When the Beatles ceased to tour after the years of screaming fans had exhausted their creativity and joie de vivre, they sat down and recorded what has now become one of the most recognised and influential albums of all time. That album is Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Pepperland is Mark Morris's tribute to this cultural symbol of the Swinging Sixties, Carnaby Street, Free Love and Eastern Philosophy.
Ethan Iverson's score, played live by Iverson himself and seven others, is a new interpretation of the seminal work which is sometimes recognisable, often surprising but always a pleasure. Don't go to the show expecting Rambert's Rooster, or the much loved album played in full. This is a reimagining - more an adaptation of the original source material and any score that includes a theramin is going to be great, right?
For Mark Morris, the music always comes first. He has been described as 'undeviating in his devotion to music'. This is spectacularly apparent in tonight's joyful and triumphant celebration. Originally created for the 'Sgt Pepper At 50 Festival', the new work premiered in the birthplace of the Beatles, Liverpool, in 2017 and has been touring ever since. Morris' vision is brought to life in a riot of colour with a little help from [his] friends; costume designer, Elizabeth Kurtzman, set designer Johan Henckens and Nick Kolin's vibrant lighting.
The witty numbers are often lyrical and explore the storytelling of the original songs - this most clearly in Penny Lane as the cast of characters are danced into life. The diverse all-American dance group are powerful, both physically and theatrically. Little joyful surprises bounce about the choreography much like the source material but it is the dancer's ability to bring the stories behind the songs to life that really make the piece pop, rock and roll.
The story of the album and Morris's love of the music is there in every leap, in every pirouette and in every smile from the ensemble.
Go see it on tour. But my advice? Sit near the front. You wouldn't want to miss 'A Day In The Life' of a theramin player.
Reviewer - Lucia Cox
on - 20/3/19
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