City of Northrop issued the following announcement on Dec. 9.
Mark Morris Dance Group returns to Northrop Sat, Jan 25 with Pepperland, a work created as an homage to The Beatles’ highly influential Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album in its 50th anniversary year. Combining contemporary choreographic wit and musicality, this program reimagines selections from the album in bold arrangements accompanied by dancers dressed in a riot of Carnaby street colors.
This evening-length work was commissioned by the City of Liverpool to kick off Liverpool’s Sgt. Pepper at 50 Festival, a season-long tribute to the recording. Though Pepperland is inspired by the iconic 1967 album, don’t expect a Beatles singalong or cover project here. Choreographer Mark Morris says himself:
“I’m not interested in a Beatles tribute at all. If you want that, put on the record. I do. It’s nice. [Pepperland] is for those who love or hate The Beatles. I mean that. It’s not reverent or irreverent. It’s a new piece and I like it.” –– Mark Morris, via The San Diego Union-Tribune
Morris has instead created a new, collaborative work with an original score by New York-based composer, arranger, and pianist Ethan Iverson, a founding member of the “game-changing collective” The Bad Plus, and previously Mark Morris Dance Group’s music director. Interspersing arrangements of famous Sgt. Pepper’s songs along with six new pieces, the score will be played live by a rather unusual chamber ensemble of voice, theremin, soprano saxophone, trombone, and two keyboards.
Original source can be found here.
Source: City of Northrop
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