Music and Theatre

Thu Apr 29 09:17:56 EDT 2004

I have a number of hobbies, including music (composing, arranging, and playing) and the theatre (acting). (No, I don't want to direct! Well, actually, I do direct one of the Masonic degrees. See my Masonry page.)

Theatre

Acting locales depend on success at auditions; my 1995 appearances were with C.A.S.T. in McLean, VA as Cdr. Harbison in South Pacific in February/March and in Count Dracula as Professor Heinrich Van Helsing in September and October. Sometimes, when I don't get into the cast of a musical, I can be found in the orchestra pit instead. General information on theatre in the DC area is also available.

I performed in the 1996 Hexagon production, "Washington's only original, political, satirical, musical comedy revue." This was the 41st anniversary show; Hexagon has raised over $2 million for charity over the preceding four decades. The beneficiary for 1996 was Habitat for Humanity, which received over $110,000. The show, titled Election Jeer, was, as always, a mix of skits, blackouts, musical numbers, and "newsbreaks." Celebrities from the local DC media, and some politicians, participated as "newsbreak" readers. Yours truly did some of the writing, including one sketch ("Medicare") and one or two newsbreaks. The show ran 6-30 March 1996.

Most recently, I played the Rabbi in a production of The G-d of Isaac, to be staged in 2002 November. Before coming to the DC area, I lived in the northern suburbs of Philadelphia and was a member of Playcrafters and Dramateurs and appeared in several shows with them, as well as at other theatres occasionally.

I learned much about the craft of acting from being directed in Tolkien's The Hobbit in 1969 by Prof. Nancy Swortzell of the Educational Theatre Dept. (as it was then known) at New York University, which was also where I became competent at the art of theatrical makeup. (Yes, I was working on my Ph.D. dissertation in math/CS at the time! And yes, Dr. Joseph Traub, then of Bell Labs, within the space of two months saw me give a paper on numerical methods at the ACM Conference and then portray Balin, the oldest dwarf, on stage.) I also learned much from improvisation classes at Dudley Riggs' Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis; alas, Dudley has decided to retire after 38 years, but the Workshop will continue.

You can read my complete theatre resume if you like.

Music

I play flute with the Vienna (VA) Community Band, which has an active concert schedule from March through December. I used to perform with The George Washington University Symphony (formerly known as the GWU Community Orchestra) but the professor (James Wright) who directed the group retired, leading to a long hiatus in my orchestral career. The GWU Community Orchestra eventually resumed under the direction of Desi Alston, and I served as their piccolo player in 2001 and 2002. However, Desi was replaced as conductor in the fall of 2002, and the new one doesn't seem to need me. I also joined the Concordia German Concert Band, which rehearses in McLean, VA, and has occasional performances on a one-off basis.

As I mentioned before, I compose and arrange music. In 1996, my arrangement of the Hummel Trumpet Concerto, 3rd movement, was premiered by the Vienna Commmunity Band, while an original composition, the Dawson Masonic March, was given a premiere by the Grand Lodge Musicians of DC for the Grand Visitation of Dawson Lodge #16, Free And Accepted Masons of the District of Columbia. The Dawson Masonic March was arranged for a small group; it was then expanded to full concert band orchestration and premiered by the Vienna Community Band. 1997 premieres by the Vienna Community Band of music I arranged included a setting of Psalm 150 by Ludwig Lewandowski and "Christmas Overnight" (an arrangement of traditional though less-often heard carols).

For the 1997 Hexagon auditions, I wrote a piece for the show on money and politics. I didn't get cast, and they didn't use the piece either. But the lyrics may appear in a publication of The Locke Institute. Or I may shop it to the Capitol Steps or Gross National Product, two other DC-area political satire groups.

A number of other works followed. Currently pending performance are "Hornpipe for Fat Cats" (originally a vocal piece for Hexagon; see above), another Lewandowski setting of Psalm CL, "Day of Light, Day of Joy" (also originally a choral work--might someday be used in that form), and an arrangement of the fourth movement, second suite of Ancient Airs and Dances for Lute by Ottarino Respighi. I'm also working on a piece ("King James's Bold Explorers") for the quadricentenary of the Jamestown colony, which will be celebrated all over Virginia in 2007. And other things...

Flutists are easily captured from their wild habitat