When famed choreographer Mark Morris returned to the United Kingdom with Pepperland, his new production based on The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, he was at first terrified of the audience reaction.
The production, which first premiered at Liverpool’s Sgt. Pepper at 50 festival in 2017, takes inspiration from the familiar songs but then expands the music and dance into unexpected directions with new composition and choreography.
photo by Beowulf Sheehan
“I can’t describe it,” said Morris, when asked about Pepperland. “I didn’t know if it was going to work or not,” says the always precise and often irreverent choreographer. Especially in Liverpool, he said, and for people all over the world who believe they know all things Beatle, this is an explosive interpretation of their work, not a rehashing of it and Morris admits being a bit uneasy before it opened.
Audiences, however, loved it and the show has toured ever since. It makes a stop at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts June 14 and 15.
Although the evening length music and dance extravaganza is based on Sgt. Pepper’s, Morris warns fans that even though the show includes “Penny Lane,” they should not expect a trip down memory lane. But he says, the show works for fans who either loved – or hated – the Beatles.
To be clear, the entire show is reminiscent of Sgt. Pepper. The colors from the album cover match exactly the costumes designed by Elizabeth Kurtzman. The original score by composer Ethan Iverson interspersing arrangements of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “With a Little Help From My Friends,” “A Day in the Life,” “When I’m Sixty-Four,” “Within You Without You,” and “Penny Lane” along with six original Pepper-inspired pieces intended especially for Mark Morris’ profound understanding of classical forms: Allegro, Scherzo, Adagio, and the blues.
According to critics, “this colorful new piece resounds with the ingenuity, musicality,wit, and humanity for which the company is known.”
Both on stage, and even in practice, Morris demands live music. Plain. Simple. Nothing recorded. His company, Mark Morris Dance Group, soon to celebrate its 40th anniversary, has worked with many of the same musicians for decades.
Morris has always loved music and has done shows around the world, some of which featured him conducting the orchestra. While Morris is known worldwide as a choreographer, he is an accomplished conductor and music arranger as well.
He says the music for Pepperland was composed to reflect the enormous impact the album had on popular culture when released. As a boy, Morris said he saw the Beatles with his sisters, describing it as little more than a “screaming nightmare.”
However, when the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper in 1967, Morris said it impacted the world and himself as well. “The music for Pepperland, arranged on The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is important to me because of the enormous impact the album caused in popular culture at large,” says Morris.
Therefore, at the inspiration of Morris, the forces of music and dance collide on the exciting Pepperland stage. Like the wave making album, Morris has created a “shopping trip” of musical dance interpretation.”
The Beatles used the studio to create an album that literally “could not be performed live. That’s exactly why I agreed to do this and all I can say is people who attend will come away entertained – and surprised.”
For tickets, call ticket services at (714) 556-2787 or visit www.scfta.org. VIP packages are available.
