mooncove found out that Michael Emerson will be appearing in the play Every Good Boy Deserves Favor this Thursday night, July 24, at 8:15 p.m. in Chautauqua, New York. Those of you living near the area may want to buy tickets and see him.
The actress lights up with enthusiasm as she reports that on July 24, they will officially celebrate the company's 25th anniversary.
"People who really love theater can make an entire day of it," she said. ''They can pack a lunch and come to a 'Brown Bag' discussion of Tom Stoppard's play, 'Every Good Boy Deserves Favor,' at noon."
Following that will be an afternoon performance of "Reckless," then a joint performance of the company with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra in the Amphitheater at 8:15 p.m. And, it all ends with a big block party, put on by the Friends of the Theater.
While they have played parts in segments of performances, this will be the first time the company has given a full-length performance in the 5,000-seat Amphitheater.
Let me tell you a few things I was able to learn about ''Every Good Boy ...''
First, anyone who has ever learned to play the piano was taught that the lines for the right hand, on a sheet of music paper, represent the notes E-G-B-D-F. Chances are excellent that their teachers made them repeat the sentence ''Every Good Boy Deserves Favor,'' of which each first letter spells out the notes to be played.
The play is written for actors and a symphony orchestra. The words are by Stoppard, and the music was created by Andre Previn.
History has made the whole thing sort of a period piece, on its first level of meaning, because it is about the life of a creative person in the Soviet Union, which no longer exists, of course. The play's deeper meanings, of course, are still workable and intact.
The communist Soviets believed their system of belief, in which nobody had a single thing which everyone else didn't have, was moral and good. Therefore, anyone who strived for more or was willing to accept less was a threat to the system, and any idea which supported more or less was also a threat. Threats must be destroyed for the good of the system.
Also, they believed since anyone who disagreed was marked for destruction, anyone who took such a step must be insane, because working harder or creating something, or saving or slacking off, amounted to suicide. A series of camps were built in the freezing wasteland of Siberia, where those people were sent for ''re-education.'' These camps have come to be known by the term ''Gulag,'' an acronym for the Russian equivalent of ''Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps.''
By 1956, between 15 and 30 million people died in those camps. That is far more than died in Hitler's camps.
Stoppard presents a play in which a Soviet citizen, accused of being creative, is locked in a cell with a genuinely mentally ill person who shares the same name and same doctor. The cellmate believes he is playing the triangle in a symphony orchestra, which he hears in his head. The CSO will portray the imaginary symphony.
The Soviet system no longer exists, at least not in the same form. But the play remains a cautionary tale, that art and creativity are always in danger, liberty is always one gossamer thread from being lost, and Voltaire's admonition that even if we don't agree with a word someone else says, we must be prepared to fight to the death for his right to say it. That is the ultimate test of a free society.
Fans of the popular television series ''Lost'' will be interested to know that actor Michael Emerson, who portrays Benjamin Linus, one of ''the others,'' will perform the leading role. Ethan McSweeny will direct.
Leading role for Michael! A pity that I can't see it! Sorry, but I did not hear about this play :(( I hope, somebody from ME's fans will be so lucky to see this performance.
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no subject
Date: 2008-07-22 11:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-23 12:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-23 12:23 am (UTC)Wow. I so need to see this... but unfortunately, there's absolutely no way I'll be able to. :-(
no subject
Date: 2008-07-23 12:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-23 12:35 am (UTC)http://observertoday.com/page/content.detail/id/505433.html?nav=5064&showlayout=0">http://observertoday.com/page/content.detail/id/505433.html?nav=5064&showlayout=0
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Every Good Boy ...
The actress lights up with enthusiasm as she reports that on July 24, they will officially celebrate the company's 25th anniversary.
"People who really love theater can make an entire day of it," she said. ''They can pack a lunch and come to a 'Brown Bag' discussion of Tom Stoppard's play, 'Every Good Boy Deserves Favor,' at noon."
Following that will be an afternoon performance of "Reckless," then a joint performance of the company with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra in the Amphitheater at 8:15 p.m. And, it all ends with a big block party, put on by the Friends of the Theater.
While they have played parts in segments of performances, this will be the first time the company has given a full-length performance in the 5,000-seat Amphitheater.
Let me tell you a few things I was able to learn about ''Every Good Boy ...''
First, anyone who has ever learned to play the piano was taught that the lines for the right hand, on a sheet of music paper, represent the notes E-G-B-D-F. Chances are excellent that their teachers made them repeat the sentence ''Every Good Boy Deserves Favor,'' of which each first letter spells out the notes to be played.
The play is written for actors and a symphony orchestra. The words are by Stoppard, and the music was created by Andre Previn.
History has made the whole thing sort of a period piece, on its first level of meaning, because it is about the life of a creative person in the Soviet Union, which no longer exists, of course. The play's deeper meanings, of course, are still workable and intact.
The communist Soviets believed their system of belief, in which nobody had a single thing which everyone else didn't have, was moral and good. Therefore, anyone who strived for more or was willing to accept less was a threat to the system, and any idea which supported more or less was also a threat. Threats must be destroyed for the good of the system.
Also, they believed since anyone who disagreed was marked for destruction, anyone who took such a step must be insane, because working harder or creating something, or saving or slacking off, amounted to suicide. A series of camps were built in the freezing wasteland of Siberia, where those people were sent for ''re-education.'' These camps have come to be known by the term ''Gulag,'' an acronym for the Russian equivalent of ''Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps.''
By 1956, between 15 and 30 million people died in those camps. That is far more than died in Hitler's camps.
Stoppard presents a play in which a Soviet citizen, accused of being creative, is locked in a cell with a genuinely mentally ill person who shares the same name and same doctor. The cellmate believes he is playing the triangle in a symphony orchestra, which he hears in his head. The CSO will portray the imaginary symphony.
The Soviet system no longer exists, at least not in the same form. But the play remains a cautionary tale, that art and creativity are always in danger, liberty is always one gossamer thread from being lost, and Voltaire's admonition that even if we don't agree with a word someone else says, we must be prepared to fight to the death for his right to say it. That is the ultimate test of a free society.
Fans of the popular television series ''Lost'' will be interested to know that actor Michael Emerson, who portrays Benjamin Linus, one of ''the others,'' will perform the leading role. Ethan McSweeny will direct.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-23 12:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-23 12:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-23 02:29 pm (UTC)