“New Music Connoisseur” Review 

Pumpin' Somethin'

by John de Clef Piñeiro

  

The frivolous obsessions of our time, or of any era, are easily center-stage material for satire.  And so it is that the ubiquitously compulsive phallic concerns so prominently displayed in our subway advertising, mass media, and our daily bouts with internet spam play a frontally prominent and protrudingly unabashed role in Estela Eaton's campy lampoon libretto for composer John Eaton's latest foray into the realm of the pocket opera.  Actually, this is her fourth collaboration with her renowned father in presenting a pocket opera production, a chamber music genre so well suited to a culture rife with attention deficit disorder. 

 

After having convincingly and successfully applied the idiom of microtonality to the iconically historic in his earlier  major operatic works (The Tempest (1985), The Cry of Clytaemnestra (1980), Danton and Robespierre (1978), The Lion and Androcles (1973), Myshkin (1971), Heracles (1964), and  Ma Barker (1955)), John Eaton proves in his uproariously teasing and amusingly theatrical Pumped Fiction  just how tall he stands as an innovator, with all of the depth and wit to make the case for applying the microtonal palette from the very heights of dramatic high art to the very depths of contemporary popular culture. 

 

Enjoying its quite enthusiastic world premiere at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space in upper Manhattan, this tongue-in-cheek parody of the foibles of phallic prowess, and much more, is -- yes, I'll say it -- a penetrating comment on the values and lifestyle of the prominent, the inadequate and the shallow, and on how those aspiring to prominence can become twisted along their way to achieving the American (wet) Dream.  It all begins with a deathbed tableau depicting an inexperienced and unfulfilled young woman, Daphne Dangerfield (intensely and powerfully performed by Linda Larson), a wannabe-but-not-yet-even-close writer, and her dying mother.  Daphne soon finds herself employed by the obsessively driven Dr. Bloom (convincingly portrayed by baritone James Bobick), who presides over a successful commercial enterprise specializing in the mechanically pumped up extension and distension of male genitalia.  It doesn't take her long to realize that her medical employer is, himself, heartsick and riven by lust for Eros, a rampant dandy of a porn-star (swaggeringly embodied by tenor Ken Roht), who seems to enjoy taking everything he can tease out of Bloom. 

 

For those who hunger to know where the plot goes from here, you can fully gratify yourselves by going to the American Composers Alliance web site (http://composers.com/pumpedfictionlibretto) and reading the entire libretto on line.  The text is filled with clever linguistic subtleties that may not be fully heard or appreciated during the actual performance as one sits enthralled by the visual and acoustic spectacle unfolding on stage, in the wings and on the orchestra floor.

 

It is often the case that economically produced productions make full use of personnel by employing an "all hands on deck" approach.  And that was certainly the case for this chamber opera that ended up enlisting the latent and not so hidden thespian talents of the fine cadre of musicians constituting the core musical performance group on the orchestra floor and on stage.  Prominent and surprising among these "discovered" talents were pianist Christopher Oldfather who handled his spoken lines as deftly and naturally as he handles his "ivories," and famed clarinetist Meighan Stoops, who ably met the triple challenge of performing her part, acting a male part and acting like a male part.  In significant supporting vocal roles were tenor-Jazz singer Archie Worley, Bass-Baritone Craig Phillips, and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Roderer, each of whom seemed very well cast not only for the parts they acted but also for the self-assured power and delivery of their performance of some rather challenging yet idiomatically effective vocal parts.

 

A stunning moment in this evening's production came when Eros initially appears, or rather swaggers onto the stage, sporting (or was it wagging?) an enormous and unbridled fully erect stuffed penis, supposedly the successful result of Dr. Bloom's mechanical handiwork.  Almost as startling, but just as unexpected, was when Mr. Eaton appeared on the stage for the closing bows holding the same giant stuffed phallus and waiving it to one side and then the other -- all in good clean fun of course.

 

In all, it was an impressive stage presentation, impressively performed, and "for those who missed it," John Eaton has informed me, "we're planning another performance on September 6th."  Indeed, for those who missed it, you may want to pencil in the date and be on the look out for somethin' very big comin' your way. 

Pumped Fiction – Personnel

Soprano                         Daphne Dangerfield                                               Linda Larson

Mezzo-Soprano          Mother Eris (Bear Mother)                                    Jennifer Roderer

Tenor                             Eros                                                                           Ken Roht    

Tenor-Jazz Singer        Valdez                                                             James Archie Worley

Baritone                      Dr. Bloom                                                                 James Bobick

Bass-Baritone             Cornelius                                                                Craig Phillips

Flutist                          Young Penis, Mr. Church, Nina Nalgas               Jane Rigler

Clarinetist                     Liberal Penis, Leather Queen, Harvey Wolf        Meighan Stoops

Violinist                      Femme Penis, Mrs. Church, Allura Storm            Ana Milosavljevic

Cellist                          Old Penis, Security Guard                                      Jody Redhage

Pianist                            Diplomat Penis, Tweaker, Announcer        Christopher Oldfather

Percussionist               Military Penis, Bodybuilder Arnold                     Dennis Sullivan

Conductor                                                                                                       Karl Kramer

Stage Director                                                                                                Beth Greenberg

Stage Manager; Assoc. Producer                                                                Isabel Martin

Assistant Stage Manager                                                                             Jillian Zeman

Producer                                                                                                      Cori Ellison

Lighting Director                                                                                        Brant Murray

Costumes and Props Creator                                                                      Brent Barkhaus

The compact vocal cast was enhanced by musicians in headgear (halos in a deathbed scene, penis hats in a dream sequence), who darted around the stage, both speaking and playing. 
 

Advance copy – soon to appear