Supernatural Noir: an operatic murder mystery!

The last word with the creator of Supernatural Noir - Kico Gonzalez-Risso

2011-11-05T14:14:00.000-07:00

Kico Gonzalez-Risso photo by Angelina L. Cantada Photography

Describe yourself in three words.
A practical optimist.

What inspired you to write supernatural noir?
A love of mystery, bygone eras and ghosts.

How long has the process taken?
Just over two years - at last count.

Highs and lows so far for you writing/putting this show together
Working with a talented group of artists - starting with my composer: that's a high. Hearing the score is a thrill. Fighting for support for the arts in this province: that's a low. We're governed by an ignorant group whose policies are detrimental to a healthy society. No wonder so many B.C. artists wind up going to Toronto and elsewhere.

Now, it's near the end of the run, how do think the show went?
I'm very pleased with the production; Cam (the composer) and I set out to create a different style of opera or music theatre and I think we've done that. Audience feedback has been terrific, but I'm disappointed by the lack of coverage by our media. SUPERNATURAL NOIR is the most innovative musical event in town, yet todate the mainstream press has virtually ignored it. (apart from CBC, Burnaby Now, Westender, and Georgia Straight)

What are you going to do after November 5th?
Begin writing the next libretto. And rake leaves.

**************************************

A published playwright, director and librettist, Kico has had his work produced at various theatres, including The Arts Club, Waterfront Theatre, Richmond Gateway Theatre, Calgaryʼs Lunchbox Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects, Calgary Opera Association, Lancaster Opera, The Cleveland Institute of Music, NYUʼs Black Box Theater, Heartland Opera Theater and the Maryland Arts Festival. Among his professionally produced plays are the musical GHOSTS IN LOVE, WONDERVILLE, SLEEPWALKER, INSPECTOR SLYʼS SECOND-TO-LAST CASE, ART ATTACK, PHONING IT IN (for CBC Radio Drama), INQUISITION, THE FOREPLAY and VOODOO.

He has had his work broadcast on radio, including C.B.C.ʼs West Coast Performance and SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT THE OPERA. Kicoʼs monodrama for harpist Rita Costanzi premiered at Music Fest Vancouver and recently played in New York. He also wrote the chamber opera La Señorita Mundo with Chinese Canadian composer Njo Kong Kie for Torontoʼs Summerworks Festival. Kicoʼs texts for choral pieces have been performed by musica intima, the Vancouver Bach Choir, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Turning Point Ensemble and the Vancouver Cantata Singers, among others.

Kicoʼs latest collaboration with Cameron Wilson is a new choral piece which will be premiered by the Vancouver Bach Choir this December.

Cast photo shoot - photos taken by Angelina Cantada

2011-10-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, the cast and some of the crew gathered together for their first photo shoot in the auditorium of VCC on Broadway. Here are the results of Angelina Cantada's talent. We are so happy with them. Here's a peek!

Laura Di Cicco and Matt Palmer

Laura Di Cicco and Alex McMorran

Alex McMorran looking spectacularly evil!

Matt Palmer

Melanie Adams and Alex McMorran

Joe Trio with Matt Palmer

Alex McMorran plays Corbett MacPhee in Supernatural Noir

2011-10-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

Alex McMorran studied Theatre, Music and Math at UBC and at the University of Arizona. When he is not on stage, he teaches and tutors high school math and science, and his specialty is helping students who claim that their artistic natures preclude any ability in Math; He serves as a counter-example to that theory!

Recent credits include: Wong the Water-Seller in A Good Woman of Setzuan by Bertolt Brecht with Seven Tyrants Theatre. and Antonio Salieri in Amadeus by Peter Shaffer with Vagabond Players in New Westminster. Alex won the CTC Award for Best Actor in a Play as well as a TheatreBC Best Actor award for this role, which was one of his three dream roles. Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd with Fighting Chance Productions, another of his dream roles. He won the CTC Award for Best Actor in a Musical, the Ovation Award for Best Leading Actor and was named Best Actor of 2010 by the WestEnder newspaper. The show was a huge critical and box office success.

(By the way, Alex's third dream role is Iago in Othello.)

Other credits include Big Jule in Guys and Dolls and Cousin Jimmy in Emily, both at Gateway Theatre, Warwick in Saint Joan and McCaffrey in South Pacific, both at Chemainus Theatre, and Doctor/Man in The Dissociates with Sea Theatre.

Alex is also the co-producer of the Blank Slate Theatre Festival in Whistler and over the past two years, they have produced four plays in Whistler, including two new Canadian scripts, as well as the western Canadian premiere of Ethan Coen's Almost an Evening.

