Monthly Archives: April 2015

Opera Ball 2015 – An Enchanted Evening Awaits You!

The Hawaii Opera Theatre Board of Directors and the Opera Ball Committee invite you to join us for Opera Ball 2015, celebrating HOT’s 2016 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  Our annual black-tie gala will be held at the Sheraton Waikiki on November 14, where we will spirit you into our enchanted forest for an exciting silent auction, a sumptuous dinner, dancing and entertainment featuring performances by HOT artists, including Mae Z. Orvis Opera Studio adult and youth singers.

Your generosity makes it possible for us to present world-class opera to Hawaii.  Our full-scale productions reach 18,000 patrons and HOT’s education and outreach programs reach 22,000 students, and their teachers and families, across the state.  Our own, Quinn Kelsey, who began with HOT as a teenager, has reached the Metropolitan stage and has recently been recognized with the Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers.  You have made this possible through your patronage and support of HOT. We thank you and are extremely grateful.

We hope you will join us for Opera Ball 2015.  To reserve your table or for more information, please contact Tracy Jefferson, Director of Individual Giving at 808-596-7372 ext. 203 or via email (t_jefferson@hawaiiopera.org).

Reserve your table online today!

 

 

Star-Advertiser Review: Sweeney Todd

BY JANE KERNS / Special to the Star-Advertiser

As the chorus sings “Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd,” we are transported to the dark streets of Victorian London. After 15 years, Benjamin Barker (aka Sweeney Todd) has returned from an unjustified prison term, and is seeking revenge. His foe is the evil judge who sentenced him and abducted his wife and daughter.

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‘SWEENEY TODD’

Presented by Hawaii Opera Theatre

» Where: Blaisdell Concert Hall
» When: 4 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Tuesday
» Cost: $29-$135
» Info: (808)596-7858, HawaiiOpera.org or www.ticketmaster.com

Hawaii Opera Theatre brings a stellar production of Stephen Sondheim’s black comedy “Sweeney Todd” to local audiences. Director Karen Tiller, aided by her superb artistic and technical crews, provides an authentic and sophisticated show.

To quote Sondheim, “Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos,” and there’s plenty of chaos in the tale of Sweeney, the “demon barber of Fleet Street,” who uses his razors to mechanically slash patrons’ throats and supply fresh bodies for his accomplice Mrs. Lovett’s meat pies.

Sondheim’s musical genius and Jonathan Tunick’s brilliant orchestrations bring order to the madness of this Broadway masterpiece (the book is by Hugh Wheeler). The complex structure of the music is filled with leitmotifs, counterpoint, and strains of the Dies Irae. Conductor Adam Turner and the orchestra bring out the colorful underscoring and dramatic harmonies in all their intense glory.

It is thrilling to hear Sondheim’s songs performed by leading opera singers, and the voices in this production are exceptionally strong. The hard-working chorus appears frequently, forwarding the story through the “Ballad of Sweeney Todd” and its seven reprises. Minou Lallemand’s dance segments add a clever dimension to various scenes.

Every role is vital to the story, and necessitates strong acting and vocal skills plus plenty of energy and stamina. The two leads, Peter Kendall Clark and Buffy Baggott previously performed their roles together, and are well acquainted with the characters’ psychological obsessions.

Clark portrays a hauntingly tragic antihero and we witness the progression of his mental collapse. In a role that demands nearly continuous singing, one of his many outstanding numbers is the spine-chilling tribute to his razors in “My Friends.”

Baggott plunges into her role as the enigmatic Mrs. Lovett. “The Worst Pies in London” is so comical and “By the Sea” so charming, one may temporarily forget how diabolical her character is.

But Sweeney and Lovett’s duet, “A Little Priest,” describing various professionals being baked into pies, reminds us of the pair’s vengeful thoughts.

Rachel Schutz as Johanna and Jesse Blumberg as Anthony bring much-needed light to the stage as the young lovers. Their glorious lyrical voices are captivating.

