Kansas.com: The Arts

Awash in color

Joanna Ramondetta — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:03 CST

Two exhibitions open tonight at Wichita Center for the Arts that offer different interpretations of the painting medium.

The main gallery is awash in color with the 40th annual Kansas Watercolor Society exhibition, while the east gallery holds a pristine display of paintings by Wichita artist Brian Hinkle.

A reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. today.

Symphony offers feast for ears

David Baxter — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:06 CST

The Wichita Symphony delivered a wonderful array of musical selections Sunday easily likened to the courses of a gourmet meal. The orchestra was led in this concert by guest conductor Daniel Hege, who will become its new director next season.

The appetizing opener featured Claude Debussy's impressionist masterpiece Nocturnes. Each movement of this atmospheric piece evokes pictures and moods suggested by their titles — Clouds, Festivals and Sirens. Debussy was highly innovative in creating imaginative colors and harmonies with the forces of the orchestra.

There are numerous solo passages and each soloist in his turn did them justice. Pitch in the woodwinds was occasionally challenging, however, and phrasing in the trumpets in the second movement wasn't well unified. But the ensemble between the flute and harp in the first movement was impeccable.

Actor Rees explores Shakespeare in 1-man show

BOB CURTRIGHT — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:14 CST

Welsh-born actor Roger Rees, a 22-year veteran of England's famed Royal Shakespeare Company, is determined to prove that The Bard was "just a guy like you and me."

"He was arguably the most brilliant playwright we have ever been given," Rees says, "but I like to think he would have been comfortable in Levis. He wrote for the not-so-educated Elizabethan masses. And he wrote about real people. Oh, they may have been kings and queens, but they had the same desires and fears we all have. If his shows are about anything, they are about communication."

For the past four years, Rees has been taking his acclaimed one-man Shakespeare show, "What You Will," across the country to prove his point that there's nothing elitist or snobby about "Hamlet," "Romeo and Juliet" or "Richard II." He brings his unique, sometimes funny, sometimes quirky 90-minute exploration of some of the greatest Shakespeare soliloquies to Wichita Wednesday as part of the Connoisseur Series at Wichita State University.

Glass masters

JOANNA RAMONDETTA — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:04 CST

There is everyday run-of-the-mill glass that we all have in our shelves.

And then there is glass "art" — that mysterious realm where glass transforms from the functional into another artistic medium all its own.

Wichitans have been exposed to an unusually wide variety of art glass. Examples of Chihuly, Steuben and Tiffany — all heavyweight masters in the field of glass art — can be found at the Wichita Art Museum.

WGO's 'Mikado' a true delight

BOB CURTRIGHT — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:07 CST

It's hard to think of Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado" as real opera because it's just so much fun. But the music is challenging for any singer, from soaring arias to the added difficulty of the occasional fast-paced, tongue-twisting patter song.

This production by Wichita Grand Opera this weekend in Century II was a delight for the eye with colorful costumes of Japanese kimonos, a beautifully streamlined set (Stefan Pavlov and Gianni Coppola) and gorgeous lighting effects (Steve Heinz) that gave the stage dappled texture of sunlight through leaves with skies that went red and yellow to punctuate excitable moods.

This production, the most thoroughly Kansas-grown of any opera to be performed this season, was also a treat for the ear with many strong voices, close, blended harmonies, and clear and precise diction that allowed us to understand virtually every word of this Victorian-era political satire, which premiered almost 125 years ago and is just as cheeky as ever. The orchestra, under the direction of Wichita State's Mark Laycock, was spirited but not rushed and always let the singers shine.

Pianist tips his cap to WSU's Bees

Chris Shull — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:07 CST

Christopher Taylor, the piano soloist next weekend with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, doesn't have direct connections to Wichita — he never lived here; he didn't study here.

But Taylor has close ties to Wichita's classical music scene. When he's not concertizing, Taylor teaches at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, so he knows conductor Andrew Sewell, who lives in Madison and is in his last year as music director of the Wichita Symphony.

Also, Taylor studied with Wichita State University pianist Julie Bees when he was a child and both lived in Boulder, Colo. The Bees connection is especially pertinent, because she had a strong influence on the kind of musician Taylor is today.

