The Mystery of Edwin Drood

ALFRED:  Many think that Charles Dickens intended to murder Edwin Drood and make clear the “who” of whodunit but Dickens died before the final episode of the work was published. Who dispatched Drood? Authors and playwrights started proposing endings in 1870 but Rupert Holmes dusted off the mystery in 1985, set it to music and created the first Broadway musical with multiple endings (determined by audience vote).      Holme’s Drood garnered 5 Tony Awards including best musical.

            The Mystery of Edwin Drood will be yours to judge at the Miller Performing Arts Center at Alfred University on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 10 -12 at 8pm. Tickets ($10 adults, $5 students and retirees) must be ordered by April 10. Call 871-2828 or go to www.alfred.edu/performing_arts .

                The costumes, characters, accents, dances and toe-tapping songs are all good reasons for you to reserve tickets. Here are few of the people you’ll find in the cast.

                Dana Harris grew up in Los Angeles and is now a senior studying theater. She plays the part of stage manager.  This is Dana’s first musical since playing Lucy in Snoopy in high school. She said that Drood is stressful but exciting.  

                The day we talked Dana was still sparkling from being added to the lovers’ scene at the end. Her character speaks in a Scottish accent. Most of her colleagues have added a British lilt but Dana thought she’d mix it up a bit my rolling her words through Scotland.

                To prepare, she watched Brave several times and spent time studying David Tennent in Dr. Who. She listened to accents, practiced her lines with their tones and recorded herself for evaluation.

                Dana is impressed with the many excellent accents developed for Drood and she enjoys watching and listening to the character of Jasper but her favorite part of the musical is the role of Reverend Crisparkle. 

                The part of Durddles is played by Danny Gray (a sophomore in The School of Art and Design, from Madison, Wisconsin). When asked what makes Drood fun, Danny said, “Every line I speak is a blast for me.”

                Danny came to Alfred because of ceramics but he fell into theater and, lucky for all, loved it. On the stage he found friends and fun so he has acted again and again with Drood as his fourth show. Prior to AU, he’d only had a small part in Cabaret in high school.

                Danny said that he thinks all the tunes are fantastic but when pressed for a favorite he chose “Moonfall Quartet”.

                 “It’s moving and amazing, a serious touch in an otherwise silly show.”        

                One of the actors in “Moonfall Quartet” is Rosa Budd, played by Jessica Antrobus (a senior studying English and communications, from Cleveland). Jessica brings Rosa to life with friendship, fear, disgust, anger and more than a dollop of charm.

                She cited “Moonfall Quartet” as one of the highlights of Drood also. She said that the harmonies are beautiful and that kinship among the women fills the song with support as well as emotion.

                This is Jessica’s fifth experience on the stage at AU but she’s performed in many settings since she was 10, picking up skills and learning to get into a character along the way.

                Jessica clearly enjoys the dance sequence in “Off to The Races” where the entire cast makes the stage sparkle with “happy.” She said that she’s not a dancer but dances well enough to get the moves.

            Another character is portrayed by Darren Palmer who came to Alfred from Wingdale, NY. Darren is now a senior in theater after choosing his major as a junior. Drood is his fifth production.

            Each of those productions was directed by a different person so each brought different information, instruction and experiences to the growing actors. Darren said that this exposure helped him grow as himself as well as an actor developing characters.

            In Drood, Darren transforms into Bazzard, a hunched and lurching form, clutching his masterpiece and rendering his face into the physical definition of creepy. Sometimes he sheds Bazzard’s unnerving cloak to inhabit Philip Bax (Drood is a play within a play). As Bax, Darren sings “Never the

the Luck” with the support of several cast members. This, he says, as with all the times when the entire ensemble is on stage, is a warm experience of mutual support and community.               

                Darren encourages you to experience live entertainment whenever you can. He noted how a live experience is solidly different from a film or CD. He said that in movies each clip is likely seconds long. A live performance demands extended concentration from both actors and audience.

                Call for your tickets now and be in the moment with the entire cast of Drood at Alfred University on April 10-12 - Thursday, Friday or Saturday.

Broken Calculator upcycled into earrings

Rick tried to throw away a calculator. First he took it apart and I found the pieces and then, well, then there were earrings. The first pair is on its way to Baton Rouge to Michaela because she's a mathematician and that seemed right.

