The story of emigration, emigration, and rebirth that Prince imagined has no more dialogue or lyrics than those heard on the more than 20 songs in The Police and Sting's subsequent 40-year catalog of solo careers. Her story is abundantly clear as the celebrated British choreographer tells it visually through 14 incredible dancers and through a dismal lighting and projection design on an almost empty stage. . is one of a community of people fleeing the violent destruction of their homes, crossing treacherous seas and finding themselves separated from each other in refugee camps surrounded by barbed wire. We needed a synopsis of the show to make it clear that our central characters are a mother and father and their teenage children Leto, Matty, and Tana.
The two already named songs, as well as the 21st century songs “Inshallah” and “Empty Chair” (the latter written in memory of war correspondent James Foley, who was beheaded by ISIS in 2014), are: Lyrically, it is closely related to Prince's story. Elsewhere, Sting's confessions of love (“Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You”) and howls of loneliness (“So Lonely,” “Message in a Bottle”) It depicts her efforts to piece together her own story. ”) is more sparse.
When she indulges in nasal transliteration, the effect is often amusing. Refugees sway from their cages as if doing gymnastics as the song “Free those who love you'' plays. In “The Bed's Too Big Without You,” a trio of dancers writhe upright in a simulated insomnia, then launch into a series of leaps, captured and elongated in projected silhouettes. (Naturally, Prince also finds room for the “de do do do, de da da da” police tout about verbal clumsiness. If she hadn't done that… , that would be a grave mistake.)
To recap, the show, which premiered at London's Sadler-Wells Theater in 2020, is similar to, for example, Signature Theatre's 2018 musical Girlfriends, which repurposed Matthew Sweet's 1991 breakup album of the same name as its soundtrack. is a more convincing recontextualization of Sting's music. A love story between two lonely teenagers in Nebraska in the early 1990s.
Many of these songs are heard in familiar recorded versions, but new arrangements (by Alex Lacamoire) abound as well, and Sting researchers believe he's heard songs like “Desert Rose” and “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You.” You'll be delighted with the way it's interwoven. He gives one early example. The eight songs feature new songs from “guest vocalists” Beverly Knight, Linval Golding, Claudia Georgette, Shanika Simon, and Cristela Litras.
But of course, the show belongs to Prince's lithe, unencumbered dancers, and their relationship to gravity is Open This relationship seems to be captured well in the 1979 Police song “Walking on the Moon.”
message in a bottle, through April 21 at the Kennedy Center. Approximately 2 hours including a break. kennedycenter.org.