RSS
Home
Francesca Zambello's "Porgy & Bess" a religious experience at SFO opening; Fred Matthews
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.jpg)
Porgy & Bess embrace the idea of happiness and unconditional love
Director Francesca Zambello's Porgy & Bess received a standing O when it opened last night at SFO, a big production with a big heart. Siggy Seigel a chorister had told me long ago Francesca cares about the performers and that's why they try to do their best for her and did they ever. They sang bigtime. I was blown away not just by Laquita Mitchell who sang Bess and Eric Owens who sang Porgy but also by Angel Blue and Eric Greene who played the young couple in love with a new baby, Clara and Jake the fisherman. Francesca showed the couple's demise together in the most inventive and surreal way, in a silent vision over the community of Catfish Row. The two wooden coffins would follow, carried by the community that shouldered everything together.
Dramatic credit goes to the acting ability of Lester Lynch too, who doesn't pull any punches. He ain't no pretty boy. Chauncey Packer's character Sportin' Life was a shiny, showy, handsy buzzard and this was a big, physical production in general.
Everybody in the house must have had a favorite song but it's hard to choose.
No use complainin'! Here's Willard White's version of I Got Plenty O' Nuttin . . .
followed by Maria's declination of the Sportin' Life which was perfection at SFO, her meat cleaver in hand . . .
Angel Blue's high note on the opening number Summertime gave me goosebumps, literally.
.jpg)
Great animation and chemistry between Angel Blue and Eric Greene . . . in the community spirit this baby gets handed to Bess who hands it to even Sportin' Life . . .
.jpg)
I almost had to sing along though with Sportin' Life as he sings the spiritual call and response picnic song, It Ain't Necessarily So.
It Ain’t Necessarily So (link to lyrics)
Lyrics:
Sportin' Life:
It ain't necessarily so,
All:
It ain't necessarily so.
Sportin' Life:
De t'ings dat yo li'ble
To read in de Bible -
It ain't necessarily so.
Li'l' David was small, but oh my!
All:
Li'l' David was small, but oh my!
Sportin' Life:
He fought Big Goliath
Who lay down and dieth -
Li'l' David was small, but oh my!
Wadoo!
Ensemble:
Wadoo!
Sportin' Life:
Zim bam boddle-oo!
Ensemble:
Zim bam boddle-oo!
Sportin' Life:
Hoodle ah da waah da!
Ensemble:
Hoodle ah da waah da!
Sportin' Life:
Scatty way!
Ensemble:
Scatty wah!
Sportin' Life:
Yeah!
Oh Jonah, he lived in de whale
All:
Oh Jonah, he lived in de whale.
Sportin' Life:
Fo' he made his home in
Dat fish's abdomen -
Oh Jonah, he lived in de whale.
L'il' Moses was found in a stream
All:
L'il' Moses was found in a stream
Sportin' Life:
He floated on water
'Till Ole' Pharaoh's daughter
She fished him, she says from dat stream.
Wadoo!
Ensemble:
Wadoo!
Sportin' Life:
Zim bam boddle-oo!
Ensemble:
Zim bam boddle-oo!
Sportin' Life:
Hoodle ah da waah da!
Ensemble:
Hoodle ah da waah da!
Sportin' Life:
Scatty way!
Ensemble:
Scatty wah!
Sportin' Life:
Yeah!
It ain't necessarily so
All:
It ain't necessarily so
Sportin' Life:
Dey tell all you chillun
De Debble's a villun
But 'tain't necessarily so.
To get into Hebbben
Don't snap fo' a sebben -
Live clean! Don' have no fault!
Oh, I takes dat gospel
Whenever it's pos'ple -
But wid a grain of salt!
Methus'lah lived nine hundred years,
All:
Methus'lah lived nine hundred years,
Sportin' Life:
But who calls dat livin'
When no gal'll give in
To no man what's nine hundred years?
I'm preachin' dis sermon to show
It ain't nessa, ain't nessa,
Ain't nessa, ain't nessa -
All:
It ain't necessarily so!
.jpg)
Karen Slack as Serena prays over Bess after Crown makes Bess miss the boat home to Porgy
Even Joshua Kosman seemed to like everything, how could he argue with the big standing O? It's interesting he didn't pick up on how Lester Lynch played the role free of seductiveness; He's more man handling and brute force. He ain't no pretty boy and bares his chest with confidence and bravado.
Similarly I may have just missed this on opening night but it looked as if the two young bare chested men taking a shower behind Porgy's digs only appeared in the dress rehearsal?
I did love the yodel of the strawberry woman and the she-crab seller who followed. Samantha McElhaney and Mr. Ashley Faatoalia making their SFO debuts.
Miss Gerry's view from the bus stop
As for the favorite, and this is after all Porgy's story . . . a fellow audience member waited at the bus stop with me so we chatted about what stood out to us. Gerry, a petite Asian woman, articulated that Porgy to her personifies strength. His love for Bess is his love for life. He's happy with a simple life. We lose sight of things when we get materialistic.
She related how she met an excited Danish man who had heard about Porgy and came running over to the opera house and got a standing room ticket for ten dollars, one of 200 tickets. He told her Denmark doesn't have such productions.
She also liked the piano player in the lobby but he could have used a mic.
She had seen the play of Porgy & Bess in New York about eighteen years ago and noted the difference in range of the singers. The play includes more dancing although what SFO choreographed looked joyful and playful to me, especially the step kick and the chicken dance along with the flirtations of Jake singing It takes a long pull to get there while he pulls his smiling wife Clara and their baby to his chest.
