 "Photo: Allen Chen/Poly Post")
The concept of multiple personalities has never been more evident than it was on Saturday evening at the Pomona Downtown Center.
Cal Poly music professor Peter Yates put on a memorable performance, acting and singing as different characters in his original puppet opera "Radio Rodia."
Yates performed for more than an hour, singing the entire opera to music he composed. His talent as a music composer, actor, singer and mentor was on display.
Yates said he composed the opera about 12 years ago, creating the fictional character of Simon Rodia, a man who creates eight towers out of "junk." The town becomes consumed with Rodia's creation, and the opera draws on that mishap to entertain.
He wanted to add a female character to his composition, and Tressa "Grandma" Prisbrey, who builds a house of glass bottles, was the result.
Yates wanted to show what Rodia's character was going through while the other characters obsessed over his towers. That turned out to be a brilliant idea, as Rodia becomes senile, spending 33 years on the towers and then disappearing once they are complete.
The opera embodied human emotion to its fullest extent. Yates was able to cleverly convey his characters as eager, senile, aggressive, greedy, sad and happy. The intensity from Yates produced quiet giggles from the crowd of about 30, making for a more personal experience.
Sexual innuendos, mysterious thoughts and behaviors, and extreme characters were all part of the performance. The set flourished with meticulous detail, which made for an even more enticing show.
Characters were made from computer printouts, metal robot-like toys, glass bottles and cardboard. A broken glass box with a big yellow phone receiver was used as the phone booth.
Barbie doll legs were used as the television antennae, which elicited a smirk from the crowd as Yates opened the upside-down legs to get better reception on the fake television.
Another pair of legs was used as the tripod for a camcorder, which was made from a small, black recording tape.
"Characters were uniquely designed," said UCLA student Nelson Ngo. "The show was definitely something."
Yates used a box with a different mask on each of the four sides to transform into that character quickly. As the different characters took turns singing, Yates would turn the box clockwise to show which character he was now impersonating.
Toward the finale, Rodia tells Genie Morgen, the character most obsessed with his creation, "Only a fool would worship a person because of that person's refusal to worship others."
Rodia, though insane, is momentarily restored and gives perhaps the most common-sense advice. Recognizing others' talent and neglecting one's own talent is, at least to Rodia, illogical.
Cynicism, suspicion and fright were all integrated to make for an entertaining and successful performance.
The reaction from the crowd at the end of the performance was fitting. As Yates walked behind the black curtain, the crowd remained in silent suspense, unaware the opera had ended until a cheerful Yates, still hidden, announced, "That's all folks!"
The audience clapped and whistled loudly, seemingly satisfied with the performance. Audience members walked over to congratulate Yates on a great performance and inquired about the birth of his opera.
The public has another chance to catch "Radio Rodia" on Saturday at the Pomona Downtown Center at 7 p.m.
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