'Singin' (and dancin') in the Rain' in Herndon

The cast of Singin' in the Rain at NextStop Theatre Company/Photo by Lock and Company

Gotta dance!  Gotta dance! 

He sings and skips and tap dances through the rain water in Herndon, happy and "in love."

Folks, that's real water pouring on his head, just like in the movie!

Applause to the technical director who accomplished this feat  in Singin' in the Rain now playing at NextStop Theatre Company.

The dancing and choreography are the stars in this production, based on the classic 1952 movie with Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, and Gene Kelly.  

NextStop's show is choreographed by one of its own stars, Robert Mintz, who plays the boyish "Cosmo" in a role which binds the story with his silly antics and smiles while he twirls, hops, and dances across the floor, and he plays trombone. 

Continuing their string of hits at NextStop and other theatres in the DMV are Max Doolittle, lighting designer, and Evan Hoffman, Herndon High graduate, who directs and designed the set.

It's an elevated stage on a stage in this 1920s Hollywood show with colored lights and a massive red curtain which opens from time to time to reveal the backstage and action there: the dressing gowns, ladders, actors conversing, and all necessary accoutrements that go into a big production like this one.

The plot involves a villainess, the screechy, possessive Ms. Lina Lamont (Carolyn Burke) who hangs on to her beau, a Hollywood star, Don Lockwood (Wood van Meter).  Despite her catlike howls (which could be softened a bit), Ms. Burke is a lady of confidence and assurance whose slithery mannerisms effectively exaggerate her character and make her more unlikable.

It works!

Her goal is to make Don succumb to her wiles, despite his affinity for a new girlfriend, the cute, adorable, and innocent Kathy Selden (Morgan Kelleher), who pops out of a cake!

This being the age of transition from silent films to talkies, Ms. Selden's voice becomes Ms. Lamont's who can't talk for screeching.   

Do you get the picture? 

Scene stealers are the constantly smiling and conniving Zelda (Melrose Pyne Anderson), who plays another starlet, and "R.F." Simpson (Duane Monahan) with his powerful, deep d.j. voice who is the studio head, ostensibly calling the shots.

Eight actors dance and sing across the small stage and magically seem to enlarge the floor space. The audience gets a hand in, too.

Sitting in an elevated window overlooking the action is the bouncy music director, Elisa Rosman, who plays keyboards with alternating drummers Alex Aucoin and Glenn Scimonelli. 

Moyenda Kulemeka has designed beautiful gowns and apparel for the times.


The Broadway play, which was directed and choreographed by Twyla Tharp, followed the movie by 33 years and lasted about a year, but Wikipedia says the movie is regarded by some as the best film comedy ever made, and it is listed as the fifth greatest American movie of all time.

If you miss the Herndon show, you can see the film July 10 at West End Cinema. 

Other NextStop cast members are Elizabeth Spikes, Ethan Van Slyke and swings, Suzy Alden and Joseph McAlonan.

Creative staff also includes Hollyann Bucci, assistant director; Kevin Alexander, sound; Laura Moody, stage manager; Amelia McGinnis and Kate York, assistant stage managers; Alex Wade, properties; and Dylan Lambert, choreography assistant.

Until July 1 NextStop offers deep discounts on next season's shows starting at $119 for six performances.  Go here or call 866-811-4111 for information. 

What: Singin' in the Rain by Betty Comden and Adolph Green with songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed

When: Now through June 23, 2019, Thursday through Saturday nights at 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. and a Sunday evening show on June 16 at 7 p.m.

Where: NextStop Theatre Company, 269 Sunset Park Drive, Herndon, VA 20170 in the back right corner of Sunset Business Park, near the intersection of Spring Street/Sunset Hills Road. Right off the Fairfax County Parkway. Lots of great restaurants nearby.

Lighted, free parking: Available near the door.

Admission: General admission tickets start at $40. Buy online or through the box office at 866-811-4111.

Duration: About two hours with one intermission

Rating: G

Refreshments:  Available and may be taken to seats

For more information: 703-481-5930 or info@nextstoptheatre.org

patricialesli@gmail.com

Noseda and the National Symphony

Gianandrea Noseda from his website


The performance on Saturday night was too good to pass up when circumstances took me to the Kennedy Center for the second time that day (after the ballet) and the opportunity to hear and see the National Symphony Orchestra again. 

