Projo Reviews

The big news coming out of Saturday's Rhode Island Philharmonic concert was the return of German cellist Alban Gerhardt, who gave a wonderfully heartfelt performance of the dreamy Elgar Cello Concerto. Gerhardt, who has quite a reputation in Europe, made his Philharmonic debut last season and was quickly signed up for an encore appearance.

And it's not hard to see why. He's quite a superstar, right up there with the likes of Yo-Yo Ma. What was so special about the Elgar was the emotional range Gerhardt brought to the score. You found yourself hanging on every note of the tender slow movement, while there was great drama to the opening passages and lots of drive to the fleeting "Allegro molto" section.

There was also an amazing lushness to his playing, which had no trouble filling Veterans Memorial Auditorium.

But the Elgar was not the only offering on the program. Conductor Larry Rachleff opened with the dance suite from Manuel de Falla's "The Three-Cornered Hat," which had a sizzling finale. Jane Murray stood out for her fine English horn solo.

Then after intermission came a glittering performance of Igor Stravinsky's "Petrouchka," written just a few years before the Falla in 1911. Rachleff chose to perform the complete ballet score from 1947. He told the audience before the start of the performance that this was perhaps Stravinsky's "most virtuosic" piece for orchestra. It is certainly his most colorful and upbeat.

The score has a lot of folk-like tunes, as it tells the tale of a magician who brings to life thee puppets; Petrouchka, a ballerina and a handsome but stupid Moor. Petrouchka falls for the ballerina, who is repelled by him. She is more interested in the Moor, who ends up getting in a fight with Petrouchka and killing him. In the end, Petrouchka's ghost appears over the puppet booth to mock the crowd.

Rachleff said Stravinsky called that coda "my very best last few measures."

Anyway, the performance was stunning, with some terrific solo work from principal trumpeter Joe Foley, who was heard in a number of bright, sunny passages, and from principal flutist Susan Thomas. The male pianist, who wasn't identified in the program, was also excellent.

"Habits die hard," the title character of "Rainwater" (Simon & Schuster, 245 pages, $23.99) says early on. "But I wouldn't have done it if I'd known it would make you angry."

Fitting words to describe Sandra Brown's latest effort, since the modern master of thrillers steamy enough to fog up the windows departs from convention with a slight but equally masterful tale. This beautifully written period piece transports us to 1934 Depression-era Texas and a rooming house operated by one Ella Barron. Ella lives there along with her autistic son and a number of borders, soon to include one David Rainwater, who comes with a suitcase full of secrets -- including the fact that he's dying of inoperable cancer and just wants to live out his days in peace.

Nonetheless, Ella finds her sleepy life changed forever with Rainwater's arrival. First, he finds ways to reach her son, Solly, where all other efforts have failed. Then Rainwater begins to involve himself in the politics of the era, specifically the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation's efforts to "aid" indigent farmers by siphoning off and/or murdering their herds. His resolve in helping those rocked by financial ruin (eerily mirroring the plight of so many today) makes "Rainwater" a parable perfect to showcase Sandra Brown's newly displayed brilliance as a skilled lyricist as well as storyteller.

>> Continue reading: Dubious characters populate two thrillers

On Sept. 4, 1844, former Massachusetts Gov. Marcus Morton attended a large rally in Providence for the release of the embattled reformer Thomas Wilson Dorr, who was being held in state prison. The rally served the dual purpose of advocating for Dorr's freedom along with advancing the presidential candidacy of James K. Polk. Indeed, the tagline in many northern states in 1844 was "Polk, Dallas, and the Liberation of Dorr." Yet, while the lingering affects of the 1842 Dorr Rebellion in Rhode Island remained politically potent, the central issue in the campaign was the question of American expansionism.

Robert W. Merry, former editor and president of the Congressional Quarterly, has written an informative and entertaining biography of the most consequential one-term president in U.S. history.

By the end of Polk's presidency in 1849, the size of the United States had been increased by a third. Polk assumed office at a "critical moment in the Texas annexation matter," according to Merry. As president he "played a decisive role in bringing Texas into the American union," along with orchestrating "a complex and dangerous diplomatic and political dance that brought the most desirable expanses of Oregon into the Union."

>> Continue reading: Entertaining bio brings James K. Polk to life

Years ago, when I was director at a Providence shelter for battered women and children, we learned that a local official was demanding sex from women applying for federally subsidized housing. The young mother who alerted us feared for her family and for mothers who had been desperate enough to comply. She dropped her complaint.

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn describe three realities taking a toll on girls and women: sex trafficking, gender-based violence, and maternal mortality. The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, both New York Times journalists, write as a married couple who lived abroad with their children.

They interviewed and photographed women in Asia and Africa for this book, which is both harrowing and hopeful. They provide dozens of Internet resources and describe projects developed by indigenous activists. Despite horrific cruelty -- battering, burning, rape, genital mutilation, abduction, acid attacks, brothels, hunger, illiteracy, and lack of medical care -- victims are fighting back and inspiring others to join them.

