Mixing beauty and the beasts
The NZSO is putting animals centre stage, finds
It’s a responsibility that Chris Lam Sam can’t get enough of – introducing the world of classical music to children. This weekend, the former Funky Monkey star is shedding his early 2000s persona for the stage, where he will present animal-themed music spanning 200 years, as performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
A Musical Menagerie features The Three Little Pigs from Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes, narrated by Lam Sam, as well as Tchaikovsky’s Puss in Boots and the White Cat from his ballet Sleeping Beauty.
‘‘The music that we have programmed is some of the bestloved animal-themed music in the world and grown-ups will instantly recognise both The Flight of the Bumblebee and The Thieving Magpie,’’ Lam Sam said.
‘‘I think it is a great opportunity for families to come and experience classical music for the first time in a really engaging way.’’
The concert, led by NZSO associate conductor Hamish McKeich, will take place tomorrow. No actual animals or characters will join the orchestra on the stage, but Lam Sam promises there will be plenty of encouragement for kids to use their imagination.
‘‘When I narrate TheThree Little Pigs, which is one of Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes, I get into character and I act out the Big Bad Wolf and the pigs, so there’s enough in there to capture kids’ imaginations,’’ he said.
‘‘For us, that’s really what we want to do. For some, it will be the first time for them seeing a live orchestra and we really want to make a fabulous and fun impression.’’
Lam Sam is a man of many hats. As well as being an MC and presenter, the Wellington fatherof-three writes children’s books, composes for film, was a primary school teacher and is a songwriter.
‘‘I spend a lot of time in the music, listening, looking for interesting ways to deliver a narrated piece,’’ he said.
Introducing the world of classical music to kids was especially important to him.
‘‘Sharing classical music with young people is something dear to my heart, because as a young person myself, I found classical music so inspiring and that followed me through my childhood, through high school, through to university, where I ended up doing a degree in composition,’’ he said.
‘‘Now I write music for film and one of my main realisations is that life is better with music.
‘‘I want to share that with kids, because the sooner you get kids into music, the sooner they can have opportunities to make new friends, go and see places around the world – like I have. It just opens up so many doors. That’s why I love these concerts, because at the heart of it, we are hoping to inspire a new generation of music appreciation.
‘‘It is a responsibility that I love, it’s certainly not a burden.’’
Parents are invited to let their kids be themselves.
‘‘They don’t have to worry about the kids wriggling and making noises, because I will encourage the children to do that,’’ Lam Sam said.
The NZSO will also perform two daytime concerts exclusively for Wellington schools next Wednesday. Lam Sam will narrate Greg Smith’s The Animated Orchestra and the concert will feature two of classical music’s most uplifting and energetic works – Rossini’s William Tell Overture and Smetana’s The Bartered Bride: The Dance of the Comedians. ❚ A Musical Menagerie starts at 2pm tomorrow at Wellington’s Opera House. Book at Ticketmaster. Standing ovations can sometimes be a little suspect as to how genuine they are, but the rapturous applause as the audience got to their feet at the end of Circa Theatre’s latest production At The Wake was as real and heartfelt as you can get.
This was not only for the performances just seen on stage, but for the writing of Victor Rodger’s incredibly insightful and original play that is set squarely in New Zealand and will resonate with many who see it.
On a stylish, minimalist set, by Sean Coyle, that serves its actors well, three generations of one family come together in a room for the first time.
The occasion is the funeral of the daughter of Joan (Lisa Harrow), who is joined at the ceremony by her part-Samoan grandson Robert (Marco Alosio), who has just flown in from New York.
Robert is the eldest grandchild, conceived when the daughter was a teenager. The father of Robert left before he was born and has never been seen since, until now.
That the father Tofi (Jerome Leota) supposedly arrives unannounced (he was actually invited by Robert) upsets Joan no end and from here the sparks begin to fly, setting up emotionally charged verbal conflicts that expertly peel away the layers of these complex family relationships.
As grandmothers go, Joan is not your typical doting old lady, but a whisky sodden, foul-mouthed and cantankerous woman who doesn’t hold back on what she thinks. But underneath she has a heart of gold and loves her grandson dearly.
Yet, there are many issues from way back lying under the surface which the wake brings out and Harrow’s performance in portraying all this is nothing short of stunning.
Her years of stage and film work equip her to garner every nuance from Rodger’s delicious writing, the acerbic wit of the character tossed off by Harrow with such finesse that the audience is continually laughing out loud.
Yet, when the tension mounts and the relationship of the three comes to a head, the pain of what Joan is going through is brought out with aching reality.
To be on stage working with such a stellar performer is a big ask, yet Alosio as Robert and Leota as Tofi are up to the challenge and bring their characters alive with real, grounded performances to make this production an absolute must-see by everyone in Wellington. – Ewen Coleman