2011.3.27. Billy Elliot - the musical

Billy Elliot at Paramount Theatre. Billy, played by the 13 year old Giuseppe Bausilio, can really dance. However, his voice isn't very good. The kids all did a fantastic job of dancing. The show is well organized, simple efficient stage set, good story. Music, as always the case by Elton John, is very melodic, and singable.

2011.3.24. Pacific Northwest Ballet

4 pieces of contemporary works by PNB:

Pacific
Music: Lou Harrison, Piano Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano, 3rd & 4th movements;
Choreography: Mark Morris.
Place a Chill
Music: Camille Saint-Saëns, Cello Concerto No. 1; 
Choreography: Marco Goecke.
The Piano Dance
Music: Cage, Chopin, Ginastera, Bartok, Ligeti; 
Choreography: Paul Gibson.
Concerto DSCH
Music: Dmitri Shostakovitch, Concerto No. 2 in F Major;
Choreography: Alexei Ratmansky)

Place a Chill is most interesting among these 4: spasms-like movement, must be difficult to coordinate among dancers. Piano Dance has the best costume: red velvet paired with red/black moving background. Quite elegant. However, the movement and the solo piano playing could be better synchronized. Concerto DSCH has a story telling quality. Second movement is very melodic and sentimental, nicely reflected in the choreography. In Pacific: both men and women wear long transparent skirts.
Overall, enjoyable. Kudo to PNB to promote modern works and new interpretations.

2011.3.23. All My Sons at Intiman

Intiman Theatre presents Arthur Miller's classic play All My Sons. Wonderful stage set, good acting (Kate and Frank are a little over acting). Very moving. Clear message, and aspiring. I hope every business men would watch this play.

2011.3.22. Of Mice and Men - a play

Seattle Repertory Theatre adapts John Steinbeck's book Of Mice and Men. Directed by Jerry Manning. Wonderfully staged and acted. Maybe a little too dry for the set. The longing of owning a piece of land and live off the it is clearly rendered. However, I don't quite understand what Steinbeck tried to say, other than depicting the period, and the relations between the characters. In the handout, it postulated that Lennie the giant but mentally challenged reflects USA, which is most powerful but unable control its power.

2011.3.19 Dig Razor clam

Razor Clam digging at Twin Harbors Beach state park in Grayland. About a dozen people. Rain started ~6:30 and hard for about half an hour. Later at Grayland Beach. Very wide and long, more sandy and flat. When the wave came up, you had to run for minutes! Cars lined up the upper beach. Maybe 500+ people with white or black digging tubes. It was a sight: faint sunset, reflections. Not much catch though.
The next day, stopped by Westport. About a dozen crab nets in the harbor next to boats that leak engine oil. Good view of Olympic mountains over the water.

2011.3.17. Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5

Seattle Symphony performs

Borodin:           Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor
Aram Khachaturian: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra 
Shostakovich:      Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47

Teodor Currentzis, conductor
Maria Larionoff,   violin

Currentzis is interesting to watch. Very much an actor. Energetic. He wears a Chinese shirt, no shoulder, but has waist, so a bit feminine.

2011.3.5. Don Quichotte - an opera

Seattle Opera presents a new production of Jules Massenet's romantic take of Cervantes' Don Quixote. Adapted from Le chevalier de la longue figure, a play by the poet Jacques Le Lorrain.
Creative stage set (however, only one, moved around a little bit) of giant books and ink bottles. According the Speight Jenkins, the titles of these books were read by Don Quixote. Clever curtain lighting design and calligraphy before each act (total of 5), taken from the latest translation of Cervantes' novel (The first being "with too little sleep and too much reading his brains dried up, causing him to lose his mind", soon, I'll be like Don Quixote, except his pure heart.). A horse and a donkey!
Great voices. Melodic music (I like the orchestra more than the arias, except the one prayer aria by Don Quichotte). Great conducting. Dulcinee is a little overweight, otherwise, all perfect size and shape. Wonderful dancing by Sara Luis and her company (again, according to Jenkins, authentic 17th century Spanish). Good acting too!

Don Quixote:       John Relyea
Sancho Panza:      Eduardo Chama
Dulcinea:          Malgorzata Walewska
Stage Director:    Linda Brovsky
Set Designer:      Donald Eastman
Lighting Designer: Connie Yun
Conductor:         Carlo Montanaro