THE FATHER OF US ALL

I attended a performance last night at the Woodstock Fringe Theater of a work-in-progress entitled "O, Virgil! A Musical Portrait" A quasi-biographical theater work on the life of Virgil Thompson, one of America's most formidable composers and critics, it intermingles imaginary moments in the artist's life with selected songs and musical portraits.

There appears to be a kernel of something interesting in there. Let's hope the writer Wallace Norman and his collaborator Larry Alan Smith can flesh it out into something real and relevant. They might pay more attention to the lyrics of "English Usage", an art song by Thompson with lyrics by Marianne Moore. In it Moore dissects the English language with her usual New England thoroughness, and it was decidedly delivered by Watson Heinz. A bit more attention to what works on the stage and what doesn't seems needed.

The music was the star of the evening (even with the score being misplaced and forcing the singers to stand BEHIND the piano while the musical director, Jeff Middleton, banged away on it). i admit to being a long-time Thompson fan and it was wonderful to hear the portraits and song done so well. Mark Duer's rendition of the Thompson/Blake song "The Little Black Boy" was the one moment of truth in a workshop production.