Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The musically accomplished oratorio NUMBER OUR DAYS implores audiences to live life in the present moment

• By drediman
• April 16, 2024
• No Comments

This past weekend, the Perelman Performing Arts Center — more succinctly known simply as PAC NYC — continued to prove its versatility both in terms of programming and as a venue for the performing arts with the its latest offering Number Our Days: A Photographic Oratorio. Featuring music by Luna Pearl Woolf and concept/libretto by David Van Taylor, the work draws its inspiration from Jamie Livingston’s Photo of the Day, an endeavor essentially comprised of a series of Polaroid photos taken daily over the course of 18 years (in total, 6,735 photos were taken, and not a re-take among them). The project captures the essence of Livingston’s adult life (he unfortunately passed away at the age of 41 due to brain cancer) through images of himself, friends, family, various locales, etc.

What Woolf and Taylor have attempted in their oratorio is to basically animate these photos through a parade of musical portraits — some more literally wrought than others. The result is not only an accomplished musical composition that comfortably and confidently integrates various styles, but also a surprisingly theatrical kind of oratorio, complete with vivid characterizations. These relatively short musical studies/sketches come together to form a textured and varied collage that amasses to a prismatic, holistic overview at Livingston’s life — and by extension, an examination of the very fabric of life Itself. Ultimately, Number Our Days is a sentimental but moving meditation on the elusive nature of time and life’s ephemerality and preciousness. The only misstep is the work’s coda, which breaks both the fourth wall, along with the spell that’s been gracefully established.

The production has been directed by Ty Defoe with both simplicity and elegance, tapping into both the work’s oratorio form and in its intrinsic theatrical elements (e.g., singers perform in costume). As a backdrop to the production, Livingston’s photos are projected in thematic groupings, providing a powerful visual accompaniment to the score (kudos particularly to multimedia designer Katherine Freer), which was superbly performed under the secure baton of Kamna Gupta in a collaboration between a number of wonderful music institutions — John Holiday, the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, NOVUS NY, Trinity Youth Chorus, and Downtown Voices. Collectively, their inspired music-making was a joy to listen to (the acoustics of PAC NYC are excellent, by the way), and I took their outreaching advice to live in the present moment to heart.

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NUMBER OUR DAYS: A PHOTOGRAPHIC ORATORIO
Classical Music
Perelman Performing Arts Center
1 hour, 40 minutes (without an intermission)
Closed