Church a work of art

Joanna Ramondetta — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:07 CST

Among the things a first-time visitor to St. Anthony's Catholic Church notices are the intricately designed stained glass windows.

Bob Walterscheid, a lifelong church member, is proud to see his family's name on one of the windows in the 104-year-old church. His grandfather, an original member of the church, was there when construction began in 1902.

Over the years, Walterscheid and fellow church members have worked tirelessly to keep the church in the beautiful condition it stands in today.

Zero to witchy in less than half an hour

JAIME GREEN — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:02 CST

It takes just 25 minutes for Marcie Dodd to transform from a fresh-faced California native into Elphaba, the bright green Wicked Witch of the West.

"Some characters are a little harder to get into because you don't have the skin of the character and sometimes you have to tap in deeper," Dodd says. "Obviously, you look in the mirror here and you're like, 'There's Elphaba,' "

Dodd has been with "Wicked" for three years and she now turns green eight times a week. The show ends a nearly three-week stay in Wichita on Sunday.

A chance of byways

Lori Linenberger — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:08 CDT

Art enthusiasts will have a chance tonight to see all nine of the large-scale paintings done by noted Kansas artist Stan Herd as part of a state project to promote culture and tourism.

The richly hued works won't be for sale, however. Next month, they'll be given away by the Kansas Lottery to those who bought specially designated tickets. Each has a value of about $5,000.

Herd, who's known internationally for his crop art as well as his paintings and film work, will be at Artifacts Gallery, 4729 E. Douglas, tonight to talk to visitors. He'll have other paintings as well as prints and postcards at the gallery for sale.

'Wicked' a wonder of sight, sound

BOB CURTRIGHT — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:27 CDT

"Wicked" swept into Century II with all the force of a spangled and bejeweled tornado Wednesday, taking the audience on a musical ride through familiar territory to Kansans —"The Wizard of Oz" — but in a surprising, provocative way.

The blockbuster Broadway musical is a look at Oz through the eyes of two young witches, one supposedly wicked and the other supposedly good, before Dorothy Gale drops in. And this production, the largest touring show ever to come to Wichita, is a wonder of sight and sound with scenery gliding noiselessly across the stage topped by a huge dragon head with flapping wings and glowing red eyes.

The style is spectacular, and the look is lush. Susan Hilferty's colorful and detailed costumes seem like a skewed "Alice in Wonderland" version of the elegant Edwardian era. Eugene Lee's filigreed clockwork set seems like a view of the world from inside London's Big Ben — but with a clock face that goes to XVIII.

Crews work fast to make Century II 'Wicked'

SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:37 CDT

Before witches sing and monkeys fly, before Munchkins dance and wizards bellow, before the curtain rises tonight and Kansas gets its first look at the gravity-defying musical "Wicked," there's work to do.

There's hauling and lifting.

Drilling and sawing.

Wichita connection helped get 'Wicked' here

Bob Curtright — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:06 CDT

Wichita would normally be considered too small of a market to host the full-blown tour of a major Broadway show like "Wicked."

But Los Angeles-based producer Marc Platt, who considers Wichita his second hometown since he married Julie Beren here three decades ago, is confident that the theater crowd here is sophisticated and enthusiastic enough to make the three- week stop in Century II a success.

The much-ballyhooed musical about the witches of Oz before Dorothy Gale dropped in will offer 24 performances from Wednesday to Nov. 8 — a record run for Wichita but the minimum stay for any of its stops.

Something 'Wicked' this way comes

BOB CURTRIGHT — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:12 CDT

Welcome to "Witchita" — for the next three weeks, anyway. The witches of Oz are invading Dorothy Gale's home territory as the blockbuster musical "Wicked" lands for the only Kansas stop on its national tour.

The Tony Award-winning show by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, which tells of the unlikely friendship between Glinda the Good and Elphaba the, well, Misunderstood, will receive 24 performances from Wednesday to Nov. 8.

And Glinda — known offstage as Helene Yorke — can't wait to be back in Wichita to see old friends and show off what she's up to. Yorke, a Vancouver native who grew up in Los Angeles, was here the summer of 2005 as part of Music Theatre of Wichita's ensemble.

