Date: Fri 26-Sep-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: CAROLK

Quick Words:

Superclarinet-TheatreWorks-rev

Full Text:

(rev "Superclarinet, Who?" @TheatreWorks New Milford, 9/26/97)

Theatre Review-

"Superclarinet" Is Not For Everyone

By Julie Stern

NEW MILFORD - New Milford TheatreWorks should be congratulated for its courage

in trying to be experimental. But perhaps they should have sent a music critic

to New Milford to review TheaterWorks' current production, Superclarinet Who ,

a one-woman performance in a unique genre that beggars description and defies

classification.

Certainly the program notes indicate the vast experience and musical

qualifications of the star, Dawn Ellen Whaley (as well as her electronic

accompanist, Walter Sudik), and the impressive reputation and prolific output

of composer Meyer Kupferman, who composed the score.

However, speaking as a person with a purely literary background, and being of

a curmudgeonly conventional bent, I couldn't help but think of Mark Twain's

Huckleberry Finn , and in particular, "The Royal Nonesuch," a performance

staged by the King and the Duke in order to prove you can get people to pay to

see anything.

In keeping with its title, the show consists chiefly of Ms Whaley gamboling

about the stage playing Mr Kupferman's music on her clarinet. However, the

music, while perhaps playful and ambitious, is also of a distinctly modern and

totally atonal bent, summoning up not entirely welcome memories of life with a

middle schooler during the first six months of his struggle to master a wind

instrument, when he retaliates for being forced to practice by demonstrating

just how loudly he can make the thing squawk.

The musical component of the presentation was supplemented by Ms Whaley's

version of mime, along with some freeform poetic wordplay along the lines of

"my nose, your nose, who knows, the shadow knows..." repeated quite often,

sometimes backed up by the same thing on tape. There were some fancy lighting

effects and a large flat head made of tinfoil which appeared to change colors

and had eyes that glowed, making it interesting to watch.

My advice is that if you are a curmudgeon you will not like Superclarinet a

whole lot. However a good number of people in the audience seemed to enjoy it,

and many of them stayed for the whole performance.

There are two more performances of Superclarinet Who? , this weekend at

TheatreWorks New Milford. Curtain is Friday and Saturday at 8 pm. All tickets

are $10. Call 350-6863 for reservations or details.