Jamie Offenbach delivers a fascinating portrayal of Judge Turpin. Luke Grooms as Beadle is especially enjoyable as he sings at the harmonium, and Michele Sexton demonstrates versatility as the Beggar Woman. Kyle Erdos-Knapp captures hearts as Tobias (“Not While I’m Around” is a standout), and John Easterlin’s rendition of “Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir” is a real showstopper.

Though the tale is macabre and rather grisly, we are reminded that, in the end, it is just a story, though images of dancing rats may linger.
———
Jane Kerns is a doctoral student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, holds degrees in theatre and vocal performance and has performed as an actor and singer in New York City.

This Week’s TGIF Cover Story: HOT’s Sweeney Todd

In the Star-Advertiser Friday Print Edition

Peter Kendall Clark stars as the title character in Hawaii Opera Theatre’s production of “Sweeney Todd.” (Courtesy Hawaii Opera Theatre)Peter Kendall Clark stars as the title character in Hawaii Opera Theatre’s production of “Sweeney Todd.” (Courtesy Hawaii Opera Theatre)

BY STEVEN MARK / smark@staradvertiser.com

Revenge is served up with a song, a snicker and a splashy, slashy production this weekend when “Sweeney Todd” takes the Blaisdell stage.

‘SWEENEY TODD’

Presented by Hawaii Opera Theatre

» Where: Blaisdell Concert Hall
» When: 8 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Sunday, 7 p.m. Tuesday
» Cost: $34-$135
» Info: (866) 448-7849, www.ticketmaster.com

The Hawaii Opera Theatre debut of the award-winning production about the “demon barber of Fleet Street” represents the latest trend in the production of Stephen Sondheim’s 1979 triumph, which premiered on Broadway in 1979 and immediately became a staple for musical theater companies. It now has become a hit for opera companies as well, with opera companies in Houston and Vancouver, B.C., staging it currently, and the San Francisco Opera opening their fall season with it.

“This has always been the perennial question: Is this an opera or is it a musical?” said HOT’s guest conductor Adam Turner, artist adviser and principal conductor of Virginia Opera in Norfolk, Va. “A lot of opera companies are coming to the same conclusion at the same time: It really is an operatic piece.

“It’s an incredible piece of theater, but when you put operatic voices in these roles, it really brings something exciting and thrilling to the theatrical element. They just have a way of carrying this text further.”

Turner has conducted two other “Sweeney Todd” productions this year alone, in Virginia and in Oregon. “It’s been really fun to watch over this past year, seeing how these opera singers approach it,” he said.

“Sweeney Todd,” which has been staged by local community theater groups in years past but never by HOT, tells the story of London’s Benjamin Barber, aka Sweeney Todd, who was wrongly accused of a crime and sent to an Australian penal colony, leaving his wife and daughter in dire straits. Upon his return, he swears revenge on those who wronged him. Aided by the scheming Mrs. Lovett (Buffy Baggott), he takes a murderous path.

Thanks to Sondheim’s witty score, that journey is both hilarious and hair-raising.

PETER KENDALL CLARK, praised for “gorgeous” singing when he performed “Sweeney Todd” in Florida in 2012, will make his HOT debut in the title role. As a high-school student preparing for his first musical role, he saw the original Broadway production in 1979, which starred Len Cariou as Todd and Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett.

“I remember it was very funny, and also very scary and upsetting and heartbreaking. I remember having all these emotions,” he said. “Angela Lansbury was just so funny. You couldn’t believe how funny she was, and then at the end it was so tragic, just sobbing. Mrs. Lovett gets shoved into the oven. It all seemed so harsh.”

Pairing off with him as Mrs. Lovett, as she did in the Florida production, is Buffy Baggott, who last appeared here in HOT’s 2011 production of “Faust.” She said playing the role, especially in a soothing, relaxing place like Hawaii, has generated mixed emotions.

“As much as fun as we’re having being here, in this beautiful place, rehearsing and having time at the beach, still, we come here (to the Blaisdell) and it’s this really crazy roller coaster of emotions as we rehearse,” she said.

She relishes playing Mrs. Lovett, who cheerfully engages in cannibalism while making the “worst pies in London.” It’s one of the great stage roles, opera or musical.

