Nitpicking a Nitpicker.
So, I've finally accessed Sarah Bryan Miller's review of Porgy on the Post-Dispatch website. Click here to read the full review. I did agree with her on some criticisms and praisings, but she's usually pretty biased towards UAO and quite nitpicky about things without even thinking about why certain aspects were as they were...so I'm going to nitpick right back at her.
"[Jermaine] Smith, a graduate of Opera Theatre of St. Louis' Artists-in-Training program, owns the role of Sportin' Life."
I do agree with her that Smith "owns the role of Sportin' Life" but what bad form to prop up OTSL in the middle of a UAO review. Bias!
"The orchestra was occasionally scrappy, musical elements were missing, and the whole affair needed more focus and energy from conductor Scott Schoonover and his players."
Does she not realize the extraordinary demands of this score? I think she does, and that's where the canker gnaws, because she ought to at least throw in a "but kudos to the orchestra and Schoonover for tackling the score in the first place." No...she has no time (or space), it seems, to give props to a small (in the grand scheme of things) opera company that actually had the BALLS to take on this demanding Gershwin opera.
Does she also not realize that in order to have a quality union orchestra, UAO had to observe standard cuts and beyond to keep the production at or under 3 hours, lest they pay a costly sum for every 15 minutes of overtime? I'm sure OTSL would have done the same had the Saint Louis Symphony demanded that a production of Porgy last 3 hours or else pay overtime.
"Limited resources were probably responsible for the most jarring of director Ron Himes' changes, putting Porgy on a crutch instead of in a cart."
Does she not know that it has become accepted performance tradition in Porgy and Bess to replace the goat cart with canes or a crutch? If she knows this, then why mention this "change" in the first place? I guess she wouldn't have liked LA Opera's production or even the mid-eighties Glyndebourne production, because from what I know, both productions nixed the goat cart. In fact, the Porgy (of both) moved with canes (someone correct me if I'm wrong here).
"But Himes got his cast moving; he was at his best with the joyous introduction to the picnic, when the ensemble danced off the stage with real spirit."
If only she knew that the picnic and all of Act One were about the only contributions he made to the production... If only.
^^^^^
Did I just type that last sentence?
"Teresa Doggett's generic, anachronism-riddled costumes gave no sense of this distinctive sub-tropical community in summer. Most of the women's dresses would have worked equally well in the Dustbowl;"
*SIGH* It wouldn't be a SBM review without an attack on the costumes and/or wigs. She seems to have left the wigs alone, but took a swipe at the costumes. I know that this sentence starter may seem to get old, but: Does she not realize how difficult it is to costume this large of a cast on a budget? Teresa's work was fantastic, and who's to say that fashions in the Dustbowl were different from that of Depression-era South Carolina? The country was poor everywhere. Also...she'll realize that a lot of the costumes at UAO match the overall "look" of other major productions. (I will concede that the Detective did look a bit mafia-esque, though.)
A fellow cast member and I discussed SBM the other night, and he said (in reference to her costume/wig criticisms in general): "Usually if she has to make a cheap swipe at the costumes or wigs, it means she's just looking for something to criticize, because she feels she MUST be negative somehow." That actually makes a lot of sense.
What are your thoughts?
"[Jermaine] Smith, a graduate of Opera Theatre of St. Louis' Artists-in-Training program, owns the role of Sportin' Life."
I do agree with her that Smith "owns the role of Sportin' Life" but what bad form to prop up OTSL in the middle of a UAO review. Bias!
"The orchestra was occasionally scrappy, musical elements were missing, and the whole affair needed more focus and energy from conductor Scott Schoonover and his players."
Does she not realize the extraordinary demands of this score? I think she does, and that's where the canker gnaws, because she ought to at least throw in a "but kudos to the orchestra and Schoonover for tackling the score in the first place." No...she has no time (or space), it seems, to give props to a small (in the grand scheme of things) opera company that actually had the BALLS to take on this demanding Gershwin opera.
Does she also not realize that in order to have a quality union orchestra, UAO had to observe standard cuts and beyond to keep the production at or under 3 hours, lest they pay a costly sum for every 15 minutes of overtime? I'm sure OTSL would have done the same had the Saint Louis Symphony demanded that a production of Porgy last 3 hours or else pay overtime.
"Limited resources were probably responsible for the most jarring of director Ron Himes' changes, putting Porgy on a crutch instead of in a cart."
Does she not know that it has become accepted performance tradition in Porgy and Bess to replace the goat cart with canes or a crutch? If she knows this, then why mention this "change" in the first place? I guess she wouldn't have liked LA Opera's production or even the mid-eighties Glyndebourne production, because from what I know, both productions nixed the goat cart. In fact, the Porgy (of both) moved with canes (someone correct me if I'm wrong here).
"But Himes got his cast moving; he was at his best with the joyous introduction to the picnic, when the ensemble danced off the stage with real spirit."
If only she knew that the picnic and all of Act One were about the only contributions he made to the production... If only.
^^^^^
Did I just type that last sentence?
"Teresa Doggett's generic, anachronism-riddled costumes gave no sense of this distinctive sub-tropical community in summer. Most of the women's dresses would have worked equally well in the Dustbowl;"
*SIGH* It wouldn't be a SBM review without an attack on the costumes and/or wigs. She seems to have left the wigs alone, but took a swipe at the costumes. I know that this sentence starter may seem to get old, but: Does she not realize how difficult it is to costume this large of a cast on a budget? Teresa's work was fantastic, and who's to say that fashions in the Dustbowl were different from that of Depression-era South Carolina? The country was poor everywhere. Also...she'll realize that a lot of the costumes at UAO match the overall "look" of other major productions. (I will concede that the Detective did look a bit mafia-esque, though.)
A fellow cast member and I discussed SBM the other night, and he said (in reference to her costume/wig criticisms in general): "Usually if she has to make a cheap swipe at the costumes or wigs, it means she's just looking for something to criticize, because she feels she MUST be negative somehow." That actually makes a lot of sense.
What are your thoughts?