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Pamela Ross
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Actress/Pianist/Writer |
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In CARREÑO In goodbye, harry NEW! Pamela Ross offers unique and exciting classes Press Reviews Links Conductors
ON RECORDINGS: Purchase Pamela Ross' CDs and videos at: *Or order the following recordings through 88 Carat Productions: 1500 Washington Street #3E, Hoboken NJ 07030:
Download MP3 files from two (2) of Pamela Ross' CDs: Read more about Pamela Ross at http://www.pamelaross.com/articles/tgdlc/Pamela/Pamela.html Published articles and stories by Pamela Ross at http://www.pamelaross.com/articles/tgdlc/Pamela/Pamela.html ON TELEVISION: A&E Television Network
ON VIDEO:
Bookings/Performance Information 88 Carat Productions
To see more concert and and one-piano show excerpts on YouTube go to:
Visit Pamela Ross at the Baldwin Piano Artists' Site:
Pamela Ross' videos are available at Amazon.com: Pamela Ross' videos and CDs are available through:
Prices:
CDs: $12.99/each, plus shipping and handling To contact Pamela Ross by E-mail write to:Pross9@aol.com About Pamela RossPamela Ross combines the drama of great theatre and the passion of great music to create unique and memorable evenings of musical theatre. Her one-piano shows, "CARREÑO" and "goodbye, harry" have thrilled audiences in the U.S. and abroad. Pamela Ross was born in Louisiana and has roots in Spain and South America. She studied music at Juilliard and holds a B.A. degree from Queens College, NYC, where she was graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude. Graduate studies were pursued at Yale University and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she received a Master of Music degree. Miss Ross has taught at Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, and at Emory University. Recently, she returned from a triumphant tour of South America where she performed "CARREÑO" in Spanish at the prestigious Teatro Teresa Carreño in Caracas. When Pamela Ross isn't creating wonderfully crafted works for the stage, she is engaged as a recitalist, piano soloist and chamber music player. She has performed with some of the greatest conductors of our time including Arthur Fiedler, Jorge Mester, Murry Sidlin, and Gustav Meier. She is also a recording artist, with two Chopin albums, the Scherzi and the Ballades, and discs on the Connoisseur Society Label of piano music by Robert Schumann, and keyboard music by J.S. Bach. About "CARREÑO""CARREÑO" is based on the tempestuous life of the great turn-of-the-century Venezuelan pianist, Teresa . Known variously as "The Empress of the Keyboard" and "The Walküre of the Keyboard," Teresa Carreño earned a reputation based not only on staggering virtuosity, but on a wildly romantic lifestyle which included no less than four husbands (one of whom was the esteemed Scottish-born pianist Eugen d'Albert). Teresa Carreno held sway over romantic pianism for nearly 40 years and her life was peppered with great triumphs and tragic setbacks including the loss of a daughter whom she, as a teenage mother, was forced to put up for adoption early on in her career. Carreno's experiences as an international personality, along with her efforts to find love and reclaim her abandoned daughter, are the catalysts behind Pamela Ross' exceptionally entertaining evening of drama and music. Carreño"CARREÑO " was a runaway hit Off-Broadway in New York City, playing over 400 performances and receiving a coveted Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for "Outstanding Achievement." "CARREÑO" has been hailed "a unique tour de force" and continues to captivate audiences wherever it is performed.
"CARREÑO", recently filmed by Georgia-Pacific Television Productions, won an award in the US International Film/Video Festival in Illinois in April, 1998, and a US Telly Award in May,1998.