These earrings are made from the broken calculator, scraps of wire, beads from an old necklace and brand new, handmade, niobium earwires because nobody is ever allergic to niobium.  My earrings sell for $11 per pair plus tax and or shipping or you can just stop by the studio and look.

At Hot Dog Day in Alfred, if the weather is friendly.

At the Annual Snowman Show on Mother’s Day Weekend at St. Philips’ Church Hall on Route 19 in Belmont, always at the Studio Tour in my studio on the weekend after Columbus Day and whenever you have time to stop by.
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www.StoneFlowerPottery.com

Gem - Accepted in the Lakeside Statewide Show, Oswego, NY

The story of making Gem: All of my sculptures begin with paper pieces. When the design is settled, well mostly settled, in my mind, I use the pieces as patterns to cut the shapes needed in the colors I find. I don't paint anything. All the color is found on cans. Gem is entirely cut from a one gallon Gem brand olive oil can.

These are paper pieces glued to part of a metal can.

 Individual pieces are drilled and riveted to a backing sheet.

              GEM's STORY:  I started working with tin cans, more accurately tin coated steel cans as well as aluminum cans, in 2010 in a class taught by Charles Orlando in Belmont NY. I’d spent 40 years working as a potter with gray, dusty, dirty, dull clay and glazes and suddenly colorful tin cans were piled before me. I dashed to my doctor for a Tetanus shot, ordered tools and turned a new eye toward found objects.

                All of the pieces of Gem were cut from one Gem olive oil can riveted to a stove burner cover. Gem was attached to a carved piece I carried home from a trip to China in 2003. Gem’s design is in keeping with the majority of my other tin works representing birds and birdish looking creatures. 

Calling Miss Olive for Tea Time

One of my sculptural teapots will shortly steam to Chicago to be exhibited in the 25th Anniversary Teapot Show, "On The Road Again" curated by Joan Houlehen and hosted at Chiaroscuro at Watertower Place.

 Calling Miss Olive for Tea Time is rescued trash. The body of the piece is a olive pomace can from the kitchens of Arrowmont. While studying there I ate this not knowing the great distance between olive oil and olive pomace. Olives, cold pressed, release their flavorful oil leaving behind pulp. Pulp was once seen as appropriate hog food but now it is heated, dowsed with hexane and coaxed to release a secondary product - pomace oil.

The green of the can looked right with the green spout/hand that has moved from spot to spot in my studio for years. The phone, also green, was the perfect handle and again color called my eye to the watch with a red spangled band. The flower-buttons on the phone face are from a long, black and white dress I wore while teaching preschool. 

AU Symphonic Band at the Movies

ALFRED: Alfred University’s Symphonic Band is going to the movies and hopes you’ll join them - Friday, Dec 6 at 8 pm.

                Dr. Chris Foster, Director of Bands, said that students have been begging to play movie themes for a while.  This semester, he decided it was time.  

                “I’m a fan of a lot of block buster movies. Sci-fi and fantasy movies have great stories and a lot of good music. When I started looking for a program, the plan was to play one or two movie scores but there was just so much fantastic music out there that we’re doing a total movie based concert.”

                It’s clear that Alfred’s students love movies and the music in movies but fun music isn’t necessarily easy stuff.

                One of Foster’s favorites is The Dark Knight Rises, composed by Hans Zimmer and arranged by Ralph Ford. Foster loves the dark cords, the power and energy that surges through the piece. He urges people to listen for the percussion work in Dark Knight.

                Any discussion of Dark Knight must include recognition of the clarinet section. This piece is merciless for them. They have to dash madly but lightly for measure after measure of finger-twisting sixteenth notes.

                Another Foster favorite is The Complete Harry Potter arranged by Jerry Brubaker but with parts composed by John Williams, Patrick Doyle, Nicholas Hooper and Alexander Desplat. There were 7 Harry Potter books crafted into 8 movies over the years and this piece takes highlights from the many stories and composers and smoothes them into one coherent piece.

                As you might expect, there are constant changes of style, tempo, keys and moods. Movie music is often challenging but with 4 composers, it’s a bit more so.

                Jon Ugalde and Caroline Pikacs (both clarinetists) like the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  Composed by Howard Shore, this piece has five movements from the film.

