WIFE

who is directing the show.

“I’ve worked with Matt Brown on so many shows throughout my tenure here. I just love him as an actor and as a person. I felt that he was ready as an actor, and I was ready as a director to work together one-on-one on something this interesting and epic. It will be quite an exciting challenge for him and for both of us.”

True story

“I Am My Own Wife” is based on the life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, who survived two of the most oppressive regimes of the 20th century: the Nazis and the Communists. Not long after the fall of the Berlin Wall, playwright Doug Wright began interviewing the elegant and eccentric 65-year-old, and his conversations with her became the basis of the show.

“When the Soviets took over in East Berlin, she went around to all of the homes of aristocrats right before they were being torn down for Soviet Bloc apartments to be put up … and collected old German furniture, picture frames, gramophones, anything she can find. She brought them back to her house — which she did not own, she was squatting in — and she kind of created this world for herself. In the basement of the house, she blacked out the windows and created essentially a gay bar for people to go to in East Berlin that was underground,” Baron said.

Born Lothar Berfelde, von Mahlsdorf lived as a woman and operated a small antiques museum during the decades that the Gestapo and Stasi wrought terrors in her homeland. She died in 2002 at age 74 of heart failure.

“She called herself a transvestite, even though today the term transgender would be used. But that wasn’t a term back then,” Baron said.

“Here’s this woman who’s very different probably from the majority of the audience … and you’re able to put yourself in her shoes and say, ‘OK, what would I do?’ In these very stressful situations, what decisions would you make and how would you come out on the other side?”

Shared stage

For the first time, Lyric is mounting two productions concurrently at its Plaza Theatre: Brown will perform “I Am My Own Wife” in the evenings for mature audiences, while the musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “James and the Giant Peach” will be staged during the day for children and families. Baron also is directing “James and the Giant Peach,” a coproduction with Adventure Theatre Musical Theater Center in Washington, D.C., where the musical had a successful sold-out run last year.

The secret to staging the two disparate productions at the same time is in the setting, Baron said.

“The set for this version of ‘James’ that I created was kind of a curiosity museum … with artifacts that James and the cast pull off the cabinets and create the story,” he said.

“I’ve always wanted to do ‘I Am My Own Wife.’ It was quite a success on Broadway went it opened … and a lot of the play takes place in her home, which she opened as a museum in East Berlin. So, in my resourceful way, I said, ‘Wow, I wonder if we can essentially change out the artifacts of the

‘I Am My Own Wife’

7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 5 p.m. Sundays through April 9.

Lyric at the Plaza, 1725 NW 16

524-9312 or www.lyrictheatreokc.com James world and replace them with Charlotte’s world in East Berlin.’”

Most patrons won’t believe that the two shows are sharing the same set, Brown said.

“It’s so weird that it works so well for both. Just depending on who’s standing on it, it looks like two completely different shows,” he said. “It totally works.”

One-man show

The Oklahoma City actor started performing with Lyric Theatre as a teenager, and over the past 22 years, he has played a wide variety of roles. For the second time this season, he is portraying a real-life person with “I Am My Own Wife.” In February, he played Lee Harvey Oswald in Lyric’s production of the Stephen Sondheim/John Weidman musical “Assassins.”

“This is a more accurate depiction of a historical, actual person, where Lee Harvey Oswald was like a total fiction, sort of a conspiracy theory, wacko kind of stuff,” said Brown, who is also artistic director of Tulsa Project Theatre. “But at the essence the things that were real about both of those characters is there was some sort of struggle, some sort of events that happened in their lives that the world took notice of. And now we’re telling stories about these people. And that’s really cool, and you obviously have a responsibility to honor this person and tell their story in a way that is authentic.”

Although Brown had never starred in a oneman show before, Baron said he decided the actor was ready after watching him in several productions of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” a smallcast rock musical about a transgender East German singer.

“I knew he has a flair for German accents, and he’s always had a flair for characters that are quite individual — and this is certainly one,” Baron said. “I didn’t have auditions. I just picked the play and asked him to do it.”

Despite the obvious overlaps, Brown said the fictional Hedwig and reallife Charlotte don’t have much in common.

“They couldn’t be more different, the pieces of theater. You know, Hedwig is messy and punkrock and dangerous, and Charlotte is very put together and very softspoken and gentle and detail-oriented. You would think two stories about East German trans individuals would have more similarities, but they really don’t,” he said.

Likewise, starring in a one-man show has its own unique challenges, but Brown said the experience makes the grueling hours of research and rehearsal worthwhile.

“It’s what we want to do as actors. We long for that chance to like really dig into something … and it’s one of those things that once you get into the zone, it’s thrilling and it’s crazy and you can lose track of time. It’s intense, but it’s what we do. We’re actors, we’re in the arts, we’re gluttons for punishment, I think. I’m really being punished in a lovely way.”

Canterbury Voices is closing its 48th season with the Exodus.

For the first time in more than 20 years, the chorus will perform Handel’s legendary “Israel in Egypt,” a musical retelling of the familiar Bible epic.

“Canterbury in its long history is still dedicated to presenting major works from the canon, the great works of Western civilization,” Artistic Director Randi Von Ellefson said. “It’s a very famous piece for several reasons. For one thing, it’s very dramatic, and I think everyone knows the story of the plagues in Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea.”

With Ellefson conducting, Canterbury Voices will perform Handel’s vivid oratorio April 2 at the Civic Center Music Hall.

“We try to have a really good balance of different types of programming, so it’s always nice when we can include a huge masterwork as part of our season,” Executive Director Pam Mowry said. “This is a piece that really highlights the chorus. … It was written to be really featuring the chorus instead of having it be more about the soloists or more about the orchestra.”

Epic undertaking

More than 250 musicians, including about 200 singers, will bring Handel’s retelling of the sacred story to the stage.

“Part of the reason it’s not performed as often is that it does take huge demands from the chorus, and you need a large chorus,” said Ellefson, who is also a professor of music and choral director at Oklahoma City University

“It depends heavily on the chorus to tell the story. You don’t have as many soloists or solos … and it goes back and forth between single chorus and double chorus.”

Joining Canterbury Voices for the concert will be two OCU choirs: the University Singers and the University Chamber Choir. Guest artists will be soprano Anne Roberts, mezzo-soprano Anne Dawson, tenor Jeffrey Picon, bass Bill Weger and baritone Gray Leiper, who is an OCU student.

Weger and Leiper will join forces on the bass duet “The Lord Is a Man of War,” which Ellefson said is sometimes omitted simply because it requires an extra singer.

“It’s actually kind of an unusual combination. I think it’s a great duet,” he said. “So, it’s not just that the oratorio is not often heard, but some of the movements we’re doing are not always done.”

Members of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic will accompany the singers. Patrons will get the rare chance to see and hear two period instruments — the harpsichord, a precursor of the piano, and theorbo, a large lute with an extended neck — played during the concert.

“We always try to incorporate community into what we do,” Mowry said. “We provide great opportunities for other groups in the community to perform alongside us, and it helps them be able to experience something new and different for their membership.”

Word painting

Although it often is overshadowed by “Messiah,” Ellefson said “Israel in Egypt” has some commonalities with Handel’s most famous work. Charles Jennens prepared the librettos for both oratorios, using only the scriptures.

Based on the books of Exodus and Psalms, “Israel in Egypt” leads the audience through the