Ovation! stages encore performance

Published 8:00 am Saturday, August 16, 2003

Thirty-seven performers costumed to evoke pre-Revolutionary France file onstage and swiftly form two rows, eyes fixed expectantly on director Ron Milton.

It’s the next-to-last rehearsal before Broadway Nights II, Ovation! Musical Theater’s second revue of the summer, and the group will learn this night if they’ve created a polished presentation in three weeks.

The stakes are high; the shows must raise enough money for the new nonprofit musical theater company to stage two full-scale musical productions in 2003-04.

“OK, listen up. We have a lot to get through tonight,” Milton says. “We’re going to do a straight run through. Performance-quality – and I want character.

“One chance, once chance only. This is not the movies.”

Milton hands the group off to Ovation music director Corinna Lapid-Munter for a warm-up that consists of scales, rapid-fire rhythmic tongue-twisters like “fish and chips and vinegar, fuzzle fuzzle fuzzle pop,” and a guided meditation.

“Thinking about your character,” Lapid-Munter says, as the cast breathes deeply with eyes closed. “What do you do for a living? What do you do to survive? How long have you been without food?”

To bring the musical characters to life – the key to the revue’s success, Milton and Lapid Munter agree – the organizers are counting on the talents of the cast.

Hailing from Bainbridge, Kingston, Poulsbo, Hansville and Seattle, the performers’ theatrical exposure runs the gamut from first-time to professional.

In the latter category, the revue marks the area debut of Catherine Petrek, an accomplished opera and musical comedy performer and director who moved to the island last month from California.

The material ranges from well-known tunes like “Dites-moi” from Rogers and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific,” sung by Madrona School student Arielle Boucher and the rousing ensemble numbers from “Les Miserables” that open and close the show, to less-familiar songs like the acerbic “You Don’t Know This Man” performed by Bainbridge High School graduate Amanda Mesett, from Carver, Carmello, Brown and Bonds’ “Parade,” a musical about the trial of Leo Franks.

Dynamic duo

Shaping cast and contents into a coherent whole presents challenges, Milton and Lapid-Munter say, but the two work in tandem to streamline the process.

“They all audition and we take a look at the talent,” Milton said. “We ask, ‘What’s the best piece you’d like to perform? Let’s hear it.’”

Once the vocalists are picked, the music becomes the focus – and making sure songs fit the singer’s personality and ability. The pair may delete tunes that stretch a voice out of range, or songs that present what they term “pitch problems.”

Milton says that he shapes the program to put contrasting songs back to back to keep audiences alert. He also pushes emoting and does blocking and staging.

Lapid-Munter works with technical aspects of vocalizing and acting to “sell” the song. “We really work well together,” she said.

Once the program is set, performers are asked to strive for new levels of achievement.

“Yes, we do push them,” Milton said. “I have to stretch them. People are comfortable hiding in choirs. They shrink down to where they’re just a little tiny bit of who they are.

“It’s my and Corinna’s job to open them up so they sing clearer and more true to what their voice can do.”

Children, as well as adults, are capable of more than one might expect, the pair believes. One children’s number, “Its A Hard Knock Life,” from Strouse and Meehan’s “Annie,” was rehearsed 20 times in a row.

But the hard work pays off when vocalists put on a show that’s better than competent.

“I want them to play,” Milton said. “Play is knowing your character and songs so well that you to have fun with it.”

* * * * *

Catch the last performance of Broadway Nights II, at 7:30 p.m. tonight at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church Parish Hall.

Ron Milton directs the production, with Corinna Lapid-Munter serving as Music Director. Karen Rice wrote the narration, and Louise Mills provided costumes.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $9 for children or at the door.

Information: 842-0472 or www.ovationmtb.com.