Derren Raser and Rhiannon Guevin, In Concert

Left: Rhiannon Guevin, with the DMTC band, Erik Daniells, Ben Wormeli (obscured), Hal Wright, and Steve Isaacson.

Superlative singing and musicianship by all involved!

I didn't know what we'd get with Rhiannon. My understanding is that she has been studying opera of late, and so I expected arias, or something. Instead, what we got was a mix of contemporary hits and Broadway standards. She dedicated 'Far From The Home I Love', from "Fiddler on the Roof", to a friend who was soon leaving for a year in Argentina. She sang Jewel's 'You were Meant For Me':

Dreams last so long, even after you’re gone
I know, that you love me and soon you will see
You were meant for me and I was meant for you

She also sang Sarah MacLachlan's 'Angel', and the band's tempo seemed unusually slow, which gave everyone a perfect opportunity to hear Rhiannon's clear, bell-like enunciation:

In the arms of the angel
Fly away from here
From this dark cold hotel room
And the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage
Of your silent reverie
You're in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort here

Rhiannon finished with that excellent jazz standard 'Summertime'.


Left: Daniel Rhine (upright bass), Derren Raser (guitar), and Kelly Bennett (violin).

The Derren Raser Band, which is based in San Diego but was travelling on a north-state tour (Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Davis), played the title song from its new album "King Of I'll Tell You Next Week", plus other songs, like 'Call On Me', and 'Bright As Midnight.' Violinist Kelly Bennett also played a heartfelt solo, 'Ashokan Farewell,' which was used by Ken Burns for his 1990 Civil War PBS miniseries theme.

The use of strings seemed reminiscent of the late Beatles - one song even sounded a bit like 'Eleanor Rigby.' Bennett's harmonious violin at times even sounded a bit like a voice all on its own.

Strictly as a matter of business, we had been concerned about the fate of the concert series, because of moderate turnout (~40) for David Nachmanoff last September, light turnout for Andrew McKnight last November, and having to postpone/cancel the concert for Julia Othmer. We badly needed a success in order to continue offering DMTC as a venue for emerging music professionals to perform.

To improve the odds of success, we decided to couple the travelling artist with a promising standout in the Young Performer's Theater (YPT), so that at least there would be a nucleus of an audience (the young performer's local friends and supporters) about which a large audience could be built, in the event the travelling artist was too obscure locally to attract an audience all on their own.

Ben Wormeli has been a strong advocate of Rhiannon's talents, and he criss-crossed Davis with promotional zeal, putting up posters in places like all the local high schools, getting announcements in the Davis Enterprise, getting Derren Raser's CD played on KDVS and KDRT, getting mentions on local cable TV, and basically doing everything short of kidnapping people to make sure the seats were filled.

Nevertheless, very late, we noticed a flaw in the approach. Rhiannon hasn't done a show with the YPT since spring 2005 (as Belle in 'Beauty and the Beast'). Even though many adults in the Main Stage theater knew Rhiannon reasonably well, and even though the DMTC Board knew her very well, given the rapid turnover of kids in the YPT, many of the current group of kids in the YPT do not know her at all.

Sure enough, Saturday night, while some of the stalwarts of the YPT were there (e.g., Jeni Price, Bruce Wallace, Anna Johnson, Poppy Strode, Mike Elfant, etc.), most of the current set of YPT parents were not there. Instead, an entirely new group of people appeared. Some were acquainted with Rhiannon from other places (e.g., her high school friends) and some were local fans of the Derren Raser band, and some had happened across the advertisement in the paper and thought it looked like a good night out. Most were making their first visit to DMTC. So, with ticket prices at ($10/$15), paying attendance was 72 (83 if comps are included), double what had turned out for locally-known David Nachmanoff. In short, a big success!

The lesson learned seems to be that persistent promotion can prevail against weaknesses in the program. Having two acts on the bill helps to stabilize attendance.

So, many deeply-felt thanks to Ben Wormeli for his persistence, and for his vision! We will continue the concert series, and offer a variety of acts as well in the future.