DATELINE NEW YORK: There's no business like show business (02/07/99)

DATELINE NEW YORK: There's no business like show business

by Helen Smindak

Pert and pretty MaryEllen Baker, a slender, blue-eyed blonde of part-Ukrainian ancestry who hails from Warwick, N.Y., has made it into New York's show business world - not an easy accomplishment, actors and musicians will tell you. She has just completed her second season as a cast member of the high-spirited operettas produced by the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, said to be America's pre-eminent professional Gilbert and Sullivan repertory ensemble.

Ms. Baker contributed to the Gilbert and Sullivan merriment at Symphony Space in recent weeks, appearing as a bridesmaid in "Ruddigore" and as a member of the family of Sir Joseph Porter, the first lord of the Admiralty, in "H.M.S. Pinafore." "Ruddigore" was performed during a two-week period in mid-January, while "Pinafore" was presented in December and given a repeat run after "Ruddigore."

Reviewing the "Ruddigore" production in The New York Times on January 16, Allan Kozinn declared it to be "trim and attractive." He said that the spirited, rich-textured performance showed the singers to be masters at mocking Victorian acting conventions, whether portraying mustache-twirling evil or eyelash-blinking innocence.

"H.M.S. Pinafore," considered top-drawer Gilbert and Sullivan for its cleverness and outlandish complications, was the production I saw in late January. Its romantic mix-ups and tricky moments were captivating, and Ms. Baker's twinkling persona and mezzo-soprano voice fit well into the delightful musical numbers and choreography.

Ms. Baker, 29, made her New York debut last year in the Gilbert and Sullivan productions "Yeoman of the Guard" and "Iolanthe." Between engagements, she worked as a waitress at a West Side restaurant but now does graphic work at a Manhattan design firm.

She says she has no great ambition to see her name in bright lights or do cross-country travel, but she is totally dedicated to the idea of "having enough freedom to take part in the work I love - performing on stage."

Ms. Baker speaks warmly of the Gilbert and Sullivan troupe because "it feels like a family - there's such great camaraderie and enthusiasm among the actors."

And she notes that director Albert Bergeret "encourages us to be spontaneous, while at the same time looking for a polished production."

The company will celebrate its 25th anniversary at Symphony Space (Broadway and 95th Street) on April 11 with a Gilbert and Sullivan extravaganza featuring songs, scenes, original skits and parodies. Ms. Baker expects to be available to take part in the proceedings.

A graduate of Wagner College in Staten Island, where she majored in speech and theater and studied music, she has taken extracurricular acting and voice lessons and learned jazz, tap and ballet dancing.

Her acting experience includes appearances with music and drama groups in Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia and some film work and benefits. Her greatest pride (before New York) is her role as Viola in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," she noted "a role I so much wanted to play," presented by the Professional Theater Workshop in Manteo, N.C.

The effervescent singer/dancer/actress comes from an artistic and musical background. Her mother, Stella Zacharczuk Baker, a very active member of the Ukrainian Youth League of North America, sang in the choir at St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Elizabeth, N.J., and was a longtime member of the Ukraine Dancers of New York. She now runs an art studio in Warwick specializing in decorative painting and iconography.

Ms. Baker's father, John Baker, now retired, was a professional pianist and trombone player who played in U.S. Army bands for years and later had his own jazz group, The Johnny Baker Combo, before switching to the broadcasting field. He was one of the members of the Sal DeFeo musical ensemble that recorded the music for the popular album of Ukrainian folk songs "Ukraine Swings," released in New York by U-Tab.

And, Ms. Baker will tell you with pleasure, that's how her parents met. They were introduced at a recording session by artist Thomas Shepko, who served as advisor and jacket designer for the album.

At the opera

A parade of Ukrainian performers will enhance Metropolitan Opera ranks from now until the end of the season, beginning with tenor Vladimir Grishko of Kyiv, who was to appear in Puccini's "La Bohème" on February 5. The Met's calendar also has Mr. Grishko listed for "Khovanshchina" on March 17 and 20.

