WKAR's July 25 "Evening at WKAR" with Molly Fillmore was a great success with lots of great feedback. Molly was here to preview the Great Performances at the Met production of Satyagraha, airing Sunday, July 29, at 3 p.m. on WKAR World's "Summer Sundays at the Opera."
The Philip Glass opera based on Mahatma Gandhi's years in South Africa has a complex but emotional score, written and sung in Sanskrit. Molly chose segments from each scene and explained the story before showing each one. She also added delightful behind-the-scenes comments about working on one of the greatest stages in the world. Guests had opportunities to ask questions throughout the presentation and meet her after the preview.
"Useful in Helping Viewers Understand..."
"I loved it. I thought it was great," Molly said, after the preview ended. "The technical questions were very strong... It was also clear that they were interested in my experience."
She also noted that guests had questions about the production itself. "I think they were very interested in the technical process of the person doing it," she said. "Not just the show but we have someone behind the scenes. Let's talk about how it happens."
Molly noted that the preview was useful in helping viewers understand the opera and would love to come back and be a guest at a future Evening at WKAR. "It was fun and I think it definitely brings people closer to what they're seeing. If they are, then they're going to be more comfortable and then they are going to watch it."
"She's Such a Gracious Person..."
Anthony Sanchez was a guest at the preview. "I was really excited to come and hear her," he says of Fillmore, who is an associate professor of voice at MSU. "I was shocked. I had no idea that she was performing at the Met now."
He added something we heard a great deal from other guests when he said, "She's such a gracious person in answering questions and giving her experience and her impressions. I thought it was great."
We heard lots of nice words about WKAR as well. Sanchez said, "I don't have television. NPR is my news source," while Balwinder Sandhu of Okemos said, "I have been a fan of WKAR and PBS. I raised my two sons without cable. The only channel they watched was PBS. And that's the only radio station I listen to."
Door Prizes!
WKAR also offered door prizes to guests including two tickets to opera star Renee Fleming's upcoming performance at Wharton Center for Performing Arts. Sandra Wright-Auge of Stockbridge will be attending that performance.
Other prize winners receiving an assortment of WKAR items included Nancy Seebeck, Kay Randolph-Back, Berkely Sorrells, David Snyder, Dan Dickinson, Thomas Benner, Clare Mackey, Joe Kunk, Jim Murphy, Alan Sorrells, Jualynne Dodson, Scott Ross, R.L. Wilten and Katie Bethel.
Coming Next!
Our next Evening at WKAR will be a preview of The Small Matter of Big Science with guests Konrad Gelbke and Doug Gage on Monday, July 30. Check out details and registration info HERE.