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by Allan Appel | May 10, 2010 6:46 am

(15) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Arts, Transportation

Marckus Williams became an opera fan when he heard Sarah Bleasdale performing on the D Bus Saturday. He decided that tunes by Mozart, Puccini, and Gilbert and Sullivan could calm riders’ tensions if sung on CT Transit buses every day.

The musical triumph occurred on the 11:38 a.m. D Bus route from BJ’s Plaza in North Haven to the Green.

Williams was the first of many passengers to enjoy solos and duets presented by Bleasdale and her colleague Colleen O’Shaunessy of New Haven’s Hillhouse Opera Company.

They were performing for Exact Change, the third edition of the once-a-year event staged by the Arts Council. The Council dispatched local performers aboard CT Transit buses in order to promote exposure and access to the arts around the city.

Shortly after bus #522 driver Wilbert Ragsdale (an opera lover himself; favorites are Pavorotti, Mario Lanza, and Placido Domingo) pulled out onto Universal Drive, Williams began to listen with rapt attention as Bleasdale performed “I’m Called Little Buttercup” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore.

“Hang onto the pole,” driver Ragsdale called out gently from his backstage seat.

Bleasdale did, while holding her recorded music in one hand and performing in her heartfelt mezzo. She brought not only voice but acting as well as before a large audience.

Allan Appel Photo “That was beautiful,” Williams (pictured above with Bleasdale) proclaimed when she finished.

He’d done a double take when he deposited his fare, turned, and first saw opera singers on the bus. Then he listened.

“I think it would ease a lot of tensions on the bus,” he said afterwards of the idea of making “Exact Change” a more regular phenomenon. “[People] upset you’re waiting, you’re late, people step on your feet, play their radio . . .”

“Don’t forget the overcrowding,” Ragsdale called out from the driver’s seat.

These performers came prepared with music in English, Italian, and French, along with brief explanations. As Ragsdale drove, other passengers got on. They were treated practically to a new song or aria at every other stop, a kind of opera’s greatest hits.

O’Shaunessy finished “O Mio Babbino Caro” from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, which basically says, “Let me marry you or I’ll jump off the bridge.”

“Bravo!” Williams called out.

At Middletown Avenue, the two singers performed as a duet one of opera’s most famous barcaroles, about nights of love, from Jacques Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffman.

As #522 pulled into the Wal-mart parking lot, O’Shaunessy finished a seductive version of “Habanera” from Carmen.

In front of Bella Vista she sang “Non So Piu” from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. She explained the song was about a barely in control hormonal teen. Then she demonstrated, to the delight of Changhe Wang.

He’d just arrived from China eight months ago to study public health at Yale. He considered opera on the bus a healthy phenomenon indeed.

People rarely sang on the bus in his native Beijing, he said, and usually only for money.

“In China we have not so much chance for Western opera,” he added.

At Grand and Jefferson, Bleasdale did a selection from the Mikado and O”Shaunessy, one of Cherubino’s songs “Voi che sapete” from Marriage of Figaro.

By now #522 had indeed become the Opera Bus.

Marckus Williams was struck by how full the voices were. Pointing to his stomach, he asked where the voices came from. “From way down here, yes,” O’Shaunessy answered. That’s what makes opera different from musical theater.

Williams, alas, got off the bus. Had he stayed on, he would have heard a repetition of the barcarole at Grand and Hamilton.

As Ragsdale eased the Opera Bus in at Chapel and Church, O’Shaunessy eased into the finale with “Vilia,” a selection from Franz Lehar’s Merry Widow about finally finding someone you love, only to have them disappear.

Here the singers disembarked, and the Opera Bus disappeared. At least for now.

Wilbert Ragsdale said he had particularly enjoyed the Puccini, and the explanations

The Hillhouse Opera was one of five performing groups selected by Exact Change coordinator OluShola Cole (pictured on right) because its mission is to promote and produce opera for a wider community. It certainly did that on bus #522 Saturday.

Other artists who performed on other routes on Saturday included the Afro-Semitic Experience; Carlos Hortas collective; Mariyama Shari Caldwell Dance Center; and the all-female barbershop quartet Silk n’ Sounds.

Comments

posted by: Threefifths on May 10, 2010 8:21am

This is a double standard.If this would have been some People of color doing rap music they would have call the police to have them arrested. Also she should have been put off the bus for violation of CT Transit bus rules.

Rules for Passengers
To Keep Your Ride Safe & Comfortable, Please:
Do not eat, drink or smoke on board;
Keep the designated front seats reserved for Senior Citizens and Disabled passengers;
Do not use foul language or disturb others on the bus;
Fold strollers/shopping carts before boarding and store them out of the aisle;
Use earphones to listen to your radio or audio device;
Keep your cell phone conversations private by speaking quietly;
Keep your head, hands and arms inside of the bus;
Shirts and shoes must be worn while on the bus;
Animals, other than service animals, must be in secured containers;
Place trash in trash cans; Keep seats clean; No feet on the seats;
Cooperate with your bus operator’s instructions.

CAUTION: Buses make frequent starts and stops. Please stay seated, if possible. Use available railings and handgrips while standing or moving about the bus. Wait until the bus has stopped before moving to exit.

posted by: Steve Ross, Human on May 10, 2010 8:52am

You’re adorable, Threefifths.

posted by: streever on May 10, 2010 9:40am

... I actually ride buses occasionally and have never seen anyone thrown off for some of the craziest behavior I can imagine (such as punching the windows and hitting the door with a cane & screaming swears at the driver), so I find it hard to believe a rapper would get thrown off, especially if they were part of an arts council performance. A double standard would be if a rapper WANTED to be part of it and was denied, purely on the basis of it being rap.

