People, events, and ideas of interest from the narrative
arts.
IT WAS CALLED 'A TRIUPHANT MAIDEN VOYAGE INTO A NEW
FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT' by the Nashville Banner.
And 'a multimedia piece of art in which virtuosity meets
unpretentiousness" by the Roanoke Times.
What's all the fuss about?
How about Connie Regan-Blake telling a version of "Wicked
John and the Devil" in partnership with the Kandinsky
Trio, a traditional chamber trio composed of pianist Elizabeth
Bachelder, cellist Alan Weinstein, and violinist Benedict
Goodfriend.
Add in music composed by Mike Reid, a former All-Pro
tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals who now writes country-western
music, and you have what some are calling a totally
new entertainment genre.
According to Regan-Blake, the blending of notes with
words is nothing new. Several storytellers have collaborated
with orchestras to perform narrative works, including
Jay O'Callahan. And, of course, storyteller collaborations
with musicians have been common for years.
But, says the teller, "To work with a piano trio
like this and perform the kind of work we're doing, I
think it's very much cutting edge."
And many people have tended to agree. The work, called
Tales of Appalachia, premiered at the Center
for Performing Arts at Penn State University in October
1995 and is now eight performances into its second season.
What makes it so different? For one thing, the story
is told, not just narrated, which immediately distinguishes
the work from similar classical pieces. Also, using a
piano trio makes it easier for the voices to blend and
interact. The four performers work more as "a quartet"
than as two performing entities, explained Regan-Blake.
"There are times when only the trio is playing and
times when only I'm speaking or telling, but there are
also lots of times when it is very much interwoven. I
have a really intimate relationship with the audience,
but at the same time I'm very connected with the trio."
The original idea for Tales of Appalachia came
from Mark Baylin, the trio's manager, who was searching
for a way to broaden the trio's appeal and to change the
idea that chamber performances are stuffy and too high-brow.
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Above: The
Kandinsky Trio, Benedict Goodfriend, violin; Alan Weinstein,
cello; Elizabeth Bachelder, piano. Below:
Storyteller Connie Regan-Blake
"He
wanted to do something related to Appalachia, which is
where we're based, and, of course, one of the first things
that comes to mind is storytelling," confirmed the
trio's cellist Alan Weinstein.
Getting all the major components together, however, was
no easy task. Initially, it required lining up nine venues
or sponsors in the Appalachian region, even before the
creative process could begin. And the right composer and
storyteller had to be selected to make the equation work.
Although the trio conducted an all-out search for a storyteller,
soliciting some 70 audiotapes to review, they settled
on Regan-Blake based almost entirely on word-of-mouth
recommendations. They wanted someone who had toured extensively
and who had worked with different kinds of people.
Regan-Blake fit the bill.
The selection of 'Wicked John and the Devil" was
a joint effort between Reid, the trio, and Connie. In
the end, they settled on a version that Connie had originally
heard from storyteller Ray Hicks at the First National
Storytelling Festival in 1973.
Once the story was a definite go, the storyteller consulted
with Hicks, who maintained that Wicked John wasn't a bad
person; he just had a hot, tedious job. Says Regan-Blake,
"Ray said a lot of blacksmiths lost an eye or were
burned from fire spitting at them. It (blacksmithing)
was a hard job, and yet blacksmiths were necessary for
the community. Ray felt that was why they cussed so much
and were angry most of the time."
With this newfound empathy for her character, Regan-Blake
developed a taped version and sent it to Reid, who then
wrote the score. When the trio didn't particularly like
the composer's first draft, they sent it back for reworking
- something that Regan-Blake believes made all the difference.
"Instead of bucking, Mike got down to work and really
went through the roof creatively with what he produced
next. I think that opened up a new door of creativity
for him."
Most audiences and critics seem to agree. 'People react
to it so favorably," said Weinstein. "To see
that every time we perform has been exciting. People who
have never been to a chamber concert before are coming
and they just love it."
Finding new audiences for both art forms - chamber music
and storytelling - was a major goal of everyone concerned.
They feel they have accomplished that goal. And both the
trio and Regan-Blake will continue to tour the work as
long as audiences respond favorably to the show. The two
may even collaborate on a different story in the future.
In the meantime, they've been asked to produce a CD of
the performance on the D'Note label (San Francisco), as
well as a video for the Public Broadcasting Service. Both
projects will be released this spring.
For more information about Tales of Appalachia, Connie
Regan-Blake, toll-free: 1-800-864-0299 www.storywindow.com
1997 Performances of "Tales of Appalachia"
January 25 · University of Richmond; Richmond,
VA
January 28 · Shippensburg University; Shippensburg,
PA
February 1 · Roanoke College; Salem, VA
February
7 · Keene State College; Keene, NH
February 8 · Plymouth State College; Plymouth,
NH
March 1 · Bradford Creative and Performing Arts
Center; University of Pennsylvania/Bradford, PA
March 8 · Ohio University Performing Arts Series,
Athens, OH
March 14 · T.B. Sheldon Auditorium; Red Wing,
MN
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