Use the fields below to perform an advanced search of The Mercer Cluster's archives. This will return articles, images, and multimedia relevant to your query.
3 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(03/21/17 2:10pm)
Macon has a long and colorful history, which has been well-preserved not just in books and buildings, but also in memories. The true tale of one Maconite has been rediscovered and immortalized in the new opera “Hugh Smalling,” composed by Mercer professor Christopher Schmitz.
The story took place during World War II, around the time Smalling joined the Navy. During his deployment, Hugh traveled and fell in love with an Australian girl, June Thomas.
However, in September 1943, the ship Smalling served on, the USS Nauset, was sunk. Hugh has been listed as “lost” since that day.
The play is based on Smalling’s many letters home about his journeys in the Navy and his newfound love. The opera also includes a sub-plot concerning the racism faced by black serviceman Benny, a friend of the Smalling family, after returning home from war.
“Hugh Smalling” is a collaboration between Schmitz, a national award-winning composer and Mercer professor, and local poet and historian Suzanne Doonan, who wrote the opera’s libretto.
“I was very interested in the prospect of composing an opera tied directly to the history of this region,” Schmitz said. “Suzanne and I brainstormed ideas for a subject, and the Hugh Smalling story immediately appealed to us.”
Mercer University Opera is preparing an upcoming performance of “Hugh Smalling” in a workshop format: there will be no scenery, minimal costumes and props, and only selected scenes from the opera will be performed.
All the focus will be on showcasing the artistic talents of the actors and musicians. The company includes a cast of 17, including soloists and a chorus, accompanied by an orchestra of 14, all students from Mercer.
“I am continually amazed at the talent of our students,” Schmitz said, “They are truly bringing the characters to life in front of our eyes! Mercer faculty [director] Martha Malone and [musical director] Rich Kosowski bring a wealth of operatic experience to this project with their expert stage and musical direction.”
Director Martha Malone is particularly confident in the opera’s production value.
“The story of this young man’s experiences and the culture and time in which he lived is compelling, and composer Chris Schmitz has given a masterful setting to Suzanne Doonan’s powerful, evocative lyrics and dialogue,” Malone said in an email. “We hope to mount a full production of the entire opera in the near future. The fact that the story is drawn from local history adds an immediacy and relevance to the experience of our student cast. It’s been a wonderful opportunity for all of us to participate in the creation of a new work written specifically for our singers.”
The premiere of “Hugh Smalling” (as a work in progress) will be held in Fickling Hall of the McCorkle Music Building on March 28 from 7-8 p.m. It is open to the general public for a $7 admission fee at the entrance, and free for students with a school ID.
(02/03/17 4:20pm)
The former Broadway show and nationally-touring musical “42nd Street” is coming to Macon’s Grand Opera House on Feb. 7-8 at 7:30 p.m.
The musical is based on the novel of the same name by Bradford Ropes and its 1933 film adaptation. It tells the story of the young dancer Peggy Sawyer’s path to stardom under the guidance of the hard-nosed Broadway director Julian Marsh, who strived to make a successful musical during the Great Depression.
The original production of “42nd Street” in 1980 ran for over 8 years and counted 3,486 performances, according to the musical’s official website. It was revived with great success in 2001: both the original production and the 2001 revival won Tony Awards and Drama Desk Awards. The same team behind its award-winning revival is also the driving force of this production, with director and co-author Mark Bramble and choreographer Randy Skinner. Starring as Julian Marsh is Matthew Taylor, along with Kaitlin Lawrence as Dorothy Brock and Caitlin Ehlinger as Peggy Sawyer.
“42nd Street” is the third show in the ongoing Broadway Series of Grand Opera House, followed by “Once” on March 14-15. The series consists of various touring troupes performing hit shows of the Great White Way. It is no child’s play to bring a Broadway show to the Grand.
“The Grand Opera House is the only theatre in Central Georgia large enough to accommodate these nationally-touring, top quality Broadway shows. These shows come in with four to five semi trucks of sets, costumes and tech and take months to prepare for,” said Grand Opera House marketing director Meagan Evans.
The Grand Opera House offers Mercer students a student rush ticket discount for every show in the Broadway series. Discounted tickets for “42nd Street” will be available for only the day before opening on Feb. 6 between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the price of $20. Full price of the tickets ranges between $45 to $71. Don’t forget to go in person and bring your Mercer ID to get this discount.
The box office is at 651 Mulberry Street, but students can also get tickets from Mercer Ticket Sales on campus.
(09/20/16 10:28pm)
From Sept. 8 to 11, Mercer Theatre brought Johnna Adams’ Gidion’s Knot to the stage at the Tattnall Square Center for the Arts — and what a rollercoaster ride it was!
The play revolves around the mystery of the death of Gidion, a young public school student. Teacher Heather Clark (played by Kelly Mann) and Gidion’s mother Corryn Fell (played by Sheri Gilbert Wilson) exchange volatile ideas in Clark’s classroom during a parent-teacher conference as they delve further into the ghastly circumstance surrounding Gidion’s suicide, which was coolly dropped on us ten minutes into the play.
That which followed was not a fallout — it was the raw ingredient of a tragic hero. Jealousy and contempt, scandal and rebellion, courage and cowardice in life and death swung back and forth between Mann and Wilson like a chaotic pendulum, the micro-grandiose of a two-person play in its full glory. You know it when you see it.
The props, as per Mercer tradition, tended towards minimalism, yet a simple array of desks just brought on the smell of a classroom. The desks were borrowed from Alexander II Magnet School; you can’t beat the real stuff! The teacher’s desk was well-decorated, though the lack of a computer struck a discord from the play’s contemporary setting. The student project-filled classroom walls, on the other hand, were condensed to a rectangle at one corner. This part of the set lacked volume, but was well-made to serve its theatrical purpose.
The two actresses presented the plot with superb authenticity. Wilson delivered her lines with such intense sorrow and anger that I felt as though I was watching a heated debate. There were occasional slightly awkward moments at the beginning, but they faded as the plot built up. Mann, whose character was always on the defense, shone by holding her composure in a moment of freefall de-escalation as the audience laughed at the imminent death of her cat.
The play runs for about an hour and a half, and it was no small challenge to cram all the ups and downs of the play into such short timeframe. The sharp contrast of tones as the discourse rapidly flowed from gods to family, from poetry to life, made the suspicion that Fell has bipolar disorder a lingering afterthought.
The best thing about this play was its manifold conflicts. For example, it first appeared as though Fell simply blamed Clark out of emotional necessity. However, after reading a note from Gidion’s classmate Seneca, Fell revealed that she hates the insincerity of everyone in the school, who would rather conform to the perceived “good” standard than to act out of natural inclination. Her interpretation of Gidion’s poetic violence is in stark contrast with Clark’s view that children should be protected against the inevitable loss of innocence.
Fundamentally, one seeks to embrace all that is to come as inevitability while the other desperately struggles to avoid the very things which she views as calamities.
At the end of the adventurous trip, the phone rang in darkness, leaving only a ray of light to shine over Gidion’s desk. I was seized by this moment, unable to decide how I felt about it. But only as I smelled the tepid air of Macon in the evening did I realize how incredible this experience had been.