A night at the opera

Carmen, Pothole, and more

by Michael Caito

It's the middle of a crucial aria in the climactic act of Carmen. Sitting in Vets, dressed all nice-nice, listening to the Bizet, minding my own business. I glance up toward the supertitles and . . . .

"Hey, is that . . . " I whisper and then stop. Whispering is usually considered rude, but the surrounding murmur shows that this is not, in fact, another hallucination. My companion -- a non-denominational vampire -- is now smiling, with a very unsettling look in her eye. The aria continues and the circling mammal eventually scoots, only to re-appear with a flourish during the curtain call.

So not only was it a Halloween operatic bat cameo, but even more impressively, yon critter had evidently learned the art of the smoothly-timed entrance from Buddy. Ahhh, Providence. The city of brotherly Lovecraft . . . .

Pothole:"Linzey Collins" b/w "Kingfish" (Kong Records 7")

Worcester-bred lads fall somewhere near the Posies on the pop landscape, but lemme tell ya, minor-key powerpop has been so done to death I may just fling it even if it is vinyl. If you're gonna do it fergodsake WE NEED A LITTLE VARIETY, and even a good producer (here again, TBuck) can't overcome a dearth of originality. It's been a long time since not sounding bad has been confused, in these ears, with sounding good. "Linzey Collins" almost makes it on the strength of its vocal harmonies, but that should have been a starting point, not an ending point. Where's Velvet Crush when you need them?

The Western Opera Theater:Carmen live at Veterans Memorial Auditorium

Opera theater can be like chocolate stuffies:two great tastes that don't necessarily bring, through their marriage, either an improvement on or greater appreciation of either. Bizet's opera is rife with sensuous Gypsy dance, titillation of and by perma-horny youths, and physical humor. Viewed in a charitable light, the sexual froth can be seen as delivery system for a series of deservedly famous tunes -- as adding a visual element which makes the experience more fulfilling.

But in the stricter sense of going to enjoy the singing, this was dodgy. Connecticut's Kathryn Honan-Carter, the titular mezzo-soprano, was, like most of the cast, adequate, but the role demands a real riveter, which she ain't, even given the fact that Carmen doesn't get to sing the opera's most emotional pieces.Tenor Todd Geer, another vital element as lovestruck sap Don Jose, was also decent, but no more, showing infrequent, almost startling passages of projection.

Despite the vanilla-ness of Geer and Honan-Carter, several worthy performances were delivered. Bass-baritone Gregory Sheppard as the powerful Captain Zuniga totally eclipsed a poquito caliente turn by rah-rah toreador Escamillo, sung by baritone Armando Gama. Kathleen Taylor's Micaela drew the most tears in her recurring attempts to bring Don Jose home to his mourning madre. To Bizet it seemed that in a perfect world Micaela and Don Jose would end up together, and Taylor ran with this from the start in an endearing performance.

The Western Opera Theater started in 1966 as the initial grant recipient from the then-new NEA (and a hearty high-stick to the Journal's fleabrained Terzian for his recent idiotic, egocentric "editorials" on that front). Over the past three decades W.O.T. has enabled many aspiring American voices to attack these operatic warhorses, growing professionally by surviving the rigors of a touring company. That a young cast is not top-shelf throughout is not surprising given the demands of such an opera. But the audience may hear one of the future greats in their critical, formative years, often in less-central roles. From that stance this Carmen was a success, and those in attendance will always be able to cite names like Gregory Sheppard and Kathleen Taylor while saying, "I remember when she sang Micaela!" Nothing wrong with that.

NIGHTSWIM INK. From Mott the Habs-ist via the 'net."Hey the corpse of the Shotgun is still warm. We were put on the Punk Rock Vol. II (Essential Noise) compilation with D.O.A. and the Hanson Brothers. Our song is titled "Git yer KoHo Out My Blowhole." Planned release is January 15, the day of the NHL All-Star game. Final One Ton Shotgun title.

Recent Brown grad (and Scarce webfan) Leigh Marble caught us up from Undercover Records in Portland, Oregon, where the singer-songwriter-guitarist is continually playing smaller rooms solo and interning at the label. Undercover's new Fleetwood Mac tribute features Providence's Purple Ivy Shadows, and others on the new Mac attack include the late Jeff Buckley guesting plus Varnaline and Reservoir. Of Faster Tiger's cover of "The Chain," Marble writes that Buckley's appearance is "supposedly the last thing Jeff ever recorded." Varnaline's Anders Parker is now touring solo behind Shot and a Beer(Zero Hour) and appears at the Century Lounge in a fortnight. Brown's Erin McKeown is back in school after a mostly-touring summer on the East Coast and drops by the Pork Chop Lounge at AS220 on happenstance Sundays. Miracle Legion's Mark Mulcahy is set to release Fathering (Mezzotint), playing/singing all parts. Ten tunes produced here by TBuck, and also in Philly and Brooklyn. NYC's Radical Records have been riding ska's tsunami of popularity, and have just released Oi!/Skampilation Volume 3. Recorded live at New Haven's storied El 'n' Gee, it features mainly New England bands including quality Quincy cuts from the right honorable Dropkick Murphys on a pair, including the opening "Road of the Righteous." Providence's Average Suburbanites get lucky track #13, the lusty and venomous "Hypocrite," which maintains studio quality plus live energy. And that's what makes this entire comp float. Even if you're not a big ska-natic there's loads to savor in these 23 songs. Also on the ska homefront, Racketball's debut disc is out now.

Several notable pop records have surfaced this year to little, including Moxy Fruvous' You Will Go to the Moon (Bottom Line) and the Orange Peels' Square (Minty Fresh). Ontario-based Fruvous' frivolity about the "Michigan Militia," et al has numerous pristine, savvy pop moments, while the Orange Peels' brand of sunny Cali melody extraordinarily avoids goop.

Refreshing as these bands are, the point is even they pale next to the finest, most irascible and consistently rewarding pop bands in the land, Ben Folds Five. They're here in early December, but they're also on WSBE (Channel 36) on Saturday at 10 p.m., with Beck(-erhead). The Chapel Hill-based trio (piano/bass/ drums) have bear-hugged the "punk rock for sissies" tag for a reason: marbled throughout their uplifting melodies are old-school harsh breakups, miserable Christmases, expletives galore and and guillotine wit which doesn't always end up like gallows humor. Shoe-gazers, run for your lives. Check their webring for .wav clips or view 'em on the one-eyed bringer of mental death, but definitely hit Lupo's on December Three for the Five.

Instrument Hall of Fame:In a program of sonatas by Beethoven and Rachmaninoff, pianist Judith Lynn Stillman performs with cellist Michael Reynolds Sunday at Newport's Belcourt Castle. It's a shebang for Common Cause (861-2322). Stillman will be playing Paderewski's Steinway, Reynolds the "Oliver" Amati. Those who know, know. Elsewhere, Mary Lou Lord hits the Century Lounge, Geri Verdi & the Villains (Fri.) and Pendragon (Sat.) are at the Black & White Coffeehouse, and the Providence Gay Men's Chorus perform with alto Susan Rodgers Wednesday at the Westminster Unitarian Church in East Greenwich and again November 16 at the Bell Street Chapel just outside Olneyville. NHLline of the week: Bonk, Satan & Twist.

It's with sadness that we on Chestnut Street mark the passing of gifted young musician Heather Morgan, who succumbed to leukemia last Friday. A frequent collaborator on guitar with Rory MacLeod, she will be sorely missed. Only the good . . . .