PEPPERLAND

I adored everything about this fun, colorful, and creative dance performance at the Wallis, my favorite theatre, this past week-end. It was a great combo—an excellent show at the perfect venue.

Pepperland is a lighthearted celebration of the Beatles famous concept album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Therefore, the music includes half of the dozen songs from that famous album, of course, with some pieces by an outside composer mixed-in. The dance was actually commissioned in 2017 by the city of Liverpool in England, where the Beatles grew-up, to commemorate the album’s fiftieth anniversary. (Yes, you read that right—the fiftieth!)

Most of the dancers in these three pro pix are not the ones I saw at the Wallis. But the show is the same. Photo by Robert Torres, as is the one at the top of this review.

The presentation was actually not at all what I was expecting, but…I loved it! It was all so colorful and happy, which is just the way I like everything in life to be. Choreographed by Mark Morris, the production is one continuous, hour-long dance. The choreography has a spot-on ’60s feel, and it’s all very charming, amusing, entertaining, and light and breezy. Never once did anyone try to pull an imaginary rope! It’s the kind of choreo I’d like to do if I was still a young dancer, even though I was more interested in ballet and Afro-jazz back then. But the Pepperland steps just drew me in; I was thrilled to not see anything painful and profound, as most dance companies like to portray these days.

I see so many dance shows, and I feel that the majority of them are just trying too hard to be different, so Pepperland was a breath of fresh air. It’s filled with simple yet uber-creative moves, many of which I had never seen before.

And although all the performers were so light on their feet, some members of the ensemble were a surprise to me; at least half of the cast of fifteen didn’t look like dancers. If I had met them at a party, I’d have no idea what they do for a living. That somehow made it even more special. And I loved that none of them were begging, “Look at me.” They were all about enjoying the moves, rather than trying to get attention for themselves.

Photo by Robert Torres.

Perhaps my favorite item in life is a box of sixty-four Crayola crayons—I go nuts over great colors! I even have a “crayon room” in my tiny house! So I was thrilled with the wardrobe—my mouth watered over Pepperland’s bright costumes. And I even appreciated that the girls’ shoes matched their tights exactly and looked like they went into one another seamlessly.

As to the music, I had been expecting to hear the actual recordings from the album, but that was not the case. It was all live musicians, which is always a plus to any production. The band was made up of a vocalist and six musicians, including the all-important-to-this-album trombone. A side benefit of it all is that it was nice to learn which tunes came from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, even if just in case the category comes up on Jeopardy one day!

The only aspect of Pepperland that I didn’t understand, nor like, was the crushed-up tinfoil on the floor at the back of the stage, which was the only “decoration” on the whole set. But at least it didn’t distract me. Much.

The curtain call of the dancers I saw at the Wallis. Photo by Karen Salkin.

By the way—you don’t have to be a Beatles fan to enjoy this entertaining show. I was gaga over the Fab Four when I was a tot, but then didn’t really care about them for a long time. And then, when I was hosting my former TV show, someone involved with Paul McCartney’s family asked me if I would like to have his celebrated photographer brother, Michael McCartney, be a guest on it. I could not believe how lucky I was for that to happen! And as soon as Mike and I hung-out, my love of the group was rekindled. And has never waned since. So I got a kick out of not only the really fun dancing in Pepperland, but hearing those classic Beatles tunes again.

And to experience all of that joy in the Wallis gave it that extra panache. I look forward to their next memorable dance offering.

To learn more about all the Wallis’ exciting upcoming shows, just click here: www.thewallis.org.