Mental-illness success stories focus of locally written play

BOB curtright — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 07:51 CDT

Wichita playwright and actor J.R. Hurst describes his new drama, "Echoes of Anguished Minds," as sort of "A Chorus Line" about mental illness.

"The six characters come together for a meeting about how to tell people about coming out of mental illness, and by the end, you know everything about them. Each of them has their own 'number' to do," says Hurst, who has been a fixture of local stages, particularly Center Theatre and Wichita Community Theatre, since his days at Wichita State University.

The hour-long, one-act drama, which will receive its world premiere this week, is based on real stories and real people from Wichita. It was commissioned after the local Breakthrough Club, a support and social group for those who have overcome mental health problems, secured a grant last spring from the Kansas Health Foundation to tell of their success stories.

Arts Partners integrates arts into the classroom

JOANNA RAMONDETTA — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 07:47 CDT

As far as the group of Lawrence Elementary School kindergartners and first-graders were concerned, they were just clapping, counting, dancing and getting to know Mother Goose at an afternoon gathering last week.

What the children probably did not realize is that they were learning valuable lessons about rhyming, memorization, counting, letter recognition and speaking and listening skills.

The man leading the lesson in disguise was Thad Beach, a lyricist and artist who is among the many talented people contracted through Arts Partners, an organization that sends artists to Wichita area classrooms.The program was developed in 1995, made possible by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Its purpose is to provide a districtwide arts education program for children in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in the Wichita public schools. Arts Partners has about 32 artists on its roster who create programs that use art to help teach subjects like science, reading, social studies or history.

Violin playing a family affair

chris shull — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:07 CDT

Ryu Goto carries an impeccable musical pedigree. His mother and father are violinists; his mother was his first teacher. His older sister is Midori, the famous violin virtuoso.

It was natural that Goto, 21, would also play the violin. It was perhaps inevitable he would excel. He made his professional debut at age 7, playing Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 1.

Goto will play the same piece with conductor Andrew Sewell and the Wichita Symphony Orchestra Saturday and Oct. 18 at Century II Concert Hall. Also on the program will be Berlioz's "Le Corsaire" Overture and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.

ArtAID fundraiser to have 'Heroes & Villians' theme

Jason Dilts — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:49 CDT

"Heroes & Villains" will abound in the Cotillion Saturday night for ArtAID 16.

That's the theme of this year's annual fundraising event for Positive Directions, which has become one of the city's most anticipated events and one of the nonprofit organization's most profitable ventures. Organizers anticipate that it will bring in more than $100,000, all of which will go toward running the operations of the local AIDS care organization.

Attendees, many of whom will be decked out as their favorite good or evil comic characters, will be transported to another dimension as they enjoy an evening full of art and fashion.

Wichita Grand Opera opens with 'My Ukraine!'

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:31 CDT

The new season for Wichita Grand Opera opens Saturday with "My Ukraine!," an evening of colorful Cossack-style folk dance and music by the Ukrainian National Dance Company.

Here are the details:

1) Famous for their brightly colored costumes, high spirited hijinks and athletic precision, the 80 dancers and musicians in the ensemble mix folkloric humor and dance with emotion and poignancy.

Symphony's opening a good start

David Baxter — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:06 CDT

Saturday evening's performance in Century II Concert Hall, opening this season's classical concert series by the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, contained all the ingredients of a blockbuster concert: A rousing overture, a picturesque symphony, and a powerful concerto performed by a seasoned orchestra and a soloist with world class credentials.

While enjoyable, somehow the effect of the whole was less than the sum of its parts.

The program began with Giocchino Rossini's Overture to the Barber of Seville, an effervescent work containing melodies loved by opera fans and cartoon aficionados alike. The strings and winds are required to play with flare in this piece and the orchestra accorded itself well.

Fall Ballet: From basics to Balanchine

Chris Shull — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:38 CDT

Friends University Ballet will showcase the work that goes on behind the scenes during the school's Fall Ballet program next weekend.

As people arrive for the dance performance, ballet class will be in session on the stage.

Then Sharon Rogers, ballet mistress at Friends, will narrate as dance students demonstrate the rudiments of ballet — the five basic positions of the body and feet, fundamental posture, and the knee bends, arm sweeps and steps that create the balanced and lyrical look of ballet.