Performance of Use Your Voice.

      Aspen is like a poorly supervised experiment in the laboratory of life, a cultural petri dish left to bake on a sunny windowsill, and you never know what kind of interesting life forms might emerge from the goo.
      One such exploded into view last weekend, with the production of Steve Skinner's "Umbrella Man" rock opera at the Wheeler Opera House, a truly stunning event that will forever be the source of savage, guilt-ridden disappointment on the part of those who missed it.
      "Umbrella Man" is a postmodern fable with vaguely messianic overtones, blending noisy strains of social protest and environmentalism, and laced with occasionally preachy exhortations about love on a personal and a universal scale.
      All of which might easily have yielded a disastrously simplistic, overly saccharine morality set-piece, but did not.
      Instead, backed by the talents of the Treehouse band and a pit full of orchestral instrumentalists, squeezing every ounce of ability out of a fairly unsophisticated but dedicated and able cast, Skinner melded it all together in an often hilarious, always entertaining show that, at least on Saturday, brought the audience to its feet for a sustained standing ovation when the curtain came down for the final time.
      The story, for those who did not catch the show, is about a world dominated by two camps with diametrically opposite world-views. On one side are the predatory, burger-munching Pavers working for the evil Mr. Biggie and his Worldwide Paving Corporation in its heedless exploitation of the world's natural resources. Ranged against this nasty bunch are the delicate, earth-loving Gardeners who end up as acolytes following the lead of the enigmatic Umbrella Man and his message that only peace and love can save the world from destruction.

Ascent of Umbrella Man.

      Mr. Biggie (riotously portrayed by local thespian Willie Moseley) and Umbrella Man (endowed with a wispy, compelling charisma by Skinner) are natural foils for each other. The two form the frame for a symbolic battle between good and evil that ends with the gentle wisdom espoused by the Gardeners slowly winning out over the destructive behavior patterns of the Pavers.
      The action was set against a backdrop of sometimes hilariously juxtaposed slides depicting a broad array of subjects and scenes, projected on two screens suspended above the stage. All this was carried out to the tune of 18 original songs (which contained many textual and tonal references to a number of rock classics) tightly performed by the well-rehearsed musicians.
      All but one of the songs come from Skinner's 1996 disk, "Umbrella Man," recorded in California by a collection of musicians calling themselves Interruptus. It was during the recording sessions where the idea for the rock opera was born.
      Saturday's show, at least, was put on before a packed house of enthusiastic theatergoers, who seemed unbothered by occasional glitches in the sound system that marred an otherwise technically smooth production. Audience reaction was generally one of delighted satisfaction, taking into account the normal kind of rough edges-and bloopers one expects in community theater.
      There was a report, however, of the early exit of a group of elderly patrons who apparently were unsettled when the Pavers suddenly swarmed through the audience toward the stage as the show opened.
      Skinner, a well-known local madcap who has been entertaining crowds with varying degrees of success since the days of his first local band, The Natives, in the late 1980s, seemed dazed by the accolades from audience members after Saturday night's closing performance.
      Blearily shuffling between the knots of well-wishers, as phrases like "work of a genius" and "inspired lunacy" floated above his head during a meet-the-cast gathering in the Wheeler lounge, Skinner appeared to be having difficulty taking it all in.
      It can only be added that the production of "Umbrella Man" was another of those unpredictable moments in the life of this town where the creativity and determination of one person, with the help of a legion of friends, served up something fine and admirable for the community's enjoyment.
      More simply put, it was a damned good show.
 

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