What the critics say:"MISS ROSS' ACTING IS LOW-KEY AND EARNEST ALLOWING FLASHES OF DEFIANCE AND FIERCE PRIDE... THE STORY SHE TELLS SUGGESTS AN ARTIST AS EXPANSIVE AND SELF-DRAMATIZING AS THE MUSIC SHE PLAYS WITH SUCH A FEROCIOUS VIVACITY." -THE NEW YORK TIMES "A UNIQUE TOUR-DE-FORCE!...THE SHOW IS FASCINATING AS HISTORY AND AS PERFORMANCE. ROSS PERFORMS A TWO-HOUR SOLO RECITAL WHILE ENACTING THE PART OF THE FEISTY, NAIVE, CLEVER AND DETERMINED 19TH CENTURY WOMAN. THIS IS AN UNUSUAL PERFORMANCE ON A DIFFICULT AND INTRIGUING SUBJECT...REMARKABLE! - NEW YORK NEWSDAY "MS. ROSS MAY WELL BE THE FIRST EXPONENT OF THE CLASSICAL MUSICAL BIOGRAPHICAL MONODRAMA." - THE NEW YORK TIMES "A DRAMA THAT'S MUSIC TO OUR EARS...A REFRESHING CHANGE OF PACE...PAMELA ROSS, WHO PLAYS CARREÑO, IS A FORMIDABLE PIANIST. THE EVENING SOARS...BRAVO! " - THE DAILY NEWS "CARREÑO IS A GENUINE TOUR-DE-FORCE IN WHICH MS. ROSS TACKLES ACTING, PIANO PLAYING, AND PERFORMING BOTH IN SPANISH AND IN ENGLISH. ROSS SPINS OUT THE FASCINATING AND OFTEN TRAGIC STORY OF CARRENO, INTERSPERSING HER MONOLOGUES WITH BRILLIANTLY EXECUTED INTERPRETATIONS OF CHOPIN, LISZT, BACH, MENDELSSOHN, AND OTHERS." - CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR "A FORTISSIMO PERFORMANCE BY ROSS GIVES LIFE TO ONE-WOMAN DRAMA OF PIANIST ' CARRENO'...A BRILLIANT PIANIST, AND TALENTED ACTRESS, ROSS SENDS HER AUDIENCES ALMOST INTO A MAGICAL TRANCE AS SHE PLAYS CHOPIN, MENDELSSOHN, LISZT, SCHUMANN, GRIEG, AND EVEN SCOTT JOPLIN." - NEWHOUSE SYNDICATE " CARRENO IS AS MUCH A CLASSICAL MUSIC RECITAL AS A THEATRE PIECE. ONE IS IMPRESSED BY A PERFORMER WHO PUTS THE PASSION APPARENT IN CARRENO'S CHARACTER INTO VIBRANT RENDITIONS OF THE WORKS OF THE GREAT MASTERS. ALL OF WHICH MEANS THAT THIS IS A SHOW THAT CAN BE RECOMMENDED EQUALLY TO THEATRE AND CLASSICAL MUSIC FANS." - NEW YORK CITY TRIBUNE "PAMELA ROSS IS BOTH AN ACTRESS AND AN IMPRESSIVE CONCERT PIANIST. HER PERFORMANCE IS SPIRITED, SAUCY, WITH FLASHES OF RUEFUL HUMOR AND INTIMATIONS OF LUST. ROSS PLAYS ENERGETICALLY , WITH FEELING, PRECISION, EVERY FILIGREE IN PLACE. TERESA CARREÑO EARNED THIS COMEBACK AND MORE !" - THE VILLAGE VOICE "DON'T MISS ' CARRENO'...MISS ROSS IS AS RIVETING IN HER DRAMATIC PRESENTATION OF THE WOMAN AS SHE IS STUNNING IN HER MUSICAL PERFORMANCE. THE PIANIST/ACTRESS HAS SPECTACULAR TECHNIQUE THAT RIVALS MANY OF THE WORLD'S FINEST MUSICIANS. THERE IS A SOLID DRAMATIC LINE TO THE PLAY, AND THERE ARE SOME ORIGINAL DIRECTORIAL TOUCHES. THIS LITTLE PLAY IS NOT TO BE MISSED! YOU WILL REMEMBER IT LONG AFTER MANY ANOTHER BIGGER PRODUCTION HAS FADED FROM MEMORY." - THE BERGEN NEWS "UNHESITATINGLY, GO! DRAMA AND A CONCERT ARE UNCANNILY COMBINED...WITH THE MUSICAL EXPERTISE OF PAMELA ROSS, THE EFFECT IS AS EXCITING AND ABSORBING AS THE ONRUSH OF MUSIC FILLING THE THEATRE. DON'T BE SURPRISED IF YOU RETURN WITH FRIENDS TO HEAR ROSS' SKILL INTERPRETING MENDELSSOHN, BACH, LISZT, GRIEG, MACDOWELL AND SCOTT JOPLIN'S RAGTIME. BRAVO!" - OUTER CRITICS CIRCLE "CARRENO IS BOTH AN ENGROSSING BIOGRAPHICAL DRAMA AND RIVETING TWO-HOUR CONCERT. ROSS IS BEAUTIFUL INSINUATING AND HOT BLOODED BY BIRTH AND DESIGN. THE WORD BRAVURA WOULD NOT BE AN OVERSTATEMENT FOR THIS SURPRISINGLY EDIFYING SPECIAL EVENT." - THE DAILY RECORD "SENSUOUS, SUPER-TALENTED PAMELA ROSS, A RENOWNED CONCERT PIANIST AND SUBSTANTIAL ACTRESS, IS VIRTUALLY SWELLING THE TINY INTAR THEATRE WITH THE POWERFUL SCOPE OF HER INTERPRETATIONS OF THE TEMPESTUOUS LIFE OF THE VENEZUELAN PIANIST TERESA CARREÑO. A ROUSING 'BRAVO' TO BOTH OF THESE FASCINATING LADIES. YOU MUST GO STRETCH YOUR SOUL WITH THE SOUND OF THEIR MAGNIFICENT MUSIC...REMARKABLE"' - SOUTH SHORE RECORD
My concept for a one-piano show started somewhere early in my life when my friends and family began calling me "Ham" instead of "Pam." From that time on it became my most fervent hope that I would never let anyone down. My Dad, Harry Ross, was really the original "Ham," the one from whom most of my material springs. The rest springs maternal: my mom, Elizabeth, kept us all in good spirits and good meals. "goodbye, harry" is my own, personal tribute to a most unusual man. Harry was a selftaught artist, a musician who loved not only the classics, but jazz and contemporary music as well, a dentist, a sports enthusiast, and a quick minded man who was blessed with a delicious sense of comedy. Harry savored every moment of his life, and then some. He left this world quickly and effortlessly, and with that same tongue-in-cheek humor: bending over the car, trying to fix a hubcap, his last words were "Doggone, the blasted thing is flat! Get me the tire pufferupper, would you?" And that was that. The rest I'm going to tell you about in the show, with the help of my piano and the blessings of my Mom. And as the ghosts of Chopin, Gershwin, Garner, Rachmaninoff and numerous distinguished others never objected to sharing the spotlight with me and Harry, they'll be there too. Enjoy!!
