We are definitely trying to grow at the Playhouse.
And I hear from many of you who have been long-
time patrons that you like the direction we are
headed. To further that growth we are having a
retreat this weekend for the Board and Staff. We’ll
discuss strategies to help us get to where we all want
to be – a thriving cultural hub of the San Gabriel
Valley – and set some targets to help us get there.
I’m not short of ideas for programs and initiatives
that I would love to see come to fruition, but first
we need to attend to our infrastructure. We are
so short-handed that they all revolve around more
staff to help us achieve our goals.
I keep saying that I think SMP is poised on the
brink of truly wonderful things. With your help
and support we’ll make our dreams reality and our
inspirations manifest. After all, we do it for you,
our loyal supporters – please let me know what
you think. You can write me at ArtisticDirector@
SierraMadrePlayhouse.org.
* * *
The Granados Concert (part of our Series with the
Colburn Conservatory) is this Sunday, January
31. Tickets for the concert are $20 for adults
and $15 for students. A few essays back I talked
about making the Playhouse your drop-in living
room. How wonderful to amble down and hear
this beautiful music just blocks from your home. I
think for those of you who haven’t attended one, a
single visit will make you a fan.
* * *
Deathtrap is selling briskly, it runs through
February 20. This one is great fun – opening night
audience were shocked by all the surprises - don’t
miss it. Reviews have been glowing! Please visit
our website at SierraMadrePlayhouse.org or call
Mary at 626.355.4318 to arrange your purchase.
South African-born Jean-Philip Grobler, aka St. Lucia
is prepared to release his much anticipated sophomore
record, Matter via Columbia Records. Grobler, who is now
Brooklyn-based, released the first single, “Dancing On
Glass,” a fetching 80s-inspired dance track last October.
It was teeming with hooks and snyth-pop beats. While
Grobler has been dropping remixes every so often in the
past two years, “Dancing on Glass” was the first original
music since his effervescent 2013 debut, When The Night.
The electro-poppers also include Grobler’s wife, Patti
Beranek on back-up vocals, guitarist and bassist Ross
Clark, keyboard player Nicky Paul, and drummer Dustin
Kaufman. For album number two, it was a collaborative
effort. “Dancing On Glass” was written with Tim Pagnotta
(Walk the Moon, Matthew Koma) and “Help Me Run
Away,” brought Grobler and Bleachers’ Jack Antonoff
together for something imaginative. On the production
side, the band tapped Chris Zane (Passion Pit and The
Walkmen). It’s clearly evident that Grobler has expanded
his musical purview with the new record. With eleven brand
spanking new tracks, St. Lucia will immediately be kicking
off a US tour to coincide with the January 29th release.
“Do You Remember?” launches the record in the best
possible way. The roaring opener is bold, sumptuous, and
striking. It takes grasp on the listener with spectacular
hooks and infectious beats. “Home” is a dazzling 80s
dance-pop tune. The robotic-like snyth beats are drenched
with 80s-pop ingredients. You can envision a goofy and
unabashedly silly music video to be paired up with it.
Basically it makes you want to jump out of your seat and
simply dance. In fact, it seems St. Lucia’s intent all along is to
have people to get up and dance. And I’m not sure how one
could refrain from doing so while listening to this heavily
pop-induced record. “Dancing On Glass,” the band’s
monumental single is unquestionably awesome. It is, hands
down, the catchiest, most addicting song in recent memory.
The song feels like a companion piece of Walk The Moon’s
“Shut Up and Dance” and we all know what that song did
for them. Hopefully and much deserving so, this mellifluous
effort will push St. Lucia into new heights, professionally.
“Physical” places St. Lucia in another bold direction
with vocal loops and trancelike snyth arrangements. The
throbbing beats trigger a wild sensation that gets your body
moving in a “physical” matter.
“Game 4 U” is a fairly gentler paced jam, but it’s one of the
most captivating tracks found on Matter. The relationship
themed tune is a charming endeavor that marks yet another
refreshing approach for the band. The sounds and beats take
on a different vibrancy than the previous tracks that feels less
snyth-y and more natural. The inclusion of horns and what
seems to be a saxophone in the tail end of the song allow for
the tune to standout more so than others on Matter. “Love
Somebody” is an R&B inspired tune that brings to mind
other acts such Active Child and Chad Valley. With the
snapping of fingers and seductive beats, “Love Somebody”
is a deliberately paced track that will have you slow dancing
this time around. “Help Me Run Away” feels like the perfect
workout song. It has this go, go, go mentality about it. The
chorus just bursts with the title line “help me run away”
and combined with the explosiveness of layered sounds,
the combination is breathtaking since it feels like you never
have a moment to come up for air. The thing is, Matter is
an album filled with breathtaking moments mostly deriving
from its splendid hooks, energetic demeanor, and breakneck
pace, but sometimes there are those uncommon surprises
that materialize. One of those surprises comes in the form of
the closing track, “Always”. The anthemic pop-rock effort is
grandiose and immensely affecting that appropriately feels
like the superlative choice for a closing track from St. Lucia.
