Orange County gets Eclectic

Young Chang

Something old, something new, something commissioned, something

orange.

The second annual Eclectic Orange Festival opens tonight with a

performance of a new work by Philip Glass, kicking off seven weeks of

cultural celebration with 30 productions and 58 performances spread

across seven venues.

Around 70,000 people are expected to attend the festival organized by

the Philharmonic Society, said Dean Corey, society executive director.

About four years ago, Corey decided Orange County needed its own

version of the BAM Next Wave Festival held in New York. Instead of

joining with Next Wave, he started the Eclectic Orange Festival, modeling

it after the Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland, the Salzburg

Festival in Austria and Next Wave.

The season-long show, which partners the society with the Orange

County Performing Arts Center, Opera Pacific and the Orange County Museum

of Art, among others, has its own personality.

“We like to look for a Pacific Rim type of programming,” Corey said.

“More particularly representing the various cultures that are part of

Orange County.”

If this year’s festival can be said to have themes, they are Bach --

it’s the 250th anniversary of his death -- and new work.

Opening acts for the first weekend include the Pacific Symphony

Orchestra performing the West Coast premiere of Glass’ “Symphony No. 5”

and a world premiere by Ballet Pacifica of a collaborated work between

choreographer Peter Pucci and local visual artist Tony DeLap.

“It’s the music and art of our time,” Corey said about the importance

of new works. “It’s about today.”

Other upcoming acts include a new piece by Richard Teitelbaum,

co-commissioned by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County for Eclectic

Orange, on Oct. 19. In November, composer Mikel Rouse will present the

West Coast premiere of his cine-opera “Failing Kansas.”

Inspired by Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood,” the opera o7 verite f7

-- as some have called it -- resembles Capote’s effort to launch the new

nonfiction novel art form, Rouse said. The 80-minute multimedia opera

uses a new vocal writing technique Rouse calls “Counterpoetry.”

Segments of combined and conflicting voices are cut to fit the music.

“I didn’t want to set text and stuff in a traditional music opera

way,” he said. “[With counterpoetry,] it becomes very psychological.

These voices are flying around the room.”

Rouse brought “Dennis Cleveland” to the festival last year, an opera

with singers in the audience that uses a live tape talk show format. He

appreciates the innovation of Corey and other festival organizers in

trying new mediums and artists.

“Opera and theater in general are so mired in the past, I don’t think

it’s a valid thing to do now if you want to bring in a music theater

audience,” Rouse said. “With ‘Dennis Cleveland,’ the audience is placed

in a talk-show environment. They feel comfortable to a certain level and

have a familiarity with some of the elements.”

This weekend’s performances by the Ballet Pacifica will play with

illusions and colors. DeLap, a painter and sculptor from Corona del Mar

whose sculptural paintings are a hybrid of two and three-dimensional

works and illusions, contributed his ideas to the piece. His touches of

color transformation, disembodiment in movement and visual techniques

have melded with Pucci’s choreography style.

A whole dancer may suddenly become half a body, DeLap said, if the

dancer is wearing black on top against a black background that reveals

white tights and nothing else.

Segments of clothing may get removed during the show to reveal

different colors beneath.

“It’ll be a kaleidoscope of pieces of people,” DeLap said.

Dorothy Danner, stage director for Opera Pacific’s production of

Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” will reach for a charming performance as

rehearsal for the November show starts Monday.

“The Magic Flute” is a tricky piece, she said, with many choices on

how to play with the text. But she looks forward to fitting her directing

approach to Maurice Sendak’s stage set and costumes, which are strikingly

sinister and charming at the same time, she said.

“It’s a beloved piece,” Danner said, “And from the cast members that I

know, I think it will be beautifully sung.”

Rouse said he believes there may be a migration of artists into Orange

County.

Corey said this was part of the overall goal -- to have the festival

lead artists into the county to live and work all year as they

consistently develop a local audience.

“We have high hopes,” he said, “And my first priority is working on

the 2001 festival.”