A Director’s Perspective: Kenny Leon talks about the differences between directing theatre, film, and opera.

Kenny Leon directed the world premiere of Margaret Garner at Michigan Opera Theatre, Cincinnati Opera and the Opera Company of Philadelphia. Broadway directing credits include Radio Golf (four Tony nominations), Gem of the Ocean (five Tony nominations), and the Tony-award winning A Raisin in the Sun. He recently directed the film version of A Raisin in the Sun, which aired on ABC in February 2008.

Kenny Leon will direct the Chicago premiere of the opera, Margaret Garner, which will grace the Auditorium's stage November 1-9, 2008.

As a Director, I have been blessed to work in many different venues with much varied material. I’ve directed from classic theatre, to drama, to comedy, to musical reviews, to film, and to opera. While they all share some aspects in common, each genre presents new challenges and opportunities to explore the artistic realm. In a film, for instance, the musical score is added at the end of the movie in post-production. In opera, you begin with the music and work to fit the story into the music.

In theatre, the focus is on the storytelling and the acting. In opera, the focus of the production is for the singers to hit the notes and sing to the best of their ability. The challenge that I faced in doing my first opera was that most of the singers had been trained to have the music and vocals be the most important (and really, only) priority of the show. They had a tendency to “park and bark,” if you will.

But the idea behind having more stage directors do opera is to get more of the acting into the singing, which creates a more fluid story. When I did Margaret Garner, I had the privilege of working with Denyce Graves, who is a born actress. She’s a singer, but she’s an actress. So when you see the production, you will experience wonderful singers, but also singers who are acting. My job as a Broadway director is to facilitate telling the story. I ask them to move and interact with the set and props, yet still expect them to hit the notes. It’s trying to integrate those two worlds – of singing and acting. It’s been very exciting for me but also very challenging. Most opera singers I’ve worked with embrace that idea, but they are still concerned about hitting that note. And the audience is paying their money to hear them hit that note. But I’m confident that they can hit that note and do the blocking and do the movement and keep it real. If we succeed, it’s a much more powerful art form than almost any other because music is so universal. With the flow of music, people are willing to forgive a lot, so you can say much more with music than you can say with drama.

I really do love opera, but I still need to balance it with other art forms. In the opera world, everything is exaggerated. To the extent that even on Opening Night, they told me to go out and take a bow after the show finished. And I was like, “What? I’m not taking a bow!” As a Director, I’d never taken a bow before. But after I did…I was like ‘That feels pretty good!”

Opera has also taught me something about being in the moment. In theatre and film, I’m always telling actors to be in the moment. Don’t be ahead of it. Don’t be beside it. Be right there engaged in the person you’re talking to. And if you can’t engage the person you’re talking to, then you can’t engage the audience. With opera, you totally have to be in the moment. When you have the perfect note, with the perfect costume, with the perfect set – then that’s a beautiful moment. Those moments add up to two and a half hours, and that’s an amazing lesson to learn about being in the moment…quality time shared in the communal experience that is live theatre.

Learn more about Margaret Garner.

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Camper Carried Away By Balloon

Before the balloon launch on Wednesday afternoon, local camper Fajr Jaco was carried away by her balloon. According to bystanders, she floated all the way to the ceiling of the Congress Lounge before stopping. One relieved counselor commented, “Thank goodness this happened before we went outdoors!”

Jaco is known for being one of our most diminutive campers, and apparently her balloon was oversized and filled with fresh helium. A rogue updraft caused by the commotion of the other campers running around with their balloons caused Fajr’s balloon to take flight suddenly, carrying Fajr in tow.

Luckily, a couple of tall staff members at Hands Together, Heart to Art were able to retrieve the girl and the balloon from the ceiling. Thankfully, Fajr was completely unharmed as was her big pink balloon. Once she was back on terra firma, Fajr cried, “Again! Again!” Strangely, none of the other campers were hoisted aloft by their balloons.

Before heading outside to Buckingham Fountain, camp authorities had to weight Fajr’s feet with two bricks. According to one camp counselor who asked to remain anonymous, Fajr was the slowest camper heading to the lake, but was arguably one of the cutest.

Once the balloons were released, Fajr’s was one of the first to reach the clouds, according to an account from a Chicago pigeon.

Fajr now dreams of becoming a pilot or hot air balloonist. We all hope, whatever Fajr does in the future, that she wears a parachute.

Making the World More Beautiful

On Monday, campers expressed their creative and artistic sides through the medium of incredibly messy pastel crayons. Visual artists Barb Davis and her daughter Liz provided the drawing utensils, aprons, and large sheets of white paper.