At 7 p.m. I found myself stationed at the box office where indeed a last-minute ticket for another performance by the NSO awaited my purchase.

The Saturday presentation was as good as Thursday's, beginning with Ottorino Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances, followed by my favorite composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff, whose Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini I listen to now while writing this.

Francesco Piemontesi by Marco Borggreve

Making the debut in the second part of the program was Alfredo Casella's Symphony No. 2 in C minor, marvelous in every respect with especial adoration of the forces Casella composed, resurrected by conductor Gianandrea Noseda in 2010, the piece long languishing in music archives, according to notes in the program.

For my Saturday Symphony seatmates, neither of whom I knew, I was unable to restrain my enthusiasm and tipped them to the glorious earful which was coming in the second act. 

One seatmate said Casella was unknown to him, as I imagine he was to most in the audience. 

The other seatmate I may have frightened since she, a Latina, was either scared by my gushiness or may not have spoken English, since she smiled and looked at me in astonishment, never saying a word, but what does it matter when the international language of music speaks to us all?

I know she was not deaf. 

Maestro Noseda, 55, and guest artist Francesco Piemontesi, 35, received rapturous applause from audiences both nights, and it was odd, at least to me, that the conductor changed his introductory remarks from Thursday to Saturday, but this was not church, after all, where the preacher repeats his sermon from one service to the next to the next. (Thursday night Maestro talked about the "Italian connection." Saturday night? I have forgotten. It is a shame.)

(For encores demanded by both audiences at the conclusion of Rachmaninoff, Mr. Piemontesi played Clair de Lune on Saturday and a comparatively boring (is this heresy?) Bach (!) on Thursday.)

Given my wont to "explore," at intermission I "chanced" upon what turned out to be a member of the orchestra's technical staff whom I grilled as much as time allowed.  The person said it was common for the maestro to make comments which were never the same and no one knew ahead of time what they would be or if he would even talk!  

But, smiling the whole time, the technician said Maestro was quite beloved, and "you see, don't you?  That I am here listening and not in the back, reading my book like I usually do!"  

We marveled at Mr. Noseda's strength and endurance since he holds current leadership posts in London and Israel and Italy and Zurich and Catalonia and Georgia, and we figured he must reside in an airplane. 

On Thursday night I sat in the second row (B) and lost, I think, about five pounds just watching Mr. Noseda lead, afraid his baton might go sailing, as I have seen that happen.  

But Saturday found me far back in orchestra (row EE), my view of the conductor blocked by the lid of the piano open for Rachmaninoff and Mr. Piemontesi.  Not a heavy burden to suffer.

You see what you missed!  It pays to get out.

patricialesli@gmail.com 

Movie review: 'Biggest Little Farm' is biggest best farm movie

 Emma and Greasy in The Biggest Little Farm


The one best word to describe this film is charming. 

Can a 97% audience rating at Rotten Tomatoes be wrong?* Nada.

Love of farming is not required to adore The Biggest Little Farm which, from beginning to end, keeps its aura of unfolding the grand involuntary life circle we mammals follow, according to nature's way.

What fun to see a farm spring to life, and hummingbirds, lady bugs, and other living creatures up close, and I mean really up close, their wings fluttering in slow motion, or catch animals at night on hidden cameras.  

Not much new there with hidden cameras, but the scenes add to the majesty of this documentary made over a course of eight years by one of the farm's owners, John Chester, an Emmy winner, who, with his wife, Molly, started Apricot Lane Farms on 200 acres near Los Angeles, all because (or mostly because) of their barking dog, Todd. (Thank you, barking dog, Todd!)

What's not to love about goats? These two baa-baas are in The Biggest Little Farm.

The couple strive to make their farm as natural as can be, and what they achieved in the first year was stunning.

The music by Jeff Beal is the best accompaniment to falling in love with Emma, the pig, and her lifemate, Greasy, the rooster.

Take a break from contemporary life and enjoy this harmony with nature.  A more pleasant way to spend 90 minutes is practically unknown.

Animation by Jason Carpenter is excellent, but the "PG" rating is perplexing.  This is life, judges! A "G" is more appropriate.  

