Special Events and Faculty Recitals
Cal Poly's RSVP XVIII: Jonah’s
Tuesday, June 4, and Thursday, June 6, 2013
8 p.m. Pavilion, Performing Arts Center
The Cal Poly Music Department student production ensemble RSVP will stage productions of “RSVP XVIII: Jonah’s.”
This marks the 18th season of this diverse transmedia series celebrating electroacoustic diversity and compositional risk. Transmedia refers to storytelling in the digital age, weaving together separate plot threads by way of traditional and new media outlets.
Inspired by one of the oldest institutions in our society, the story’s allegorical characters are woven together in the setting of a neighborhood bar. “This year’s production is not so much a story as a series of vignettes, like snapshots of bar life under the many owners in its long history,” said Antonio Barata, RSVP artistic director.
“One could follow and enjoy the smaller plot lines and humor that weave their way through the show,” Barata said, “but the real meat of the production is found when the surface level is questioned.”
Hinting at how to discover the show’s deeper meanings, Barata said, “The characters are not who they appear to be, the bar setting is only a metaphor, and time is flying by!”
Following the production’s allegorical twist, much of the show’s music is a traditional genre but rendered in a completely different style. “This is not a traditional concert; it is an exploration in musical and theatrical imagination that transcends the boundaries of both arts,” Barata said.
The music, lyrics, stage design, acting and singing combine the creative talent of students in Barata’s Sound Design courses and Introduction to Music Theory class, as well as students from across the university.
Tickets ($14 all seats)