>> Continue reading: Violence against women, girls get a global look

David Lindsay-Abaire's "Rabbit Hole" is the ultimate elephant-in-the-room play, a biting drama about a couple dealing with the death of their four-year-old, a couple who can't take a breath without bumping up against their loss.

The play won a Pulitzer and is now getting a solid student showing this week at Rhode Island College.

This is a tightly knit play by one of the best craftsmen in the business. Lindsay-Abaire was a student of Christopher Durang at Juilliard, and produced the zany "Fuddy Meers" that was staged not long ago at 2nd Story Theatre in Warren. But "Rabbit Hole" is a very different sort of animal, a poignant, rather serious look at a couple trying to cope with the unthinkable.

There are uncomfortable moments of humor, to be sure, but "Rabbit Hole" is mostly a study in grief, and the strains that causes on a relationship.

Four-year-old Danny was struck by a teenage driver as he ran into the road chasing his dog. But we get only hints of this as the play opens with sisters Rebecca and Izzy discussing Izzy's pregnancy, a bitter reminder that she is having a child when Rebecca has lost hers. Husband Howie enters and tries to get frisky with Rebecca but she is not interested. She has closed down and won't consider having another child.

This leads to frustration on Howie's part, to the realization that life will never quite be the same. And that is sort of the crux of the play, having to move on when there is no clear path, no clear solution to the problem at hand.

In some ways this is not as brilliant a work as "Fuddy Meers," which is about a amnesiac who is kidnapped by a madman and the host of wacky situations that follow. I can't say I was disappointed with this production, but I felt it was a little flat, devoid of the surprises and unexpected and eccentric twists of Lindsay-Abaire's earlier work.

He is a brilliant writer, though, and the student cast did a fine job getting his lines across. Allison Crews as Rebecca was very strong, a bottled-up woman who could be difficult but also understanding. Her awkward scene with the driver who killed her son, played by Adam D. Bram, was really quite moving. And Jeffrey Church's Howie was totally believable.

As act two opens Howie is holding an open house, trying to down-size to a smaller home that doesn't have so many memories. But he has kept son Danny's room intact, which tends to freak out prospective buyers. That leads to a wrenching scene in which Rebecca and her mom start packing up Danny's stuffed toys and books.

Tara Gray plays the mother, Nat, with just the right mix of caring and insensitivity as she continually compares the death of her adult son to the loss of Danny. Crews and Gray play off one another nicely.

Samantha Acampora's Izzy is a breath of fresh air, a sort of down to earth sibling who has no trouble understanding why sister Rebecca hauled off and smacked a negligent mom in the super market.

"Rabbit Hole" has no great climaxes, but it is filled with moments of truth, moments that tell a lot about our emotional make up. It really is a study in survival, as Howie and Rebecca ponder their next move. That is, in fact, how the play ends, with the couple seated on a couch saying "and now what."

"Rabbit Hole" continues through Sunday at the Helen Forman Theatre at Rhode Island College.

Providence Journal sports columnist Jim Donaldson has covered and written about New England Patriots football since 1979, during which he has collected enough facts, stories and quotes to bring the full history of this intriguing NFL franchise to light.

In his recent book, "Then Belichick Said to Brady...," Donaldson puts the Patriots' success over the past decade into wider perspective. He writes about the humble beginnings of the franchise in 1959, when football took a back seat to baseball, basketball and hockey in New England. Football had gained traction in the college arena, but in those days, the professional team of choice for New England fans was the New York Giants.

Once established, the Patriots franchise worked through a number of challenges, including coaching changes, monetary issues, and most notably the lack of a permanent place to play. Donaldson, however, mines interviews with players from the early years, including Larry "Ike" Eisenhauer and Gino Cappelletti, to describe the team's gritty nature.

"The Patriots practiced in those days at a high school field in East Boston, near Logan Airport," he writes. Eisenhauer tells him: "We'd sit on milk crates and watch game films shown on sheets hung on the walls of the locker room." That's a far cry from the Patriots' top-notch facilities in Foxboro today.

>> Continue reading: Stories, quotes illustrate New England Patriots' years of struggle

If you weren't among the legions of "Rent" groupies that packed the Providence Performing Arts Center Tuesday night, you should know that the current tour of this Broadway smash is top-notch.

The last couple of tours of "Rent" to come through town were pretty green, with kids right out of music school in the cast. But this tour is populated with talent from the original Broadway run, and it shows. The acting was right out there on the edge, and the singing couldn't have been tighter. And the audience ate up every bit of it. This was a pumped crowd that applauded every entrance and every hit number.

"Rent," of course, is a loose reworking of the Puccini opera "La Boheme," although creator Jonathan Larson has traded a Left bank garret for a lower Manhattan loft, with characters dealing with drug addition and the specter of AIDS. The plot in the Larson adaptation is not nearly so strong as the opera, though. It's a little thin. But the score is fabulous with some great tunes that were often sizzling in the hands of this outstanding cast.

