Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Opera Theatre
Performers in Enchanted Parking(Lot) include soprano Tiana Sorenson (left), mandolinist Joe Riggenbach (center) and violinist Becky Schulz (right).
Just last January—eons ago—Milwaukee Opera Theatre (MOT) soprano Alaina Carlson sang Franz Schubert’s harrowing art song Gretchen am Spinnrade for the UWM dance department’s Winterdances, while students executed choreography fashioned by Danceworks Artistic Director Dani Kuepper in response to the song’s love-mad lyrics. Rightly happy with the result, Kuepper and MOT’s Artistic Director Jill Anna Ponasik decided to create an entire show built on European art songs for their combined professional companies to perform this fall. Then the pandemic struck.
They didn’t give up. They’re made a 45-minute show—deliberately short to limit exposure—set outdoors against the night sky and the Milwaukee River in the parking lot behind the Danceworks studios. Enchanted Park(ing Lot) will be presented twice nightly, at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 15-17.
“The idea was to create something that feels right for us right now,” Ponasik says. “It’s a little melancholy, somewhat solemn, but there’s this bubbling energy underneath. It’s a salon repertoire from the 19th century, delicate and ethereal. Just eight pieces of music but they all flow, one into the other.”
The show will include Gretchen am Spinnrade, but Kuepper is leaving the ending unresolved. “More like a question mark,” she says, “given the place that we’re in and autumn and the Halloween season. We wanted a moodier, more haunted, more spirit-like feeling.”
Carlson will sing again with Becky Schultz on violin. Every song is a solo. If a singer must unmask to be understood (decisions are pending), it will be at a good distance from everyone on site. “They’ll never share the same spot on stage,” Ponasik said. “We have to keep the singers moving so they’re not breathing each other’s air.” Every dancer and musician will be masked throughout.
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A second Schubert piece, Death and the Maiden, is on the program, along with a violin, mandolin and baritone version of Saint-Saéns’ Dance Macabre, and Faure’s beautiful love song, Le Secret. Two music improvisations will share the night air with the art songs. Master percussionist Ding Lorenz will play on crystal glasses while Christal Wagner dances; and master violinist Allen Russell will respond musically to improvisations by the Danceworks Youth Performance Company.
Each member of the maximum 75-person audience will be given a parking lot spot. “Tickets must be purchased in advance,” Kuepper explains. “We can’t handle walk-ups and keep everyone socially distanced. When people purchase tickets, they’ll receive a reminder to bring a facial mask, a lawn chair, and an extra layer of clothing or a blanket. The weather prediction is dry but chilly, with a high in the upper 50s.”
“In this crazy time of pandemic,” Kuepper adds, “I think the best we can do is have increased compassion and increased rigor. And maybe because Danceworks is my connection to what’s normal in terms of art and creativity, I feel attached to our parking lot. So as beautiful as a parking lot can be, this parking lot is going to be beautiful.”
For tickets, visit danceworksmke.org or call 414-277-8480 x6007.
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