Jessica Dennett

I was shocked and then realized I was behind the eight ball when hearing that Cincinnati's Playhouse in the Park would open its season with a musical interpretation of The Secret Garden. Shocked because I somehow missed that my beloved girlhood book and movie had been turned into a musical. Albeit this occurred back in 1991, but still I found myself curious as to how the story would translate into this medium. Well I watched the performance of this version and I have mixed thoughts.

Not just a ballet but also an adventure into a mystical world full of wonder, no pun intended. Cincinnati's Ballet Company took on a behemoth of a story bringing alive the magical world of Wonderland as we followed Alice through her dream. As phenomenal as the dancers were, the true accolades go to the production staff. The designers used technical ingenuities never seen applied to a ballet before, or at least not by me.

Brand new and completely unique to Cincinnati was the decision to have the ballet open in the Kitchen. I found the scene to be inventive and whimsical and the focus on the food made the intrusion of the mice more practical during Clara's dream. I loved that the big blue cake made during the opening scene and used during the party served as the scenic backdrop in the Sugar Plum Fairy's kingdom. This larger than life cake also served as an entrance for the different acts which left the audience with plenty of mystery as they wondered how the dancers were appearing and disappearing on and off the stage. Also unique this year was the inclusion of Frisch's Big Boy during the battle scene, which was of course included for the ballet's opening night performance as this year marked Frisch's 40th year of sponsorship for the Nutcracker. This was my first year seeing Cincinnati's version of this Christmas classic and I can't wait to see what they have in store for us next year.

Playhouse in the Park brings the 'Girl Singer' home this holiday season with Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical. The show takes the audience on a journey from 'Rosie's' childhood to fame, to mental breakdown, to her comeback career; all through therapy sessions during which we are regaled with some of her most well known songs.

The Cincinnati POPS Orchestra, under the direction of John Morris Russell, has recorded SUPERHEROES a new and incredibly fun CD. Along with the POPS the CD showcases the talents of the May Festival Youth Chorus, the CCM Musical Theatre Department, Julie Spangler, and even Adam West who played the 3rd feature film Batman in 1966 and starred as Batman in the ABC television series that ran from 1966 - 1968. All 15 tracks are the musical themes for the most memorable television and movie superheroes. This record will satisfy many different tastes of music because while some of the songs are completely instrumental others include speaking and singing.

The Cincinnati Ballet blew audiences away with its World Premier of King Arthur's Camelot. The completely original ballet truly shows the world what the Cincinnati performing arts scene is capable of. This was my first experience with the Cincinnati Ballet and I am officially a super fan. I have always loved this classical form of dance, and King Arthur's Camelot is definitely the best ballet I have ever seen.

The performance began with a Prelude video about Colin Currie who is a famed Percussionist and who was the guest performer of the evening. It was interesting but unnecessary, and a rather lack luster opening to the performance. Before any music gets played the Concertmaster walks onto the stage and warms the orchestra up, for this particular evening we had the pleasure of having Rebecca McMullan Culnan, the Associate Concertmaster, who did a beautiful job. Then finally were joined by our Conductor for the evening, Christoph Konig. The opening song was perfect in that is was the Overture to the Opera Der Freischutz composed by Weber, and it was like experiencing a entire Play in one song.