Monday, October 26

Tag: Car Man

The Car Man – Bradford Alhambra
Yorkshire & Humber

The Car Man – Bradford Alhambra

If you came along to The Car Man expecting a straight dance version of Bizet’s classic opera you would be disappointed but instead buckle up for a dark and raunchy ride through lust and murder. New Adventures Artistic Director Matthew Bourne, who devised and directed this piece, says The Car Man was inspired by Carmen’s heady blend of lust and revenge, but the only real connection was the use of the opera’s familiar 40-minute Shchedrin arrangement as the basis of a dynamic longer score composed by Terry Davies. Instead, this was a production heavily influenced by James M Cain’s 1934 classic noir novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice, later made into a similarly seamy movie starring Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange. Not surprisingly The Car Man started off in a 1950s small garage in t...
Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man – The Lowry
North West

Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man – The Lowry

On the hottest day of the year in the UK, the return of The Car Man to The Lowry feels almost too perfectly timed. As the temperature in Manchester soars, the heat radiating from the stage proves every bit as intense, transporting us to the sultry, sweat-soaked corner of small-town America where passions burn dangerously out of control. Inspired by Bizet’s Carmen, with an extended version of Rodin Shchedrin’s orchestration, The Car Man remains one of Bourne’s most intoxicating creations.  Moving the action to a 1960s Midwestern diner and garage in the fictional town of Harmony, the production pulses with desire, jealousy and betrayal, all underscored by Terry Davies’ thrilling arrangement of the famous music. At the centre of the drama, the chemistry between the lead performers ...