Hello! For the first time, a guest blog. The following is a review by Wesley Austin: “Diversity educator, public speaker, gender outlaw, parent, geek, blogger”

Frankenstein!!

Underneath the sunshine and happiness of childhood lies a thin thread of horror that you just can’t escape. That An ‘alien sound tube’, a kazoo and even what looked like a penny whistle were among the more unorthodox instruments found among the traditional violins, oboes and french horns should have been an indication that this was NOT going to be another revision of some Beethoven symphony or Chopin’s minute waltz. The K-W Symphony’s presentation of Frankenstein!! conducted by Edwin Outwater and narrated (yes, narrated) by Daniel Handler (known among the unwashed childhood masses as Lemony Snicket) was a musical journey back into childhood and all the terrors that lurked just out of eyesight.

The fun started right from the get go, while introducing and thanking sponsors and whatnot, the audience was directed to laugh in as dark and evil a manner a possible rather than clap. Let me tell you, that was far more enjoyable than the staid ‘thank you sponsors’ clapping that typically goes on at such events. When Mr. Outwater took front and centre stage, he immediately delcared he knowledge of the horrible and earned a place in my heart when he recited a well known rhyme from the movie A Nightmare on Elm Street I don’t know how many people in the audience caught the reference but I sure did and it set a great tone for the rest of the evening. We were advised that tonights’ program would explore how horror can move from simply terrifying to suprisingly silly in what often seems to be the blink of an eye.

Now for those of us who’ve seen countless numbers of horror movies, it goes without saying that we understand instinctively how much the musical score can set the mood of a given scene or even film. It’s another thing entirely to have the music taken out of a visual context and then being allowed to experience it as the sole thematic element.  Mr. Outwater did exactly that as he played a selection of pieces which, although very disturbing in their own rights, were very different. Whether it’s evoking images of Russian Secret Police relentlessly hunting you as you dare to put to music your experiences to the inner torment and abandonment you may feel, the evening’s first selections gave us widly differing views of terror and suffering.

Our narrator made his presence known and the audience was told that the first part of tonight’s main feature was to be a musical tour through the House of Frankenstein, a movie starring Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr. From the opening title through Dracula’s resurrection, pursuit and destruction as well as Gypsies having tantrums and a jealous hunchback (it’s really not fair that the werewolf got to drive the carriage!) slithering fingers of fear danced beside wild laughter as the score moved from subtle shadows to simple absurdity. One of the highlights was the dancing Gypsies. I think they were a bit put off by the forcefulness of the narrator…either that or their hearts weren`t really in it (perhaps their hearts had been removed?) What the audience lacked in visual stimulation (afterall, there was no movie playing alongside the score) Mr. Handler more than made up for in in narration. And what narration he did. Left, right, up and down, Mr. Handler’s performance was splendidly animated. In fact, the second half of the evening, the recitations of poems by H C Artmann (with English translations by Harriett Watts) and the musical Pan-Demonium that accompanied them were simply breathtaking. Wildly funny and animated, Mr. Handler’s baritone evoked an authoritative German Herr, a sneaky and deranged scientist and nearly everything in between. At one point during the Monsterlet, I turned to my companion and remarked that what was going on sounded very much like a normal day at my house.

Folks, all I can say is if you were not able to attend this particular concert, then you have missed what is arguably the most fun one could have and still call it ‘culture’.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 9th, 2011 at 2:20 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.