Only Heaven: A Musical Work by Ricky Ian Gordon Based on the Poetry of Langston Hughes
List Price:
Our Price: $9.54
You Save: $8.44 (47%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.77 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Edition: Music CDFormat: Cast Recording
CD Release Date: 2002-10-01
Music Label: P.S. Classics
Soundtracks:
- Heaven
- My People
- I Dream a World
- In Time of Silver Rain
- Genius Child
- Daybreak in Alabama
- S-sss-ss-sh!
- When Sue Wears Red
- Port Town
- Delinquent
- Poor Girl's Ruination
- Luck
- Stars
- Angels Wings
- New Moon
- Poem
- Kid in the Park
- Late Last Night
- Love Song for Antonia
- Dream
- Love Song for Lucia
- Harlem Night Song
- Joy
- Bound No'th Blues
- Border Line
- Gal's Cry for a Dying Lover
- Song for a Dark Girl
- Drum
- Litany
Music reviews of Only Heaven: A Musical Work by Ricky Ian Gordon Based on the Poetry of Langston Hughes
Music Review: Terry Morris' Dayton Daily News Review
Rating: 5 Stars
`Only Heaven' a magical musical
DAYTON--There are far more than a few "crumbs from the table of joy" in Only Heaven, a sophisticated and transporting musical theater work by Ricky Ian Gordon that opened Friday night in the Dayton Art Institute's 500-seat NCR Renaissance Auditorium.
Produced by the Muse Machine as the centerpiece of its 20th anniversary and directed by Joe Deer, with music direction by Joseph Bates, the fast-moving but memorable two-act presentation is based on the writings of Langston Hughes.
Thirty-eight selections ranging from excerpts to entire poems are sung, spoken and interpreted in dance movements during what is not quite an opera or musical, but is much more than a revue. Some songs stand out as self-contained showcases of a thought or a singer's vocal ability. Others blend in suites that approach narrative.
Their presence, dramatic expression and vocal power made the four featured singers--tenor Darius de Haas, soprano Adrienne Danrich, soprano Jonita Lattimore and baritone Jay Pierce--the near-constant focus during the final dress rehearsal performance on Wednesday night, but Hughes' words are always at the center.
Played by an ensemble including the composer on piano, Gordon's music flows from and alongside the lyrics, sometimes dashing ahead with impetuous enthusiasm to bring the text along, other times pausing to isolate or display a facet of it. The overall effect is an effortless pairing that clarifies interpretation and explores a wide range of feelings.
Only Heaven doesn't dwell on or shy away from the turmoil, pain and anger in Hughes' poetry.
A suite of settings in Act 2 that encompasses Pierce`s powerful rendition of Border Line, Lattimore's Song for a Dark Girl whose lover has been hanged in the post-slavery South, de Haas' passionate solo about death, Drum, and the repetition of the same words by one after the other in Prayer may be the most spellbinding passage of a production in which the singers' faces can be as compelling as their voices.
Things begin on a light and happy note--de Haas' soaring rendition of Heaven, a place "where happiness is everywhere."
The performance ends, if not quite on a hopeful note, then definitely on one that encourages people to care for each other, with Litany.
Choreographer-dancer Shonna Hickman-Matlock and Michael-Lamont Lytle evoke qualities as various as moonlight, comfort and death with their movements. The recitations of actress Sheila Ramsey establish her as a go between and knowing, regal presence.
There's pride in My People, hope in Time of Silver Rain and Daybreak in Alabama, love, romance and desire in Love Song for Lucinda, When Sue Wears Red and Joy. But Hughes often counters one emotion with another, as in Kid in the Park, where home is just around the corner, "but not really anywhere"; and images, as in Angels Wings, which are "white as snow," in contrast to the narrator's, which have been "drug in the dirty mire" and "all through the fire."
The blues of heart and soul are reflected in the light-catching painted fabric designer Dunsi Dai has draped with fluid elegance across the stage. But so is the "blue cloud-cloth" Hughes writes of using to protect tender dreams and "heart melodies." Such treasures are in safe hands with during Only Heaven.