Adam Pascal as Roger and Lexi Lawson's Mimi teamed up for an awesome version of "Without You" in the second act, with Pascal and Anthony Rapp, the Mark of the show, producing some wonderful duet work later on.

Pascal was probably the best male voice on the stage. "One Song Glory" was terrific, with lots of edge. Among the women, Lawson stood out for the power and lushness of her pulsing soprano.

"Rent" sort of plowed new ground for musical theater with its real-life themes of AIDS, gay sex and drug abuse. It opened the way for shows like "Avenue Q" and "Spring Awakening". It's hard hitting in some respects, but has an uplifting message found in the hit tune "Seasons of Love." This the audience greeted with tumultuous applause, as the singers turned it into a rousing gospel-type number.

The sets are pretty gritty, just a few tables and chairs, and a tower of junk, just the kind of stuff you might find in a low-rent loft. As for the band and keyboard player David Truskinoff, they were first rate.

Again, you don't have to be a Rent-o-phile to enjoy this show, for the music is fine and the cast is about as polished as you're going to find on a Broadway tour.

Rent runs through Sunday at PPAC, 220 Weybosset St., Providence. Tickets are $68-$38. Call (401) 421-2787 or log on to www.ppacri.org.

Americans have always been more willing than most to move to improve their lives, but now there is a name for it: "Relo". Usually a noun but also a verb and adjective, it derives from "relocate." As the economy is increasingly globalized, there will be more and more Relos.

Peter Kilborn says that he never heard the word until 2004, although, as he said in a talk at Redwood Library in Newport, he probably was one himself. He grew up in Providence and after graduating from Trinity College worked two years at the The Providence Journal. But then he went to Paris, which led to a series of jobs at different places and for different employers -- though he spent most of his years with The New York Times. He and his wife now live in Washington.

Relos are competent and ambitious, often graduates of Midwestern universities, who realize that if they are to advance, they must be willing to move. "What you give up is community," one of them said. "It's hard to commit. Before you're in, you're thinking about exit strategies. You don't want to put up a lot of pictures. You're going to have to fill the holes in the walls."

>> Continue reading: American Relos keep moving on, from job to job

The Venetian Giovanni Tiepolo (1696-1770), father of nine, was celebrated for his luminous frescos on the ceilings and walls of villas, palaces, and churches, particularly in the New Residenz palace in Wurzburg above the grand staircase. His ceilings "become skies in which figures wheel and circle" in an "airy and intoxicating" composition, theatrical, operatic, mixing mythic and historical figures in a sumptuously lush crowd of angels and princes. He was also known for using "a cherry pink peculiarly Venetian . . . called Tiepolo pink."

Calasso praises Tiepolo's "excessive luminosity . . . an idolater of light," his masterworks "nobly decorated, and devoid of any obvious tensions." Tiepolo frequently paired a young voluptuous blonde woman, breast bared, with a vigorous, rapacious, often bearded and fearsome old man, surrounded by Orientals, an erotic entanglement that light illuminated. Suffering and salvation were not his subjects. The sparer, sterner, neo-classical "school" of painting that followed him eclipsed his work, and he slid into obscurity.

But Calasso's real subjects in this magnificently written and critically provocative book are Tiepolo's 10 capricci and 23 scherzi, etchings labeled as "jokes." These repetitive, obsessive pictures reveal groupings of strange characters in broad daylight and include altars, truncated pyramids, owls, satyrs, severed heads, the ever-present Orientals, flags, pennants, stakes and snakes. They are strange and stark and nothing like his frescos. What do they mean? What was Tiepolo up to?

>> Continue reading: The strange etchings of Giovanni Tiepolo

Vince Flynn's latest devastatingly effective thriller, "Pursuit of Honor" (Atria, 432 pages, $27.99), opens in almost typical fashion. I say "almost" because we never actually see the "series of explosions [that tear] through Washington, D.C., killing 185 and wounding hundreds." The book starts after that Flynn staple has already occurred, setting the stage for a different, and more ambitious, tale.

With three of the terrorists responsible missing and the FBI hapless to catch them, super operative Mitch Rapp finds himself disillusioned with pretty much everything; especially his thankless superiors and including his younger protégé, Mike Nash, who seems suddenly reluctant to follow in his mentor's murderous footsteps.

No longer free to trample on the civil rights of his targets, this is Rapp, and Flynn, cast as anachronisms in a post-Bush/Cheney world where the U.S. Constitution is required reading. More Le Carre than Ludlum, with Rapp cast as the spy out in the cold. That is until higher powers determine that he's the best shot they've got to catch the al-Qaeda fugitives who are planning an even bigger attack.

In "Pursuit of Honor," though, he turns the action inward from acts of violence to the consequences wreaked upon those who must clean up the mess. Flynn, who redefined the thriller forever after 9/11, has redefines it again in equally spectacular fashion.

>> Continue reading: Super villains spice up thrillers