“She’s got this lovely, almost like a romance novel going on in her head, and has for years, about this man … who was so beautiful and wonderful, and has kept this little romance alive in her dark little heart,” Baggott said. “Maybe she’s not a noble character, but she’s doing what she’s doing for love and for this man.”

OVERALL, “Sweeney Todd” can be seen as an examination of the foibles of humanity under the most extreme circumstances.

“They’re all just scraping by,” Clark said. “I think what’s interesting is that it asks the audience, How far would you have to be pushed before you go over that line? Could you be pushed to murder or pushed beyond what you think of as right?”

Musically, “Sweeney Todd” is also considered a masterpiece, full of haunting but lovely themes and well-crafted lyrics.

Fortunately for English-speaking audiences, none of that will be lost, with everything in English and with supertitles for the songs. The lead characters will be miked to ensure clarity, and the singing should be glorious, with cast members like Hawaii favorite Jamie Offenbach as Judge Turpin, Todd’s ultimate target, and soprano Rachel Schutz doing a quick turnaround from “Siren Song” to return as the angelic Johanna.

“It’s a very complex musical,” said guest director Karen Tiller. “It benefits from having opera singers sing it. It actually needs that musicality.”

Tiller sees Sweeney Todd’s story as a “cautionary tale.”

“Revenge doesn’t usually work out,” she said. “Yet it is a very human emotion. We feel that need for justice, or retribution for an unjust act. And then what does that do to a person?”

This will be a relatively “traditional” production, Tiller said — “Sweeney Todd” has been given some unusual makeovers, such as productions with no orchestra and the singers playing musical instruments onstage — but it will employ new techniques such as projected images for the set design.

The infamous trap-door-loaded barber chair, however, will be presented as per tradition.

“And there is blood,” Tiller said. “You can’t go around slitting throats without blood. But we’re trying to find that balance between art and gross.”

Sweeney Todd is Here!

Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd! The Demon Barber of Fleet Street has arrived in Honolulu!  Isn’t it time for you to make an appointment?

Buy your tickets online today at HawaiiOpera.org or call the HOT Box Office at (808) 596 – 7858!

(Photos by David Takagi)

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Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd!

HOT held its VIP Dress Rehearsal on Monday, April 20, and the performance was brutally breathtaking!  Enjoy these shots and get ready for the performances on April 24, 26 & 28, at the Blaisdell Concert Hall!

Tickets online here at HawaiiOpera.org or call the HOT Box Office at (808) 596-7858 today!

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Behind-the-Scenes of Sweeney Todd: Rehearsal at the Opera Residency in Kaka’ako

Sweeney Todd rehearsals and the Opera Residency in Our Kaka’ako have come to a close!  The cast and crew have moved to the Blaisdell and are gearing up for a whole mess of blood, meat pies, & more!

Enjoy these photos by David Takagi and whet your appetite for HOT’s final opera of the 2014/15 Opera Season!

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Opera on Screen: Arabella • Salzburg Festival

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HOT Arts partner, the Honolulu Museum of Art, continues its Opera on Screen program at the Doris Duke Theatre with Strauss’s Arabella!  For more info, read on!

About the Film:

Richard Strauss. Opera in 2 acts. German. Captured live: April 2014

Strauss’s opera captures the fleeting reverie of youth and Vienna’s Golden Age through the romantic entanglements of two sisters. As Arabella finds the man of her dreams in Mandryka, this marriage is complicated by a case of mistaken identity and confused lovers. A comedy of errors in the pursuit of true love, Arabella is one of Strauss’s most charming comedic operas.

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Opera on Screen: Arabella • Salzburg Festival

Sunday Apr 12 1:00 PM 

Tuesday Apr 14 12:30 PM 

Tuesday Apr 14 12:30 PM 

Tickets online at the Honolulu Museum of Art’s page here.

