(Review by Russell)
The Mark Morris Dance Group concluded
its 2019 British tour with a two-nighter at Newcastle's historic Theatre Royal
before stopping off in Dublin on the way home to New York. Three elements
combined to make Pepperland an unmissable experience; Mark
Morris' acclaimed dance company, the Fab Four's Sgt Pepper as
subject matter, and, piquing Bebop Spoken Here's interest, an all-star,
jazz-infused NYC octet.
This Saturday evening performance,
the second of two nights, attracted a near capacity house. It seems likely that
the greater part of the audience comprised dance aficionados and Beatles'
fanatics with a smattering of jazz fans drawn to the Grey Street venue by the
participation of Ethan Iverson.
The Bad Plus' former pianist is
currently renewing acquaintance with the Mark Morris Dance Group working once
again with the MMDG Music Ensemble led by Colin Fowler. The musicians assumed
their positions in the orchestral pit minutes before curtain up. Percussionist
(think 'jazz drummer') Vinne Sperrazza occupied the centre ground facing the
stage, flanked to his left by Iverson, similarly facing the on-stage dancers,
and to his right, with MD Fowler absent from the Newcastle dates, George
Shevtsov seated at a keyboard. To one side was theremin specialist Rob
Schwimmer. A founding member of the NY Theremin Society (!), Schwimmer's cv is
truly impressive with the following but a random selection of his
collaborations - Simon and Garfunkel, Wayne Shorter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Willie
Nelson, Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, T-Bone Walker, Maria Schneider, Teo Macero,
Kurt Vonnegut(!), Sammy Davis Jr. Clearly, when a concert performance or
recording session requires a theremin, Mr S is considered 'first
call'!
As the curtain rose the octet went to
work. The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band formed
the centrepiece with additional original material composed by Iverson. The
title track opened, and would later close, the performance. The Fab Four's
oh-so-familiar tunes were arranged by Iverson - With a Little Help from
My Friends, When I'n Sixty-Four, Within You Without You, Penny
Lane, A Day in the Life - which were interspersed by
pieces variously titled Adagio, Allegro, Scherzo.
On stage, wow! The MMDG stepped right
out of a '60s psychedelic haze. Elizabeth Kurtzman's costume designs certainly
evoked the era; the brightest of bright colours with an acrylic-like sheen, so
bright the dancers periodically wore shades (yeah, man), the sort associated
with the Lennon and McCartney Eastern mystic/guru years. The Music Ensemble's
baritone vocalist Clinton Curtis introduced the cast one by one; Shirley
Temple...Sonny Liston...Karl-Heinz Stockhausen... Marlene Deitrich...Oscar
Wilde...Fred Astaire...Albert Einstein...Laurel and Hardy. Those
familiar with the Sgt. Pepper album cover art will be able to
visualise the numerous famous faces.*
The on-stage movement was largely
fast and furious, the dancers assuming the roles of enduringly recognisable
figures. The cardboard cut-out quality of the characters enabled Mark Morris'
dancers to be assigned a gender other than their own. Astaire, Einstein,
whoever, could be, and were, assumed by a female dancer, it mattered not. The
pit musicians hit their cues, Iverson directing matters. Jacob Garchik
(trombone) and Brian Krock (soprano sax and clarinet) were positioned with
their backs to the stage, reading their parts with Iverson in their line of
vision. Iverson's spicey Wilbur Scoville proved to be a
highlight. A blues, of gut-bucket variety, it featured brilliant trombone
playing by Garchik, Iverson himself incorporating stride patterns with
Oscar-like dexterity, all the while directing the ensemble.
The Mark Morris Dance Group's 2017
premiere of Pepperland (marking the album's fiftieth
anniversary) proved so successful the company decided it should go on tour.
Fortunately Newcastle Theatre Royal was part of the 2019 tour itinerary, it had
been a memorable occasion.
* It was, perhaps,
lost on the visiting American dance company that Albert Stubbins took pride of
place alongside the many famous names featured on the Sgt. Pepper album
cover. The legendary Magpies' footballer didn't get a name check at the Theatre
Royal, if he did there could have been a cry of Toon! Toon! Black 'n'
White Army!
Russell
Russell
1 comment :
Ref Albert Stubbins. The late drummer, Randy Heads, told me of the time when he was in a Newcastle cinema and the news that Albert Stubbins had been transferred to Liverpool flashed across the screen mid-picture. The uproar that followed meant that they had to stop the film until the 'Toon Army' of the day, many of them actual army, calmed down!
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