PRESS REVIEW Key Performances By Roberta Morgan Especially before the age of information-packed technology, historians tended to obscure a great deal. Lately, in the new decade of "the woman" (thanks, Hillary!), scholars and artists appear to be discovering a whole crop of creators previously overlooked or completely ignored. Ask for the greats of the arts and you might hear the names Mozart, Chopin, Hemingway, van Gogh. Women, particularly in theater, were prized more for their posteriors than for posterity. How many will remember, for example, that the lovely Lillie Langtry was praised for her wit A yes, wit A by such acid-penned observers as Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, and George Bernard Shaw. Of course, most people know the novelist Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin needed to adopt the name "George Sand" in order to publish her more than 90 works of literature. In the arena of lost femme artistes, even more sinister rumblings echo forth from the past. Perhaps Brecht didn't write all his work, and some of his mistresses helped out more than a bit. What about the claim that Clara Schumann, wife of composer Robert and a virtuoso pianist in her own right, actually composed much of his music? F. Scott Fitzgerald's distraught mate, Zelda, long claimed that "Scottie" stole her stories and called them his own. More and more, reconstructive historians find disturbing shards of truth in these tales, proving that women didn't just spring alive in the Twentieth Century, but struggled to thrive artistically purely underground; perhaps thousands remain undiscovered. Ever heard of Teresa Carre*o, for instance? You should have. Long before Madonna, as Arnold Mittelman of the Coconut Grove Playhouse pointed out recently, Teresa was a superstar. In the late 1800s, playing piano all through the United States, Europe, and South America, she entertained such luminaries as presidents Abraham Lincoln and Grover Cleveland. Married four times (two husbands were brothers), the mother of a brood of children, a chain-smoker who hid a gun in her piano, Ms. Carre*o became as colorful a figure to the press of her time as Ms. Ciccone has today. The analogy with Madonna would hold up perfectly, except for the fact that Teresa Carre*o A at least the way classical recording and concert star Pamela Ross plays her in the Grove's production of Carre*o! A possessed awe-inspiring musical genius. Ms. Ross certainly owns the great gift, too, as she breathes new life into this lost superwoman, weaving impeccable and passionate piano stylings of Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Scott Joplin, and others with a fascinating one-woman-show-monologue that traces the Venezuelan virtuoso Carre*o's extraordinary life from father's prize pupil to the toast of three continents. If you enjoy the truly superior and can afford to see just one show this year, go to Carre*o, if only to hear Ms. Ross play the piano. When acting the part of Teresa, she tends to exaggerate the character a bit, but this hardly matters. The piece as an overall work of theater makes an extraordinary impact, and shows how different art forms A music, acting, and playwriting A can meld to produce a new and more fulfilling dramatic structure. Ross plays like an angel. As Carre*o's author, she writes almost as well. Tying Teresa's story together through the tale of her hunt for her lost daughter (who was put up for adoption by a vengeful hubby while she was on tour), the actress/pianist/playwright delicately exposes universal truths of talented women fighting against male prejudice and jealousy, even from their own spouses. Carre*o's final personal feminist triumph is perfectly reflected in the music, as Ross acts as well if not better when speaking through those power-packed and fluid fingers. Every musical phrase truly tells a story and expresses a new emotion. Gene Frankel, the original director of this Off-Broadway hit in the Sixties, was instrumental in establishing black theater by introducing James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson, Louis Gossett, Jr., and Maya Angelou to the stage in his adaption of Jean Genet's The Blacks. Now he contributes just as much to the cause of women, by helping Pamela Ross maneuver a perfect one-performer concert/ play. Even if you don't care for classical music, you'll be won over by the way Ms. Ross plays it, and in the process, she'll hook you into the saga of the great Carre*o A a woman who should be remembered for her musical virtuosity and her strength of will. Arnold Mittelman must be praised highly for finding Ross's show