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Spotlight - April 2007 |
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Cinderella's
This version of the children’s classic has a fully costumed cast of 24, with songs, music, comedy, romance and magic. Sheldon Narine the director says DC Shell the producers offer theatre for the whole family and Cinderella is the prime example.
The show runs for 5 nights
A LITTLE CHANGE FOR THE ARTISTS
At the AGM, Allison Demas (seen at left with Tony Inglefield), the vibrant CEO of the Copyright Organization of Trinidad & Tobago, COTT, informed us about the organization and the service it provides to get some change for musicians. Simply put, here’s the thing – Artists need to devote their time to creative activity, be it composing , performing, writing, painting etc. They own the exclusive right for their original work (the copyright) but they need these works to reach the public through the bookstores, radio, CDs, DVDs, Internet, concerts, Art exhibitions. The copyrights for these creations need to be managed and COTT is the organization that gives users of music permission to use original music. The users pay fees for a licence to use the work. the fees are then paid to the creators as Royalties. The list of users is long and surprising – any location/premise where music is played and can be heard in public needs a licence from COTT including Bars, Buses, Clubs, Concert venues Hotels Hospitals Restaurants, race tracks. Either the proprietor of the venue or the promoter of the event is responsible for obtaining the licence. So be responsible, a licence from COTT is not a government tax or some other imposition, it is a small financial recognition of the creators of music – SPREAD THE WORD. (For further information contact COTT at 624 2688,635 2688 657 2688. They also have very informative hand outs and a power point display.)
BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2007 The 2007 Board of Directors was elected at the Annual General Meeting on the 12th March, 2007. Three members did not stand for re election Shirley James, Nigel Romano (left the country) and Anthony Inglefield. We thank them for their years of hard work and have their assurance that they are still available to help when needed.
Theatre in Alternative Spaces
The Nuances of Love presented the work of the great classical composers Mozart; Verdi, Saint-Saens and Boito. Audience friendly, the presentation assisted the music lovers in appreciating the music with a comprehensive and complimentary programme booklet and introductions and interventions of Maurice Brash who set the scene and placed the action. Nathanial asks “In the mean time what do we do here with our gorgeous voices and dramatic talent? What do we do with that strong impulse to sing, to stretch oneself, to sing to the best of one’s ability?”
In this time of plenty it is a question that those who hold the purse strings and direct the future of our nation should address seriously and urgently. “As an aspiring ‘first world country’” , June Nathaniel asserts that “ it is imperative that we take a serious look at the role the classical arts play in the international prestige of a ‘first world country’ and invest accordingly in building for instance, a rigorous conservatory devoted to training and research in all genres from Europe, Asia, and Africa.
BRIEF REVIEWS
3CANAL Bacchanal Show - None Shall Escape – which was staged at the Hall in Carnival week gave a new slant to the discussion about the suitability of a calypso tent at Queen’s Hall. There was no doubt that Bacchanal was about Carnival , there was original music, there was dance, there was the salacious humour, traditional characters but it was theatrical, now theatrical, and it fell easily into the modern surroundings of the refurbished Queen’s Hall. The spare setting was on two levels, with the band, Cut and Clear, situated on the upper level, the theatrical characters easily emerging and disappearing on the lower level and 3CANAL and the dancers moving freely on both levels - Wendell Manwarren, the director, knows how to move performers on stage and the movement for Bacchanal seemed seamless. The costuming, courtesy Meiling was elegant, exciting (Cecilia Salazar’s elegant front view and provocative rear vista) and true to the traditional masquerade yet so creative. Trinidadians and Non Trinidadians alike were given a taste of the real carnival, 3Canal’s original music adding to the calypso bank, Morning Neighbour, a classic, so relevant and necessary in today’s violent and rude environment. The interaction with the audience was there, tentative at first then more and more energized. The respect for the art form and the artists and the elders was there. The sadness was there as 3Canal sang Sparrow’s Memories - remembering unforgettable John Isaacs, the fourth member of the group, Andre Tanker and Chow Lin On.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS A P R I L *5,6,7,8,9 13,14,15 21,22 M A Y Power of Love Love Movement 18,19, 20 24 May – 3 June Discounts
Smelly
Welcome B.A.R.S
Coming to the Hall in June
Welcome New Members CORPORATE ORDINARY MEMBERS STUDENT |
Cinderella will be at Queen’s
Hall Easter weekend thanks to Sheldon Narine aka the Crazy Catholic
and the DC Shell Family Theatre. This active theatre company has
just concluded a successful run of Beauty and the Beast. This
production of Cinderella was first staged by DC Shell Theatre
in 2003 at St. Mary’s College Hall and it was also successfully
staged in Arima Mayaro and La Joya, St Joseph. 
As presenters and producers of the
performing arts the Patrons of Queen’s Hall must respect the artist.
Obviously an adequate well equipped space to perform in is a prime
requirement and Queen’s Hall more than provides the basic
essentials, but there is another crucial need that must be
addressed, the financial rewards – the money?
June Nathaniel
(shown at right) and the Classical Music Development Foundation
produced an evening of beautiful operatic music on Friday 29th March
and Saturday 30th March. Presented in the small intimate Simon
Bolivar auditorium to full houses (the theatre seats 200)
Sfumature d’Amore – Nuances of Love - was living proof that
Trinidad and Tobago’s creativity is not only limited to Calypso. As
June Nathaniel writes in the Foreword of the programme booklet “we
also produce men and women whose voices best express the
classical/operatic repertoire. Who, despite the lack of attention
paid to this side of our culture by the media, and who therefore
deprive us of informed and readily accessible classical inspiration
look for ways to improve their voices and avenues to vocally express
themselves.”
Indeed, what do
we do to encourage Nigel Floyd, Raymond Edwards, Rory Wallace,
Natalia Dopwell (shown at left), Lesley Lewis, Fritz Nothnabel-Gurley,
Charis Sieunarine - Thompson and the other talented singers of
Nuances of Love to keep on working at their trade and develop their
talent? 
