MUSIC
BY BRETT CAMPBELL
RAIN SONGS
Singin’ in the Rain, Handel’s Messiah and more
M
usicals used to start on
REBECCA KILGORE TRIO
stage and then go to the
big screen. But that’s been
changing lately, and one
of the most prominent
early screen-to-stage musicals was
the 1952 film classic Singin’ in the
Rain, which creators Betty Comden
and Adolph Green adapted into a
stage musical (with choreography by
none other than Twyla Tharp) three
decades later.
One of the most successful Ameri-
can musical teams of all time, Com-
den and Green were Broadway pros
before, during and after their cinemat-
ic breakthrough with the Gene Kelly
vehicle, which along with The Wizard
of Oz is probably the most beloved
movie musical ever made.
And like Stanley Donnen’s origi-
nal film, the stage version, also set in
the 1920s, includes the classic ’20s
songs by Arthur Freed and Nacio
Herb Brown — “You Stepped Out of
a Dream,” “All I Do Is Dream of You”
and, of course, the title number.
Despite many rumors over the
years, the 1985 stage adaptation hasn’t made it back to Broadway yet, but a recent produc-
tion was a huge hit in Paris.
And now you can see an original Eugene production from Dec. 1 to 17 at The Shedd,
with Trevor Eichhorn and Tom Wilson as the song-and-dance team Don Lockwood and
Cosmo Brown (played by Kelly and Donald O’Connor in the film), and Cyra Conforth
and Lynnea Barry as sudden stars Kathy Selden and Lina Lamont, who like many of the
world’s early movie stars struggle with making cinema’s transition from silent to “talkies.”
Directed by Peg Major, choreographed by Caitlin Christopher and with orchestra con-
ducted by Robert Ashens, this production — even in the newly remodeled Jaqua Concert
Hall — will no doubt lack Broadway’s inventive high-tech rain simulator, but hey, Orego-
nians don’t need any fancy production tricks to know what it’s like to sing in the rain.
The Shedd also hosts its house band, the Emerald City Jazz Kings, in classic Ameri-
can Songbook holiday concerts Dec. 6 and 10, repeated at Corvallis’s LaSells Stewart
Center Dec. 12 and Florence Event Center on Dec. 13.
More jazzed up American classics are on the bill Dec. 8 when Portland’s Rebecca
Kilgore Trio, with ace pianist Randy Porter, performs a centennial tribute to one of our
greatest singers, Ella Fitzgerald, at Broadway House at the corner of Broadway and Adams
streets. Fitzgerald’s American Songbook series produced some of the finest vocal jazz of
the 1950s, and Kilgore is one of the few Oregon singers who can follow her path without
either flinching or merely imitating. And for some 21st-century jazz influenced sounds,
catch the electronic beats (samplers, synths, bass) and jazz drumming of Portland’s Korgy
& Bass on Dec. 8 at Hi-Fi Music Hall.
An even hoarier and more popular holiday tradition (although it should probably be
celebrated at Easter more than Christmas) is Messiah, which the Eugene Symphony and
Chorus are presenting Dec. 7 at the Hult Center. Even performed on anachronistic modern
instruments, Handel’s glorious oratorio is a stirring experience, no matter how many times
you’ve heard its famous tunes, including — hallelujah! — That One.
Speaking of Baroque masterworks, who knows what’s going to happen with the en-
dangered Oregon Bach Festival (be assured Eugene Weekly’s Bob Keefer will keep us all
apprised), but Bach’s music will endure despite bureaucratic bungling and worse. On Dec.
11 at Springfield’s Wildish Theater, Chamber Music Amici and guests including UO flute
phenom Molly Barth, organist Julia Brown and more will play one of J.S. Bach’s delec-
table trio sonatas and a violin sonata, plus charming chamber music by three of his most
musically accomplished offspring: CPE, Johann Christian and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.
We entered a season of gratitude (not, we hope, greed) last week, and one local institu-
tion we can all be grateful for is plucky Tsunami Books, which faces a critical challenge to
stay in place. This Friday, Dec. 1, some of the city’s finest classical musicians, including
the terrific Delgani String Quartet, singers Laura Wayte and dulcet-voiced Peter van
de Graaff, and pianist Alexander Schwarzkopf will help you support a small but crucial
pillar in Eugene’s culture. The music will go down even smoother with tasty treats for
ingesting and imbibing available from Taiwanese Women of Eugene.
Finally, for a different flavor of devotional singing than the Christmas music that’s
about to descend, check out singer Gurumukh, tablawallah Doug Scheurell and violist
Jas Karan’s kirtan concert of Indian music at Yoga West Dec. 9. ■
CLUB
100 YEARS
10PM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1ST:
PANCHO SPINS! DJ NIGHT ($3)
10PM SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2ND:
SAM AND THE COURTESY CLERKS, SMYTH
AND THE BREAKFAST BOYS LEISURE LEAGUE
($5) (FUNK, SOUL, JAZZ)
933 Olive St | 541-687-4643
830 Olive St | 541-343-3204
luckeysclub.com • In the heart of the Barmuda Triangle
eugeneweekly.com • November 30, 2017
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