|
|
Reggie (1997)
for String Quartet (optional
double bass) or String Orchestra
3. Processional (4:25)
4. Celebration (2:14)
REGGIE (or How Reggie Made A Difference) was commissioned by String Sounds of Arizona as a children's dance work with narration. It was performed about 40 times in the 1997-98 school year with the Encore String Quartet and Desert Dance in schools throughout Arizona. The work consists of eight short movements, and took about 35 minutes to perform. It contained narration between movements, or occasionally as voice-over. The original suite consisted of 1. Service Dance, 2. Monkey Dance, 4. In The Park, 5. Dinner Music, and 8. Celebration. There have been, however, several different suites created. The seventh movement, Processional, was actually left out of the original show, but has made a strong comeback as a suite movement and is often included.
The story, based on a children's book by Susan Smith, features Reggie, the only child of a wealthy family, who has everything he could ever want, is waited on by servants, but is denied contact with other children. He is spoiled as can be, yet, understandably, very lonely. The work introduces Reggie and his Servants and takes them through different episodes (catering to the bored child, teasing his pet monkeys, playing follow the leader, etc.) until finally in At The Park, he is directly denied access to other children. This makes him very depressed and leads to a confrontation with his parents at dinner, where he has a tantrum and jumps up on the table and stomps around. After settling down, his parents realize they have been short-sighted and decide to turn part of their mansion into a school. This makes everybody happy, and Reggie progresses through school and returns later as a teacher. The work ends with a general celebratory dance.