Hawaii Opera Theatre presents Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd

HOT Logo

Honolulu, Hawaii Hawaii Opera Theatre’s (HOT) 2014-15 Opera Season comes to a close in bloody fashion with Sweeney Todd.  With multiple productions on Broadway and a Hollywood Blockbuster adaptation starring Johnny Depp, Sondheim’s classic has inspired a wide range of audiences.

On the gritty streets of London, a man who calls himself Sweeney Todd sets foot in England for the first time in 15 years.  Years earlier, Todd, aka Benjamin Barker, was wrongly accused of a crime and sentenced to an Australian penal colony, forced to leave his wife and daughter behind.  When he finally returns to London, he has one thing on his mind: revenge.  Armed with a straight razor and parading as one of the city’s finest barbers, Todd finds himself in cahoots with a woman named Mrs. Lovett, a local baker who lusts after Todd, and is willing to help him extract vengeance.

Will Todd’s thirst for blood lead him to the authorities or will he carve himself a new life as London’s most ruthless killer?

Peter Kendall Clark and Buffy Baggott lead a stellar cast as Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett.  The two previously shared the stage in a production of Sweeney Todd at St. Petersburg Opera with performances that were lauded by the Tampa Bay Times: “This cast has a Mrs. Lovett and a Sweeney Todd who not only sang gorgeously but also displayed the dramatic range and comic timing to turn the blackness of the tale into something transcendent.”

Joining Clark and Baggott on center stage are Hawaii born Jamie Offenbach (Judge Turpin) and University of Hawaii Professor Rachel Schutz (Johanna Barker), who were both last seen in HOT’s opera in a warehouse, Siren Song. Rounding out the talented cast are Jesse Blumberg (Anthony Hope), Michele Sexton (Beggar Woman), Luke Grooms (Beadle Bamford), Kyle Erdos-Knapp (Tobias Ragg), and John Easterlin (Adolfo Pirelli).  

Conductor Adam Turner makes his HOT debut. Stage Director Karen Tiller, who returns to HOT to lead the Artistic Team, joined by Choreographer Minou Allemand

Sweeney Todd will be performed at the Blaisdell Concert Hall on April 24, 26, & 28.  Tickets to Sweeney Todd start at $29 and can be purchased by contacting the HOT Box Office at (808) 596-7858 or online at www.HawaiiOpera.org

Enhance your operatic experience by attending a number of special HOT events.

HOT Opera Preview

Apr 15, 2015 / 10:00am / Doris Duke Theatre, Honolulu Museum of Art

Attend a special Opera Preview at the Doris Duke Theatre, Honolulu Museum of Art, featuring background on the opera and a Q&A session with the cast and Artistic Team of Sweeney Todd.

HOT Opera for Everyone (OFE)

Apr 22, 2015 / 7:00pm / Blaisdell Concert Hall

Held during the Final Dress Rehearsal of each opera, this popular program offered by the HOT Education Team provides teachers & parents with the opportunity to share opera with their students & children for just $7.  For more information, contact the Hawaii Opera Theatre Education Department at (808) 596-7372. 

HOT Tuesday

March 21, 2015 / 5:30pm – 10:00pm / Honolulu Club & Blaidell Concert Hall

Started during the 2013-2014 Opera Season with Turandot, these HOT events have quickly grown into a fabulous party & performance experience, gaining new patrons with each event.

Kick off the evening at the Honolulu Club for a party, which includes drinks, food, live music, and free parking, followed by a night at the opera during the final performance of Sweeney Todd on April 28, 2015 at the Blaisdell Concert Hall (7:00pm)!

All this, just $40!

Tickets online at HOTTUESDAY.eventbrite.com.

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Sweeney Todd Opera Preview at HMoA

Sweeney Todd

The 2014-15 Opera Season comes to a close with Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd!

On April 15, 2015, starting at 10:00am, join HOT for an Opera Preview at the Honolulu Museum of Art’s Doris Duke Theatre.

Featuring a lecture about the opera, this event is highlighted by an opportunity to hear from the Stars of HOT’s upcoming production, Sweeney Todd.

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This event is free to HOT and HMoA members!

For more information about the Sweeney Todd Opera Preview, contact HOT at (808) 596-7372.