*Even the big, bad critics rate it at 90%.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Egyptian Embassy hosts 'Aida'

Rochelle Bard was "Aida" and Arnold Rawls was "Radames" in Washington Opera Society's concert opera at the Embassy of Egypt/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Lisa Chavez, "Amneris," and Jeremy Harr, "Ramphis" in Washington Opera Society's concert opera, Aida, at the Embassy of Egypt/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Rochelle Bard, "Aida," with Kevin Short, "Amonasro," in Washington Opera Society's concert opera at the Embassy of Egypt/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The Aida chorus played a critical role in Washington Opera Society's magnificent concert opera at the Embassy of Egypt/Photo by Patricia Leslie

H.E. Yasser Reda, the ambassador from the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the United States, welcomed guests to Washington Opera Society's concert opera, Aida, at the Embassy of Egypt/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The buffet dinner provided by the Embassy of Egypt preceded Washington Opera Society's concert opera, Aida, at the Embassy /Photo by Patricia Leslie

The Embassy of Egypt  was the venue for dinner and Aida, sponsored by the Washington Opera Society/Photo by Patricia Leslie 



If there were a better setting in Washington for a presentation of the 150th anniversary of the commissioning of the opera Aida than the Embassy of Egypt, prithee, where would that be?  

Lucky opera lovers recently converged on the Embassy for the Washington Opera Society's Aida and a sumptuous Egyptian dinner provided by the embassy chef and staff before the really big show.


Giuseppi Verdi wrote Aida for the grand celebration of the opening of Khedivial Opera House in Cairo in 1869* and since its premiere, Aida has been sung thousands (millions?) of times around the world, including more than 1,000 times at New York’s Metropolitan Opera after its first performance there in 1886.  

On its website the Embassy says the venue and Egyptian dinner were gifts to the Embassy's "dear guests who came to enjoy the masterpiece of Italy’s great composer Giuseppe Verdi," and we, the guests, were indeed grateful to Ambassador H.E. Yasser Reda, his wife, Nahla Reda, the embassy staff, and the Egyptian government for a night to remember.



Rochelle Bard,  Arnold Rawls, Lisa Chavez, and Kevin Short, sang the title roles, all exceptionally talented in every way, but it was Mr. Rawls who, in the second act, practically stole the show, not only with his commanding voice, but his jacket of many colors and his antics to seize the moment(s).  

The other soloists, Jeremy Harr, Christian Simmons, Adia Evans-Ledon, and Michael Butler, were equally as impressive.

The 25-member chorus played a powerful role in brief interludes, never dominating the principals but adding welcome background and depth.
 
Julien Benichou conducted the orchestra of 29 musicians, and the Opera Society's artistic director, Scott Beard, served as humorous narrator, bedecked in different Egyptian clothing embellishments every time he came out to introduce the next act.

Next up on the Opera Society's calendar is the Society's Director's Garden Party on August 24 ("back by popular demand") followed by Verdi's II Trovatore  ("rarely done in Washington") on September 28 with dinner. (Venue:  tbd)

*Technical reasons, namely the Franco-Prussian War, blocked Aida's premiere at the Khedivial Opera House until 1871.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Sierra Club hikes the Potomac

Yeeker, yikers! Dinosaurs in Great Falls National Park? Well, doesn't it look like one? Emerging from the tree on the left with its mouth ajar and tongue extended?  Ready to eat your lunch! Actually it's the shadow of the tree seen below on a trail yesterday/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This is the real "dinosaur" whose branches are shadowed in the first picture above, scenery from yesterday's walk in the park at Great Falls/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A-hiking we will go, a-hiking we will go!  Hi, ho, the derry-o, a hiking we did go with the Sierra Club yesterday at Great Falls National Park/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Attention, Dog: Where is your common courtesy? One-lane or single-file is necessary at this stretch in Great Falls National Park where dogs must give way to oncoming traffic, too/Photo by Patricia Leslie

These roots along a trail at Great Falls National Park are worse than the ones you see growing on human heads, and these cause stumbles. Look like petrified snakes to me. That's the Potomac River out there/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Now this is what I call natural support, found at Great Falls National Park/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Sierra Club hike leader John McShane got pricked by this varmint pretending to be a plant at Great Falls National Park.  "Yowee," he kind of screeched when he touched it. (Why did he touch it? To show us not to touch it?) The name of the plant was something like, Grizzly Needles. Speaking of ground (and tree) nuisances, abundant poison ivy and other invasive species of plants were in full "bloom," perhaps brought over from our friends across the Atlantic. Thanks, friends from across the Atlantic! Please take these back home.  Mr. McShane said they cost parks big bucks/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Stendahl's The Red and The Black which was published almost 200 years ago (1830) may be the reasons these trees are named "Red Oak" on the left, and "Black Oak" on the right, Mr. McShane said, identified by their different barks which are quite similar but after a brief study, even a novice like me could see differences. I hope Great Falls National Park is going to host a big bicentennial birthday bash for The Red and the Black which, after all, stand not too far from the intersection we passed that in 1814 James and Dolley Madison crossed when they fled the British advancing on Washington. The Madisons took the high road, and the British (they likely brought over some of those nasty invasive plants), the low road/Photo by Patricia Leslie

