The year's best, worst and most surprising exhibitions and performances. Plus, a look ahead to 2009

By Holly Wall

Because we're in the midst of Urban Tulsa's annual Best and Worst issue, I thought we could recap the year's best and worst art exhibitions and theatre performances.

To be honest, we're focusing mainly on the best. There were some low points in the season for sure, but, for the most part, the work performed and exhibited was really, really good. Like it is every year. Like we expect it to be. Like it's known to be.

If you realize, as we recap this year's events, that there are a few you've missed out on, take note. We've seen what will come in 2009. So, take note of which companies and galleries are producing the really stellar, really revolutionary work, and put them on your list to watch in 2009.

Best Theater Productions of the Year

Big Budget: Light Opera Oklahoma's Candide. The show, an operetta based on Voltaire's work by the same name, set to music by Leonard Bernstein, satirizes warfare, religion and hypocrisy. All that, played out by a precisely adept company and orchestra, made for one of the best shows of the year.

Low Budget: Heller Theater's Recent Tragic Events. Directed by Frank Gallagher, the play describes a few hours in two young Minnesotans' lives one day after September 11. What could have been a maudlin two hours at the theater was actually, surprisingly, both riotous and poignant. We credit that to good acting and good direction. And it's what we've come to expect from the folks at Heller.

No Budget: Just about everything performed at the Nightingale Theater is guaranteed to be produced on a shoestring budget and, at the same time, to be really, really good.

People Who Made Us Proud to Be Oklahomans... Sort Of: Tracy Letts. Letts' Pulitzer and Tony award-winning drama August: Osage County took Broadway by storm, proving that a play coming out of Oklahoma can be smart and provocative and not riddled with merry tunes about wind sweeping down the plain. This play, deserving of all of the merit it's received and perhaps more, could actually change the way people across the nation perceive Oklahomans. We hope, though, it's because they recognize the magnitude of talent that comes from our state and not because they think we're all suicidal drug addicts who come from dysfunctional homes.

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The best of all possible worlds . . . Candide, Pirates, and good friends...

Forgive my lack of eloquence but I am not blog savvy and have no idea what is best said and not said!! I will start by saying I am thrilled to be a part of the LOOK 2008 season and I am eager to get to Tulsa and start working.

My dear friend Brian Cheney e-mailed me sometime last season and said, “Hey, wanna audition for a production of Candide?” Naturally I thought for less than a nanosecond before replying “YES.” Glitter and Be Gay was the first aria I learned in college and from that moment, I was hooked, and have been patiently waiting to do the entire role of Cunegonde. From what I have read in my colleagues’ blogs, we are all eager to do a production of Candide and I believe that can only enhance the experience for the cast and audience alike.

Now, as for Gilbert & Sullivan, who doesn’t like a little Pirates of Penzance in the summer? Like many of my colleagues, G & S has been a regular part of my life since embarking on a singing career. Eric’s concept for this production is intriguing and refreshing and I think we are all in for a some fun!

I look forward to seeing you all very shortly.

Diana McVey

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I'M COMING BACK TO TULSA! I am so thrilled to be back in a town where the people are all so wonderful. OK, first of all, I have never blogged in my life. But here goes!

I am really excited to be back performing with LOOK again this summer. There are many reasons but the most meaningful for me is to have an opportunity to perform my first Candide. Not only is the music some of the most glorious ever written for musical theater, but the version that Eric has chosen is perfect for LOOK. My best friend and mentor, Jerry Hadley, worked very closely on this piece with his mentor, Leonard Bernstein. Candide was the last role I learned from Jerry before he died and I feel so lucky to have that first hand knowledge on how Bernstein wanted the role to be sung. So I am thrilled to be doing it!

I also have to say that I feel so fortunate to be working with such phenomenal colleagues this season. Not only will these productions look great but they will sound amazing.

So folks, hold on to your hats because we are going to blow you all away this summer! Ok, now back to memorizing my lines...how did I do?

Brian Cheney

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We have all seen him. That perfectly normal looking gentleman who is
walking down the street, riding the subway, or having coffee while
holding on a seemingly lengthy conversation with absolutely no one!
Well gentle readers, as the LOOK season approaches, I am that man. As
I sat on the subway today, I noticed a small child looking at me with
a mixture of horror/amusement/befudlement. Did I have something on my
face? Was I having a bad hair day? Alas, no. She was merely reacting
to my muttering, raising of eyebrows, and tear-laden eyes. Surely she
feared for her life. Little did she know that I was merely running my
lines for Into the Woods. Something I have been doing a lot these
last weeks. How many others have I scared off I wonder? I hardly
realize it anymore. It is these "crazy in the street" moments that I
come up with my best ideas of how to play a scene.

And what scenes there will be! I am so excited about this season at
LOOK. The 3 mainstage shows are all shows that I have been itching to
do and the casting is fantastic. The LOOK ensemble is like a family
and I am looking forward to seeing many familiar faces and getting to
know some new ones. The process of putting up a show is a crazy time
of trying out all those different ways of delivering lines you dreamt
up while mumbling through the City streets. Some work from the start
and some, well, need more thought. Regardless, diving into a new
character is a wonderful process of searching your memory and soul
for moments that you can call upon to help tell your story. For "Into
the Woods" the connections are pretty clear for me; I have loved this
show since a teen and relate to many of the issues that The Baker and
his Wife will face. In Candide, I look forward to the challenge of
playing three separate roles and making them all completely different
from one another. For the Pirate King, I am filling my "actor's
toolbox" with everything from classical interpretations, thoughts of
accents, and images of Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean in
preparation for LOOK's imaginative updating to modern day piracy! A
special treat for me in Pirates is to be able to work with my long
time best friend Melissa Parks as Ruth! We have both performed all
over the US but rarely have the chance to perform together! I know
that LOOK audiences with love her!

But for now, I am putting in my earphones and hitting the streets as
I have more lines to learn! But in parting I offer a plea; for the
next few weeks when you catch a glimpse of someone talking to
themselves at Panera, don't be frightened! It may merely one of the
LOOK family! We are harmless creatures. But feel free to leave money,
if you wish!

Ron Loyd

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I am really looking forward to my time in Tulsa. Firstly,a bit of a selfish reason, because I am originally from Texas and it will be very easy for friends and family to come and see me perform. Secondly, because I have been absolutely DYING to do a production of Candide! I have been a fan of this piece for as long as I can remember and the timing just hasn't worked out for me to do a production. I am also a great fan of Gilbert and Sullivan and have performed in almost all of their works. Pirates is an absolute favorite of mine and it sounds as if Eric has a very innovative and creative vision for this production. I am always up for that! And Into the Woods? Well, how often does an opera chick get to sing Sondheim? The answer is: not nearly enough!! Lastly, and perhaps the most selfish reason of all, I will get the opportunity to sing with one of my greatest friends in the world, Ron Loyd. Ron and I attended college together and became fast friends. Since that time we have both endeavored on a career in the arts and our journeys have taken us many places but very rarely the same place at the same time! It will be our first productions together since our collegiate days. I look forward to seeing you all at the theatre!

Melissa Parks

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