CenterStage grand-opening performances bring diverse performances into harmony

People were comparing Shostakovich's "Festive Overture" to champagne practically before the ink was dry on the pages back in 1954. It's the sort of music that's both effervescent and dramatic, like a bottle breaking over the prow of a ship.

In other words, it's perfect music for first voyages and grand openings.

The Richmond Symphony Orchestra performed "Festive Overture" in the Carpenter Theatre last night as part of the concert celebrating the opening of Richmond CenterStage.

The concert included short performances by all nine resident companies: Richmond Symphony, Richmond Jazz Society, African American Repertory Theatre, Virginia Opera, Barksdale Theatre/Theatre IV, SPARC, Elegba Folklore Society, Richmond Shakespeare and Richmond Ballet.

The behind-the-scenes technical work for a show of this magnitude must have been mind-boggling. Close to 200 performers spun, drummed, sang and tapped their way across the stage. About 50 played in the orchestra pit, a dozen ran down the aisles, and four were lowered from the ceiling. A few individual malfunctioning mics were the only noticeable hitch.

To cut down on stage changes, and because it accompanied six of the other eight performances, the symphony performed from the orchestra pit the whole time. This unfortunate but necessary decision was mitigated by the excellent camera work that projected video images of Associate Director Erin Freeman and the musicians as they performed.

The energy-filled evening included the widest diversity of performance types you're likely to see on one stage, ever.

It was particularly good to see the African American Repertory Theatre making good use of the large stage. AART has primarily performed on the absurdly small stage in the city's Pine Camp Cultural Arts Center. Last night's excerpt from "Langston Is My Man" by artistic director Derome Scott Smith used a percussive set piece -- think pans, trash cans and wash buckets, a la "Stomp" --along with choreography, vocals and recitations to evoke the feeling of Langston Hughes' poetry and the street sounds of Harlem.

It was also a treat to see Elegba Folklore Society on a full, indoor stage. In the past, Richmonders were likely to see them perform outdoors or in other settings where distractions abound. Amadou Kouyate's performance on the stringed kora, accompanied by drummers and dancers, was gorgeous.

An emerging theme in CenterStage publicity is that of collaboration and partnership. AART involved young dancers from the City Dance Theatre in its performance. Barksdale is partnering with The Latin Ballet of Virginia for a fall production of "Boleros for the Disenchanted," represented last night with a dance.

Richmond Ballet's arresting performance of the final section of "Windows," choreographed by artistic director Stoner Winslett, closed the program. Dancers dressed in luminescent gray costumes held glowing orbs and set the stage alive with movement. It was 15 minutes of sheer beauty and drama -- visual champagne.

But a perhaps more significant moment came at the end of the first act. Performers from the Barksdale presentation of songs from "High School Musical" and "Thoroughly Modern Millie" joined other singers for the final chorus of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" from "The Sound of Music."

Cheerleaders, nuns, secretaries -- what different mountains each is climbing. But their voices joined in song seemed to symbolize the power of music and the arts to bring diverse perspectives into harmony.