and, through it, restoring Carre*o's gifts to their rightful place in history. Speaking of history, more than 32 years ago Robert Goulet as Lancelot in Lerner and Loewe's magical musical Camelot, sang "If Ever I Would Leave You" to Julie Andrews as his beloved Guenevere, stopping the show with one of the best baritone voices and most striking forms ever to stride the boards. Now Goulet stuns with his still-solid voice, still-striking form, and most important, his impressive and ultra-realistic acting as King Arthur in the newest version of the Arthurian legend. In fact, for my money, Goulet's highly human and often bewildered monarch surpasses both Richard Burton and Richard Harris in the role. And his voice certainly makes songs like "Camelot" and "How to Handle a Woman" sound better than even Lerner and Loewe could expect. As his Queen, Patricia Kies makes a charming and most appealing Guenevere, a woman whose soaring voice and smoldering good looks could easily enthrall both a ruler and a knight. The weaker links in the production include Lancelot himself (could Goulet have craftily engineered this failing?), a foppy, mannered actor named Steve Blanchard who ducks the more-challenging notes of the show-stopping song Goulet thundered three decades ago. Kenneth Boys as Mordred, the evil bastard-son of Arthur (apparently the offspring of a kingly indiscretion), simply projects a whimpering, whining little brat rather than a true threat to anyone, and his nasty cackle rings unfortunately and unintentionally comical. Playing two roles, Merlyn and the dippy "King" Pellinore, James Valentine acts up and over the top in such an outrageous manner that he must have had something in mind I didn't catch. Flaws aside, Goulet's so fine and the story's still so spellbinding and all those other warm, sticky things real musicals should be, this version of Camelot is well worth the visit. In fact, you may come away wondering why Goulet, who cut more than 60 albums, didn't make a slew of movies as well, at least entries better than his latest cameo in The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear. Hey dudes, Bob's a dynamite actor, honest. Prejudice and subjectivity leads to all sorts of trouble. Before Goulet brought his triumph to these parts, many people could be heard snickering about has-beens. Now it's time for some eating of words. Similarly, incorrect conclusions about the limited artistic capabilities of women kept female artists such as Teresa Carre*o struggling for recognition and a place in history. Hopefully, future audiences will judge more objectively, from what they see and hear on that stage A and nothing else.
PRESS REVIEW Pamela Ross pays tribute to her father To paint the truest picture of her late father, classical pianist Pamela Ross surrounds herself with his paintings, his dental instruments and, of course, his music. In her one-woman play, "goodbye, harry," Ross invokes his spirit as well, "smashing' herself into the work with the same passion her father possessed. In giving herself to the music of Chopin and Rachmaninoff, Gershwin and Sondheim, she lifts the audience with a loving portrait of a rare man. She shared her memories Friday night to a full house in the Fulton's new fourth floor Studio Theatre, combining wry wit with a magnificent mix of music. Set in Harry Ross' New York apartment on summer evening, Ross invites the audience to experience the music she grew up with, the music her father loved. She deftly combines popular and classical pieces, blending boogiewoogie with Debussy, just as he did. The reminiscing is more autobiographical than a biography of Harry Ross, as she reveals how her father shaped her life. Although she may have eclipsed her father's talent technically while she was still a child by learning how to hit the right notes, she still reaches out for him in an attempt to embrace his passion. She repeats her father's adage like a mantra! "Better to play one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep." As king of the jungle, Ross roars. Her interpretations of Frederic Chopin and Sergei Rachmaninoff were simply stunning Friday night as she threw her whole body into the demanding pieces until the room reverberated. The performance was quite athletic as the intensity of the notes tensed then released each muscle in her slight frame. She simply couldn't sit still. Launching into the spirited "Kitten on the Keys" by Zez Confrey, Ross explained her enthusiasm by noting this was the first song she ever heard her father play. Her fierce playing was tempered with shimmering quietness as well. Most notably, she echoed her father's watercolor painting with her rendition of Debussy's "Clair de Lune." As she played, she painted the moon's reflection across water, clear and bright.