                Jon likes it because it is technically challenging but fun and rewarding to play. Caroline has come to appreciate the Hobbit because she just read the book in an English class. She’d never read anything by Tolkien before and now plans to read the Lord of the Rings series.  She’s had a glimpse of Tolkien’s world and thinks it’s a good place to spend time.

                Caroline’s favorite part of The Hobbit is the final movement – Dreaming of Bag End.

                Melissa MacDonald (trumpet) thinks that Symphonic Suite from Star Trek arranged by Jay Bocook is the best. She proclaims herself to be a “giant Trekkie” and says that the piece reaches into her proud, nerd core.

                Should you have any doubts, Melissa wants you to know that the piece “sounds pretty damn  awesome.”

                Hunter Haddad (saxophone) said that while it’s hard to pick a favorite, he invites you to attend the concert to hear music from the picture Skyfall because it has a great sax part.

                In Skyfall, themes in the upper winds answer those in the lower brass and then others weave their parts between. It’s exciting music.

                Hunter also likes Star Trek. He played an arrangement of Star Trek in high school and it’s always nice to play different versions of a familiar piece.

                The concert, says Hunter, will be awesome and unlike any other. Put it on your calendar for Friday night, December 6 at 8 pm in the Miller Performing Arts Center -MPAC.

                If you aren’t familiar with the Alfred Campus, don’t be shy. You are more than welcome. Just enter Alfred University’s campus at the traffic light. Turn left at the top of the hill. Drive until the road curves right. That building with all the glass, at the curve, is your destination. Turn left to park.

                Please note: there is an informal dance concert in CD Smith Hall (also in MPAC) at 7 pm on that same night. The Symphonic Band program is scheduled for 8 pm to allow people to see both performances. Both programs are free and open to all. For more information contact the Division of Performing Arts at 607.871.2562.

Photo 1: Dr. Chris Foster
Photo 2: Melissa with Trumpet, John and Caroline with clarinets and Hunter with sax

(Elaine Hardman is honored to be a member of the flute section of Alfred University’s Symphonic Band.)

Lake Country, Scenic Drive, Allegany County

                             

Allegany County: What weather! Our garden is summer warm. I planted snow peas, radishes and lettuce yesterday after seeing crocuses poking out all over the lawn. The cross country skis never left their cubby in the garage and we’re back on our bikes already. With a summer attitude, we took off the Lake Tour scenic drive – our 5^th in the series of 6 offered by Allegany County.  

                This time we clocked it with the Bike Brain app on a smart phone. It kept track of our average speed, total distance, our altitude, the air temperature and mapped the trip.

                We started in Wellsville and headed out CR 31 from Scio to Friendship to get into the loop. Scenery included grazing horses and goats and we noticed people have piles of firewood left over after our soft winter. Windfall Farms has a shiny new red, metal roof on the barn and the Serenity Hill Golf Course is emerald green.

                My favorite part of Friendship is the side by side elegance of the Town Hall and Ambulance Squad buildings. They are ready for the calendar to turn to 1900 on the outside.  Couldn’t be more charming. 

                We took North 275 to CR 17 to start our drive going against the recommended direction.  We stopped to photograph a rusty truck. Bits of rust are chewing through the paint on my car this very moment, an assault to be sanded off and banished but this roadside truck was to be admired. It was all rust – paper thin metal ready to melt into the earth. This rust brought the truck into some level of art if not beauty, like the rusty vehicles in Sarah Phillips’ wonderful calendars.

                Rick though it was a 1940s specimen, perhaps a Ford. It was a heavy duty workhorse once upon a time with still-solid springs and hubs on the rear end. Might it have carried anything as heavy as the huge granite blocks in front of the house? Maybe not but it was a solid vehicle 60 years ago.

                We passed a parade of Amish signs and an Amish home and sawmill complete with a little girl swinging in a tree with her bonnet strings waving.

                We saw White Creek Honey’s sign painted on a barn door on the left and a creative house fashioned from another barn on the right. There was a small, old cabin whose driveway was reclaimed by weeds. The house’s sway-backed roof is slowing sinking the rest of it into history.

                The fields on this road bristled with last year’s corn crop and the side yards were ready for kids with their swings, trampolines, bikes and play houses.

