By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAYThe title character of Tim Burton's 1990 film Edward Scissorhands has been compared to Frankenstein's monster, Beauty's Beast and Pinocchio. But screenwriter Caroline Thompson's main inspiration was a dog, whom she described in a recent interview as "the most soulful, yearning creature … She didn't need language to communicate."
Those qualities have been movingly tapped by choreographer Matthew Bourne, whose stage adaptation of Scissorhands is at the Brooklyn Academy of Music through March 31. Thompson collaborated on Bourne's dialogue-free version, which shifts the setting back to the 1950s. The family that takes in Edward now lives in a pastel-hued community occupied by prim matrons and antsy teens who bounce to jazz-kissed instrumentals, like gang members in West Side Story.
But the vibe is as haunting as it is whimsical. The music, which combines themes from Danny Elfman's original score with new material by Terry Davies, enhances Bourne's movement, which relies more on emotive gestures than fancy footwork. At a recent performance, leading man Sam Archer, who alternates with Richard Winsor, poignantly captured Edward's soulful yearning.
The show will make additional stops in Toronto (April 4-7), St. Paul (April 10-15), Denver (April 18-22) and Seattle (April 25-May 13).
2 comments:
Does "dialogue free" mean the songs don't have any words? I guess not, for then how would the screenwriter collaborate.
Yeah...musicals. When I was a kid I would wonder how disparate people like the random lady shopper and the hot dog cart guy would have a dance number rehearsed. JPX's hatred of musicals has long been a source of amusement for me. There's some fundamental malfunction at work, like how Vulcans can't comprehend lying.
"There's some fundamental malfunction at work, like how Vulcans can't comprehend lying."
I don't think it's ever been put so perfectly!
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