2024!

2024 was the year which finally saw 'The Heart of Things' reach the stage. It has been six years since Wanda Graham sent me the powerful text which would become the basis for our 'spoken-word opera' - see my blog for February 27, 2019, for my account of the genesis and early stages of this project. COVID, of course, altered its course - one blessing of the pandemic was that it gave me a long stretch of time to work uninterrupted and in solitude. The score was essentially complete by 2022, and we were able to do an online workshop with six actors, covering most of the drama (see the blog for September 7, 2022) . But once again COVID, in conjunction with other mishaps, intervened.

Tip Finless as Les Junior

Soo Garay as Nan/Pearl

One of our six actors had to withdraw a week before opening. We were
lucky to be able to replace her, but a few days later the stage manager
tested positive for COVID. Once again, we found a replacement, but then,
between the dress rehearsal and opening night, the male lead tested
positive. I stepped in, masked, to take his place, but I could not learn the
beautifully intricate blocking, including manipulating and moving scenery
throughout every corner of the space - not just between scenes but during
them as well. So we settled for an 'enhanced reading,' with costumes,
greatly reduced movement, and music stands, but - blessedly - we were
able to maintain Christian Hansen's magnificent projections.

Photographer Stoo Metz and his assistant were the only 'outsiders' to see and hear the dress rehearsal; they commented that it had the intensity of a 'fevered dream.' Wanda and I both hope that audiences will soon be able to experience this work as they did; and we are deeply grateful to everyone whose unstinting efforts enabled it to reach the stage, in the face of all obstacles.

Two other premieres marked this year - the first was 'Water and Wine at War,' performed with lusty abandon by Coastal Voices Men's Choir under Ross Thompson; and the second was my Dante-inspired piano work '...and then we saw the stars...' exquisitely realized by the amazing Jennifer King. (See blog for 9/15/2023). The Halifax premiere in September was followed by performances in Toronto and... Yellowknife! - and Jennifer performed the work again here on January 11, 2025, as part of the Open Waters festival. I had made a few revisions, notably to Paradise - I felt I had done justice to the exuberant joy, but somewhat neglected the ecstatic contemplation - and Jennifer's performance of the revision had a depth and subtlety which fully encompassed both.