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The Mask and the Muse
Oct. 5th, 2011 12:02 pmSunday night I went to a concert put on by several local artists at the Arrata Opera Center. The show was The Mask and the Muse and it was primarily the work of three talented women:
The premise of the show was the Nine Muses of antiquity. Each muse was described, followed by a poem by Ms. Dingle and a song each by Ms. Sora and Ms. Gell. Nine muses times three artists equals 27 individual pieces. Two hours or solid entertainment for only $20. I'd recommend it if the show wasn't a one-off.
I'm not a big fan of poetry, but I really liked the poetry here. I don't mean that in the sense that I don't like poetry and I'm damning with faint praise; It's more that I simply haven't been exposed to much poetry. I do like good writing, and well-formed prose is something that has always pleased me (this is one of the reasons why I abandon about half my posts before publishing them here - I simply can't get what I want to say onto the screen in a form that I think is acceptable for public viewing). This was really good writing, and Ms. Dingle does have a commanding presence that works with her material. I want to describe it as "beat poetry", but I lack the knowledge to conclusively categorize it as such. If you're a non-poet like me though, your mental picture is close enough to what I actually heard and saw. Anyway, good turn-of phrase, excellent cadence. I'd certainly watch her perform again. My favorites were "Tease" (sexy), "Zeus Reborn" (Damned funny) and "Cassandra" (heartbreaking).
Sora is a local artist I had (sadly) not heard of before this show. Her songs were well made and she's a good musician (she played piano and violin for most of the concert), but where she really shines is as a powerful and resonant singer. She probably didn't need amplification, but it was there anyway. Now that I have one of her CDs (more about that below), I plan on giving it a listen. "Wicked" and "Savage" were especially good.
I've seen Catherine Gell before - she performed in Chess for FRC last fall - so I know she's a good performer in musical theatre. I can now confirm she's pretty good in concert too. Ms. Gell's voice is not quite as powerful as Sora's, but it is more delicate and melodic. They compliment each other well. "Stiff Upper Lip", "Bound" and "Do Not Go Gently" were memorable. I look forward to her upcoming album.
A dancer (Julia Harnett) also performed to two of the numbers (one of which was in the Terpsichore set, naturally enough). From this I concluded two things about ballet:
The final number had a six-singer back-up choir. The only reason I knew about this show at all was because a friend of mine was among them. While I'm glad I went to this show and was greatly entertained by all three of the main performers, it would have been nice to actually hear the choir; sadly the poor sound mixing prevented that.
Anyway, the show was good despite the (easily fixable) sound problems. I'd recommend seeing any of the three artists who performed. I'm sure they all perform regularly (albeit, not with each other). I heard a rumour that they might do another combined concert next year (possibly a repeat performance of The Mask and the Muse; possibly not). Check them out.
On a personal note, there was an after-show meet-and-greet. I find there are two overlapping groups of people at these things: performers and patrons. Being neither I always feel like a wall-flower at these things. It's taken me several years to get over the same feeling at Vertigo Theatre, mostly due to getting to know a lot of the back-stage crew.
There was also a raffle for the Calgary Women's Shelter, which I entered. The prizes where a book of poetry by Ms. Dingle, a CD by Ms. Sora, and an original piece of art by Ms. Gell. I mistakenly thought this meant there would be three draws. Nope, it was winner-take-all. I won, I got it all. Go me!
- Singer/songwriter Sora.
- Actress/singer/songwriter/artist Catherine Gell.
- Poet and spoken word artist Erin Dingle.
The premise of the show was the Nine Muses of antiquity. Each muse was described, followed by a poem by Ms. Dingle and a song each by Ms. Sora and Ms. Gell. Nine muses times three artists equals 27 individual pieces. Two hours or solid entertainment for only $20. I'd recommend it if the show wasn't a one-off.
I'm not a big fan of poetry, but I really liked the poetry here. I don't mean that in the sense that I don't like poetry and I'm damning with faint praise; It's more that I simply haven't been exposed to much poetry. I do like good writing, and well-formed prose is something that has always pleased me (this is one of the reasons why I abandon about half my posts before publishing them here - I simply can't get what I want to say onto the screen in a form that I think is acceptable for public viewing). This was really good writing, and Ms. Dingle does have a commanding presence that works with her material. I want to describe it as "beat poetry", but I lack the knowledge to conclusively categorize it as such. If you're a non-poet like me though, your mental picture is close enough to what I actually heard and saw. Anyway, good turn-of phrase, excellent cadence. I'd certainly watch her perform again. My favorites were "Tease" (sexy), "Zeus Reborn" (Damned funny) and "Cassandra" (heartbreaking).
Sora is a local artist I had (sadly) not heard of before this show. Her songs were well made and she's a good musician (she played piano and violin for most of the concert), but where she really shines is as a powerful and resonant singer. She probably didn't need amplification, but it was there anyway. Now that I have one of her CDs (more about that below), I plan on giving it a listen. "Wicked" and "Savage" were especially good.
I've seen Catherine Gell before - she performed in Chess for FRC last fall - so I know she's a good performer in musical theatre. I can now confirm she's pretty good in concert too. Ms. Gell's voice is not quite as powerful as Sora's, but it is more delicate and melodic. They compliment each other well. "Stiff Upper Lip", "Bound" and "Do Not Go Gently" were memorable. I look forward to her upcoming album.
A dancer (Julia Harnett) also performed to two of the numbers (one of which was in the Terpsichore set, naturally enough). From this I concluded two things about ballet:
- You need to be very very talented to pull off ballet successfully.
- ballet dancers are a little scary.
The final number had a six-singer back-up choir. The only reason I knew about this show at all was because a friend of mine was among them. While I'm glad I went to this show and was greatly entertained by all three of the main performers, it would have been nice to actually hear the choir; sadly the poor sound mixing prevented that.
Anyway, the show was good despite the (easily fixable) sound problems. I'd recommend seeing any of the three artists who performed. I'm sure they all perform regularly (albeit, not with each other). I heard a rumour that they might do another combined concert next year (possibly a repeat performance of The Mask and the Muse; possibly not). Check them out.
On a personal note, there was an after-show meet-and-greet. I find there are two overlapping groups of people at these things: performers and patrons. Being neither I always feel like a wall-flower at these things. It's taken me several years to get over the same feeling at Vertigo Theatre, mostly due to getting to know a lot of the back-stage crew.
There was also a raffle for the Calgary Women's Shelter, which I entered. The prizes where a book of poetry by Ms. Dingle, a CD by Ms. Sora, and an original piece of art by Ms. Gell. I mistakenly thought this meant there would be three draws. Nope, it was winner-take-all. I won, I got it all. Go me!
