For a moment I didn’t know what I was hearing. It was the last day of September and I was attending rehearsals. ‘The Look of Love’, Mark Morris’ new night-length dance to Burt Bacharach’s songBut the vocals, with the dancers moving in precise patterns, sounded more like modernist opera rather than the meticulous 1960s pop that Bacharach is mostly known for. I found the lyrics, “Please pay attention to
After all, it was Bacharach: theme song he wrote 1958 science fiction horror film “The Blob.” And the next song was instantly recognizable. “There is something there that always reminds me of it.” “I offer a modest prayer” and of course “The Look of Love”. These are the hits, and Morris dance has many more. Morris’ company will debut Thursday at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, Calif., before being brought to the Kennedy Her Center in Washington, DC.
Still, the odd version of “The Blob” was there to remind us that Morris’ interpretation of Bacharach isn’t quite the same as the old record.The music is mostly performed live by Broadway veteran Mercy Hariel, and the arrangements are Jazz pianist Ethan Iversontake some liberties.
In that sense, the show resembles Morris’ last night’s dance, “Pepperland,” a riff on The Beatles’ “Sergeant.” “Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” created by Morris for “Sergeant”. Her Pepper’ festival in Liverpool in 2017. The music from that production was also performed live, with arrangements by Iverson sometimes making the familiar songs unrecognizable.
So you might think that ‘The Look of Love’ is a sort of sequel to ‘Pepperland’, with a similar duration and a similar approach. However, in a post-rehearsal interview, Morris said that the idea for the Bacharach show first came to him many years ago, when Iverson was the music director for Morris’ company, and the two men were at Bacharach. He said it was when he discovered a shared love for music.
“This is great American music that people either know too well or have never heard of, or have never identified who wrote it,” said Morris. He wrote. that?’ That’s why we do it. “
Speaking on the phone while on tour in Germany, Iverson agreed. “As part of The American Songbook, we will feature Bacharach alongside Gershwin, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin,” he said. “Once you hear it, it’s a song you’ll never forget.”
“But Bacharach is underrated for its sophistication,” Iverson continued. “Some people think it’s easy listening, but the details are subtle and very geeky.” “Anyone who has a heart” Bacharach’s first hit with lyricist Hal David is in the unusual time signature of 5/4. That song is also on “The Look of Love”.
Iverson said his approach to Bacharach’s music was “more reverent” compared to his work on “Pepperland”. Inspired by Nelson Riddle’s arrangements for Frank Sinatra, he composed several preludes and interludes that were more minimalist or there because “Mark needs them” Did. But for the most part, he said, “I really want to respect Bacharach as a composer.” (“The Blob” is an exception. “I really hurt it.”)
Bacharach, 94, has minimal input. Morris detailed several Zoom his sessions with the composer. Bacharach wanted the band to include a trumpeter, an important part of Bacharach’s sound. For Morris, the most important part of the exchange was when Bacharach said, “I don’t want it to be boring.”
“I thank the Goddess!” said Morris. “I was afraid to ask about changing things. He gave us latitude.” said he feels his music is “in good shape”.
In many ways, “The Look of Love” resembles not only “Pepperland”, but most of Morris’ work for vocal music. Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys Also baroque opera. As Iverson said, “Mark is very good at storytelling songs.”
At the beginning of “Say a Little Prayer”, if the lyrics say to get up, comb your hair, and run to the bus, the dancers will do that. At the word “broken heart,” their fists tugged at their shirts at chest level. Love it. By the time the instrumental breaks come along, those gestures become choreographic motifs, as well as the way they are artfully arranged to make musical sense.
A work with a simple design based on Isaac Mizrahi’s costume. Props include pillows and folding chairs. “Home is not home” I didn’t appear on the show. During the title song, the couple in the center do what the singer wants them to do—put their arms around their lovers—but they have to do it while walking through chair obstacles. is a choreography that “words alone cannot express” in the words of the song.
“They are all tragic songs, all bright and hopeful,” said Morris. “Rhythmic, harmonious and thrilling.”
“I was desperate,” said Morris, too, but now he wasn’t talking about the Bacharach song, but about the process of creating the dance amid the pandemic. and said, “We probably had three or four rehearsals to fully complement the 10 people in the production.” , had to teach a replacement dancer and then loop-in to the original dancer, and daily COVID-19 testing was “very difficult,” he said, adding that “Pepperland” and other large-scale performances have been difficult. In addition to rescheduled performance rehearsals, it operates under the same uncertain conditions.
“We had new dancers dancing in productions we hadn’t seen before,” said Morris. “They did well. But it’s luck.”
It made me want to joke about the blob, or about another song from the show, “What the World Needs Now.” But I didn’t. Morris was optimistic about the dance he had yet to complete.
“I doubt it’s going to be great,” he said. “The music will be great. It won’t be boring.”
“And it’s time to put on another show,” he added.