The song features backup vocals of Beranek, who is able to
sparkle with her own angelic vocals. In the end, it has one
believing that St. Lucia is in no way one-dimensional as they
tap into a powerful sound that pushes their boundaries both
lyrically and musically. St. Lucia explores more than your
typical snyth-pop outing on Matters making it a true gem
amongst a sea of pearls.
Grade: 8 out of 10
Key Tracks: “Dancing on Glass,” “Do You Remember?”
“Game 4 U,” “Always”
St. Lucia Burst Back and It Does ‘Matter’
Artist: St. Lucia
Album: Matter
Label: Columbia Records
Release Date: January 29th, 2016
Review By: Sean Kayden
Don Savage is Porter Milgrim in Deathtrap.
Photo by John Dluglolecki
Jeff’s Book Pics By Jeff Brown
SPECIAL MUSIC EVENT CELEBRATING
GRANADOS AT SIERRA MADRE PLAYHOUSE
ON JANUARY 31
The Geography of Genius: A Search for the
World’s Most Creative Places from Ancient
Athens to Silicon Valley by Eric Weiner
Travel the world with Eric Weiner, as he journeys
from Athens to Silicon Valley and throughout
history, to show how creative genius flourishes in
specific places at specific times.Acclaimed travel
writer Weiner sets out to examine the connection
between our surroundings and our
most innovative ideas. He explores the
history of places, like Vienna of 1900,
Renaissance Florence, ancient Athens,
Song Dynasty Hangzhou, and Silicon
Valley, to show how certain urban
settings are conducive to ingenuity.
With his trademark insightful humor,
he walks the same paths as the geniuses
who flourished in these settings to see
if the spirit of what inspired figures
like Socrates, Michelangelo, and
Leonardo remains. In these places,
Weiner asks, “What was in the air,
and can we bottle it?”This link can be
traced back through history: Darwin’s
theory of evolution gelled while he
was riding in a carriage. Freud did his
best thinking at this favorite coffee
house. Beethoven, like many geniuses,
preferred long walks in the woods.
Sharp and provocative, The book
redefines the argument about how
genius came to be. His reevaluation
of the importance of culture in
nurturing creativity is an informed
romp through history that will surely
jumpstart a national conversation.
Dreaming of the Bones
by Deborah Crombie
Crombie’s fifth novel, Dreaming of the
Bones, was a New York Times Notable
Book in 1997 and named by the Independent
Mystery Booksellers as one of the 100 Best Crime
Novels of the Century, was an Edgar nominee for
Best Novel, and won the Macavity award for Best
Novel.It is the call Scotland Yard Superintendent
Duncan Kincaid never expected. When talented and
tormented poet Lydia Brooke dies, it is assumed that
she has taken her own life. Now obsession has taken
hold of Victoria McClellan. A feminist biographer at
Cambridge, Vic finds herself immersed in the poet’s
world. Uneasy about the manner of Lydia’s death,
Vic calls on her ex-husband, Superintendent Duncan
Kincaid, for help. But before he can take action, Vic
herself is dead--and there’s no question that this
one is murder. As Kincaid and his
lover and partner, Gemma James,
investigate, they are exposed to secrets
that have reached out over three
decades and poisoned a dozen lives.
The Open Secret by Tony Parsons
“Throughout my early life I felt that
there was another possibility which,
once realised, would transform
all and everything. One day that
possibility became a reality, and it was
simple and ordinary, magnificent and
revolutionary. It is the open secret
that reveals itself in every part of our
lives. But realisation does not emerge
through our attempts to change our
lives, it comes as a direct rediscovery
of who it is that lives. The Open Secret
is a singular and radical work which
speaks of the fundamental liberation
that is absolutely beyond effort, path,
process or belief,” Tony Parsons.
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human
Cadavers by Mary Roach
“One of the funniest and most
unusual books of the year,Gross,
educational, and unexpectedly
sidesplitting.”Entertainment Weekly.
Stiff is an oddly compelling, often
hilarious exploration of the strange
lives of our bodies postmortem. For
two thousand years, cadavers some
willingly, some unwittingly have been involved in
science’s boldest strides and weirdest undertakings.
In this fascinating account, Mary Roach visits the
good deeds of cadavers over the centuries and tells
the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no
longer with them.Recommended by Beth Copti.
