Decmeber 1st, 2005

 PERFORMANCES

  Still in her 20s, “red–hot jazz vocalist phenom” Jane Monheit has been labeled a jazz singer with “a retro–styled vocal delivery of old standards.” Critics love her. They write about her perfect–pitch; hallmark clarity; and lush, creamy, sultry, vibrant, and fresh style. They call her delivery cozy and warm; her intonation and assurance striking. “Jane Monheit is young, talented, and sexy as hell,” writes Jazz Times, the bible of the industry.
Monheit will appear at the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s Founders Hall December 16-17, as part of the Jazz Club Series. Her last appearance in the Jazz Club was a sold-out smash. At the age of two, she is said to have begun singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Honeysuckle Rose. It wasn’t long before she was known as a singer who “expertly mines American standards by balancing pop’s accessible sensibility and jazz’s rich complexity.” Her exceptional technique brings songs to life without taking liberties with structure, melody, or odd arrangements.

  She has given critically acclaimed performances in some of the most celebrated venues in the world, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, and the Monterey Jazz Festival. She has appeared on TV and has made a number of CDs.
Jerry E. Mandel, vice chair of The Center’s Board of Directors, is one of Orange County’s great jazz devotees. Known for his jazzy saxophone renditions, Mandel loves everything jazz. “Jane has a beautiful voice,” he says. “It is absolutely pure for such a young person. She has a feeling for the standards of the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s. She has listened to the great jazz singers and is taking something from all of them. It’s that growth that I like the most about her.”
Jazz singers have a style of their own explains Mandel. “They stamp it their music and they do it forever. Even so, every time a jazz singer sings a song it’s different. It depends on how they feel at the moment and who they have just listened to.”
Mandel says there are only two jazz singers he would love to accompany on his saxophone––smoky voiced Diana Krall and Jane Monheit. “I love playing with good jazz singers,” he explains. “Jazz is interactive....It is incredibly spontaneous.”
And for Mandel, the process is a chemical reaction. “The arts change the chemistry of the brain. It causes you to think differently. You are a changed person inside when you experience the arts. Jazz does it even more because it is so spontaneous and creative.”
Jazz. That musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, improvisation, and a whole lot of musical rhythm. Jane Monheit. She’s all that jazz!
PROFILES
Ballet Pacifica’s new artistic director, Ethan Stiefel, a classical dancer with American Ballet Theater, will spend his time dancing between New York City and Orange County over the next several years. Last spring he was hired by the board of Ballet Pacifica to overhaul the company and the dance academy. His plans are as gravity-defying as his dancer’s leap. He plans to build a first-class ballet with professional dancers coming from open auditions in New York City and Southern California.
Stiefel brings with him some pretty impressive connections with the estates of George Balanchine, Frederick Ashton, and Jerome Robbins and today’s top choreographers like William Forsythe, Lar Lubovitch, Mark Morris, and Twyla Tharp. He plans to present a mix of classic ballets revivals as well as new works for the company.
He has successfully coaxed the board into expanding the ballet’s budget to $6.5 million. “Being overly cautious will not generate the kind of enthusiasm needed to locate financial and audience support,” he says. “We are going to build the company for all of Southern California in an intelligent way that will make it sustainable.”
Even if Stiefel’s ideas and dance programming can fill theaters with enough ballet lovers to help pay the costs, the risks are not minimal. Ballet has not fared well in Southern California. But Stiefel is determined. “Artistically, we will become something unique and beautiful. Then it’s a matter of people coming to the table.”
In the past, Ballet Pacific’s audiences have been packed with families, loved ones, and friends who have come to see their young ballerinas pirouette across the stage. With plans to pay some 20 professional staff dancers, Stiefel will need to build an audience of authentic ballet lovers willing to travel from as far away as Los Angeles and San Diego. He is counting on letting people know that “Ballet speaks to everyone.”
He intends to communicate that dance is a prime example of the human spirit in action. “It brings together the physical and mental being of dancers and audience members,” he asserts. “You don’t need to know everything about ballet in order to enjoy it. Ballet immediately engages people. If people come once, they tend to come back because they enjoy being entertained and enlightened. Dancers are disciplined. They are strong and athletic. They have a great work ethic. They are a good example for our children.”

What energizes audiences about ballet? “The combination of music and movement,” Stiefel answers. “When people hear music they conjure up images. What they relate to is the potential of the human body physically and athletically. The body is an instrument of movement.” Listen to any ballet music and you will find yourself dancing––just a little.
“I believe ballet is critical for humanity, for communities, and for the growth of people’s spirit,” he says. “When people come to see dance they come because they know they will be provided with a spiritual energy and enrichment. With the way the world is today, this is crucial.”
Steifel’s dream has to compete with surfers, cyclists, and other outdoor activities here in the land of sunshine. If the angels are on his side, the new artistic director may be able to make his vision a reality.

POSTINGS

Lucky Milan Panic––a member of the Opera Pacific Board. He won the grand prize at Opera Pacific’s 23rd annual ball, An Evening at the Moulin Rouge. Panic will be directing his wife, opera star Milena Kitic, who is performing in the grand opera production of Aida, April 2006. The experience will also include a conducting lesson by Maestro John DeMain, a special lunch with the Maestro to discuss the artistic vision of the piece and a souvenir baton.
The night of Opera Pacific’s Ball, the company’s new Opera Pacific Ensemble Repertory Artists organization was introduced. Explains president and executive director Robert Jones, “These are the best and most promising of the area’s young vocalists [who will] introduce opera to new audiences and bring opera to people who are not able to travel to the Orange County Performing Arts Center to see the fully staged productions.”
Dame Julie Andrews has delighted audiences for five decades with her amazing four-octave voice. Now at the age of 70, she is directing her first play, The Boy Friend. Andrews studied voice at seven, made her professional debut at 12, and spent her teens touring England in vaudeville acts. She was 19 when she was cast in The Boy Friend on Broadway––and thrilled audience members danced the Charleston in the aisles. Andrews lost her singing voice several years ago. She says she misses most the joy of singing with a big orchestra. The Boy Friend is a spoof of 1920s musical comedies. The production makes its West Coast debut December 20, 2005 – January 1, 2006, at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Hall.