These rocks in Great Falls National Park are, no doubt, covered by water from time to time, but yesterday, they were covered by hundreds of human feet, clobbered by the rocks/Photo by Patricia Leslie

I guess the man is too old to know how to read. The sign says "Danger Boat launching, swimming, WADING, and alcoholic beverages PROHIBITED Treacherous waterfall downstream."  Several people have died at the park, misled by the calm surface which hides "alligators" underneath to carry visitors away/Photo by Patricia Leslie

We did have lots of fun, we did have lots of fun, hi-ho, the derry-o, we did have lots of fun at Great Falls National Park.  Thanks, John and Larry!/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Beautiful scenery from an overlook at Great Falls National Park. Absent (glory be!): boaters, kayakers, canoers, and swimmers/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Another view from the overlook which looks towards the District of Columbia/Photo by Patricia Leslie

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood, perfect for kicking off Memorial Day weekend with a leisurely four-mile Sierra Club hike (which actually turned out to be 3.5 miles or 3.7 miles, depending upon whose web counter was doing the talking or rather, the measuring). A group of 21 mostly strangers met Saturday at the crowded Great Falls National Park  to relish the sights and sounds of the falls and the trail, and be out in the woods.  Nature, you know, and the glory of all its benefits, recounted by hike leader John McShane reading from the writings of the Club's founder, John Muir.  (At the rear of the pack, Larry Broadwell was "the sweeper," to keep us "in line." Both leaders, outstanding in their roles. Applause.) It was that kind of a beautiful day. Everybody, out and about, including members of Rolling Thunder at the park. The hike was described in the posting as "easy to moderate" but when you're talking and admiring the scenery, my, how time does fly.  No snakes! But a (likely) volunteer was spotted, picking up small bits of litter along the trail. We were lucky that Mr. McShane knew so much about trees, snakes, leaves, and roots!  Not only did we get a walk, but we got welcome lessons in nature.  It was a crowded park, yes, but maybe, it's always like that. It took me at least 20 minutes (someone else said, 35) to wait in the car to make it through the gate (cost is $15/carload unless you have a senior pass).  When the hike ended two hours later and I exited the park, I counted 108 drivers waiting to get through the gate. (Two-lane road; no room for expansion.  Save the trees!)   Sierra Club hikes are highly recommended.  You don't have to be a Sierra Club member to participate ($2/person is requested to hike but is not mandatory, and no one takes a listing of who pays and who doesn't). But, if you are interested in joining, it's only $15 for new members to join the Sierra Club's Great Falls Group which you may do here and go here for a list of upcoming area outings which vary in length and degree of difficulty. Benefits, galore! patricialesli@gmail.com

Join us for morning hike along the Potomac River including stops at the spectacular overlooks and a discussion of some of the common trees in the area. DISTANCE--approximately 4 miles; PACE--easy to moderate; SURFACE--mostly flat, natural trails. Some sections of the trail are very muddy so wear sturdy boots. We will meet In the open area directly below the visitors center at 9:45AM to sign waiver. We will leave at 10AM sharp and return at 12 Noon. Facilities: there are restrooms in the visitor's center.Parking: there is plenty of parking at the visitors center. Fee: $15/car park entrance fee (unless someone in the car has a National Parks Pass). SCPRO appreciates a donation of $2 per person to support our many volunteer-led activities and leader training. You will be able join the hike even if youre unable to donate. You can become a Sierra Club member by clicking join on the Virginia Sierra Club website: http://www.sierraclub.org/virginia Level: Moderate
Cost: There is a $15/car park entrance fee (unless someone in the car has a National Parks Pass). SCPRO appreciates a donation of $2 per person to support our many volunteer-led activities and leader training. You will be able join the hike even if youre unable to donate. You can become a Sierra Club member by clicking join on the Virginia Sierra Club website: http://www.sierraclub.org/virginia