In contrast, a note on the origins of Porgy from 1996, pre-Obama and from the south,
In any event, Gerry, these lyrics to Plenty O' Nuttin are for you.
I got plenty o'nothin' and nothin's plenty for me
I got no car, got no mule, I got no misery
Folks with plenty of plenty, they got a lock on the door
Afraid somebody's gonna rob 'em while they're out a'makin' more
What for?
I got no lock on the door, that's no way to be
They can steal the rug from the floor, that's OK with me
'cause the things that I prize, like the stars in the skies, are all free
Say, I got plenty o'nothin' and nothin's plenty for me
I got my gal, got my song, got heaven the whole day long
Got my gal
Got my love
Got my song
(instrumental)
I got plenty o'nothin' and nothin's plenty for me
I got my gal, got my song, I got heaven the whole day long
Got my gal
Got my love
Got my song
.jpg)
Fred Matthews (Nathan) still light on his feet for his 727th performance
Matthews probably knows these lyrics inside and out. SFO's opening of Porgy & Bess was about his 727th time performing it but that's an estimate based on his 2 1/2 years touring.
Fred sang with Philadelphia company, Schatz Theater Productions, 726 times on tour. He sang a variety of roles, Jake and Jim and the undertaker and chorus. The company had two or three to play each character so there was no burn out. A performer would always be singing something.
How does being host at your home opera feel?
Stirred up memories. Can’t separate past and present. Inwardly giddy. Feel 25 years younger suddenly.
End of first act, I’m beat. It’s from going up the steps in back. They aren’t normal, they are large and awkward. Like a stairmaster.
Being on tour is different as at home he’s teaching or producing. Puts being at home under the umbrella of doing more. No drinks after the show, no going back to the hotel and sleeping until three or getting on the bus to sleep until the next town.
The physical responsibility is greater than being on tour. He has nine operas, so many other things to do. The energy level is very different from that of the performers only working in Porgy.
It’s like a childhood home, familiar but strange. Exciting but distant. He gets a rush of excitement followed by panic—Oh my God I must do this now!
But proud of the ensemble. Beautifully interpreted and portrayed. Clear.
What operas would you like to do?
Béla Bartók's Bluebeard’s Castle. It’s for two singers, soprano and baritone. Dramatic, creepy, rarely done. Avant-garde. The Met did it.
Every experience wonderful. That’s what makes you an artist, do your best in all you try.
Favorite directors?
Regarding Francesca. You have to learn to listen to Francesca. Information is there. She gives foundational information. She is outspoken. Communication half the game.
Rita her assistant.
Denni—dance person. Most dancing I’ve ever seen. The kick walk . . . Catfish Row seems to friendly since Catfish a subgroup, a community. Live, eat, work, love, church together. It’s not just the director’s idea. It’s natural, what would happen. For example, the ostracism of Bess, it’s real when the community takes her in. Fred was told, “own your characters, it’s where you live”.
You produce your own show so what have you learned?
Cavalcade is a huge growth for organizational skills. Timing, when to call the artists to rehearsal, procuring the hall. That’s an encyclopedia of requirements.
Found himself at 2:00 the day of the performance doing the lights. Used opera experience. Noticed hard cut around the risers so asked to feather it. So subject glows rather than being highlighted.
You discover what you know when you see the need. You don’t know you are learning it at the time. It’s revealed later and then you can tag the source. So he stays receptive at all times. Antennae always up.
Influences?
The sun rises and sets with Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau, a baritone. His brother is a violinist or conductor. He’s the Van Gogh of singing. He paints. He turns himself inside out. He’s amazing. Haven’t heard from him in a long time.
But personal things have taken a back seat since he’s so busy. Trying to uncover new songs all the time for children. Functional and educational. So there’s an element of learning in everything. Looking for recorder music. Do things in keys with few accidentals . . . try to keep everybody on the same page, all together.
Favorite female . . .
Oh God I have so many. Beverly Sills since she was a singing actress. You could hear what she felt. I saw a recent documentary where she says she sang from her heart not saving her voice for the next day. I enjoy the fact it was so raw even if less than beautiful. Her emotional foundation.
Sheer sound of Leontyne Price. Glorious. (youtube)
Five or six years ago she got an award. She sang eight measures and you think Oh my God, that’s beautiful. She was honored with Hampson and Fleming.
She also sang at the World Trade Center service.
Marilyn Horne, adore her.
Accuracy of Joan Sutherland.
Passion of Renée Fleming.
On having it
It’s like going to a buffet and saying this is what I want today an choose that. When chosen for your own light that gleams—that’s what it’s all about. Having “it” being recognized. There’s something that draws us to everyone.
Bigger stars have it recognized. It can be making audience feel comfortable. What is it that makes audience eye stop when scanning the stage? What makes you pause and observe?
For more info: www.SFOpera.com
Photos: Terrence McCarthy and Cory Weaver courtesy of SFO
Porgy & Bess opens at SFO Tuesday June 9, 2009
Porgy & Bess in a new era (Mother in Law Lounge)
Porgy & Bess an American classic
Fred Matthews takes opera full circle producing Cavalcade of Stars
Lester Lynch sings womanizer Crown
Director Francesca Zambello
David Gockley's Summer of Love 2009
Life should be a Mardi Gras again
New Orleans JazzFest tips from an opera god
Related Articles:
Comments
.jpg)