Paul Plishka, performing in four operas this season, sang the role of Mephistopheles in "Faust" on January 17, appearing with Placido Domingo and other singers in the Met's annual benefit for the orchestra and chorus. Replacing an ailing singer, Mr. Plishka was described by The New York Times' Anthony Tommasini as "the seemingly indestructible bass Paul Plishka." His next appearances will be on February 12 in the season premiere of "Il Trovatore," and February 13 in "Simon Boccanegra," with further "Trovatore" performances in late February and in March. He is also scheduled to sing in "Aida" in April.

Mezzo-soprano Elena Zaremba, who burst onto the international scene five years ago, makes her Met debut on February 24 in "Il Trovatore." Born and trained in Moscow, according to Svoboda music critic Teodor Teren-Juskiw, Ms. Zaremba's mother is Ukrainian. Mr. Juskiw notes that following Ms. Zaremba's appearance at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London newspapers referred to the singer as Ukrainian. He also points out that Zaremba is a Ukrainian name; the composer Volodyslav Zaremba (1833-1904), for instance, lived and worked in Kyiv.

Ms. Zaremba and Mr. Plishka will perform in the same "Trovatore" on March 3. Both singers are also scheduled to appear in "Il Trovatore" on March 6 (matinee) and March 13.

Baritone Vasilly Gerello, who made his Met Opera debut in 1997 as Alfio in "Cavalleria Rusticana," returns to the Met stage on March 18 in the season premiere of Tchaikovsky's "Queen of Spades." He is also scheduled to appear in this opera on March 22 and 26. A native of the Chernivtsi Oblast in western Ukraine, Mr. Gerello appeared with the Kirov Orchestra and Opera Chorus at Carnegie Hall last November in Tchaikovsky's "Iolanta." He is based in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he has been a member of the Kirov Theater since 1990.

Odesa-born soprano Maria Guleghina will be back at the Met in March and April to reprise the title role in "Aida" that won such acclaim last fall from critics and Met audiences. Ms. Guleghina sang the title role in the Met's sumptuously grand production of "Tosca" in October and November.

An exultant aside: My guess that the Kirov Opera company includes a number of Ukrainian performers has proven to be correct. Ukrainian soloists who appeared at the Metropolitan Opera House in June 1998 in Kirov productions of "Mazeppa" and "Prince Igor" are Mikhail Kit, Victor Lutsiuk, Ludmila Schemtschuk, Larissa Shevchenko and George Zastavny, as well as Vasilly Gerello, mentioned above (and discussed in a previous Dateline). For this information I am indebted to a Canadian reader, Lada N. Bassa, editor of The Culture Vulture, published by the Ukrainian Students' Society at the University of Alberta. Produced by "enthusiasts with few resources and even less time," according to Ms. Massa, the newsletter devoted its December 1998 issue to a catalogue of the work of Ukrainian composers and musicians on major-label compact discs.

Ballads and ballet

The great ballads of urban longing, "April in Paris" and "Autumn in New York," part of the repertoire of singer Frank Sinatra, introduced a refined impressionism into popular song. Until now, no one seems to have suspected that these lovely standards have a tenuous connection to Ukraine. The composer of the songs, Vernon Duke, was born Vladimir Dukelsky in Russia and trained at the Kyiv Conservatory.

Critiquing a Carnegie Hall program of piano concertos by George Gershwin, Oscar Levant and Mr. Duke presented by the American Composers Orchestra, The New York Times critic Mr. Tommasini included the biographical info on Mr. Duke. He said that Mr. Duke moved to New York in 1921, where he met Gershwin, who persuaded him to change his name and try his hand at popular song.

In a Times' cabaret review, Stephen Holden wrote that "April in Paris" and "Autumn in New York" formed the bookends for recent performances of Met singer Dawn Upshaw when she appeared with a small ensemble at Joe's Pub. He mentioned that Mr. Duke collaborated with a number of lyricists, including John LaTouche, Howard Diet, Yip Harburg and Ogden Nash, and sometimes (as in "Autumn in New York") even wrote his own lyrics. Mr. Holden noted that the cream of Mr. Duke's output is showcased in a brand-new gem of an album "Dawn Upshaw Sings Vernon Duke" (Nonesuch).
Dances for the opera "Maskarade," a new work created by Danish composer Carol Nielsen, were choreographed by Stephanie Godino Kulyk. The opera was performed on two consecutive January weekends at Lehman College in the Bronx and John Jay College in Manhattan. Ms. Kulyk, a member of the New York City Opera ballet ensemble, has been doing choreographic work for years for local and regional companies for several years. She also teaches ballet and directs the choir of St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Manhattan.

