Reviews
Fun 'Coffee Man' brews up some laughs
Led by a title character with a cup on his head, the comic opera is a light blend with lots of caffeine
There was a special brew on tap Friday night at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts to celebrate the
world premiere of "Too Much Coffee Man," and it wasn't exactly coffee.
Jim Parker, publican of Oaks Bottom Public House, had brewed a delicious stout with a heavy dose of Stumptown
Roasters coffee, and it was strong stuff, with just a pint leaving a person simultaneously tipsy and buzzed.
Which is to say, it was pretty much like the opera itself.
Based on Shannon Wheeler's 15-year-old comic strip character, a familiar figure from the pages of many
alternative weeklies, the piece presents a slice of coffee shop life in a light operatic idiom. The
hypercaffeinated, over-thinking Too Much Coffee Man (Stacey Murdock), a portly anti-superhero with a coffee
cup atop his cranium, vies with the cynical, calculating Espresso Guy (Matt Dolphin) for the attentions of a
barista (Jasmine Presson), who loathes her job and her customers equally.
The music, written by Daniel Steven Crafts and directed by Joey Prather at the piano, was pitch-perfect for the
story. Composed for the three singers and a trio of clarinet, piano and string bass, it was melodic and
brisk, with a cabaret sensibility. The witty libretto, by Wheeler and Damian Willcox, rejoices in the joke
potential of the narrative outline, though parts of it would scan better with an edit -- as when Coffee Man
sings to the barista, "It's so clear, we were meant to be together, like dirty bikers and wardrobes of black
leather."
In the title role, Murdock was both brilliantly, unself-consciously silly, and as commanding as a
performer can be in a stretchy red jumpsuit adorned with an enormous cup. He has a great voice, great presence
and great timing. Dolphin was a slippery counterfoil with a flexible voice and elastic face, and Presson
rounded out the cast with equally good singing and a suitably sarcastic demeanor: She used a raised eyebrow
like a truncheon.
Devon Allen's direction and Carolyn Holzman's choreography moved them around Bethany Foran's spare set
fluidly, even as the action devolved into giddy comic mayhem.
With seating divided between risers at the back of the room and 10 tables between them and the stage, PCPA's
200-seat Brunish Hall was a fittingly intimate, casual venue.
— James McQuillen
The Oregonian, September 25th, 2006
Previews
Too Much Coffee Man, a syndicated comic strip featured in books and alternative weeklies nationwide, is jumping
from the page to the stage. Too Much Coffee Man Opera — an avant garde blend of post-modern caffeine humor and
traditional opera — is believed to be the first opera inspired by a comic book.
Created by Shannon Wheeler,
the chamber opera details the tragedy of Too Much Coffee Man, a caffeine-addled Everyman who's in love with his
barista. Trouble brews when Espresso Guy, a cynical opportunist, also makes a play for the ambitious but
frustrated young barista. The characters must resolve the age-old dilemma: Can coffee and relationships co-exist?
—
The Oregonian, September 22nd, 2006
COFFEE FAN TUTTI With its graying
demographics and dated rituals, opera needs a shot of
hormone replacement therapy. Perhaps a shot of coffee
will do for now?
An opera based on "Too Much Coffee Man," the syndicated
comic by Portland artist Shannon Wheeler, makes its
debut Friday night for a two-weekend run. Tying the
Metamucil crowd's chosen art form to that of the
contemporary hipster? Why not?
"Too Much Coffee Man Opera" is a one-hour chamber opera
that uses three singers and three musicians (piano, bass and clarinet). At a
recent rehearsal, it was clear that the work is funny, perceptive and eerily
contemporary.
( Full Article )
— Joseph Gallivan,
Portland Tribune, September 18th, 2006
SHOW TIME Fans of the comic strip and opera lovers alike should check out the ground-breaking
Too Much Coffee Man Opera by Shannon Wheeler, with music by Emmy-winning
composer Daniel Steven Crafts and lyrics by Wheeler and Damian Willcox of Dorkboy
Comics fame. A chamber opera running about an hour, it features three singers—accompanied
by three instruments—performing the five roles, including Too Much Coffee Man,
Espresso Guy and a barista in a love triangle evocative of heavily-caffeinated
contemporary life. The
Too Much Coffee Man comic originated in 1993 and appears
in graphic novels and alternative newspapers. Wheeler and his collaborators spent five
years constructing the opera, consisting of completely new material. It's fitting that
Portland should host the world premiere of a comic book opera. Look for more from Wheeler
soon—he says he's hooked on the form.
