A Tale of Small-Town Renewal and Bold Programming
Events — Posted on July 11, 2008 at 9:25 pm
A friend and I went tonight to Columbiana’s Main Street Theater to watch a performance of Igor Stravinsky’s “A Soldier’s Tale” (aka L’histoire du soldat).
I had never seen a staged production of it, so I was especially keen to attend. I also knew several of the performers from YSU, so I knew there would be socializing to look forward to. I was not disappointed by the performance or the camaraderie.
That is not to say the performance was without its faults. But the most impressive thing about the performance is that it took place at all. A chamber theater piece by a twentieth-century Russian composer being staged in a small Ohio town on two musical rehearsals? Remarkable!
I encourage everyone to go support this production Saturday night at 8pm or Sunday afternoon at 2pm. The cast includes Hubbard native and international opera singer Jason Budd as the narrator. John Simsic gets great credit for his vision for direction, choreography and musical interpretation (not to mention contracting the musicians, which is always a challenge).
Local musicians are making great music live, and it’s a wonderfully intimate setting, with 500 seats. The roster includes Chris Krummel on trumpet, Joe Parlink on percussion, Don Byo on bassoon and Brendan Considine on the fiendishly difficult violin part.
Turning Technologies co-founder Don Arthurs is to be commended not only for his courageous and generous restoration of the beautiful Main Street Theater but for his commitment to putting on live shows, including ones like this not guaranteed to be blockbusters at the box office.
Again, I encourage you to take advantage of this unique opportunity to see a staged opportunity of this work. Probably nowhere else in Ohio is a town getting a production, much less three staged performances of Stravinsky’s remarkable “A Soldier’s Tale.” The music is unforgettable and the story is a recognizable variation on the Faust legend. Bring your comments here when you get back, and let me know what you think!
Tickets are only $10. You can’t beat it. Call 330-482-9647.
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Tags: Music, theater
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3 Comments
I love this theater (and cafe!!) I’m so happy my boyfriend lives right around the corner so we have ample opportunity and reason to go to events at the theater. Plus, as good as Das Dutch House (Haus?) is, it’s nice to find somewhere in Columbiana to get a bagel and coffee on my way to Youngstown!
A comment from the violinist himself:
The performances went off really pretty well…as to the rehearsals, the piece is short enough (the music portions, anyway) that we were able to play through the entire piece TWICE at each rehearsal, so we really got a little more rehearsal time than it might seem. And I have record of chiropractor visits to prove it!
It is the most difficult piece I have ever had to perform as a violinist, as everything is, literally, on my shoulders. The score is dominated by the violin part, as it is essential to the story and symbolic of the relationship between protagonist and antagonist- the other parts of the chamber group are generally more supportive in nature. Since I spent nearly a month preparing this monsterous part, everything else seemed to fall into place pretty much by the first performance, of which there were THREE. Cue the chiropractor…my best friend…
Brendan, great to hear from you. I enjoyed your playing very much, as I always have since we were at YSU and performed together there and at the Playhouse and St. John’s Episcopal with Dr. Gould. Look forward to seeing you again.