By Ally Hansen, Staff Writer
The Wanda L. Bass School of Music and Canterbury Choral Society are preparing to present Leonard Bernstein’s Mass.
The performance will be at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave.
Mass incorporates complex music and movement. It is rarely presented because of its difficulty and extravagance.
“It’s this crazy production, like nothing I’ve ever been a part of before,” said Katie Wonderly, music education sophomore.
Bernstein’s Mass most closely resembles a musical, but on an epic scale: the cast includes a concert choir, street singers, a youth chorus, a Celebrant, and an offstage orchestra. The Mass incorporates more than 300 performers.
Mass was written at the request of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis for the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. in 1971. OCU’s performance will commemorate and acknowledge the anniversary.
David Herendeen, stage director of the Mass, has thought about producing the show for several years. This year was chosen in part to align with the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination.
Herendeen describes the piece as provocative. It explores philosophical and spiritual questions.
Initial critical reaction to Mass was mixed, with some critics questioning the work’s place in the canon, but the show’s universal themes of faith and doubt have stood the test of time.
“I’m not interested in
re-creating anything that happened before,” Herendeen said. “It’s important to me that this piece speaks for this time, this city; but also beyond this time and this city.”
While Mass has strong Catholic overtones, Herendeen has stripped much of the show’s Christian symbology, resulting in a more nondenominational tone.
The street singers are archetypes of people expected to be seen in a town. They contrast with the Celebrant as they question the relevance of faith and religion in the modern world.
Because of the rarity of the Mass, people are coming from across the country to see the production.
“It’s the Halley’s Comet of big musical events,” Herendeen said.
A small number of tickets remain for sale. To get tickets, call the Canterbury Choral Society at 405-232-SING (7464) or visit www.myticketoffice.com. Tickets range from $30 to $55, depending on seating.
Leave a Reply