The Reviews Are In! And no... there is no naked Sam!

Trouble In Tahiti
September 8 to 18, 2011
Firehall Arts Centre

We have three performances under our belt and five left to go! Yesterday the reviews came pouring in and we are tickled pink with what the critics have had to say. Below are some snippits from the reviews. You'll also find hyperlinks each of the individual reviews should you wish to read the full version.

"Very innovative approach to the Berstein opera, and excellent performance by these five talented opera singers!" - Review Vancouver

“If you’ve wanted to try an opera but never dared go to one because it seemed inaccessible, Trouble in Tahiti is probably the best introduction. It’s in English, it’s accessible and it’s very short (40 minutes).” - Anabelle Bernard Fournier, Hummingbird604

"Contralto Natalie Burdeny carries the lyricism of the aria beautifully and has the maturity to convey the sadness and desperation of trying to get from a bed of weeds to a garden of love and happiness." - Lisa Barrett, Plank Magazine

"The show left me touched and sad, a good sign that the singers conveyed the emotions well. I had a great time and I recommend it to opera newbies and buffs alike." - Anabelle Bernard Fournier, Hummingbird604

"The show scene is a witty triumph itself with a naked* Sam singing about the glories of being a winner." - Lisa Barrett, Plank Magazine

* Just a little clarification on the quote above. There is no actual nudity in this show but maybe a little "teaser" which is what the critic above is referring to. You'll just have to come see it for yourself to understand what that's all about!

We have 5 performances left and 10% of proceeds to to the Vancouver Food Bank on Friday night! Show your support and keep opera at the Fringe!

Tuesday, September 13 @ 7:15pm
Thursday, September 15 @ 7:00pm
Friday, September 16 @ 11:00pm
Saturday, September 17 @ 11:00pm
Sunday, September 18 @ 7:15pm

Tickets Online: Tickets may be purchased online up to 4 hours before showtime.
At the Door: Tickets are available at the door 45 minutes before curtain. CASH ONLY!

Take a photo and WIN tickets to Trouble In Tahiti!

Kate Wilkins, Festival Assistant

Today was Artist Check-In at the Vancouver International Fringe Festival tent on Granville Island! We arrived early of course, and there was already a line-up! The ever so friendly and sweet Kate was there to help us get oriented and answer the million and one questions we had!

We claimed our "sanny-board" (#11a) and now we have a challenge for you! In the next few days, the "sanny-boards" will be circulating around Granville Island. If you want to WIN two tickets to a performance of Trouble In Tahiti  all you have to do is:

(a) Find our "sanny-board" (Hint: It's #11a)
(b) Take a photo with you and our "sanny-board"
(c) Email your photo and name to info [at] vancoco [dot] ca by Wednesday, September 14th!

The "Sanny-Boards"

We will randomly draw two winners on Thursday, Sept. 15th for our 11pm shows on Sept. 16 and 17 respectively. Boards will begin circulating in another day or two so be sure to go snap your shot and check out some of the other fantastic Fringe shows both on and off the Island!

Interested in other ways to win tickets? Local social media guru Hummingbird604 is doing a giveaway and you can check it out by clicking "here".

And... to the 100th person who "follows us" on Twitter, we'll be giving away another 2 free tickets!

Can't wait to see your photos! This should be FRINGE-TASTIC!!!!

---UPDATE----

The first photo has been submitted!

Madeline Hannan-Leith!!! Great shot!

Bright and Early at CBC Radio Studio 3!

Hey VanCOCO Fans! We just wanted to let you know to keep an ear out for our radio spot which will be airing on CBC Radio over the next couple of weeks to promote Trouble In Tahiti at the Vancouver International Fringe Festival. We sang our first notes of the day in CBC Recording Studio 3 and managed to get in a two minute sound byte of music from the show to entice fans over to Firehall Arts Centre. From the looks of it, the cast quite enjoyed the experience.



We are also very excited that we finished the day with our Designer Run where fellow actor/director Andy Maton, our Lighting Designer Phil Schulze, and the rest of our crew showed up to watch the show and provide us with some audience feedback and a fresh perspective on the production that we have been preparing for our new Fringe Audience. We managed to squeeze in two top-to-bottom runs yesterday and it was so exciting to see the continued energy and breath being put into this living work of art.

Don't forget... we open on September 9th and tickets are available at www.vancouverfringe.com as well as the the Fringe Box Office on Granville Island!

