ARTSCAPE: Edited by Deirdre FalveyTHE GATZ marathon kicked off yesterday afternoon at Project Arts Centre, with the first of three shows which, altogether, will total 21 hours of performance, writes Sara Keating.
On a preliminary visit in advance of Elevator Repair Service's visit to the Dublin Theatre Festival, director John Collins discussed the "ongoing frustration with the rights" from which the New York-based company's most prolific work has suffered.
"The whole idea for staging the book was based on the way that it speaks to New York now," Collins said. "The world of The Great Gatsby is not just that of 'old New York'; it has these uncanny parallels with the city now, the obsession with materialism and wealth. It seems ironic that we have not been able to stage the play there. I wish I could say that it was something more exciting than just boring economics, but sadly that's it."
Elevator Repair Service was initially unable to secure the rights to stage Gatz because the estate of F Scott Fitzgerald withheld permission in favour of a 90-minute period-drama adaptation by Simon Levy. Despite the lukewarm response to a regional run of Levy's play and the production's failure to secure a Broadway or off-Broadway opening, permission to stage Gatz was still withheld from Elevator Repair Service. The Fitzgerald estate even pulled the plug on an attempted New York production in 2005, forcing the company into private houses for "club showings".
Now, while permission to stage Gatz has gradually been granted, it still excludes any showings in New York or the United Kingdom.
"In fact, they actually came back to us when they heard we were performing in Ireland," Collins says, "and were horrified to learn that Ireland is not part of the UK!"
So far, Gatz has been seen in Oslo, Lisbon, Vienna, Amsterdam, Bergen, Brussels and Zurich, as well as in the smaller cities in the US where the rights have been released. New Yorkers, however, will have to wait another few years before seeing this iconic staging of the definitive literary image of their city.
Magic hat-trick
October is turning out to be a magic month for Mozart's Magic Flute, writes Michael Dervan. Opera-lovers in Dublin will have a choice of three highly contrasting productions within a matter of weeks, and they take some pretty exotic approaches.
The South African Dimpho Di Kopane company's award-winning Magic Flute (Gaiety Theatre, Tuesday, October 7th to Saturday, October 11th) has already been well covered in these pages. It's directed by Mark Dornford-May, features an orchestra of marimbas, and arrives as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival.
Meanwhile, the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama is offering a high-tech alternative, with designs by Barry "Baz" Halpin (whose background includes work with the likes of Christina Aguilera, Kylie Minogue and Cher) and video by Olivier Goulet (who has worked with Cirque du Soleil). The director is Karen Ryker, a professor of voice and acting at the University of Connecticut, who is visiting DIT on a Fulbright scholarship.
The DIT Magic Flute is something of a family affair. The designer's father, Willie Halpin, will be conducting, while his mother, Bríd Grant, head of the DIT conservatory, will no doubt be watching anxiously from the wings to see how well the Gleeson Hall at DIT Kevin Street is filled for the five nights of the run (October 3rd, 4th, 8th, 10th and 11th). The student cast is headed by Kris Kendellen as Papageno, Peter O'Donoghue as Tamino, Aoife O'Sullivan as Pamina, and Katy Kelly as the Queen of the Night.
The third production, which has the first of its two performances on Saturday, October 11th (the night the other two close) is by Vivian Coates's Lyric Opera at the National Concert Hall. Coates himself is responsible for direction and design, while Fergus Sheil conducts the Lyric Opera Orchestra. The cast includes Rebekah Coffey as Pamina, Jaewoo Kim as Tamino, Fabiola Masino as the Queen of the Night, and Grant Doyle as Papageno. The second night of what should be the most traditional of the three Magic Flute productions is on Tuesday, October 14th.
Cork talk
While the Gate's Waiting for Godot marked the reopening of Cork's Everyman Palace Theatre after a refurbishment, including comfortable new seating, the Cork Opera House had already warned patrons of Opera 2005's production of Verdi's A Masked Ball that they would find few changes in the auditorium, writes Mary Leland.
The two-year Opera House refurbishment focused on structural repair and maintenance this summer and a €1 restoration levy was added to tickets there. The Opera House is also promoting a seat sponsorship scheme at €500 each (€750 for two) for all 1,000 seats.
Cork audiences will be watching a mixed bag, with both houses offering a combination of concerts, comedy and drama. The Opera House is presenting Juno and the Paycock in the week of October 28th, in a co-production with the Association of Regional Theatres, after a Northern Ireland tour. Other productions will be Druid and Atlantic Theatre Company's The Cripple of Inishmaan, by Martin McDonagh, next week, and the Lyric Theatre's The Home Place, by Brian Friel, in March. The Cork City Ballet begins its nationwide tour at the Opera House in November, and revivals include the Michael Collins musical and The Good Sisters.
The Everyman Palace's season includes the Keegan Theatre production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest next week, the Irish premiere of Edinburgh award-winning Itoseng , a co-production with Skylight Productions of Ronald Harwood's The Dresser, and London Classic Theatre's Humble Boy. The Everyman has also introduced a seat-sponsorship scheme at €250 a perch.
Also this week, the Everyman announced that Deirdre Dwyer is the first winner of the Pat Murray Bursary, in memory of the Cork theatre designer who died in 2006. Stage designer and producer Deirdre Dwyer will study at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, supported by the award, which is funded by Thomas Crosbie Holdings, Cork City Council and the Everyman Palace.
"Regan Buckley's name was on the scholarship from the moment he opened his mouth. He sang like an angel and it would bring tears to your eyes to hear him. I believe it is all about sowing the seed when young, encouraging the talent, creating the passion and having the cream of the crop teaching," said Kingston Academy of Music's Audrey McKenna of the school's new music scholarship.
Regan Buckley (11), of Harold Primary School, Glasthule, Co Dublin, will have a year's tuition at Dún Laoghaire's Kingston Academy, sponsored by Pianos Plus. At the academy's opening, McKenna promised "high achievement in high-profile events".
The school will teach all levels and ages, in string, woodwind, brass, percussion, vocal, music appreciation and special education. See kingstonacademyofmusic.com
A fundraising performance of Bach's B minor Mass at Dublin's Pro-Cathedral on Sunday, October 5th (8pm, €25), features the Orchestra of St Cecilia, the Dublin Bach Singers and soloists Colette Boushell (soprano), Anna-Louise Costello (mezzo soprano) Victoria Massey (alto), Duncan Brickenden (countertenor), Andrew Boushell (tenor) and John-Owen Miley-Read (bass), with conductor Blánaid Murphy.
October 5th is the first anniversary of the death, aged 46, of Bach scholar Dr Anne Leahy, and proceeds will go to the Anne Leahy Trust for musical study abroad. Lecturer and Fulbright scholar Leahy was organist and choirmaster at St Michael's Church, where she was artistic director of its International Organ Recital Series.