A historical tale

Film director Oles Yanchuk of the Oles Film Studio in Kyiv was in town recently. Introduced to him by Myron Surmach at the Surma Book Co., I learned that he is working on a new film, a historical tale devoted to Roman Shukhevych (Taras Chuprynka), supreme commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). Mr. Yanchuk, a handsome, pleasant gentleman, was somewhat reticent about discussing his latest project and referred me to the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, which has pledged financial support for the film.

At UCCA headquarters, Executive Director Tamara Gallo readily provided me with a brochure and a clipping from the Kyiv newspaper Den (Day), which gave information about the new production.

Here are some details: Mr. Yanchuk, a film director known for his award-winning films "Famine-33" (1991) and "Assassination: An Autumn Killing" (1995) began shooting test footage at the Oleksander Dovzhenko Film Studio in Kyiv last October. Titled "Commander of the Army of Immortals," the film will star the prominent Montreal-based Ukrainian actor Gregory Hlady in the role of Shukhevych. Photos reveal an uncanny resemblance between Commander Shukhevych and Mr. Haldy. Actress Viktoriya Malektorovych participated in the initial film shoot. The scenario was written by Vasyl Portiak.

The film will portray the tragic life and heroic struggles of Shukhevych (1907-1950), one of the most zealous fighters against Stalinism and a protagonist of the Ukrainian national idea. He was appointed UPA supreme commander with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1943 (and promoted to brigadier general in 1946). In 1944, the Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council elected him to head its General Secretariat and to hold the portfolio of military affairs.

The film's sponsors, including Ukraine's Ministry of Culture and Arts, as well as the Dovzhenko Studio and the UCCA, are counting on the film to reveal the true story of the insurgent army as a disciplined and structured force.

Place names and "pierogi"

Just days apart in January, two New York Times stories drew attention to Ukrainian locations in the East Village.

In a Sunday Times' story (January 24), Taras Shevchenko was the focus of attention, in response to a query sent in by a Times reader to the F.Y.I. column. Taras Shevchenko Place connects Sixth and Seventh streets between Second and Third avenues in the East Village. The question: Who was Taras Shevchenko?

I quote the Times' lucid and informative response: "Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861) was a Ukrainian writer, painter and political activist whose novels and poems, written in Ukrainian, gave forceful expression to his countrymen's nationalist sentiment at a time when aspects of the culture, including language, were being suppressed by the Russian czar. In one poem, he called for an independent Ukrainian state to be led by a 'Ukrainian Washington.' "

The answer went on to say that Ukrainian residents of the area pushed for the name change, and Hall Place (earlier known as Hall Street) became Taras Shevchenko Place in April 1978.

According to the Rev. Bernard Panczuk of St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church on East Seventh Street, the name change was planned to coincide with the start of the Ukrainian Festival, held each spring in the East Village, and the construction of the new St. George Church.

Eric Asimov, writing about the First Avenue Pierogi and Deli at 130 First Ave., described "pierogi" that come with a choice of stuffings, costing only $3.50 to $4.50 a dozen, and bigos, the Eastern European blend of sauerkraut and smoked pork that sells for $4.10 a pound. Mr. Asimov found that the pierogi, which we call varenyky, were "marvelously delicate and savory" when dropped into boiling water for three minutes; they can also be pan-friend. The bigos, in his estimation, was fabulous, fragrant with spices and full of smoky sweet-and-sour flavor.

The shop is owned by Wieslawa Kurowycky, aunt of Jerry Kurowycky Jr., who owns Kurowycky Meat Products, described by Mr. Asimov as "the excellent Ukrainian meat market down the block at 124 First Ave."

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