Check back tomorrow for a feature on Paul's Socks!

Choreography is in the Bag

Our Choreo Genius!
Andrea Rabinovitch

Well, we spent the last two days working out our step-cross patterns and our step-ball-changes with Andrea Rabinovitch and we can't wait to show you our new grooves in the Firehall.

Below we have a dance step we call, "I am praying that I make it through rehearsal week." I am thinking this may be all the dance craze this coming fall.

Katherine... you are late for High-Tea!

And a "Family Picture second to none"!

We poke fun, but seriously we are soooo happy with the hard-work and effort that our trio put in for the last two days and just know our audiences are going to love your new dance moves.

Don't forget! We open on September 9th at the Firehall Arts Centre (280 East Cordova). Opening night is half-price night so if you're counting your pennies, you can't go wrong with a $6 ticket!

Buy them here!

Stay tuned for tommorrow's blog installment of "Shows We Like"... where you'll get a chance to meet the wonderful Susinn McFarlen and learn about her show "Since You Left Us!".

Take the Lenny Quiz!

Okay time for a bit of brain teasing! Grab a pen and paper, and when you are ready start the clip... test your musical knowledge and see how many of the questions you can answer correctly!



Let us know how many you got correct by leaving a comment below!

Tahiti-toids! Indulge your mind...

We thought it was time for a few little factoids, or "Tahiti-toids" as we like to call them, about the show.

Trouble in Tahiti is a one-act opera in seven scenes composed by Leonard Bernstein with an English libretto by the composer. The opera received its first performance on 12 June 1952 at Berstein's Festival of the Creative Arts on the campus of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts to an audience of nearly 3,000 people. The work is about 40 minutes long. The NBC Opera Theatre subsequently presented the opera on television in November 1952; a production which marked mezzo-soprano Beverly Wolff's professional debut in the role of Dinah. Wolff later reprised the role in the New York City Opera's first staging of the work in 1958. Bernstein's later opera, A Quiet Place (1983), incorporates Trouble in Tahiti in the form of an extended flashback, and both versions are regularly performed worldwide. (Source: Wikipedia)

Premiere:      6/12/1952

                      Waltham, Massachusetts

                      Elliot Silverstein

                      Conductor: Leonard Bernstein

                      Company: Brandeis University

Moods:          Comic, Romantic

Subjects:       Contemporary, Relationships, Society

Style:             Musically, Bernstein indulges in many of the styles he is most recognized for. The heroine's first aria has a wistful melancholy reminiscent of Aaron Copland's earlier vernacular works and of Bernstein's later writing in West Side Story, while the jazzy interludes harken back to the score Bernstein wrote for On the Town.

Vernacular:    Bernstein tried to make his opera as real as possible. He wanted everything about it to be believable. He even went to great lengths to write in language that would be heard in everyday speech during that time. “All the music [in Trouble in Tahiti] derives from American vernacular roots, as do the words. And the words are very carefully set so that they will sound in the American cadence and with the American kind of syncopated, almost slurred quality”.

Inspiration:    While it was rumoured that the troubled young couple was based on Leonard Bernstein himself and his new bride, Felicia Monealegre, there is another, perhaps more plausible, theory that the story is based on the relationship of Bernstein’s own mother and father.

Do you know any interesting facts about Bernstein or Trouble in Tahiti? If so, we'd love for you to let us know! Simply leave a comment below!

Bernstein - A compulsion to share!

One of the great things about performing a work from a 20th Century composer is all of the little tidbits of information that are available out there on the world wide web. Below are a few clips we thought you would enjoy!

This first clip we stumbled across is from an interview in which Bernstein briefly discusses his "love for people" and "compulsion to share".



It is abundantly clear from the next two clips that Bernstein was committed to sharing and education. He was not only a prolific composer, but a renowned conductor and was committed to sharing his own experiences with young conductors about art, music, and the relationship between the two, along with exploring the relationship of "self" with "the arts", and being one's best possible "self"!



When one considers Bernstein's dedication towards self and the arts it is not hard to consider that the inspiration for Trouble in Tahiti may have been a personal one. While it was rumoured that the troubled young couple was based on Leonard Bernstein himself and his new bride, Felicia Monealegre, there is another, perhaps more plausible, theory that the story is based on the relationship of Bernstein’s own mother and father. Perhaps Bernstein was giving us a personal view into his own life story!



We hope you enjoyed these little clips! Stay tuned for the Lenny Quiz!