Fine & Performing Arts

By Ann Piccininni

The Daily Herald

A meditation on the relative merits of marriage versus singlehood comes to North Central College’s Pfeiffer Hall on Friday for a four-performance run.

“Company” is a Tony Award-winning show featuring music by Stephen Sondheim and a script by George Fürth that debuted in 1970. For this turn, it is being produced, directed and performed by North Central College students.

Though written almost four decades ago, its themes remain relevant and riveting, said co-director Lauren Omelson, a senior musical theater major. Revived on Broadway in 2006, North Central has opted to present the original version, with a few minor changes that set the action in 2009, she said.

“It centers around Robert, who is about to turn 35. He’s friends with five couples,” she said. “He’s got all these friends that are married, but he’s not. He hasn’t let anyone get too close.”

Robert, also known as Bobby, reviews moments that typify his relationships with his friends and three of his former girlfriends through a series of vignettes, arranged in a non-chronological order.

“It’s really abstract,” Omelson said. “Our set reflects that as well.”

“The set – it looks different from anything we’ve done,” said stage manager Erin McIntyre, a junior technical theater major. She added that the geometric shapes on stage are representational, not realistic, in a move designed to echo Bobby’s life.

“The set is what he has to live with, what he has to take home every night,” she said.

McIntyre said the cast, dressed in black and white, takes on different hues through creative lighting. The colors, she said, represent how Bobby’s perceptions color each scene.

Though a melancholy thread winds through the show, “Company” is not a somber piece, McIntyre said.

“The music is very catchy,” she said. “(Bobby’s) numbers are catchy and upbeat, but they’re kind of moving.”

Mandy Nousain, a junior musical theater major, plays one of Bobby’s girlfriends.

“I play April, who’s a flight attendant,” Nousain said. “She’s kind of dumb, she’s kind of ditsy. I play it kind of air-headed, but not over the edge. She really likes Bobby because he’s intelligent.”

There’s a morning-after scene, she said, where she and Bobby are having an awkward conversation before she leaves for her next assignment in Barcelona.

“It’s all just about Bobby trying to decide if he should be married,” she said. “He really wants someone in his life. He doesn’t really want her. It’s kind of sad because he really wants a relationship, but he’s not finding the right person.”

Omelson, who is sharing directorial duties with student Alex Mersman, said the show is unusually rich in character development for a musical.

“It’s a very heavy actor show,” she said. “It’s not musical fluff.”

Date: Sat., March 7, 2009
Time: 7:30 pm
Approximate Length: 2 hours
Venue: Pfeiffer Hall
Address: 310 E. Benton, Naperville IL
Ticket Information:
Adult $15
Student, senior citizen $10
Add $2 per ticket for online purchases.

Internationally acclaimed baritone Sherrill Milnes and North Central College alumnus returns to his alma mater this weekend as guest director of the combined Naperville Chorus and Downers Grove Choral Society for a rousing performance of “Elijah,” one of Felix Mendelssohn’s greatest achievements. The Feb. 21 concert will feature nearly 200 singers, professional soloists and orchestra in the acoustically perfect Wentz Concert Hall at the Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave.

A Downers Grove native, Milnes is universally acclaimed as the foremost opera baritone of his generation. His remarkable voice, artistic integrity and commanding stage presence have made him a superstar in every sense. In a repertoire that covers some 70 roles over a 42-year singing career, Milnes has conquered all of the opera capitals of the world and is especially known for his operatic roles of Verdi and Puccini. Recently, Milnes was named one of five winners of the 2008 Opera News Awards for distinguished achievement, the highest honor in the world of opera.

Milnes has a personal interest in returning to his hometown roots to direct “Elijah.” He has starred in the oratorio on multiple occasions and made his New York conducting debut at Carnegie Hall with “Elijah.” It was also a favorite work of his mother, whom Milnes credits for nurturing his love of music. His mother also co-founded the Downers Grove Choral Society, which is celebrating its 50th year with this concert performance and Milnes’ guest appearance as director.

The Downers Grove Choral Society is directed by Robert Holst and the Naperville Chorus is directed by Jeordano Martinez, North Central College professor of music.

Tickets to the 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, concert are $20/person; call the North Central College Box Office at 630-637-SHOW (7469) or visit http://finearts.northcentralcollege.edu/x45308.xml. In addition, two recital CDs, an all-star gala DVD and Milnes’ autobiography “American Aria: From Farm Boy to Opera Star” will be available for purchase.

Concert-goers can also meet and talk with Milnes and the soloists at a cocktail reception following the concert in Madden Theatre in the Fine Arts Center. Tickets are an additional $25/person and include wine, punch and hors d’oeuvres; call the box office or visit www.elijahconcert.org.

Milnes will direct the two choirs in a second performance of “Elijah” on Sunday, Feb. 22, at 3 p.m. at the Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove. Tickets are $20/person; call 630-515-0030 or visit www.elijahconcert.org.

Candace Taylor knew Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” is something of a theatrical chestnut about family life and community.

So when the guest director began to put together North Central College’s version, she gave the 1938 classic just enough tweaks to make it distinctive.

“I wanted to make it a lot different from productions that have gone before,” she told the Daily Herald in a story published Feb. 12. “The biggest concept thing I did was to cut the cast down to 12 people. Several actors play multiple roles.”

The story, narrated by a stage manager who guides the audience through scenes from the lives of several characters living in a fictional town, opens Thursday, Feb. 12 at the Naperville college’s Meiley-Swallow Hall.

Taylor, a veteran theater professor and actress making her North Central debut with “Our Town,” said several actors play as many as four roles.

“To make it make sense, we’re looking at the play as though these are actors coming to rehearse the production,” she said. “I’m making it a play within a play.”

It also gives cast members a more substantial opportunity to test their acting mettle.

“They’re representing characters differently by their physical and vocal choices,” Taylor said.

There’s one actor, she said, who transitions from playing an 11-year-old boy to portraying a 60-year-old policeman.

“These students are great to work with. I’ve found them extremely enthusiastic and dedicated,” she said.

Freshman musical theater major Hannah Toriumi plays the stage manager.

“She has me virtually never out of the theater,” Toriumi said of Taylor, explaining that the stage manager is always visible to the audience, even when she’s on the sidelines watching the action along with the audience.

The message that reverberates through the show, Toriumi said, is the preciousness of life.

“We need to take life for every minute that we have it. People don’t really realize life as they’re living it,” she said.

“Our Town” performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 12-14 and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15 at Meiley-Swallow Hall, 31 S. Ellsworth St., Naperville. Tickets are $10, $8 for students and seniors. Call 630-637-7469.