Singer’s folk music conveys
local, world political struggles
By DEBBIE ABE
Folk singer Susan Arrow is
ready and willing to aid the
causes of oppressed people by
sharing with them her energy
and music.
An average practice session
finds Arrow preparing a gig for
a political group or cause. She
has recently sung for a Trojan
Decommissioning Alliance
demonstration, the Interna
tional Women’s Day program
at the Atrium and a support
group for the striking miners.
She is currently preparing sev
eral numbers for Solidarity Day
for South Africans.
Arrow feels that folk music is
a very powerful way of com
municating, particularly when it
concerns a people s struggle.
“Folk music is the way peo
ple convey their struggle,” she
says. “Song was the way the
Vietnamese kept their spirits
up through all of the bombing.
The Irish have had many songs
about their struggle against the
English.
“When I sang at the coal
miners’ support group, they
(the members) kept saying that
throughout the history of the
union struggle in the coal
fields, there have been songs
about their struggle and condi
tions in the mines. They’ve
used song as a means of
communication and solidarity.”
Because Arrow feels she
has access to many obscure
songs, a good memory and a
large repertoire, she feels
commited to share her music
because “it's important that we
know how others have dealt
with oppression.”
Currently a La^p Community
College electronics and music
student, Arrow has played six
and 12-string guitar for 14
years and recently has learned
to play the laud, a Portuguese
mandolin-like instrument. She
has a strong and clear voice
which landed the folk singer
her first major professional job
at the famous Troubadour dub
in London.
Arrow comments, “They
hired me because it was a very,
very noisy place and I could be
heard over the talking. I belted
out every song and really
whomped on the guitar.” Arrow
became the resident folk
singer at the club and played
there once a week for a year.
A researcher and student of
folk music as well as a per
former, Arrow spends much
time searching for new mater
ial. She especially likes “turn
around songs” that involve a
surprising and different pers
pective of the relationships be
tween men and women. A di
ligent searcher of such folk
songs, Arrow once did a pro
ject examining that type of
song, but found that they are
few in number.
One she did locate is entitled
“Little Phoebe.” The folk song
involves a farmer and his wife
trading jobs for a week, and the
farmer learning how much har
der his wife has to work than
he.
Arrow became curious about
the turn-around folk songs as a
result of her feminist interests.
Considering herself, above all
her many other interests, a
feminist and musician, Arrow
has gradually become in
terested in women’s lives and
particularly in how folk songs
reflect their lives.
She draws heavily on the
material of Frankie Armstrong,
an English feminist, and Ruthie
Gorton, a socialist and feminist
from Los Angeles.
Because much of the music
she performs is unpublished,
Arrow must search for a record
ing or performer of a song she
wishes to leam, tape record it,
Susan Arrow
listen to it a few times and leam
the melody and words by ear.
She usually works out her own
accompaniment and many
times prefers to sing a cappella
(without accompaniment). “I’m
finding that when I sing a cap
pella, people in restaurants
tend to listen more because
obviously the words are impor
tant if there’s no accompani
ment,” she says.
Arrow adapts her sets ac
cording to what type of event or
audience she performs for. For
instance, she is currently learn
ing songs about South Africa
by Ruthie Gorton for the South
Africa Solidarity Day. If she
plays at a restaurant such as
the Homefried Truckstop, she
throws in songs with which the
audience will be familiar; for
example, a song by the Beatles
or Joni Mitchell.
Arrow plays regularly in the
Eugene area at various func
tions and at restaurants such
as Homefried Truckstop,
Honey’s Cafe and Gertrudes.
She will perform on April 15 at
the University of Oregon as
part of the Women’s Sym
posium. Watch for her name in
the newspaper for other dates
and places.
Eugene Opera pleases despite obstacles
Eugene Opera's production of
Mozart’s Don Giovanni is full of
happy surprises despite formida
ble difficulties of staging and sing
ing.
The play is an unusual combi
nation of comic and serious ele
ments, recounting the last days of
Don Juan, the legendary Spansih
lover. It begins when he murders
the Commandatore, who has ap
prehended the disguised Don ab
ducting his daughter Donna Anna.
There follow various comic and
serious scenes in which Don
Giovanni tries to disrupt the inci
pient wedding of two peasants,
Masetto and Zerlina, by charming
Zerlina into his bed. Numerous
times one of his jilted lovers,
Donna Elvira, interrupts his
seduction. She warns him that his
loose living will lead to his ruin.
Throughout the opera Donna
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Anna and her betrother, Don Ot
tavio, search for her father’s mur
derer. Even though they discover
that Don Juan/Giovanni did it, the
final act of vengeance emerges
unexpectedly from the world
beyond the grave: a statue of the
Commandatore is animated by his
ghost, which compels the mur
derer and profligate to enter the
jaws of Hell. The remaining
characters sing the moral of the
opera, as if it weren’t obvious
enough already.
Although the production as a
whole is uneven, there are many
fine moments. Neil Wilson (Don
Giovanni) and Elwy Jones
(Leporello) work well together,
providing the funniest moments in
the opera. Wilson sings superbly;
Jones, although he doesn’t have a
typically “operatic” voice, sings
convincingly and with great as
surance. Guy Aydelott (Don Ot
tavio) has made impressive im
provements as an actor since last
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Page 10 Section B
year’s Carmen; his singing is ex
cellent.
Susan St. John (Donna Anna)
and Virginia Hurwitz (Zerlina) are
also fine singers. Hurwitz seems
hardt are a felicitious combination.
The uncut version of Don
Giovanni — which they have cho
sen to present — is long and po
tentially boring to all but
By RAY FREEDMAN
Don Giovanni
more at ease in her role as the
coquettish peasant girl; St. John
has a more difficult task in portray
ing a dutiful daughter seeking her
father s murderer, and is less at
ease on stage.
Patricia Eysenbach (Donna El
vira) is stronger dramatically than
musically. This is unfortunate
since her role is as musically im
portant as it is dramatically crucial.
Kevin Boling (the Commandatore)
is passable but generally weak.
Larry Evans (Masetto) is a fine
baritone and an outrageous mug
ger in his role as a peasant buf
foon.
Musical director Philip Bayles
and dramatic director Betty Bern
aficionados. Bayles and Bern
hardt have paced the music and
action so well that the length is
never apparent, and the comic
business is done so well that one
is never bored.
The orchestra plays quite well;
the woodwinds deserve special
praise. The multilevel set is a good
idea that seems incompletely
realized. The lighting is generally
ineffectual, except in the final
scene, which is appropriately
stunning. The costumes range
from competent to excellent.
Despite technical and musical
unevenness, Eugene Opera's
Don Giovanni is definitely worth
your time and money.
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