Post by lemur on Aug 11, 2009 20:04:46 GMT -5
David Hyde Pierce to sip martinis, sing 'De-Lovely'
by Blair Chavis
11 August 2009[/b]
From TribLocal.com
Ravinia Festival in Highland Park will pay tribute to songwriter Cole Porter Sunday, Aug. 16 with a musical revue, Night and Day: A Cole Porter Evening.
The performance will showcase Emmy- and Tony-award winner David Hyde Pierce, famous for his longtime role as Dr Niles Crane on the TV show Frasier, singing alongside Broadway performer Victoria Clark, who earned a Tony award for The Light in the Piazza.
Pierce and Clark will perform as 1930s martini lounge characters, with drinks in hand.
Conductor, artistic director and pianist Rob Fisher, who organized the show, likened the duo to actors William Powell and Myrna Loy.
“There’s attraction but there’s friction,” Fisher said.
Fisher will accompany the vocalists, playing piano in an instrumental sextet.
The show will be the only recreation to date of their prior performance for Lincoln Center’s 2009 American Songbook series in New York City last January.
Ravinia is “a place where Cole belongs,” Pierce said. “At the time we did it we had Ravinia in mind.”
In fact, Pierce is no stranger to the Chicago area. He performed in a 2003 Ravinia workshop production of Scott Frankel and Michael Korie’s Doll, as well as various productions in Chicago, including the premiere of Spamalot. He is also a spokesperson for the Chicago-based Alzheimer’s Association.
A pianist since age 8, Pierce said he will also play.
“I play a little bit in the show,” he said. “Just enough to keep people from walking out.”
Chitchat will be used to contextualize certain songs, Pierce said. “We talk some; we sing some; we drink some.”
But the focus will always be on the music, he added.
“It’s a little glimpse into the '20s and '30s and what life was like when Cole was writing this,” Pierce said. “Unfortunately life has imitated art so much that our economic situation is close to the economic situation of the '30s.”
There are references to economic hard times in Porter’s songs, which may resonate in ways they wouldn’t have a few years ago, he said.
“He wrote songs to entertain. That’s something that people need now,” Pierce said.
Fisher said when planning the show he drew parallels between the Great Depression and the current economic times.
“Some of them are specifically in response to the financial circumstances having changed suddenly and some of them are merely to divert people,” Fisher said. “It made people feel better about their predicaments, it elevated them.”
Fisher said he, Pierce and Clark carefully sifted through Porter’s works to find variety.
“We went through everything,” Fisher said.
They narrowed the show to 19 songs, including 'You’re the Top', and 'It’s De-Lovely', along with lesser-known pieces such as 'Mister and Missus Fitch'.
“We’re presenting the music more as it would have been presented in the time Cole Porter wrote it,” Fisher said. “I’m hoping that’s going to make it more interesting for the audience to see the parallels of that time period with the current time period.”
Fisher said casting the show was a simpler process—he knew he wanted to have Pierce.
“Partly, because he’s erudite and witty and I knew any of the Cole Porter lyrics would be believable coming out of his mouth,” Fisher said.
Pierce said Porter and he share a “similar sense of humor.”
“His lyrics are sort of witty and urbane,” Pierce said. “And for 11 years, [my] bread and butter was being witty and urbane.”
They both, in turn, wanted Clark, who shares a Yale alumni status with Pierce and Porter.
Together, they’re trying to create a celebratory, upbeat evening, Clark said.
“It should feel like a light after-dinner drink or light after-dinner dessert. That’s our goal,” Clark said. “If it feels heavy, like a big matzo ball, then that’s no good.”
This style of music doesn’t get much airtime, Clark added. Yet, she said it’s “refreshingly contemporary.”
Some songs endure and it’s interesting to look at why, Fisher said. Today, there is less of a common pool of culture, he added.
“It’s becoming fragmented and niched and this used to be the common language of the entire country,” Fisher said. “I think we need to continue trying to have a common language.”
Fisher said he worries that young people have little exposure to classical music. It doesn’t have to be the only language, but he wants to remind people of where music has been, he said.
“Cole Porter — his music was loved,” Fisher said. “Loved as much by the people sipping their champagne as by a couple in a pickup truck listening to ‘Night and Day’ out west somewhere.”