                In the town of Belfast we veered off the trail into the state forest areas. The Rusford Conservation Camp is operated by the Department of Environmental Conservation as a residential summer camp for children ages 11 to 13 or 14 to 17. Campers pay $350 for a full week of activities such as canoeing and bow hunting. Weekly activities vary so search the DEC website for applications and information.

                We went further into the unknown to find Hanging Bog. The smart phone leaves its navigational ability at some distant cell tower so if you venture in have a compass or a map. Also, please note that the roads are made of something between mud and peanut butter.

                 We went there with a Goldilocks sort of car. Not heavy enough to sink and not light enough to skitter though it was close. The road was so rough and bumpy that I can’t read my notes but I remember the jolts and still have the mud.

                There’s a monument on the edge of the bog, a pond dug by the Civil Conservation Corps in the 1930s when the land was federally owned. What appears to be an island is a floating mass of vegetation – the source of Hanging Bog’s name. The monument is dedicated to the memory of Gardner L Whipple who visited the 4500 acres for 50 years.

                After those dirt roads, we celebrated the paved surface of Rush Creek Road and stopped for a photo of beaver lodges. Stepping out of the car caused an eruption of frightened, jumping frogs and sent small fish headed for the reeds like lightening.

                Rush Creek Road brought us back onto the driving tour route where we passed Granny Gerts on Route 243. Have you been to that place? It’s a pizza/sub shop where the sub rolls are made fresh daily with their recipe. They have gas and a large restaurant but in the acres behind that there is an outdoor concert site where the music and camping makes summer fun.   

                We turned left onto Buffalo Street which becomes Lower Street and then CR 7B. Rushford’s historical society has a Black Smith and Wood Working Museum near Main Street (occasionally part of a tour) as well as a Museum on Main Street. Rushford’s Library is near as is the fire hall and their gazebo where the Rushford Town Band plays on Saturday evenings in the summer.  

                Along CR7B we found the Allegany Hills Country Club and lots of farm land. A brilliant, yellow smart car – part roller skate/part vehicle – sparkled in a driveway on Route 46 – the bit of the trail that leaks into Cattaraugus County.

                Marsh Acres, the county’s largest dairy farm has row upon row of small shelters in the calf field on one side and the largest plastic covered mound I’ve ever seen on the other. Hundreds of tires anchor the plastic cover behind huge barns and all kinds of farm equipment.  

                This entire road is lined with barns – little, big and way beyond big from sturdy and stout to near compost. One of them was painted black and looked dressed for society next to an old cabin, also black. Some of the fields were ready to plant.

                We parked on the edge of Cuba Lake – still low with the state having sand harvested from the lake bed - and rode our bikes the 7 miles around the lake. My favorite cottages are the small ones with porches and maybe a stone wall or chimney. The fences always give cabins a cozy look too. People were out walking, jogging and being pulled by their dogs. A fine “June” day.

                In Cuba we stopped at Mak’s Meats & Cheese and bought some local foods and future dinners and made our first ever visit to the Cuba Cheese Store. Cuba’s Cheese Museum is only open in the summer but this summer it will move from Water Street to reopen in the old Palmer Opera House on Main Street. While looking for the Cheese Museum we noticed an interesting Antique Shop on Water Street but it, like Bob and Carol Riggs’ cute little purple store, Cakes and Curios, was closed. It was after 5 by the time we made it to Cuba.

                Cuba is the site of a gigantic flag pole and some new mural work depicting the Cuba of past years. Main Street has shops, restaurants and another one of Allegany County’s fabulous Libraries.

                We took CR 20 back to Friendship and then over the hill again to Scio and home to Wellsville finishing 99.98 miles in the car. Bike Brain calculated that the journey would have saved 24kg of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere if totally done by bike. It’s all fun and games until someone calculates the carbon.

 

  

   

     

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See www.DiscoverAlleganyCounty.com or call 1-800-836-1869 or 585-268-5500 for events, restaurants, brochures and local tourism information. Find brochures in Libraries, restaurants and banks. Brochure choices are Scenic Drives, Spring Summer Fall, Artisans & Galleries, Historic Trails, Hunting & Fishing, Fall Winter Spring and Festivals & Events. This driving tour is listed in Scenic Drives.

Elaine Hardman is a member of the Allegany County Office of Tourism Advisory Board.