The Rite Stuff

The opening of Ballet X's Rite to Spring, choreographed by co-artistic director Matthew Neenan, is perfectly timed. The piece is constructed around the range of emotions that the coming of spring evokes, and Philadelphia is precisely in that transitional period.

The creativity and the execution of Rite, which is very removed from Stravinsky's work, are stunning. As the audience enters the theater, the dancers are on stage, underneath a carpet of gauze. One lone female figure lies atop the gauze, motionless, while the others move slowly beneath the surface. Then, like the awaking of the earth, they emerge.

The ballet is performed with members of band Lake Trout (www.laketrout.com) onstage accompanying. Matthew Pierce composed the music for Rite, which is by turns wistful and playful. Some aspects of the composition reminded me of Badly Drawn Boy's The Hour of Bewilderbeast.

Neenan's choreography experiments with the gradual awakening of spring, then transitions into its joyful excitment. A theme of fertility runs throughout the piece - not raw sexuality, but the playful flirtation of youth. It is this element that makes Neenan's work fresh. This playfulness especially emerges in the latter part of the performance, when the dancers emerge in the floral dresses and bright button-ups of an outdoor wedding. A few dancers play spin the bottle to the side of the stage.

One thing I can't figure out is if they planned Christine Cox's pregnancy to coincide with the performances. She romps around the stage with all all the benevolence of a fertility goddess. She even gives a flower to one of the audience members, starting a chain reaction among the other dancers.

Among the dancers, I am always impressed with Meredith Rainey, whose power is only outdone by his grace. Emily Wagner, too, commands attention on the stage. You can't take your eyes off of her, and her sinewy extension is amazing. All of these dancers are pure athletes - more rippling muscles than frail delicacy. It's so refreshing.

Next up for Ballet X (www.balletx.org) is an all-female performance this summer choreographed by Cox. We wonder if she'll maintain her fertility goddess role for this role.

Odd, but not Fresh

The problem with success is that it's hard to follow, and that's precisely the trouble with the Walnut Street Theatre's current production of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, playing through April 27th (walnutstreettheatre.org). The Odd Couple is a play that comes with a lot of baggage. I saw a production of it years ago in the female version, and this seems to be the only way to avoid the audience expectations. When parts are as closely identified with actors as Oscar and Felix are with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, no other actors will ever be truly satisfying.

It's a shame for Avi Hoffman (Oscar) and Gary Marachek (Felix), too, because they do their best to fill the very large shoes. Hoffman, especially, is very believable, while Marachek at times borders on caricature. Incidentally, I saw the two of them on the street the other day, and they seem to just wear their own clothes as costumes. I felt like I was transported from 2008 Philadelphia into 1960s New York.

The English sisters in the play, played by Madi Distefano and Leah Walton, have far fewer audience expectations to contend with, and consequently steal the show. They play the absurdity of the feather-brained British floosies to a tee, and garner more laughs than any of the men on stage.

Unfortunately, despite the actors' best efforts, this Odd Couple disappoints both older and younger audience members. The older audience members want Lemmon and Matthau. The younger audience members (me among them) are put off by the 60s-era sexism present in the show. The Walnut's production proves that it's too soon for a modern version of this play to become a vintage revival - it just seems dated.

Now a plug for another current performance: Ballet X's Rite to Spring is playing now through Sunday at the Wilma Theater. I was thoroughly impressed with their innovative performance in the fall, so I'm psyched to see Matthew Neenan's new piece this weekend. Anyone who's interested in dance should not miss this show. The music for it was composed by indie band Lake Trout's Matthew Pierce, and he'll be playing onstage with other members of the band. I'll be posting a full review this weekend.

Shaken, Not Stirred

Last night was Pink Martini's debut at the Kimmel Center, and they brought down the house. I have never seen a Kimmel crowd so responsive. It was like the scene in In & Out where Kevin Kline's character is desperately trying not to dance to prove he's straight, but can't stop himself from busting a move. Everyone's shoulders were swaying and heads were bobbing - and this was an audience of very mixed ages and backgrounds. A few people in the front jumped up and free styled for multiple songs. And during the encore number, "Brazil," the hall errupted. People were salsa dancing in the isles.

Pink Martini performs more songs in other languages than English, but their tone transcends cultural barriers. Watching them perform is like experiencing a large-scale French cabaret. The musicians in this small orchestra are extremely talented, and many classicaly trained. China Forbes and Thomas M. Lauderdale met and shared musical tastes at Harvard before they decided to form Pink Martini. Lauderdale plays piano and Forbes sings in full diva-style. Among the other musicians there were many amazing solos, but the stand-outs were Gavin Bondy on trumpet, Robert Taylor on trambone, and Nicholas Crosa on violin. It was refreshing to see such talented musicians perform with playfulness instead of angst.

I had several favorite songs from the evening. "Sympathique," a French original, has the delightful chorus "I don't want to work / I don't want to lunch / I only want to forget / and so I smoke." "Hang on Little Tomatoe" was inspired by a vintage Heinz ketchup advertisement. The subject of "Dosvedanya Mio Bombino" is a man who is half Russian and half Italian but cannot settle on which to call home. On their latest album, the title song "Hey Eugene" is a revenge against a guy Forbes met at a party who asked for her number and never called.

Pink Martini's next stop is Long Island University in New York, and they are actually worth the road trip. To learn more about this innovative group visit http://www.pinkmartini.com/.

German Humor - It does Exist

Looking for a good German comedy to address the issue of reason versus faith while throwing in a ton of high art literary references? I thought so! Then the Arden Theatre Company's Wittenberg is your play.

Wittenberg, a new play by David Davalos, is set at the University of Wittenberg in the 16th century, a time when, theoretically, John Faustus, Martin Luther, and Prince Hamlet could all have been involved in academic life there. Hamlet, characteristically indecisive, is an undeclared senior at the university. Faustus, a professor of philosophy, and Luther, a theologian, compete with each other to influence him. The play illustrates the age-old debate between humanism and religion.

Despite what could be seen as stark subject matter, Wittenberg is very funny. The play does not condescend to its audience members, but expects them to understand its fast, wry humor. Scott Greer positively steals the show as Dr. Faustus. I expecially enjoyed his rendition of "Bad Case of Loving You." Shawn Fagan, too, had a very amusing scene when Hamlet played Laertes in a tennis match.

The one complaint I have of Wittenberg is this: despite a very non-elitist tone, the play can only appeal to a very select audience. Most of the jokes hinge on an understanding of the plays Hamlet and Faust, and an understanding of the Protestant Reformation. If you do qualify as someone, however, with a knowledge of these subjects, do go. Wittenberg has the qualities of both eliciting laughs and making one think, making it a rarity in the contemporary theater world. For information about the extended dates of this performance visit the Arden website at http://www.ardentheatre.org/.