Among his directing credits are George F. Walker's Problem Child for the Blank Slate Festival, assistant directing Sarah Rodgers with Godspell at Pacific Theatre, and The Elizabeth Project for UBC School of Music, which was an experimental fusion of Shakespearean text with English Renaissance songs and music to tell the story of Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots.

If that's not enough, Alex also sings with the Pacifica Singers under the direction of John William Trotter. The choir is an adjunct to the world-famous Vancouver Chamber Choir. He also sings with another chamber ensemble called Concord of Voices. Next month, he will be singing the bass solo in Mozart's Coronation Mass in Victoria.

Supernatural Noir's ghostly trio brings talent and humour to the stage

2011-09-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

Supernatural Noir's ghostly trio of musicians are most commonly known around these parts as Joe Trio, the classical crossover piano trio. Cameron Wilson, Allen Stiles and Charles Inkman will spend the next few weeks preparing for their first full theatrical/operatic undertaking and boy, are they having fun and relishing the prospect. Anyone who has ever seen them perform as Joe Trio knows how funny and irreverent these guys can be so for Joe Trio fans out there, Supernatural Noir is a MUST SEE! For people who are not familiar with Joe Trio, well here are the goods from the Joe Trio website....

Joe Trio is not your average piano trio. They don’t want to be neatly categorized, but instead strive for diversity, versatility, and more than a little humour and unpredictability. Their repertoire consists of the classics – from Papa Haydn to Uncle Shostakovich- new works by contemporary composers, and their own arrangements of popular, jazz and rock tunes. And they’re not afraid to mix together so many styles of music into a single piece it makes your head spin. More than virtuosi, the Trio’s members are fantastic performers who engage the audience in a way few classical musicians can. Amply witty, charming, and tremendously musical, Joe Trio leaves audiences with a new appreciation for classical music.

Since Joe Trio was formed in 1989, this classically trained violin-cello-piano threesome has presented hundreds of concerts throughout Canada and the United States - ten provinces, one territory, and thirty-six states so far. They’ve played everywhere from Whitehorse to Corpus Christi, and from Sacramento to St. John’s, and even in Ely, Nevada. Joe has been heard on National Public Radio in the United States, RTE Lyric FM in Ireland, and on many CBC Radio shows. As well as giving concerts, the Trio enjoys offering their services for education outreach programs, and has played many school shows for children of all ages. Their latest album is called Cold Cuts and was released during the summer of 2011 to coincide with a tour of Ontario and their appearance at Ottawa Chamberfest.

Now to get down to the nuts and bolts...

Cameron Wilson is not only the violinist in this show, he's also the musical creator. He spent nearly 20 years with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in the second violin section and during that time he also toured all over North America and Europe with a Celtic fusion folk band called Mad Pudding, and toured extensively with Joe as well as writing music for orchestral works, chamber ensembles and freelancing work around town. He is also an astonishing jazz violinist with the gypsy jazz ensemble, Van Django and they play regularly around Vancouver.

Allen Stiles is the pianist and the musical director of Supernatural Noir. Allen grew up in Bella Coola and received his Master’s degree at the University of British Columbia studying under Lee Kum Sing. Allen is very much the country guy. In fact, he lives on a farm not far from Vancouver and has his own bees and goats. Plenty of honey in his future we're guessing! He is a highly respected educator and is on faculty at both the Langley Community Music School and Douglas College's Community School. As well as being a member of the contemporary chamber group, Standing Wave, he is also the musical director of the Richmond Gateway Theatre's annual winter musical theatre productions.

Charles Inkman is the cellist and the "serious" face of Joe Trio. Charles has been playing cello since he was eight. He has a Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance from the University of British Columbia where he studied with Eric Wilson. Charles is a long-standing member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and spends his summers teaching at music camps in Canada and the United States. A few private students, recording for the odd movie and television show and playing in pick-up bands for the likes of visiting artists such as Smokey Robinson, Rod Stewart and Pavarotti keep things interesting. He has also recorded with numerous bands including Spirit of the West and the Cranberries.

To get a sense of Joe Trio, they have their own Youtube channel so pop along there and check them out. Their website is http://www.joetrio.com and they are also on Facebook. FB them!