The campers, whose project was to draw a self portrait, provided the genius. Each drawing was unique unto the artists’ skills, as well as appearance. While some campers attempted to draw pictures resembling themselves, others drew pictures of locations and things that they liked.

From hotdogs and rainbows to places and faces, each picture stood out from the rest. After all the beautiful portraits were completed, they were all posted for display on the wall in the Congress Lounge. Campers did not leave empty handed, though. The wide variety of pastel colors left on the children’s clothes and hands was a reminder of all the hard work that was put into these pictures.

SPECIAL REPORT - Local Camper Attacked by Alligator

On Thursday afternoon, sources report that local camper Keilani Williams was attacked by a rogue alligator in Room 226.

How the alligator entered the university in downtown Chicago, made it to the second floor, and managed to ambush the camper in question, we may never know. The alligator was reported to be unusually diminutive, with a fuzzy coat, rather than the more common scales. Its back legs may also be missing.

When questioned about the event, Williams yelled, “Ha ha ha!” Clearly, the seriousness of the situation had gone to her head.

The alligator, which may in fact be a puppet, escaped the classroom in a plastic bin at the end of rehearsal. The whereabouts of the fierce beast are, as yet, sketchy. Local authorities and camp administrators suspect that the alligator might surface later today at the camp talent show. Be there at 3pm in the Congress Lounge — and bring a net!

Stories to Grow From

The second session of HTHTA began on July 28, with campers ages 7-10. Stay tuned to discover different camp activities during Session 2.

Campers were almost finished with their first day of camp, and there couldn’t have been a more perfect way to tame their raging excitement than to listen to stories from professional story teller Susan O’Halleron. Susan has appeared on T.V. and radio shows and has been published several times. Susan shared many stories with the campers, each one with an enlightening message to help campers deal with loss.

The first story she told was about a butterfly that was removed from his cocoon too soon. The moral of the story was that when we lose someone, we curl up into our own cocoon of grief to deal with the loss. It is important that we do not take someone out of their cocoon too early. Each person has to grieve for as long as it takes until he or she feels ready to come out.

Susan’s next story was about a puzzle. A puzzle contains some ugly and dull pieces, but there are also beautiful ones. A puzzle cannot be completed unless all the pieces come together to make a whole picture. The puzzle is a metaphor for life. In life there are many ugly and dull moments, but the inclusion of those difficult times combines with the wonderful times, making us who we are today.

It is often incredibly difficult to deal with loss. Learning to cope is important to moving on with life. Susan relayed important messages by using stories with fun and relatable characters. Susan used her stories as a tool to help our campers through their own difficult times.

Final Performance a success!

Providing the kind of material that allows campers to realize their theatrical potential while expressing their personal feelings is a special challenge. Camp Director Nicole Losurdo and Theatre Area Head Anne McNamee have combined to meet that challenge.

Through Anne’s research, she discovered a Russian folk tale that tells the story of an old peasant tailor. The tailor remembers his life as it relates to a piece of cloth, which he uses in various forms throughout his life. Based on this folk tale, Nicole rewrote the story and titled it “Just Enough.” She set the story in Bolivia, an atmosphere which plays well with Latin-influenced music and dance. Thus the protagonist became “Adolfo.” The story is poignant since the cloth allows Adolfo to express the memories he has of life and how they affected him—just as campers have memories that affect their lives.

Of course, the real stars were the campers, as they only had two weeks to learn and perform a full production! Campers worked extremely hard to read the script, work on the roles, music, and the dance numbers.

(Top photo: Campers work on a dance routine during the dress rehearsal. Bottom photo: Campers take their final bow after their Final Performance)

Campers Send Messages of Love

We don’t always get to say “goodbye.” We don't always have a chance to express important thoughts, never realizing how the window can slam shut without a moment to consider. When that happens, the opportunity is seldom offered to show those thoughts.

HTHTA campers did get a special opportunity to communicate messages of love, memories or maybe even updates on the camper's lives to their lost parents, which most of them were never allowed to say.

On Wednesday afternoon, campers solemnly wrote their thoughts and feelings they wished to tell their parents on a note card and tied it to a helium balloon. Teary eyed HTHTA campers and staff took a walk to Buckingham Fountain where their messages were launched into the bright blue sky and on to their parents.

While the launch is symbolic, campers feel strongly about those unspoken words reaching their loved ones. The Balloon Launch is often the emotional pinnacle of camp, offering closure to campers and staff, alike.

(Top photo: Messages of love are launched into the sky to lost parents. Middle photo: One camper writes her message Bottom photo: HTHTA campers and staff take a group photo after the Balloon Launch)