January 22, 1993

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Page 23

Entertainment

Men's Chorus concert was adventurous and campy

Reviewed by Kevin Beaney

All organizations go through life cycles, with their own styles of fledgling first steps, awkward adolescence, banal maturity, and various forms of demise. The North Coast Men's Chorus, which opened its fifth season in December, has reached its adolescence. And it's an exciting stage too, with all the promise, experimentation, adjustment and assertion that creating one's own future brings.

The concert--entitled "Christmas Then and Now" and held at the Cuyahoga Community College Metro Campus auditorium on December 13--was varied and the Chorus' most daring yet. Works ranged from familiar Christmas melodies to serious and experimental fare commissioned by other men's choruses. Bach was represented: both the original Johann Sebastian, and the 20th century's parodic "offspring," P.D.Q. Bach.

The first act was by far the more aggressive and risky, displaying the full talents of the 40-member Chorus, its eight-man touring subset, the Coastliners, and the new accompanist, Christopher Toth. The evening began in a light and spirited fashion with J.S. Bach's "Good Fellows Be Merry" followed by P.D.Q. Bach's humorous and clever "Throw the Yule Log On, Uncle John," (read the title without the comma) and the send-up “Good King Kong Looked Out," complete with 40-plus kazoos. Then the tone became more subdued, and unfortunately never recovered until after intermission.

The Coastliners performed a musical version of Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" and the song "Simple Gifts" as arranged by Aaron Coplan and Irving Fine. The full Chorus then sang two religious-themed pieces, "E'en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come" and "In the Beginning of Creation." The remainder of the act introduced the Cleveland audience to two works commissioned by the New York City Gay Men's Chorus, and two songs that were competition winners at the 1992 Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses 1992 Festival. These included Paul Monette's and Ned Rorem's "Love Alone"; "A Season for Lovers" by John-Michael Albert; John Updike's "In Extremis," with music by Alan Stringer; and "Then and Now" by Leonard Clark and Mark Riese.

The overall performance of the Chorus members led by director Robert Bellisario was somewhat uneven, but certainly professional and commendable. The problem I experienced, and overheard from others during intermission, was that the obscurity and slow pace of the pieces made the act seem interminable. Even "In Extremis," whose words are a silly, lighthearted ditty, failed to get much more than a polite laugh at the end; the arrangement buried the words and the audience became comatose.

I found the four-hand piano work of Toth and Randy Fisher during "A Season for Lovers" refreshing and enjoyable. The piece "Then and Now" closed the act. It was intended as the artistic statement for the concert's theme, comparing the first Christmas with today. While it was thoroughly introduced by the evening's emcee, Bill Tregoning, as a two-part statement with the music repeated, the actual performance failed to make that impression on me, although I listened carefully.

The Chorus should not be discouraged from seeking out and performing modern works, certainly if other choruses are commissioning them. In fact it should be encouraged to keep exploring and sampling. The Chorus is clearly coming into its own and flirting with the polish and confidence of the more established gay men's choral

groups. But the sophistication level of the audience may have been overestimated, to expect them to appreciate that large a consecutive dose of modern work.

The second half abandoned all experimentation and was much more bright and gay, offering the familiar holiday works.

Remarkably more assured in its fifth season, the Chorus has let its origins out. This show was much more campy and forthright about being gay than any I've seen before. The clues were there on the concert's artwork: a bundled-up, Drummer-like male couple singing in a sleigh. Other references cropped up early, with Tregoning pointedly referring to Aaron Copland as being gay, and the introduction of the Chorus' assistants as the "Ladies' Auxiliary." The closet door came crashing off its hinges by the end of the second act.

"It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas' opened the act, followed by a set of "Silver Bells," "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," and "Jingle Bells." The Coastliners sang two haunting melodies, "Si Vi Von" and "Ner Li," both arranged by Bellisario. The feast of Hanukkah was given a passing acknowledgment with the stirring piece "The Hanukkah Land." Next on the program was the "Little Drummer Boy" in a performance that beautifully honored the Harry Simeone arrangement.

Not to overlook other recent Christmas standards, the Chorus performed a medley of "A Holly Jolly Christmas," "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Next, the obligatory audience sing-along allowed the crowd to join in with "Deck the Halls," "The Holly and the Ivy," and "Jolly Old St. Nicholas." Neither the Chorus nor the audience could resist embellishing the line "Nellie wants a picture book...“

The Coastliners eliminated all straightlaced Chorus history when they launched into "Mister Santa," set to the "Mister Sandman" melody. This request for the man of their dreams--additional lyrics courtesy of the Flirtations--brought the house down. The program closed with another funny send-up, "The Twelve Days After Christmas" by Frederick Silver. The story was simple: the "true loves" broke up, with the recipient inflicting revenge by taking the gifts and destroying, eating or sending them back (except for one of the drummers!).

As an encore, the Chorus sang a traditional version of "White Christmas."

The next concerts in the season are set for March 13 with a romp through pop music of the past 40 years called "Rock-nRoll Remembered," and a special event for Pride month: a fully staged original musical called Puttin' on the Ritz, on June 18 and 19.

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