Matt Palmer takes on the role of Slim Diggins in Supernatural Noir

2011-09-21T22:20:00.000-07:00

Matt is currently performing in the Arts Club’s Next to Normal (Go see it. It is fantastic!) and prior to that, he was seen as Corny Collins in Hairspray. Select credits: Will Rogers, Will Rogers Follies: A Life in Revue (RCMT); Rooster, Annie (Gateway Theatre); Pan/Bud/Daisy, Batboy: The Musical (PSP); Jerry, The Full Monty and Alan, Come Blow Your Horn (Mayfield, Edmonton); Bobby, Company and Lumiere, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Arts Club); Bobby, Urinetown: The Musical (Firehall)The Number 14 (Axis Theatre); Jamie, The Last Five Years (RLTC).

Supernatural Noir Poster

2011-09-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

Supernatural Noir media release, Sept 11, 2011

2011-09-17T17:58:00.000-07:00

For immediate release

September 11, 2011

An operatic murder mystery to premiere in Vancouver

Supernatural Noir, a new innovative chamber operetta in the classic film noir style premieres October 28th at the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island.

The plot - a private eye with psychic sensibilities, a businesswoman on the hunt for her missing husband, a pharmaceutical partnership worth millions and a formula that’s disappeared.

This deliciously dark murder mystery is the first operatic work in Canada to be written completely in the film noir tradition. Think “The Maltese Falcon”, “The Big Sleep” and “Chinatown”, meld it with a selection of Vancouver’s finest classical singers and musical theatre stars and firmly holding it all together, Joe Trio, the seriously talented and renowned piano trio.

With a score combining elements of jazz and classical, and the appearance of a lone didgeridoo, courtesy of Shine Edgar, Supernatural Noir is as unique as it is unsettling.

Starring Matt Palmer as Slim Diggins (currently performing as Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine in The Arts Club's production of Next to Normal), Melanie Adams as Margot McGillen, Laura Di Cicco as Veronica Bouvet and Alex McMorran as Corbett MacPhee, Supernatural Noir was written by Kico Gonzalez-Risso and composed by Cameron Wilson. Musical direction by Allen Stiles. Internationally acclaimed Victoria artist, Deryk Houston is the designer.

Supernatural Noir previews October 27 and opens on October 28 through November 5th (except Monday) at 8:PM. Matinees are Thursdays and Saturdays 2:PM.

Ticket information can be found on the Fugue Theatre website - http://fugue.biz

-30-

Laura Di Cicco and Supernatural Noir..

2011-09-07T22:06:00.001-07:00

Laura Di Cicco is the lady responsible for Supernatural Noir. Yes, we know Kico Gonzalez-Risso and Cameron Wilson are the creative team but Laura is the WOMAN! Without her, this production would not be premiering in October at the Waterfront Theatre. So three cheers to Laura for having the foresight, strength and ambition needed to pull it off . I popped over to Laura's earlier this week and she kindly agreed to talk to me about Fugue Theatre, the challenges facing many arts organizations in BC and the opera, Supernatural Noir.

Laura’s career as an actor, singer, writer and producer has spanned over 25 years. She graduated from the University of British Columbia and has spent periods of time working in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. In Ottawa, Laura worked with Odyssey Theatre’s mainstage and helped found Lazzi Lazzi, a touring wing of Odyssey. Laura also worked as a CBC freelancer during this time. Some of her Ontario film and television credits included Street Legal and Friday the 13th and her stage credits included Turandot, Ondine and The Audition.

When she eventually moved back to Vancouver, she acted with numerous theatre companies including Green Thumb Theatre, Ruby Slippers, Theatre Conspiracy and Axis Theatre. In 1998, Laura was a co-recipient of a Jessie Richardson Award for a tour with Axis Theatre. Laura most recently played the (in)famous Leni Riefenstahl in Mieko Ouchi’s The Blue Light for Keyano Theatre’s 2010 season. Laura’s Vancouver film and television credits include Saving Milly, The League of Lefties, Noah’s Arc and Traveler.

In addition to her work as an actor, Laura has performed as a singer in a few productions and has also performed as a soloist.

In 2004 Laura founded Fugue Theatre, a theatre company dedicated to the commissioning and production of original Canadian operettas and music theatre.

http://fugue.biz

60 seconds with the composer, Cameron Wilson

2011-08-31T08:45:00.000-07:00

1. Three words to describe you
Quirky, musical, sleep deprived..(okay...four words!)

2. What's your favourite song in Supernatural Noir?
I actually like them all. At the moment I guess I'm most excited about the new song for Joe Trio in Scene 1. A song for non-singers!