The performance at Ravinia will take place at 7:30 pm in the Pavilion. Gates to the facility open at 4 pm Screens will be set up in the Pavilion and on the lawn for concert-goers.
by Blair Chavis
11 August 2009[/b]
From TribLocal.com
Ravinia Festival in Highland Park will pay tribute to songwriter Cole Porter Sunday, Aug. 16 with a musical revue, Night and Day: A Cole Porter Evening.
The performance will showcase Emmy- and Tony-award winner David Hyde Pierce, famous for his longtime role as Dr Niles Crane on the TV show Frasier, singing alongside Broadway performer Victoria Clark, who earned a Tony award for The Light in the Piazza.
Pierce and Clark will perform as 1930s martini lounge characters, with drinks in hand.
Conductor, artistic director and pianist Rob Fisher, who organized the show, likened the duo to actors William Powell and Myrna Loy.
“There’s attraction but there’s friction,” Fisher said.
Fisher will accompany the vocalists, playing piano in an instrumental sextet.
The show will be the only recreation to date of their prior performance for Lincoln Center’s 2009 American Songbook series in New York City last January.
Ravinia is “a place where Cole belongs,” Pierce said. “At the time we did it we had Ravinia in mind.”
In fact, Pierce is no stranger to the Chicago area. He performed in a 2003 Ravinia workshop production of Scott Frankel and Michael Korie’s Doll, as well as various productions in Chicago, including the premiere of Spamalot. He is also a spokesperson for the Chicago-based Alzheimer’s Association.
A pianist since age 8, Pierce said he will also play.
“I play a little bit in the show,” he said. “Just enough to keep people from walking out.”
Chitchat will be used to contextualize certain songs, Pierce said. “We talk some; we sing some; we drink some.”
But the focus will always be on the music, he added.
“It’s a little glimpse into the '20s and '30s and what life was like when Cole was writing this,” Pierce said. “Unfortunately life has imitated art so much that our economic situation is close to the economic situation of the '30s.”
There are references to economic hard times in Porter’s songs, which may resonate in ways they wouldn’t have a few years ago, he said.
“He wrote songs to entertain. That’s something that people need now,” Pierce said.
Fisher said when planning the show he drew parallels between the Great Depression and the current economic times.
“Some of them are specifically in response to the financial circumstances having changed suddenly and some of them are merely to divert people,” Fisher said. “It made people feel better about their predicaments, it elevated them.”
Fisher said he, Pierce and Clark carefully sifted through Porter’s works to find variety.
“We went through everything,” Fisher said.
They narrowed the show to 19 songs, including 'You’re the Top', and 'It’s De-Lovely', along with lesser-known pieces such as 'Mister and Missus Fitch'.
“We’re presenting the music more as it would have been presented in the time Cole Porter wrote it,” Fisher said. “I’m hoping that’s going to make it more interesting for the audience to see the parallels of that time period with the current time period.”
Fisher said casting the show was a simpler process—he knew he wanted to have Pierce.
“Partly, because he’s erudite and witty and I knew any of the Cole Porter lyrics would be believable coming out of his mouth,” Fisher said.
Pierce said Porter and he share a “similar sense of humor.”
“His lyrics are sort of witty and urbane,” Pierce said. “And for 11 years, [my] bread and butter was being witty and urbane.”
They both, in turn, wanted Clark, who shares a Yale alumni status with Pierce and Porter.
Together, they’re trying to create a celebratory, upbeat evening, Clark said.
“It should feel like a light after-dinner drink or light after-dinner dessert. That’s our goal,” Clark said. “If it feels heavy, like a big matzo ball, then that’s no good.”
This style of music doesn’t get much airtime, Clark added. Yet, she said it’s “refreshingly contemporary.”
Some songs endure and it’s interesting to look at why, Fisher said. Today, there is less of a common pool of culture, he added.
“It’s becoming fragmented and niched and this used to be the common language of the entire country,” Fisher said. “I think we need to continue trying to have a common language.”
Fisher said he worries that young people have little exposure to classical music. It doesn’t have to be the only language, but he wants to remind people of where music has been, he said.
“Cole Porter — his music was loved,” Fisher said. “Loved as much by the people sipping their champagne as by a couple in a pickup truck listening to ‘Night and Day’ out west somewhere.”
The performance at Ravinia will take place at 7:30 pm in the Pavilion. Gates to the facility open at 4 pm Screens will be set up in the Pavilion and on the lawn for concert-goers.
