YOUNGSTOWN Art forms season 'Patterns'

Two local women re-created a show that was originally a student performance.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Kathy Gabriel and Susan Callen-Miracle took their idea and seasoned it with music, dance, poetry and visual art.
Beginning Friday, their finished product will be on stage at the Oakland Center for the Arts.
"It was originally a student project and was well-received, so we decided to re-create it for adults," Gabriel said, referring to "The Patterns of Life," a multimedia performance collage the two put together.
The show uses a diverse combination of art forms to explore cycles of change within human relationships. It also has a family focus, Gabriel added.
Discussion: The two educators discussed what went into their revised show. They also shared what the collaboration has meant to them.
"We put it in the hands of local [artists and musicians]," Gabriel said.
Gabriel also said the idea came from an April 2000 student production for the Trumbull County Board of Education. Since working with the middle school pupils, both women have added the new elements.
Callen-Miracle said the music was carefully chosen and offered a personal perspective.
Social value: She also thinks the performances will have social value beyond what the audience is seeing. Callen-Miracle added she's "looking for more depth and meaning" through artistic expression.
"The themes begin as child ones and move to adult relationships," Gabriel explained. "Then it gets darker. Finally, it ends with hope and is more joyful."
Gabriel compared the play with various phases of the moon and explained how they came up with Full Moon Productions.
"The performance is in three sections: the crescent, full and new." Gabriel also said each moon phase is symbolic of a particular mood and life theme. The production's name is "an image of a circular path the play follows."
Their backgrounds: Gabriel has performed in numerous Oakland and other theater productions. She was managing director for the Youngstown Playhouse Youth Theater for two years.
Callen-Miracle has been a choreographer for 20 years and has performed for the Cleveland Modern Dance Company. She also works as an occupational therapist.
"The Patterns of Life" is in conjunction with "Female Patterns in the Circle of Life," a display at the Oakland designed to explore the anatomical and emotional aspects of health issues through art.