Sierra Madre Playhouse and Colburn Conservatory
of Music continue their collaboration of presenting
superior evenings of traditional and contemporary
classical music for a third season. Our first such
event this year is Celebrating Granados: His Life,
His Influences, His Music.
Enrique Granados (1867-1916), revered in his
native Spain, is less well-known by American
audiences. Our January concert commemorates
the centennial of his death. In 1916, following the
New York premiere of his opera Goyescas (based
on his earlier piano pieces inspired by the paintings
of Francisco Goya) and a special piano recital for
President Woodrow Wilson, Granados and his
wife set sail for the return voyage to Europe. They
perished when their vessel was sunk by a German
U-Boat. They were survived by six children, one of
them a musician.
Prize-winning pianist, recording artist, and
former Fulbright scholar Régulo Martinez-Antón,
the recipient of the Professional Studies Certificate
from the Colburn Conservatory of Music and
currently a piano faculty member at the Colburn
School of Performing Arts and the Montecito
International Music Festival, has assembled the
program for the January 31 concert. A native of
Madrid, Martinez-Antón has a special affinity for
the works of Granados. The concert will feature
not only works by Granados, but also by his
influences.
The program:
Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Arabeske in C
major, Op. 18
Fredreric Chopin (1810-1849) Nocturne op. 62
in B major
Franz Liszt (1811-1886) Sonetto 47 del Petrarca
Sonetto 104 del Petrarca
Sonetto 123 del Perrarca
Intermission
Enrique Granados (1867-1916) from Danzas
españolas, op. 37 Andaluza
Oriental from Goyescas Los requibros (The
Compliments)
Quejas o la maja y el ruiseñor (Complaints
or the Maiden and the Nightingale)
El pelele
“Martinez-Antón’s performance was astounding.”-
---Stage & Cinema
“The music of Régulo Martinez-Antón is always
an adventure:----Rhein Zeitung (Germany)
Celebrating Granados promises to be an
extraordinary evening of musicianship and
listening pleasure. It’s not to be missed.
Jeff’s History Corner By Jeff Brown
1.The Founding Fathers penned the first couple
of drafts of the Declaration of Independence on
hemp paper, since at the time at least 75 percent
of all the world’s paper was made from cannabis
hemp fiber. The democratic delegates eked out the
document’s first and second
drafts—completed on June 28th and July 2nd
1776, respectively—on Dutch hemp paper. The
final document had a more official air, though, as it
was printed on parchment.
2.The American flag was the brainchild of a high
schooler.Robert Heft was 17 years old when he
submitted his design for a new American flag for
a school project in 1958. After receiving a B- for
his work, Heft contested his grade with his teacher
and an agreement was made that he
would receive an A if it was accepted by the
US Congress. In the following year, which saw
Alaska and Hawaii join the union, Heft’s flag was
adopted by the nation and his grade was changed
accordingly.
3.FDR escaped an assassination attempt
before he was famous.Franklin D Roosevelt was
diagnosed with polio in 1921, yet led a somewhat
charmed life. In February 1932, just three weeks
prior to his inauguration, a revolver bullet meant
for him was directed off target as it was fired,
fatally wounding the Mayor of Chicago instead. An
American submarine mistakenly fired a torpedo
at the battleship Iowa, missing it by a fraction, as
he held a secret meeting on it in November 1943.
These brushes with death were preceded, however,
by a close escape in 1919 when he gave Mitchell
Palmer, the notorious Attorney General, a lift
home from a boozy party. FDR politely refused the
offer of a nightcap, driving off and leaving Palmer
to retire upstairs before the front portion of his
house then exploded as part of an attempt on his
life.
Had FDR accepted Palmer’s hospitality, both men
would have been killed.
4.Cross-dressing women served in the Civil War.
Hundreds of women are thought to have disguised
themselves as men in order to participate in the
Civil War. Most famous is Sarah Emma Edmonds,
who felt compelled to play her part for the Union
Army and enlisted in the 2nd Michigan Infantry
with the alias “Franklin Flint Thompson”. She
served between 1861 and 1863, with Malaria
curtailing her involvement. She wrote a memoir of
her time in the army, selling almost 200,000 copies.
5.Months before World War Two ended, the
Japanese found themselves in a bit of a pinch.
Making the most of the strong air current across
the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese crafted what was
likely the first intercontinental weapon system and
attached bombs to hydrogen balloons, in what
was known as the Fu-Go campaign. Depending
on weather conditions, it would take each balloon
anywhere from 30 to 60 hours to reach the United
States. Researchers estimate that the Japanese said
sayonara to around 9,000 bombs—which were
approximately 33 feet in diameter— to the United
States, with 342 known to have reached the United
States. Many of them landed and exploded, with
one even killing a whole family in Oregon in 1944.
Rumor has it that there may still be dozens –
potentially still active – lying around.
Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com
|