Monongahela native to conduct the world premier of his own ballet at Lincoln Park
The seven dwarves will be a part of “Snow White the Ballet,” will take place at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School in Midland Feb. 15-17.
Zachary Mendola will conduct the world premier of his own work, "Snow White the Ballet," at Lincoln Park this weekend.
Submitted
Lexy Bittner will perform as Snow White in the upcoming performance of “Snow White the Ballet,” which will take place at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School in Midland Feb. 15-17.
The cast of "Snow White the Ballet" will hit the stage at the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School in Midland this weekend.
When Zachary Mendola began taking piano lessons in the third grade, he never dreamed that one day he would not only compose his own original ballet, but that he would also be conducting it.
But in just one more day, that will be exactly the case for the Monongahela native, son of Jeffrey Mendola of Charleroi, and Christine (Kovach) Mendola of Uniontown.
The world premier of “Snow White the Ballet” will take place at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School in Midland Feb. 15-17.
Mendola, who is currently a sophomore musical theater major at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, is an alumnus from the charter school and said having the world premier of his ballet at his alma mater just seemed to be a good fit.
“Lincoln Park always puts on first class quality productions, and better yet, it was great to be able to return home for this massive project,” he said. “Returning home to Lincoln Park to start this creative process alongside Justin Fortunato and Director Jennifer Verba has been an incredibly rewarding experience.”
Mendola said he drew his inspiration for this original piece from several versions of Snow White, including the first released version by the Brothers Grimm in 1892 and the 1937 Walt Disney classic film.
“Really for me, music is instinctual,” he said. “I study other composers and scores, learning from what they have done. I have been heavily influenced by Tchaikovsky. He was one of the greatest ballet composers ever.”
This is the first ballet Mendola has ever composed.
“I had this idea randomly a couple years ago but dropped it, and then last August, I came across the music I had written for it and just decided to keep it going,” he said. “Before I knew it, I had the first scene written, and it became my main project.”
Mendola added that ballet is one of the most beautiful art forms to him, so he wanted to pay homage to classical ballet with his own music and idealism.
As for orchestrating the show, that’s just something that happened along the way.
“I had no intention of orchestrating it originally, but I decided to when I realized that to truly show my own artistic integrity, I had to do it myself,” Mendola said. “The new perspective of seeing it all come to life from the pit is a dream come true. I’m excited for audiences to be a part of something so special.
“I think personally I’ve always wanted to conduct an orchestra, and being able to do it on my own score makes it even more special,” he added.
It took Mendola about 11 months to finish the score completely and to arrive on time with the scheduled recording process.
“This is a special show for us this season, as patrons will be only one of four audiences that have the chance to see and hear this beautiful show before it goes out into the world to be performed at other venues,” said Justin Fortunato, producing artistic director at Lincoln Park.
“We are thrilled to have Zach bringing an original work back home to the Lincoln Park stage,” he said. “With a 20-piece orchestra conducted by Zach himself, this is a totally new retelling of one of the most loved fairytales of all time.”
Lincoln Park audiences will remember Mendola from his leading roles on Lincoln Park’s stage as Quasimodo in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” Shrek in “Shrek The Musical,” Phantom in “Phantom of the Opera,” and many more.
Dancing the tale to life is a 49-member cast, including five Washington County residents, including seniors Kayla Rush of McMurray, Jackie Wingard of Burgettstown, and Zoe Wise of Washington; 11th-grader Vayda Clark of Canonsburg; and 10th-grader Hope Shober of Washington.
“Working with a live orchestra in a ballet is very special because the dancers get to watch the conductor for cues, the music can be sped up or slowed down as needed, as well as accents that can be hit between the dancer and the orchestra,” said director and choreographer Jennifer Verba. “Our youngest cast member is just 5 years old and our oldest is 18. Six of the costumes were designed for us in Romania. This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the entire cast.”
“Snow White the Ballet” is presented as part of “You’re Home,” Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center’s 2018-2019 Highmark Blue Cross / Blue Shield Subscription Series.
Tickets are available online at www.lincolnparkarts.org/events, or by calling the Lincoln Park Box office at 724-576-4644.