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Ohio Light Opera: Perchance to Dream (July 24)

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by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

It’s not often that one encounters a musical theater piece with book, lyrics and score all written by the same person. The Welsh genius Ivor Novello (nom de plume for David Ivor Davies) is one example of such a super-talented creator. Just the concept of such a thing is almost overwhelming, until you see his Perchance to Dream brought to life as the final production of Ohio Light Opera’s 2019 season. It sparkles and glitters and will not easily be banished from your memory bank. Yet another oddity about this production: the story line is very close to a time-travel romance. However, Londoners do know good theater when they see it. This one ran for 1,020 performances, roughly 2½ years after opening on April 21, 1945. [Read more…]

Ohio Light Opera: The Devil’s Rider (July 17)

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by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

If, like me, you think there can never be too many Viennese-style operettas, you should be pleased with The Devil’s Rider, the latest presentation at Ohio Light Opera. You will also be happy that artistic director Steven Daigle is adept at translating German librettos into English (the original German libretto was by Rudolph Schanzer and Ernst Welisch), so it all makes sense as it proceeds. He has waved his magic wand once again, presenting the 13th OLO premiere of a work by Emmerich Kálmán. This one is also an American premiere. [Read more…]

Ohio Light Opera: Music in the Air (July 11)

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by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

What sets Music in the Air apart from most operettas that take place in Germany is the touch of screwball comedy that is interwoven with the musical side to produce a vastly different, yet totally enjoyable work of musical theater. It isn’t quite an operetta, nor is it strictly musical theater (imagine if you will, I Love Lucy meets The Merry Widow). It is totally tuneful, just as one would expect from Jerome Kern, and the book and lyrics for this 1932 production were by his frequent collaborator, Oscar Hammerstein II. [Read more…]

Ohio Light Opera: Pirates of Penzance enchants (July 3)

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by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

Quick — name the only Gilbert & Sullivan operetta to have been written in the United States. Why, it’s The Pirates of Penzance, a delightful tribute to the absent-minded composer Arthur Sullivan. In the late 1870s, Sullivan and Gilbert and other artists, presumably, came to America to premiere their new musical here, after one performance in England, to protect their copyright.  Except that, in rushing around to get on the boat, Sullivan forgot to bring the music. So he simply wrote it all over again. Once that little hangup was out of the way, the show was a triumph all around, and the copyrights (U.K. and U.S.) were indeed protected. [Read more…]

Ohio Light Opera: Into the Woods (June 27)

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by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

There’s a wise old saying: be careful what you wish for — you might just get it. And if that happens, then what do you do? That could well be the theme of Into the Woods, now in rep at Ohio Light Opera through August 9. Once upon a time, Stephen Sondheim wrote lyrics for music that had been composed by others: among them were the classics West Side Story and Gypsy. At some point, he must have realized that writing the music might be more fun. [Read more…]

Ohio Light Opera premiere: the Gershwins’ Girl Crazy (June 20)

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by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

Has your smile gone on vacation? It might very well regenerate itself at Ohio Light Opera’s zany, colorful, and happy production of Girl Crazy by the Gershwins — George for the music, Ira for the lyrics. If you like dance, in particular tap dancing, then this is the show for you. Don’t spend too much time worrying about the plot — as usual for that era (1930) it doesn’t always make a lot of sense. It’s totally unnecessary, anyway, with all those hit songs and splendiferous dancing. [Read more…]

Ohio Light Opera season preview: part two

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by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

Unless you’re an aficionado of lyric theater, chances are that the only title you’ll recognize from Ohio Light Opera’s last four productions this summer is the first: Pirates of Penzance, the English import from Gilbert & Sullivan. Not that the other three are exactly chopped liver, or in any way inferior. They’ve just been tucked away in someone’s archives waiting to be re-discovered. All three are Ohio Light Opera premieres.

We’ll get back to Pirates, but the three premieres are truly intriguing. Music in the Air opens July 11. The music is by Jerome Kern (everyone has heard of him) and the lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, the same Hammerstein who was responsible for South Pacific, which opens the season. [Read more…]

Ohio Light Opera: a look ahead — part one of two previews

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by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

en·sem·ble /änˈsämbəl/
noun
1. a group of musicians, actors, or dancers who perform together.

That definition perfectly describes the company of magicians who form Ohio Light Opera, a summer organization housed on the campus of The College of Wooster that provides a colorful look at musical theater of the past. Mostly — the past is always encroaching on the present.

Those who follow the company can’t help but be continually impressed by the camaraderie and inclusiveness of the 150 or so musicians, actors, and dancers, as well as the designers who build the sets and costumes, and the technicians who enhance the whole with light and sound and present magic to the audience at every single performance. In fact, there are 56 performances of 7 productions between June 15 and August 10 of imaginary examples of time and space not our own. [Read more…]

Ohio Light Opera Costume Retrospective showcases four decades of design

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by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

The importance of costumes in theater or opera is easy to determine. Just think of how often a brief glimpse of a costume can not only tell you when the action is taking place, but frequently where as well. Think of The Mikado, for instance, or more recently, Brigadoon or My Fair Lady. But those costumes don’t just appear like magic.

Oh, no. There are numerous meetings with the other technical staff of the production in addition to Costume Design. Among these are Set and sometimes Prop Design, Lighting Design, more rarely Sound Design, plus the Stage Director, Choreographer, Stage Manager and Conductor. All of these people have an interest in how the production will both look and sound to an audience. Depending on the size of the show, these meetings may begin as much as a year in advance of opening night.

Obviously, I Do! I Do! (the famous two-person, one-set musical of 1966) isn’t nearly as demanding or complex as Phantom of the Opera, but either of them could easily have been ruined by a lack of proper attention to the necessities. For the former, that meant two nightgowns and a huge bed. For the latter, it seemed like half the population of Paris was onstage at times. [Read more…]

Ohio Light Opera Premiere: Franz Lehár’s Cloclo (July 25)

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by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

Ohio Light Opera is no stranger to the works of Franz Lehár: prior to this year, seven of his operettas had been performed by the company, the most frequent being his luscious The Merry Widow. Number eight, having opened at Freedlander Theatre on July 25, is Cloclo, which is not in the usual Viennese operetta mode. First off, it takes place in Paris, as well as the French countryside near Perpignan. And written a few years after the end of WWI, its musical sensibility sensibility is a good bit different: it includes jazz, a tango, blues, and even a take-off on the final scene from Fledermaus — not originally written by Lehár. You know the one, when the inmates and jailor are happily mixed with champagne. [Read more…]

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