All Wed., Oct. 25, 2006 LOCAL NEWS | BUSINESS | SPORTS | LIFE & LEISURE | OPINION SPECIAL REPORTS | DEATH NOTICES | ARCHIVES Full Forecast LATEST NEWS THE PATRIOT LEDGER THE ENTERPRISE TOWNONLINE.COM Wicked Local Towns Includes content from the Old Colony Memorial, MPG Newspapers and more. AP WORLD & NATIONAL NEWS LOCAL WEATHER LOCAL TV LISTINGS CLASSIFIEDS Announcements Automotive Employment Flea Markets Merchandise Real Estate Rentals Recreation Services Yard Sales RUN YOUR AD Business Non-Business MARKETPLACE Search MORTGAGE CENTER ONLINE DIRECTORIES Summer Guide Kids Directories Pet Directories In Time of Need DEATH NOTICES Patriot Ledger Enterprise Old Colony Memorial HOME DELIVERY Patriot Ledger Enterprise Local Town Newspapers LOCAL GUIDES Dining/Entertainment Business Profiles Home & Garden Business Directory PLYMOUTH GUIDE SPECIAL SECTIONS Living Well/Health News Wedding/Bridal Education & Training Coupons THEATER REVIEW - Strickland on stage: Where life, art unite By IRIS FANGER For The Patriot Ledger Billed as ‘‘Boston’s favorite Jazzman,’’ the affable Stan Strickland steps out from behind his saxophone, flute, Jazz musician Stan Strickland is keyboard, drum set, the subject of “Coming Up For and finger cymbals Air.” (AMELIA KUNHARDT/The to talk about his life Patriot Ledger) and music in a oneman, 80 minute theatrical piece, ‘‘Coming Up For Air.’’ Like Chicken Little, Strickland created the work himself and performs it, but he’s helped by playwright, Jon Lipsky, who structured the musician’s memories into a theatrical dialogue and staged it in a manner that engages the audience as participants. The evening unfolds as if Strickland had invited the viewers into his studio for a bit of music and conversation. The central event, which calls up the rest of his life, is Strickland’s near death experience when he almost drowned off the coast of Hawaii on a New Year’s holiday in 1989. Floating on his back under the sun and zephyr winds, he was brought to the bottom of the ocean and miraculously back up again by two rogue waves, to suffer a broken neck and nearly bit-off tongue. He recalls the twin thoughts in his mind: ‘‘I’m going to die,’’ and ‘‘Too bad, I never had a hit record or made it onto the charts,’’ perhaps the universal subtext for the contemporary musician. At both beginning and end of the work, he recreates the physical action of succumbing to the water and fighting it, using his body and his enormous vocabulary of vocalized sounds, overlaid with a sense of spiritual connection. The rest of the reminiscences are connected in chronological order, from a brief recounting of his childhood in Ohio when he was orphaned at age 5 and taken in by a protecting grandmother, to his current occupation with music and teaching in the Boston area. The spoken segments are punctuated by riffs of music from his instruments that are placed around the stage as the chief bits of scenery, arranged and lighted by Eric Levenson. Strickland also sings in a rich, charismatic fashion and dances when it suits him and the material. He earns his acting chops by impersonating many of the people he has encountered. Ads by Google Click here to check out Wicked Local photos, forums, blogs, news and more... 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I won’t soon forget Strickland recreating a Hawaiian hula dance, his hips rocking gently, his arms in opposition as his eyes echo the swaying of his body, nor his persona as a mad Maori from New Zealand, banging on a single drum to assert his identity. Although Strickland is a consummate jazz musician, as proficient on an electronic keyboard and percussion instruments as playing the flute and saxophone, his chief means of expression for this performance are the movements of his fluid body and his amazingly complex vocal apparatus. At the opening preview of the work this week, the audience seemed to be filled with members of Strickland’s chosen family, which includes the large number of students he teaches at Lesley College where he completed a Master of Arts degree in expressive arts therapy, Berklee College of Music, Tufts University and Longy School of Music, not to mention the many dancers for whom he has provided music. Strickland, a mainstay of Boston’s jazz world for more than 30 years, now widens the circle in this affecting foray out from the clubs and classrooms into the theatrical spotlight. COMING UP FOR AIR/ AN AUTOJAZZOGRAPHY Conceived and performed by Stan Strickland at Boston Center for the Arts, through Oct. 14. Tickets $20-$25 at 617-933-8600 or BostonTheatreScene.com . Copyright 2006 The Patriot Ledger Transmitted Friday, September 29, 2006 Wareham, MA Christopher Haddock Read more... NASCAR 2006 NASCAR Drivers SPRING TRAINING HOCKEY PRO BASKETBALL Carpenter comes up aces in Series gem Evgeni Malkin, Penguins looking special Labor peace in MLB assured through 2011 ENTERTAINMENT The Oscars Madonna blames media for adopt firestorm Michael J. Fox makes stem cell vote push Judge says rapper can't be interviewed MORE WORLD & US NEWS: POLITICS BUSINESS HEALTH TECHNOLOGY OFFBEAT STORIES The Patriot Ledger 400 Crown Colony Drive P.O. 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