PRESS REVIEW Say 'hi' to invisible Theatre's 'goodbye, harry'
By CHUCK GRAHAM Have you ever wished somebody would come sit down in your living room and play piano? Even though you don't have a piano? Invisible Theatre is offering the next best thing with "goodbye, harry," a one-person evening of music and whimsy preformed by Pamela Ross. On stage is a baby grand piano, with stacks of music and packing boxes scattered here and there, a few paintings on the walls and a self-portrait of Harry Ross. The setup is that Pamela's father Harry, a retired dentist who loved to paint pictures and play piano, has passed away. Pamela is in his apartment, taking care of the last few details. She pauses to play Harry's piano one last time. And to tell mostly humorous stories about her father the dentist, who also had some innovative ideas about art and life. More than half the two-act show is music, with Pamela throwing herself into playing a mix of classical, Gershwin and jazz pieces. None of this is done with the hyper-art finesse of a big name symphony concert in Centennial Hall. Pamela is an accomplished concert pianist. She knows the pieces, and she plays them. All the classical excerpts will be familiar to everyone. Even if you hate classical music, you will know these tunes. Pamela's casually delivered comments between songs add to the intimacy of a pleasant evening. It's clear she isn't doing any acting when she talks about missing her father. Some prerecorded voice-overs representing Harry, done by K.H. Roberts, make this beloved father seem even a bit more real. Though Harry hated to travel, Pamela makes him sound the sort who would brighten any long, boring airplane ride. It is a colorful portrait enhanced by the music. Sample "CARREÑO" performances on the road: University of California/San Diego, La Jolla,Chico, CA College of Saint Elizabeth, Morristown, New Jersey Complejo Teresa Carreno,Caracas, Venezuela (extended run) Munson-Proctor-Williams Institute,Utica,NY Societe Pro Arte Grateli, Dade Cty. Aud.,Miami Regis College, Boston, MA. Louisiana Arts Council,West Monroe, LA. Coconut Grove Playhouse, Miami, FL, 3 month run (112 performances) Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Ga. Fulton Opera House, Lancaster, Pa., extended run Reston Community Center Theatre, Reston, Va. Invisible Theatre Company, Tucson, AZ, extended run in Spanish and in English, presented at the Temple of Music and Art, home of the Arizona Theatre Company Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. Nazareth Arts Center, Rochester, NY
"goodbye,harry" sample performances: "Broadway at the Surf", Miami Beach, FL, 8 week run (64 performances). "Off Broadway", Fort Lauderdale, FL, 8 week run (64 performances) Fulton Opera House Studio Theatre, Lancaster, PA,extended run Invisible Theatre Co., AZ, 5 weeks,40 performances Jewish Theatre of New England, Boston, MA Florida Studio Theatre Cabaret Theatre |
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NEW! PAMELA ROSS OFFERS UNIQUE AND EXCITING CLASSES
CREATIVE MUSICIANSHIP
CLASSES FOR ALL AGES AND BACKGROUNDS
When Pamela Ross isn't creating wonderfully crafted works for the stage, she is engaged as a recitalist, piano soloist and chamber music player. She has performed with some of the greatest conductors of our time including Arthur Fiedler, Jorge Mester, Murry Sidlin, and Gustav Meier. She is also a recording artist, with two Chopin albums, the Scherzi and the Ballades, and discs on the Connoisseur Society Label of piano music by Robert Schumann, and keyboard music by J.S. Bach. Arthur Fiedler - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaKennedy Center: Biographical information for Murry Sidlin Pamela Ross performing Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2 with Arthur Fiedler:
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Mirror Web Sites:www.pamelaross.comwww.pamelarossmusic.com |
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E-mail:PRoss9@aol.com |
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