3. Where did you get your inspiration for all the music in the opera?
I'm influenced by a lot of different music but for this opera I think I was drawn to music from the scores of Film Noirs of the 1940s as well as classic songwriters like Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and George Gershwin and classical composers like Puccini Shostakovich and Kurt Weill. There is a real mix of jazz and classical sounding music in the opera.

4. How long have you been working on the opera?
I've lost track! Its been quite a journey from initally composing the score to the first workshopping of the music to completely revising some of it and adding new songs and tweeking others. I'd say a year and a half.

5. What's your favourite cereal in the morning?
Beer Flakes

6. Are you a half full of half empty kind of person?
When I'm in the middle of a creative stretch, I'm definitely a half full person and extremely driven and excited by all the possibilities which music contains. When I'm composing a work I am always trying to achieve a glass which is full! Writing and performing music for me is like breathing and I can't imagine not doing it! It makes me happy.

***********************************

Cameron Wilson is an artist whose works showcase the many genres of music he has become associated with both as a composer and performer. He is primarily known as an arranger and composer of both musical parody and criss-crossing musical genres. He worked for nearly 20 years with the Vancouver Symphony in the second violin section and is now a full-time freelancer.

His works have been performed by the CBC Radio Orchestra, the Vancouver Bach Choir, the Vancouver Cantata Singers, The National Arts Centre, Art of Time Ensemble, Symphony Nova Scotia, the Louisiana Philharmonic, Victoria Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestras, the Firebird Ensemble and various ensembles and soloists across North America. His compositions have been heard on CBC Radio, NPR, BBC and RTE Lyric FM in Ireland.

Cameron’s arrangements have been performed by Sarah Slean, Kinnie Starr, Barney Bentall, Nickleback and Steven Page to mention a few. He has written music for ﬁlms including “Singing the Bones”, and the National Film Board documentary ﬁlm, “Citizen Sam”. The music was nominated for a 2007 Leo Award for Best Music in a Documentary Film. In 2010, he wrote the music for the short “Sikat”, one of the Crazy 8s winners.

As a violinist, Cameron has appeared on the recordings of Bryan Adams, Denzel Sinclaire, Nickleback, Charlotte Diamond, Jeremy Fisher, Karin Plato, Spirit of the West and Rafﬁ. He was also featured on the soundtrack of the Lonesome Dove TV series.

He has collaborated with CBC author and storyteller, Stuart McLean, Canadaʼs poet laureate, George Bowering, soprano Jean Stilwell, poet Lorna Crozier and CBCʼs Bill Richardson.

Cameron is currently a member of the National Broadcast Orchestra, the classical crossover piano trio, Joe Trio, the acoustic string jazz quartet, Van Django and the Hard Rubber Orchestra.

Cameron's website - http://www.cameronwilsonmusic.com

Melanie Adams performs "On the Day" from Supernatural Noir

2011-08-30T00:40:00.000-07:00

Supernatural Noir fundraiser night

2011-08-28T23:48:00.000-07:00

A fantastic night was had by all at the Supernatural Noir fundraiser shindig. These opera types certainly know how to doll up and have fun! Everyone looked amazing! Selections from the opera premiering at the end of October were sung by Melanie Adams, Alex McMorran, and Laura Di Cicco, the stars of the show. It was held at the Our Town Cafe on Broadway and Kingsway and boy, was it a warm evening. The live performances followed with a film noir classic "This Gun for Hire" starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. What a great little gem. Veronica Lake is smoking hot and there was general consensus that Cate Blanchett is probably the closest to her, looks wise anyway. Popcorn was made on site which was a very nice touch. Overall, a great evening and a worthy cause.

If you'd like to donate to Fugue Theatre, please go to the website - http://fugue.biz - Go on! You know you want to!

Supernatural Noir comes to the Waterfront Theatre, Granville Island

2011-08-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

After two years of collaboration and workshopping, Fugue Theatre is mounting the full version of SUPERNATURAL NOIR. They have added new twists to the libretto, enhanced the music and deepened the mystery.

Send your senses into a surge when you see the World Premiere of SUPERNATURAL NOIR this October!

This exciting piece of music theatre is written by Kico Gonzalez-Risso, with music composed by Cameron Wilson. The show stars Matt Palmer as Slim Diggins, Melanie Adams as Margot McGillen, Laura Di Cicco as Ronnie Bouvet and Alex McMorran as Corbett MacPhee.

The prodigious Joe Trio are our ghostly trio of musicians and the esteemed Shine Edgar is our didgeridoo player, otherwise known as 'The Dreamer.'

Preview: October 27
Opening night premiere: October 28
Performances: October 29-November 5 (except Monday)
Detailed ticket info