It's magic! Put the Queen of Jazz and the Queen of England in new roles and what do you have? A hit musical that will wow Outer Banks audiences.
BY PETER HUMMERS | SENTINEL STAFF

The Outer Banks Forum for the Lively Arts will open its 2011-12 season with two performances of the musical, 'Always ... Patsy Cline.' The play is based on the true story of country music star Patsy Cline and her Texas pen pal, Louise Seger.

Bringing the story to life on stage will be jazz diva Laura Martier as Cline and actor Barbara Hird as Seger.

This two-act musical is written by Ted Swindley, produced by Elizabeth R and Company and directed by lebame houston.

An acclaimed actor, Hird is well-known for her portrayal of Elizabeth R in plays including "Bloody Mary and the Virgin Queen," "Elizabeth R" and "Shepherd of the Ocean."

Songstress Martier never disappoints in her musical delivery whether the genre is jazz, pop or rock and roll and will delight the audience when she sings some of Cline's greatest hits, such as "Crazy" and "After Midnight."

"I saw the play and I enjoyed it so much that I went to see it for a second time," said John Tucker, executive vice president of the Outer Banks Forum. "It has always been part of the Forum's vision to include local entertainment."

In this case, "local" shouldn't be taken as anything less than top notch entertainers. Both Hird and Martier have long resumes that include performance sites stretching across the country, and in Hird's case, across "the pond" to Europe.

Seger, an avid fan of Cline's, first met the entertainer in Houston when she went there to perform. They became friends and exchanged letters and calls frequently until Cline's death in a plane crash in 1963.

The play is based on that friendship and includes many of the songs that Cline recorded.

Thirty-nine years after her death, Cline was voted as No. 1 on CMT's television special, The 40 Greatest Women of Country Music, and in 1999 she was voted No. 11 on VH1's special The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll by members and artists of the rock industry. Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers of All Time also included Cline. In 1973, her name was placed on a Country Music Hall of Fame plaque.

Forum subscribers can enjoy the musical at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24. And the public is invited to a special afternoon performance at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 25. Both performances will be at First Flight High School.

Tickets for the Sunday performance are available at Gray's Department Store in Kitty Hawk, Manteo Booksellers, and Southern Bank in Kill Devil Hills and Manteo. The few remaining Saturday tickets can be obtained by calling 252-255-2274. (Peter Hummers | Sentinel Staff)



Associate Conductor Benjamin Rous and the Virginia Symphony gave a lesson in using one's ears at the movies.
BY PETER HUMMERS | SENTINEL STAFF




The Sunday afternoon concert from the Outer Banks Forum For the Lively Arts featured many classical, contemporary orchestral composers: Danny Elfman, John Williams and other film scorers, represented by some startling music, written for movies, like Forrest Gump, Rocky, Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

Some 'regular old' classical music that later found its way onto film, like the 1896 Introduction to Richard Strauss' tone poem Also Sprach Zarathustra, which will forever be associated with 2001: A Space Odyssey, was included. The youthful and enthusiastic conductor proved himself adept with a sure hand on Samuel Barber's beautiful 1936 Adagio, used in films such as Platoonand Lorenzo's Oil.

The audience won't see movies the same way again. (Peter Hummers | Sentinel Staff)



Four blokes impersonate the London Symphony Orchestra
BY PETER HUMMERS | SENTINEL STAFF




After Outer Banks Forum president Eddie Cooke announced that instead of advertised performers the London Quartet, Saturday evening's entertainment would be provided by the London Symphony Orchestra, poseurs Michael Steffan, baritone, Mark Fleming and Steven Brooks, tenors, and Richard Bryan, counter-tenor, took the stage and proceeded to perform the instrumental overture to Rossini's The Barber of Seville - with no more instruments than their voices. Without a bass, the evening's airs took on a slightly ethereal quality, which well suited the program of 16th- to 20th-century music from madrigals to rock by such as Thomas Weelkes (b. 1575), the Gershwin bros., Duke Ellington and Lennon and McCartney, not to mention Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Handel, Wagner and the rest of the usual suspects. (Peter Hummers | Sentinel Staff)



Gregg Gelb Jazz Quartet bops at the Forum
BY PETER HUMMERS | SENTINEL STAFF




Jazz renaissance man Gregg Gelb brought his bebop-to-post-bop quartet to the Outer Banks Forum's show at First Flight High School Saturday evening. The music ranged from ancient jazz ('Sweet Georgia Brown') to Gershwin and Porter standards to originals. Highlights were an inventive arrangement and excellent execution of Juan Tizol's 'Caravan,' and Gelb's own tribute to 'Giant Steps'-era fellow tarheel John Coltrane. From left, Steve Anderson at the piano, Alex Van Gils on bass, Gelb on sax and clarinet, and Gelb's son Chris on drums all had chances to shine, and shine they did. (Peter Hummers | Sentinel Staff)



Rambunctious Red Clay Ramblers rock the Forum
BY PETER HUMMERS | SENTINEL STAFF




Red Clay RamblersOne of the Old North State's preeminent string bands, whose collaborators have included Randy Newman, Ralph Stanley, Shawn Colvin, Michele Shocked and playwright Sam Shephard, brought their excellent acoustic roadhouse show to the Outer Banks Forum. Their gamut runs from traditional Appalachian suites to archaic modern music, and on Saturday included "One Meat Ball" and a rustic rap, "Billy Goat," complete with painless audience participation and a drum solo. They were Bland Simpson, piano; Rob Ladd, drums; Jack Herrick, tin whistle, bass, trumpet, bouzouki, mandolin and harmonium; Clay Buckner, fiddle and harmonica; Rick Good, banjo; and Chris Frank, accordion, guitar, trombone, tuba and fez. All sang. Yes, they had it goin' on. (Peter Hummers | Outer Banks Sentinel)



Richmond Ballet visits the Forum
BY PETER HUMMERS | SENTINEL STAFF




Stoner Winslett brought the Richmond Ballet's artistic and athletic dancers to the Outer Banks Forum for the Lively Arts Saturday evening.

Dancing the choreography of Balanchine, John Butler, Ma Cong and Salvatore Aiello, they appeared as characters including Adam and Eve and a troupe of clowns, delighting the audience and earning a standing ovation. Clowns and Others, choreographed by Salvatore Aiello, was danced to Sergei Prokofiev's Visions Fugitives, Opus 22, and proved the pièce de résistance, bringing the audience happily to its feet.



Virginia Symphony dances out the Forum season
BY PETER HUMMERS | SENTINEL STAFF



Those lucky enough to sit in front of a symphony orchestra won't soon forget the experience. The same goes for ballet audiences, and at the Outer Banks Forum final show of its 27th season, the former evoked the latter.

The dancing onstage was that of violin bows and the conductor's baton, not terpsichoreans; but the music was appropriate. Guest conductor Miriam Burns led the orchestra through a program of dance music from around the world including a hoe-down, a tango, a habanera, a polka, a folk dance, and of course, a waltz.





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