—
PDX Magazine, September 2006
Music fans have a lot to look forward to at Portland's Time Based Art Festival this month, but that's not the
only Portland source of exploratory music in September. Fans of
Too Much Coffee Man,
the award-winning comic that runs each week in EW, will want to check out the opera based on Shannon Wheeler's
twisted vision. It's running Sept. 22-23 and 29-30 at Brunish Hall in the Portland Center for the Performing
Arts. The music was devised by Daniel Steven Crafts, an Emmy-award winning contemporary composer (and old friend
of Wheeler's) and features veteran opera and musical theater performers. The plot, such as it is, follows
TMCM's quest to win the love of his beloved Barista, despite the machinations of the evil Espresso Guy.
—
Eugene Weekly, September 14th, 2006
DON JAVANNI Sandwiched among previews of works that will be presented
by the likes of New York's Metropolitan Opera, three arias by Portland comic-book writer
Shannon Wheeler made their debut at the Opera America conference in Seattle this May.
The songs, based on Wheeler's dubious superhero Too Much Coffee Man, were performed
by Daniel McLaughlin, a baritone who became involved with the project when he responded
to Wheeler's post on Craigslist. Standing in front of the formally attired Figaros and
Figarettes at the Westin Seattle, McLaughlin movingly rendered such snippets as:
"Coffee, you're warm and wonderful,
your body and your bean,
You stimulate, articulate, and fill
me with caffeine,
Your dark roast sends shivers
down my bony spine,
You are quite a catch, like a perfect,
aged wine."
Don Giovanni it was not. But that's the point. In an attempt to break new
grounds in the genre, Wheeler had been collaborating with Emmy Award-winning composer
Daniel Steven Crafts (
The Song & the Slogan) and Canadian cartoonist
Damian Willcox (
Dorkboy) for about five years to adapt his comic book,
which is published by Milwaukie's Dark Horse Comics, into an opera Americano.
Late last year, a performance troupe in Austin even contacted him about staging the
production. But then a catastrophe of truly operatic proportions struck: In February
the practice space the Texas troupe was using burned down, seemingly roasting Wheeler
and Co's Wagnerian dreams.
Until Wheeler bumped into Robyn Williams, executive director of the Portland Center for
the Performing Arts, at—where else— the center's café. He offhandledly
mentioned the project he had brewing, and now
Too Much Coffee Man is scheduled
for its shot at success at PCPA's Brunish Hall Sept 22. Stan Foote, the artistic
director of Oregon Children's Theater, has also agreed to provide consulting help. Such
interest amazes Wheeler.
"Opera people are less snobby than comic-book people," he says. "In the comic-book world
there's this big push to make comics more legitimate. Because I have this sort of gimmicky
superhero parody, I'm at the low end of respect."
In comparison, Wheeler says, "The opera world is really looking to expand their audience.
They want people to like opera. They think it's great that I'm coming from the comic-book
world."
So
Too Much Coffee Man would seem to be in line for a chorus of café olés.
Assuming Brunish Hall doesn't burn down before September.
— Chad Greenwood,
Portland Monthly, July, 2006
CAFFEINE CRESCENDO If a forlorn clown
can be the stuff of opera legend, why not a man with a
coffee cup atop his head? Too Much Coffee Man, the
angst-ridden hero of Southeast Portland graphic artist
Shannon Wheeler's long-running comic series, is about
to make the transition from the pulp page to the opera
stage. In September, the Too Much Coffee Man
opera will
premiere at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts.
Just this past weekend, Wheeler slurped up the
international
Opera Conference 2006 in Seattle, where
the opera neophyte was invited to preview a sip of his
tiny $20,000 production alongside the
multimillion-dollar New York project La Strada.
Wheeler's "open mic" entree? A baritone singing a love
song to a coffee cup that included the lyrics: "We
should always be together, like bikers and black
leather."
—
Willamette Week, May 10th, 2006