- Terry Morris, Dayton Daily News, 23 February 2002
More Only Heaven: A Musical Work by Ricky Ian Gordon Based on the Poetry of Langston Hughes free music reviews:
1
1
Description of Only Heaven: A Musical Work by Ricky Ian Gordon Based on the Poetry of Langston Hughes
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.Fans of Ricky Ian Gordon's collection of songs Bright Eyed Joy have already sampled eight songs from Only Heaven and will find even more to enjoy on this complete, 74-minute recording of the song cycle. Though Gordon is considered a rising star of American musical theater, Only Heaven is not a musical. But it is a stage work, 29 songs set to the writings of Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes (texts are included), and realized by seven singers, dancers, and a handful of instruments (including Gordon at the piano). While we can't pick up what the live audience at the Dayton Art Institute in February 2002 is laughing at, we can enjoy the songs, sharp and dissonant at times but also meltingly beautiful, powerfully sung, and building to a strong climax. Hughes's jazzy verse works well with Gordon's frequently jazzy music, especially when it's sung by Darius de Haas. A distinctly American work. --David Horiuchi
Broadway & Vocalists CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Broadway & Vocalists CDs
George Shearing, Mel Torme - Elegant EveningSHEARING,G/TORME,M; Release date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $6.39
Price in other shops:
Stan Getz - Spring Is HereRelease date: 1993-01-11; Music CD
Price in other shops:
Rosemary Clooney - Girl SingerRelease date: 1999-04-01; Music CD
Best price: $8.97
Price in other shops:
The Blenders - NogRelease date: 1998-10-20; Music CD
Best price: $8.77
Price in other shops:
Brave Combo, Tiny Tim - GirlTIM,TINY/BRAVE COMB; Release date: 1996-03-19; Music CD
Best price: $15.04
Price in other shops:
Belleville a Cappella Choir - Southern Journey, Vol. 11: Honor The Lamb - The Belleville A Cappella ChoirRelease date: 1998-02-10; Music CD
Best price: $84.05
Diane Schuur - Love SongsRelease date: 1993-05-11; Music CD
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops:
![Love Is the Thing [Vinyl] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
Nat King Cole - Love Is the Thing [Vinyl]Release date: 1996-11-19; Music CD
Best price: $169.99
Linda Ronstadt - Linda Ronstadt: Greatest HitsRelease date: 1998-01-13; Music CD
Best price: $19.99
Price in other shops:
Buddy Rich, Sammy Davis Jr - Sounds of 66Release date: 1996-09-17; Music CD
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
Dream TrueRelease date: 2006-05-30; Music CD
Best price: $12.42
Price in other shops:
Kerrigan-Lowdermilk - Our First MistakeRelease date: 2011-01-18; Music CD
Best price: $13.24
Price in other shops:
![[title of show] (2006 Original Off-Broadway Cast) Image](/images/title-of-show-2006-Original-Off-Broadway-Cast-B000G5SI80-X.jpg)
[title of show] (2006 Original Off-Broadway Cast)Release date: 2006-07-25; Music CD
Best price: $13.00
Price in other shops:
Original Cast Recording - Ordinary DaysRelease date: 2010-09-21; Music CD
Best price: $13.00
Price in other shops:
The Book of Mormon (Original Broadway Cast Recording)Release date: 2011-06-07; Music CD
Best price: $10.67
Price in other shops:
Orpheus and EuridiceRelease date: 2007-01-23; Music CD
Best price: $13.26
Price in other shops:
Ricky Ian Gordon - A Horse With WingsRelease date: 2010-06-08; Music CD
Best price: $13.51
Price in other shops:
Bright Eyed Joy: The Songs of Ricky Ian GordonRelease date: 2001-04-24; Music CD
Best price: $20.00
Only Heaven: Medium High VoiceHal Leonard Corporation; Hal Leonard Corporation; Published: 1997-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.73
Price in other shops:
Genius Child: High Voice (Composer Collection)Hal Leonard; Hal Leonard Corporation; Published: 1996-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.39
Price in other shops: