Sing the next four lines to the tune of “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer:” Bang! Bang! Mark Morris Dance Group’s show, Now comes to Segerstrom; Bang Bang! It is called “Pepperland,” Like the Beatles record chum!
In 2017, Mark Morris was commissioned by the City of Liverpool to come up with a work to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the classic Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. That work, Pepperland, is being performed three times this weekend at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa.
This is a full-evening work that not only incorporates arrangements of songs from that landmark album, but also includes new music by Ethan Iverson. The new music allows Morris to work within more traditional dance structures and to flesh out The Beatles’ recording which in and of itself runs less than 40 minutes.
Mark Morris formed the Mark Morris Dance Group in 1980. Of this particular work, Morris says in an article on the Segerstrom Center’s website that Sgt. Pepper, “was abundant with new musical ideas; a new kind of studio-born performance; a never-before-heard confluence of music world conventions; a witty, sad, surprising, and moving musical trip. In a fully-staged, newly re-approached music and dance show, we accept[ed} the challenge of presenting a contemporary reading of this great artifact.”
Elizabeth Kurtzman created the color costumes for Pepperland.
For tickets to any of the three performances, go here.
