Feature Article July 31, 2002
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Music for the turn of the century at St. Jamesby Jeff GreenBy day Janice Coles is the rural branch librarian for the Kingston Frontenac Public Library. By night, however, she indulges her passion for light operatic song performed in the late Victorian style. Last week at St. James Major in Sharbot Lake, she performed in the first half of a concert that was billed as An Evening of Victorian Song and Melodrama. The premise of the evening was that it was 1901 instead of 2002, and Ms. Coles addressed the audience as if this were the case, speaking of the latest fashions in puff sleeves and singing about the new x-rays and the rage for moustaches.
She was introduced to the audience by Peter Ashton as a sumptuous, serendipitous songstress. Her songs also required acting, which she played up for effect without going completely over the top. Her skill at irony avoided sentimentalizing the mores of the early 20th century, and it was great fun going back 100 years. It took a couple of numbers for those of us in the audience not accustomed to this kind of music to fully appreciate it, but by the end of the set, her strong, pleasant voice and the inherent musicality of the material brought the fair-sized audience to their feet.After intermission it was time for melodrama. Peter Aston directed The Belle, Book and Bull Playreaders of Kingston in a performance of Curse you, Jack Dalton, and according to him, Victorian melodrama was a form of popular theatre which featured caricatures of good and bad characters embroiled in unlikely and quickly developing plots. Melodrama takes us from the scintillating heights of triumphant virtue to the depth of villainous despondency, he said. The cast included veteran Kingston actors Heather Bonham, Sandie Cond, Linda Jack, Dick Miller, David Hurley, and Ron Easteal. It was a performance reminiscent of the As the Stomach Turns segments on the old Carol Burnett TV show. The action takes place one evening at the home of the wealthy matriarch Mrs. Donna Dalton (Heather Bonham), who has given her neighbour, the secretly penniless Anna Alvarado (Sandie Cond), her blessing to marry her son, Jack Dalton (Dick Miller). Jack, however, is in love with the servant Bertha Blair (Linda Jack). Along comes Egbert Van Horn (David Hurley), who is engaged to Jacks ungainly sister Eloise (Heather Bonham in a red wig and buck teeth). Egbert Van Horn, who is actually a swindler, makes a deal with Anna Alvarado to remove Bertha Blair from the scene. To do this, Alvarado enlists the help of her butler Jackson. However, it turns out that Jackson is actually Bertha Blairs long lost brother, and Van Horn is actually Hector Harcourt, who had swindled Jackson out of a gold mine years before. After much mugging and mayhem, all is set to rights and Jack and Bertha are betrothed.The actors encouraged the audience to cheer for the good and hiss at the bad, and the crowd was happy to oblige. This was the first time summer concert series organiser Marcel Giroux has attempted a theatrical event, and it was very well received by the audience, which is growing every week as the summer progresses. Tonight, for those who receive The News on Wednesday, Paul Chabot, a summer concert favourite, will perform at 7:30 p.m., and on Wednesday, August 7, the Arden Glee Club will take the stage. Admission to all concerts is $5, and tickets are available at the door.