With that being said, bravo to the Arts Council! and please don’t take one malcontent seriously in his distaste for this event. I’m glad to see the cool things you are doing in our city, as I’m sure many others are too.

posted by: anon on May 10, 2010 10:09am

Chill, Threefifths, chill.

posted by: Silicon on May 10, 2010 10:51am

Threefifths - ... This is a special event, ADVERTISED BY CTTRANSIT. Anybody rapping on the top of their lungs on the bus besides that is doing so against the rules, and please note - still isn’t thrown off.

Do not use foul language or disturb others on the bus

Use earphones to listen to your radio or audio device

Keep your cell phone conversations private by speaking quietly

All three of these rules are gone against on just about every bus ride, making the bus an extremely uncomfortable experience. Maybe that’s why more people don’t want to ride the bus - they don’t want to feel like they’re traveling on the mobile-ghetto.

posted by: Threefifths on May 10, 2010 11:18am

posted by: Silicon on May 10, 2010 11:51am

Do not use foul language or disturb others on the bus

Use earphones to listen to your radio or audio device

Keep your cell phone conversations private by speaking quietly

If you see a violation of any of these rules. you should report the bus driver for not enforcing the rules. Also you left this one out.

posted by: streever on May 10, 2010 10:40am
... I actually ride buses occasionally and have never seen anyone thrown off for some of the craziest behavior I can imagine (such as punching the windows and hitting the door with a cane & screaming swears at the driver), so I find it hard to believe a rapper would get thrown off, especially if they were part of an arts council performance. A double standard would be if a rapper WANTED to be part of it and was denied, purely on the basis of it being rap.

Again If you see a violation of any of these rules. you should report the bus driver for not enforcing the rules DUDE!!!!

I will wait and see if the Arts Council will dispatched local performers Like rappers and poets on the CTTRANSIT system.

posted by: artsfan on May 10, 2010 11:37am

There were other groups (also mentioned at the end of the article) that performed on the buses on Saturday as part of the Exact Change program: Other artists who performed on other routes on Saturday included the Afro-Semitic Experience; Carlos Hortas collective; Mariyama Shari Caldwell Dance Center; and the all-female barbershop quartet Silk n’ Sounds.

posted by: Whatsername on May 10, 2010 12:37pm

@Threefifths:

Actually, last year, a friend of mine, who goes by the poet name Leviticus, was part of the Exact Change performances—he is a rapper/spoken word artist and he’s black. So I’m not sure your statement about double-standards holds water.

posted by: anon on May 10, 2010 2:07pm

There are rappers who amuse and uplift us and rappers who insult and degrade us, especially women. I’m fine with the former and totally against the latter.

posted by: streever on May 10, 2010 2:41pm

3/5ths,
you misunderstand. I’m not complaining that the rules aren’t enforced. Just stating that a double standard can only exist if enforcement is uneven. I see no enforcement, and knowing that some rappers have performed on the bus for this event much like the opera singers, I think you are making much ado about nothing.

It’s not like these women decided to just stand up and do opera. Much like the rappers who have performed at the Arts Council’s request before, they were invited to perform as part of a special event.

posted by: Threefifths on May 10, 2010 3:20pm

posted by: streever on May 10, 2010 3:41pm
3/5ths,
you misunderstand. I’m not complaining that the rules aren’t enforced. Just stating that a double standard can only exist if enforcement is uneven. I see no enforcement, and knowing that some rappers have performed on the bus for this event much like the opera singers, I think you are making much ado about nothing.

I have been on the buses and I have never seen rappers perform.

posted by: Wicked Lester on May 12, 2010 7:18am

... The point is to create a calming atmosphere on the bus. Do you actually think rap music has a calming effect? If your beef is race based art, how about suggesting the two greatest black contributions to music: jazz and blues. Rap music is irritating and is often a soundtrack to violence. Hell, every time I hear rap music and want to pull out a gun and blow holes in the speakers. You think “gansta” rap is appropriate? How about some Miles Davis or Sonny Rollins?

posted by: Threefifths on May 12, 2010 7:43am

Wicked Lester on May 12, 2010 8:18am
... The point is to create a calming atmosphere on the bus. Do you actually think rap music has a calming effect? If your beef is race based art, how about suggesting the two greatest black contributions to music: jazz and blues. Rap music is irritating and is often a soundtrack to Do you actually think rap music has a calming effect?. Hell, every time I hear rap music and want to pull out a gun and blow holes in the speakers. You think “gansta” rap is appropriate? How about some Miles Davis or Sonny Rollins?

Where did I say gansta rap is appropriate. They are many forms of rap music.

Do you actually think rap music has a calming effect?

Depends on which rap music you are talking about.Not all rap is music the same.

Rap music is irritating and is often a soundtrack to violence.

And so is the violence in heavy metal music so just don’t put every thing on rap.

Last I don’t up hold any music that is link to violence.

posted by: mikepc45 on May 12, 2010 9:32am

Listen to Leontyne Price sing Verdi’s O Patria Mia from Aida. If you do have goosebumps up and down your arms you will never appreciate opera.

posted by: Wicked Lester on May 13, 2010 11:59am

3/5 what does heavy metal have to do with my comment? Did I suggest that? No. Since you’ve made it a racial issue, I suggested jazz and blues, the greatest black contributions to American music. Don’t you think some Dizzy and Bird might be more appropriate for a calm bus ride than rap?

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